Halo 4 BR85HB SR (Pic heavy!) - First Major Project

[RobTC]

So there's probably too much involved to make this much more than a picdump thread, though I'll try to annotate more interesting or non-contextual images. If I missed one you're interested in, just question it. I'm not bothering with placeholder posts or anything here, it can just be a discussion and Q&A free for all. I'll probably index it in this first intro post as it goes.

Anyway, moving on. Some context:

This is my first major project, as the title says. Earlier this year I did an original design scifi pistol as a quick and cheap experiment as to whether I could actually make/sculpt physical things in general. While I have a little experience in green woodwork, my shop experience is largely limited to boxes and shelves, back in the day when English high schools (I now live in VA) still had workshops. I've been a "maker" my whole life though, and I'm a designer and photographer so I'm good with detail and visualisation. Anyway, the answer appeared to be yes, actually:



Evidently it's nothing special, my finishing wasn't up to much and it was made out of random pine scraps, but it holds up at a distance and serves as a proof of concept. So, what next?

Well, I furnished our basement with bench tools and bought a whole load of stuff, so I had to do something. It was between an ASHPD and a Halo universe object. Since I wanted to go big but don't have a lathe yet, Halo universe won. What to make? Well, my favourite weapons were always the M6D, BR55 (Covy Carbine on Gravemind levels) and SRS99C- I'm a distance kinda guy. Since I'd just made a pistol and the SR seemed to require a lathe to get the best results, I went with the BR. But the old BR55 wasn't available in a whole lot of detail, whereas the BR85 is newer and higher definition. It's also far better-looking, to my tastes, and a good progression of the design language of the UNSC during and after the War. I haven't played Halo 4 (nor Reach, nor will I be playing Halo 5, unless 343i/MGS decide to release for PC), but I don't think that matters too much. It's the lineage that's important.

So, BR85HB SR it was. Next I spent two days gathering reference. Or, more specifically, I spent a day gathering reference only to discover the next day that the 405th had the original digital asset. So, that made life easier.

BLOG: UNSC BF85HB-SR Battle Rifle: http://robtaylorcase.com/blog/?p=298

I wasn't thinking about this at the time, but all of the materials I've used so far in this build: MDF, styrene, Bondo, epoxy, Superglue, contact cement... Everything, basically, I had zero or almost zero prior experience with. So not only is this my first major build project, it's been almost entirely all new to me in general.

Next up: Scaling and getting started!

Index

Part 1: Tracing, scaling, templating, chassis

Part 2: Grip/lower receiver area

Part 3: Barrel jacket: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Part 4: Foregrip and Barrel: Part 1 | Part 2.1 | Part 2.2 | Part 2.3

High Quality Update: Foregrip in-progress

High Quality Update: Foregrip complete

Part 5: Carry rail: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

General update: Carry rail complete, lots of painting

High Quality Update: Carry rail complete

Part 6: Stock - chamber area: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Part 7: Magazine: Part 1 | Part 2

Part 8: Stock - magazine well area: Part 1.1 | Part 1.2 | Part 2

Part 9: Stock - upper receiver lid and rear bumper: Part 1 (second half) | Part 2 (second half)

Part 10: Grip area reconstruction and miscellaneous parts

High Quality Update: Base Rifle construction complete

Part 11: Non-functional Scope

High Quality Update: Master complete, beginning of moulding

The Thanks List!

- Chernobyl (assets)
- Master Builder (normal map details)
- Redshirt (build tips)

 

[RobTC]

Re: First Major Project: Halo 4 BR85HB SR

Next I took pasted screenshots from axial orthographic views to put together a template, which basically just ended up being a single side view with a couple edits for the two differences on the left hand side- the safety selector and the charging lever:



I started on the front and rear views, but since so little of the detail is visible there and I had the model to take spot measurements from, there really wasn't any point.

Next I made sure the scaling was ok:



Does it fit gloved? Yep.





BLOG: Scaling and Chassis: http://robtaylorcase.com/blog/?p=305

From here, I broke it down into sections and put together a skeleton, based on the widths of the narrowest points within the sections and the widths of MDF I had available (If you're building an MDF gun, source 1/8" stock... Going without is harder than it seems). Then I fit it to letter size paper and printed it:





Then it was just a case of stick, cut, sand:













(I'm using spray contact cement on one side to temporarily stick the templates)



All done!



I drilled the lightening holes before realising that some parts are visible on the final model and I wasn't sure which bits were which yet. So, I stopped drilling.

BLOG: Frame Complete: http://robtaylorcase.com/blog/?p=315

Next: Grip area!

