Halo 5 Copperhead Build

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FANGS

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At the end of July, I'm going to be attending Costume College in the LA area. Mostly this revolves around sewing and historical costuming. But over the years they've added classes in a lot of different areas as well. This is my first time going and I'm super excited!

They offer two types of classes - Limited and Unlimited. The Limited ones you sort of have to apply for. Nothing more than sending in your top 10 choices and then they somehow decide who gets what. I think you are usually going to get between 1 and 3 of your top 10. The Unlimited ones are those that have the room for everyone. Usually more lecture based rather than hands on.

I was VERY fortunate to get my top 3 choices. I'll be going on a tour of the LA fabric district. Having been there a couple of times now, I'm really excited to be going back. But even more exciting where my top two choices - beginner foam fabrication and advanced foam fabrication. These are taught by industry professional Mal Keller. I am SUPER stoked about this.

I wanted to go in to the classes with a build in mind so I could get the most out of the information and be able to ask specific questions to take advantage of Mal Keller's vast experience! Yesterday I decided finally on the Copperhead armor. Originally I was going to go for Vale....and then I saw this.....

H5-Waypoint-Copperhead-FANGS.png


How can I not when it's named FANGS?

Dat undersuit tho.....dang. First things first.....@Asgardianhammer was able to hook me up with a prop maker for the helmet. Foam files for the armor? Yes! I will need to get my hands on better references that just this for the rest of the gear/paint but that's doable. Soooo uhhhh....the undersuit.

This is always a tricky thing with Halo gear. They are frequently beyond detailed. But sewing is my strong point so I started to look at it that way. First thing I see is the overall shape. Wide at the shoulders and hips....narrow at the waist. Certainly the armor plays a large role in that, however, I'm thinking that I can use the girl shape I already have to really accentuate that shape. Definitely this undersuit will involve a corset, likely built right in with the lacing hidden in the back by a flap. This will not only give more of the hourglass shape but also help with the detailing staying in place no matter how I happen to move or stand, but still allow me to bend. If I did a corset that also has a high back and shoulder straps, this could lend to serving a second purpose - a harness system for the armor. I have something similar in a much more basic form for one of my 501st costumes to distribute the weight of a resin cast jetpack. Being foam, it won't be so much about the weight distribution but more about keeping the armor in place securely.

For the armor itself, I'm going to need to scale it down... a lot. I'm only 5'1". I don't want to look like I'm lost in the armor. And with that comes getting it to the size that still shows the right amount of undersuit detail. This is a little like the chicken and the egg....which comes first! My initials thoughts are the under suit simply because I don't want to start on the foam until after Costume College. Once I get that dialed in I can move on to the armor.

As some of you know, the newer Stormtrooper armor from The Force Awakens has gaskets that show at all of the bendy places - shoulders, elbows knees. In the movie they were rubber. Members of the 501st quickly learned that the rubber, although authentic, meant you couldn't even put on your own helmet because they reduced your mobility so much. Most now use ones created using a sandwich of fabric with a middle layer of foam material. This creates the ribbing detail but still allows for mobility. That will be my first test to see if it will work for this detailing. I believe I'm going to use spacer fabric for the outer layer and likely a sturdy but still stretchy layer of ponte de roma fabric underneath. For the foam layer, I'm going to talk to my friend who makes gaskets. The spacer fabric will give the scuba look without adding the uncomfiness of neoprene. The spacer fabric and the ponte de roma are both washable. The unknown at the moment is the foam and what I'll be able to do with that. Might need to stay with handwashing but obviously as an undersuit, washing is an important consideration. I'll also need to work on the blue hex pattern fabric for the arms/shoulder areas.

I think I've babbled on for long enough. Hopefully I'll have more to report soon!
 
Fangs planning on Halo build? HELL YES.

looking forward.jpg



If sewing is your strength - this is definitely a build where it's going to show off as Copperhead has rather smaller armor and there is way more undersuit showing off. Not sure if you noticed earlier, Fireteam Osiris, Vale included have different unique techsuits, so you could always choose which onse you prefer to do, rather standard GEN2 techsuit or that unique one.
If you gonna go with the normal techsuit - the reference photo you have is inaccurate and outdated. The accurate in-game used Halo 5 techsuit is here, the hex is just on the shoulders, very nice reference courtesy of 343i. ;)

If you need any in-game screens of the armor with the exact same colors and such - just bump me, unless you get hi-quality model or something.

PS. Wow, I had no idea the TFA costume was so restricting, I thought it was more comfortable and allowed for more mobility than the classic Stormie. O_O

s_techsuit_female-c418e8df93ef422c97c743046ca8d5c8.jpg


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At the end of July, I'm going to be attending Costume College in the LA area. Mostly this revolves around sewing and historical costuming. But over the years they've added classes in a lot of different areas as well. This is my first time going and I'm super excited!

They offer two types of classes - Limited and Unlimited. The Limited ones you sort of have to apply for. Nothing more than sending in your top 10 choices and then they somehow decide who gets what. I think you are usually going to get between 1 and 3 of your top 10. The Unlimited ones are those that have the room for everyone. Usually more lecture based rather than hands on.

I was VERY fortunate to get my top 3 choices. I'll be going on a tour of the LA fabric district. Having been there a couple of times now, I'm really excited to be going back. But even more exciting where my top two choices - beginner foam fabrication and advanced foam fabrication. These are taught by industry professional Mal Keller. I am SUPER stoked about this.

I wanted to go in to the classes with a build in mind so I could get the most out of the information and be able to ask specific questions to take advantage of Mal Keller's vast experience! Yesterday I decided finally on the Copperhead armor. Originally I was going to go for Vale....and then I saw this.....

View attachment 244694

How can I not when it's named FANGS?