PS: in case you hadn't already guessed, I'm not slicing, Peping or anything else this build. Pure traditional-style model-making, is the idea.

 

[RobTC]

Re: First Major Project: Halo 4 BR85HB SR

Grip time. Pretty self-explanatory:





















Oh no, the grip broke off! Oh wait, I wasn't supposed to glue it on there in the first place. Well that worked out nicely then.



Final views, part one:









BLOG: Lower Receiver Complete: http://robtaylorcase.com/blog/?p=322

The obvious step gaps were for later Bondo filling. Although I acquired the Bondo (from Amazon, for twice the price of Lowes- don't make that mistake) later in the process, I'm going to put these relatively recent pics here with the rest:







Once those two were done, I decided to add in the rearmost part of the foregrip in order to be able to lock this section on to the core/rail section of the chassis:





The cap for the chassis keyhole before cutting. Two sheets of styrene.



There's a little more to do with this, it needs Bondo in a couple of places to seal up holes, but for all intents and purposes it's complete. You'll also see in later pics that it's had its first coat of primer.

Next up: Barrel jacket/upper receiver

 

[RobTC]

Re: First Major Project: Halo 4 BR85HB SR (Pic heavy!)

Any particular reason it likes to stop showing thumbnails for attachments?

Ok, barrel jacket. This has been by far the hardest part so far, and I'm still not entirely happy with it, some of the edges aren't straight or crisp enough, and it's too fat in a couple places, but it's now reached a point that once it has its final coat of primer and a coat or two of auto enamel, I'll call it complete. Only serious nerds like me who've studied the BR85 in that much detail will be able to notice the flaws.

Get ready for a barrage:

















































Oh. 24 files a post limit, apparently. To be continued... Not sure how long the "Updated" post appendixing cooldown period is, so I'll start up again in a short while.

 

[RobTC]

Re: First Major Project: Halo 4 BR85HB SR (Pic heavy!)

Barrel jacket, part deux:













Too fat, since the piece is perfectly sized. You'll see this again later. Not sure what happened here, but it just seems to be a width issue. Something went awry somewhere, but not bad enough to start over.



I definitely need a more even method of shaping styrene. This was pretty lazily done though, I should really have put more time and effort in here considering how visible this part is.

































And, the limit again. Three parts it is, I guess.

 

[RobTC]

PVRT III









A couple quick sexy pics because I really liked the way it was shaping up:







The lateral profile of those:















Forgot to add a few slots at the front:



NNNOOOOOOOOooooooooo!!! Stupid wind. Moved inside after this:



Epoxy to the rescue:





The almost-last round of filling and sanding. This was supposed to be the last, but I found too many flaws and my perfectionism couldn't ignore them.



Near the beginning of the final round of filling and sanding.



Discovered I was 3mm out on one of my lower rails, which answered the question of why they'd been asymmetrical the whole time.





Wheee! A month in at this point. It's not exactly a quick process.

Next up: Foregrip (in progress)

 

[RobTC]

Ok, last update for now. I started the foregrip yesterday:













And that's where I'm at right now!

Current plans are to mould it in Rebound 25 (mother mould jacket material currently unknown, maybe fibreglass) and cast it in Smooth-Cast 300. The grip area will be solid with a channel running vertically through it for trigger wiring. The trigger mechanism may be custom-built, or I may just glue the trigger to a microswitch, I haven't decided yet.

Everything else will be rotocast to facilitate, in theory, the following:

- Swappable magazines
- Internally projected ammo counter
- Moving charging lever- both for cocking after magazine change, and three-round-burst firing motion
- Moving safety selector
- Sprung ejection door (possibly also firing motion in sync with charging lever)

Note I'm not including the scope as part of this, because I'm currently envisaging that as a separate build that mounts to the top rail- and fully functional. It may require some wiring into the main body, I'm not sure yet. That's a little way down the road right now.

 

[HALOSPRTAN]

This is a very promising build, looking great so far. Cant wait to see more progress. I really like how youve started this. good luck on the rest of the build. and by the way some of your attached photos are invalid links

 

[RobTC]

This is a very promising build, looking great so far. Cant wait to see more progress. I really like how youve started this. good luck on the rest of the build. and by the way some of your attached photos are invalid links

Thanks! I'm reasonably happy with progress so far. The electronics, optoelectronics and mechatronics will be the real test, I suspect.

Posts are fixed. Not sure why it decided to delete all the embedded images.

 

[HALOSPRTAN]

You should be happy with the progress, It looks like an amazing build so far. My piece of advice is to not get caught up in your ambitions in search of perfection, settle for good when you need to. And to make sure you factor in every aspect of your mechanics before building, which i anticipate you have done already.

 

[Commander Siv]

Keep up the good work! I cant wait to see the finished product

 

[majorflint]

very well done I like your use of different materials for this project you should be happy with progress so far looking foreword to seeing more

 

[RobTC]

Commander Siv majorflint Thanks guys! Hope I can fulfill expectations. I doubt I'll bother moulding it if it doesn't though, I'm not gonna waste $100+ if it's not worth it.

You should be happy with the progress, It looks like an amazing build so far. My piece of advice is to not get caught up in your ambitions in search of perfection, settle for good when you need to. And to make sure you factor in every aspect of your mechanics before building, which i anticipate you have done already.

It's pretty good, I'm not complaining for a first attempt. I certainly intend to be better in future, though that may necessitate CNC help. Which would first require me to build a mill.

Here's some better lit, higher resolution versions of the "current progress" pics that are easier to see than the crappy iPhone shots (props to the 3 people who looked at every single image!) with (currently) dingy basement lighting:













The one advantage of being a photographer here is my super lazy setup is everyone else's super pro setup.



Edit: Reckon I'll drag m00sem4n and FoxtrotZero in here for this update, so they can see what I've been talking about for the last couple of weeks more clearly.

 

[m00sem4n]

Haha, that is a proper build mate! Really stunning definition, the lighting really brought that out in the last few.
Even if you don't turn out being happy with the final build (ridiculous, lol) have you considered moulding it still to finance ongoing projects? Work like this would be a welcome addition to the marketplace, I'm sure.

 

[RobTC]

Haha, that is a proper build mate! Really stunning definition, the lighting really brought that out in the last few.

Thanks man! I'm aiming for real steel replication here, working at a resolution of about 0.3mm (which means that even 0.5mm bevels are all on here) where I'm working exactly, and about +/- 2mm where I'm not matching the model perfectly due to stock limitations.

I dunno how well it stacks up against your M6C/S, really crisp pep work seems to outshine "proper" building when it's done as well as yours. I guess that may not apply so much with organic shapes and cylinders like here, I dunno. But this build is unusual for me in that I'm normally all about the outcome rather than the process.

Even if you don't turn out being happy with the final build (ridiculous, lol) have you considered moulding it still to finance ongoing projects? Work like this would be a welcome addition to the marketplace, I'm sure.

That's realistically the most likely scenario- not over the moon with it, but happy enough with it as a first attempt that I'd offer it out as a solid B+ build (admittedly, I have a skewed perception of these things... Others may consider it a middling A to A- build, I have no idea). I really have to recoup some of these costs, so it's pretty unlikely that I won't be casting it.

I'm really trying not to get overly perfectionist with it, knowing that the vast majority of "flaws" will never be noticed, even by Halo fans. But I'm also trying to not use that as an excuse to be lazy and settle for second best, since this is a physical representation of me in the world.

 

[m00sem4n]

I'm really trying not to get overly perfectionist with it, knowing that the vast majority of "flaws" will never be noticed, even by Halo fans. But I'm also trying to not use that as an excuse to be lazy and settle for second best, since this is a physical representation of me in the world.

The plight of every artist in their given field, I hear ya. Carry on knowing that it looks dashing in the eyes of us viewers :thumbsup

Side note, that's solid MDF right, how much would you say it weighs so far?

 

[RobTC]

The plight of every artist in their given field, I hear ya. Carry on knowing that it looks dashing in the eyes of us viewers :thumbsup

Side note, that's solid MDF right, how much would you say it weighs so far?

Yay! I think that's gonna be the main purpose of this thread- to counteract my natural artistic negative tendencies, lol. Hopefully it'll remain dashing enough to sell five copies at about $200-250 apiece. That should cover the costs of this project and cover any capital for the next one. I'm planning on attempting a solid foam rubber cast as well, for a non-electronic "stunt" version. Might work, might not.

It's not really all that solid. The core is mostly hollow due to the two PVC pipes, and the foregrip is pretty hollow too. If they were solid, it'd be about 5lb, but it's only about 3. It's a nice weight right now. It'll probably end up about 8lb, I imagine. Presumably the cast version will go back to being about 3-4lb without electronics or batteries, I don't know how urethane goes though.

 

[FoxtrotZero]

Man, this is looking nothing sort of spectacular. You told me you were taking on an impressive HBSR-85 build, with all the bells and whistles, but I didn't realize you were so... capable. It's looking spectacular, and if I wasn't a poor college student, I'd gladly build one of your replicas. I'm starting to get shifty about how well my DMR will come out, seeing as how I'm not bothering with fully functining electronics or anything.

Anyway, you definitely need not worry about imperfections coming through. I'm a massive Halo nerd (then again, around here, aren't we all?) and I would have trouble picking up on anything (though admittedly Halo 4 and onward aren't my specialty - I echo your sentiments about no longer playing Halo games since they're console only, Halo 4 was my last). It is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a spectacular build.

I have to admit, at this point, I've seen things built out of everything, foam, cardboard, cardstock, paper, and now wood. And in every manner, pepped, sliced, piecemail, printed. If I ever get my hands on a CNC mill or something (I really should see what sort of things are available to me though the College of Engineering at my Uni) I'd probably try to do something ill-advised and over the top with it (functioning Spartan Laser, anyone?).

Anyway, keep us updated. I have to see more of this delcious craftmanship. I like seeing it come together, and I predict I'll be equally riveted through the detailing and the implementation of the working components.

 

[m00sem4n]

Dido, haha
From what I recall, you basically have plans to include everything short of actual lead-slinging capability. Lookin' forward to seeing this marvel unfold.
I don't think you've mentioned anywhere whether or not you plan on deviating from the conventional paint job, will you be keeping it 100% game accurate in that sense as well?

 

[RobTC]

Man, this is looking nothing sort of spectacular. You told me you were taking on an impressive HBSR-85 build, with all the bells and whistles, but I didn't realize you were so... capable. It's looking spectacular, and if I wasn't a poor college student, I'd gladly build one of your replicas. I'm starting to get shifty about how well my DMR will come out, seeing as how I'm not bothering with fully functining electronics or anything.

Anyway, you definitely need not worry about imperfections coming through. I'm a massive Halo nerd (then again, around here, aren't we all?) and I would have trouble picking up on anything (though admittedly Halo 4 and onward aren't my specialty - I echo your sentiments about no longer playing Halo games since they're console only, Halo 4 was my last). It is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a spectacular build.

I have to admit, at this point, I've seen things built out of everything, foam, cardboard, cardstock, paper, and now wood. And in every manner, pepped, sliced, piecemail, printed. If I ever get my hands on a CNC mill or something (I really should see what sort of things are available to me though the College of Engineering at my Uni) I'd probably try to do something ill-advised and over the top with it (functioning Spartan Laser, anyone?).

Anyway, keep us updated. I have to see more of this delcious craftmanship. I like seeing it come together, and I predict I'll be equally riveted through the detailing and the implementation of the working components.

Woohoo! Thanks man. Yeah, I'm very capable in a wide array of disciplines... Just not so good at sticking with projects. Or starting more involved ones like this. This BR85 is my flag in the ground. Can't keep saying I'm super awesome at x, y and z if I have nothing to demonstrate that! That said, some of my work on this has even surprised me. The parts I thought I'd have trouble with seem to have come out the best. Weird. I'm not complaining though, it's making me more optimistic about the potential outcomes of future projects.

I get the poor college student thing, totally! Maybe I'll have a student discount pricing, lol. I think a couple hundred or so for a kit is fair though, considering it's my first project- I see rifle kits in Volpin's store for like $400!

Obviously Microsoft desperately need a win for their poorly-performing XBox One, but I still hold out some small hope for MCC4PC one day- maybe when they need a cash injection and have the dev hours to spare reworking the architecture. Meanwhile, I'm actually enjoying Spartan Assault, and I'll probably pick up Halo 2 at some point. Maybe Combat Evolved too, since I think I left that back in England by accident.

I'm gonna need probably 2 sales on this to break even. If I get 5+, not only am I going to get a bandsaw (fairly certain it'll be a night and day difference on >1/2" stock!) and lathe, but I'm probably going to start work on a CNC mill. Or a table router, either way's ok for propmaking. That's like, my "stretch goal". Open source CNC is easily doable for $500-1000.

Updates shall be incoming! Should have the foregrip/barrel assembly complete by the end of today. Update'll likely be tonight or tomorrow.

Dido, haha
From what I recall, you basically have plans to include everything short of actual lead-slinging capability. Lookin' forward to seeing this marvel unfold.
I don't think you've mentioned anywhere whether or not you plan on deviating from the conventional paint job, will you be keeping it 100% game accurate in that sense as well?

Nearly, but not quite. Muzzle flare is a future project, and recoil seems to be tricky, as we've established over in the other thread. But I want everything in there that's con safe, yeah. I want this to be a crowning jewel for a costume.

I'm definitely personally gonna stick to the original scheme, I've seen there are others but they don't really do a whole lot for me. Black, grey and orange are badass. :thumbsup If I offer a paint and assembly option, those other ones (or totally new ones!) will be on the table.

Edit: though the BLAST skin, with its heavier burnt orange covering more of the grey might be interesting...