Dat under suit tho.....dang. First things first.....@Asgardianhammer was able to hook me up with a prop maker for the helmet. Foam files for the armor? Yes! I will need to get my hands on better references that just this for the rest of the gear/paint but that's doable. Soooo uhhhh....the under suit.

This is always a tricky thing with Halo gear. They are frequently beyond detailed. But sewing is my strong point so I started to look at it that way. First thing I see is the overall shape. Wide at the shoulders and hips....narrow at the waist. Certainly the armor plays a large role in that, however, I'm thinking that I can use the girl shape I already have to really accentuate that shape. Definitely this under suit will involve a corset, likely built right in with the lacing hidden in the back by a flap. This will not only give more of the hourglass shape but also help with the detailing staying in place no matter how I happen to move or stand, but still allow me to bend. If I did a corset that also has a high back and shoulder straps, this could lend to serving a second purpose - a harness system for the armor. I have something similar in a much more basic form for one of my 501st costumes to distribute the weight of a resin cast jetpack. Being foam, it won't be so much about the weight distribution but more about keeping the armor in place securely.

For the armor itself, I'm going to need to scale it down... a lot. I'm only 5'1". I don't want to look like I'm lost in the armor. And with that comes getting it to the size that still shows the right amount of under suit detail. This is a little like the chicken and the egg....which comes first! My initials thoughts are the under suit simply because I don't want to start on the foam until after Costume College. Once I get that dialed in I can move on to the armor.

As some of you know, the newer Stormtrooper armor from The Force Awakens has gaskets that show at all of the bendy places - shoulders, elbows knees. In the movie they were rubber. Members of the 501st quickly learned that the rubber, although authentic, meant you couldn't even put on your own helmet because they reduced your mobility so much. Most now use ones created using a sandwich of fabric with a middle layer of foam material. This creates the ribbing detail but still allows for mobility. That will be my first test to see if it will work for this detailing. I believe I'm going to use spacer fabric for the outer layer and likely a sturdy but still stretchy layer of ponte de roma fabric underneath. For the foam layer, I'm going to talk to my friend who makes gaskets. The spacer fabric will give the scuba look without adding the uncomfiness of neoprene. The spacer fabric and the ponte de roma are both washable. The unknown at the moment is the foam and what I'll be able to do with that. Might need to stay with handwashing but obviously as an under suit, washing is an important consideration. I'll also need to work on the blue hex pattern fabric for the arms/shoulder areas.

I think I've babbled on for long enough. Hopefully I'll have more to report soon!
:eek:
Oh. My. Gosh. This is going to be amazing. I hope you do some videos on undersuit making. I have zero sewing skills, so I really need to pay attention. And take sewing lessons. :D And Costume academy?!?! I'm so jealous. :)

Heck yeah! I'll definitely be watching this thread.:cool:
 
Thanks for the info and reference, CommanderPalmer! I'll take whatever reference you have of FANGS for sure!

Holy canoli that's a beautiful reference! The weathering on it is amazing! I can't wait to get to that part....weathering is likely my most favourite part of an armor build. Thank you, ReClaimer8015!

You can also see in that photo with the slight crinkling they've drawn in to the undersuit that neoprene or like fabric is very suitable. Having worked with neoprene for a costume before (Zam Wessell from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones) it'll be a frosty Friday in you know where before I'll make another costume out of that so I'm hoping this spacer fabric does the trick. Neoprene is like wearing a giant elastic band. You need to sew it to fit you without relying on the stretch so that you can save as much stretch as possible for movement. Of course, this is more a concern with thicker neoprene over the current fashion trend using "scuba" fabric which is much thinner. If you get it even a little too stretched it can cut off your circulation a tad. I made that mistake under my gauntlets on my right wrist. Over time my thumb first and eventually the rest of my hand will start getting tingly like it's asleep. Neoprene is also intended to be sewn with the raw edges butted up against one another and not like a normal seam where the raw edges are towards your skin. I made the mistake once of forgetting my underarmor and the seam long my knee rubbed an area raw until it bled. I still have the scar. I'm also tired by the time I get dressed.....hahahaha It's a workout just pulling up the stupid pants! Geesh. I've learned a LOT from that build though and version 2 is going to be a much different fit taking all of that in to account along with encasing those seams along the knee. I've only been working on Zam, more off than on, since 2009. Good grief.

For the weathering I'll have to decide which method I want to go - layered or topical. Topical is definitely faster and can look amazing but layered gives you that actual chipped paint look. Decisions, decisions. I've been slowly working on my ROTJ Boba Fett Jetpack and doing that the layered way. Definitely time consuming but I'm also trying to match it to the real references and wouldn't necessarily have to do that on this one. That's right Cadet.....ROTJ...not that silly ESB green one you have. hehehehehe

Also....no hex pattern on that one but rather little squares! Interesting! I LOVE on the gauntlet where you see both a smooth armor lip and then a layer of little squares on the wrist edge.

I know that this will be a challenge but thankfully it's not my first costume nor my first foam build, although my Warhammer Sister of Battle was less involved as I used Worbla and Wonderflex for the bases of the shaped parts as opposed to the behind cuts in foam. My shoulder armor and backpack were all foam though as well as all of the detailing on both foam and thermoplastic pieces.
 
What up Fangs! Are you looking to do Vale's under suit, or the standard female tech suit? It's your build, but personally I think Vale's under suit looks way better with the Copperhead armor. Let me know if reference like this is of any help?
fangs front-view.png
 
I agree with you SavedbyGraceG12, the techsuit looks WAY better on Vale. It's like it was created just for the Copperhead armor. It matches with the armor perfectly, whereas the default techsuit just looks out of place in many areas. But it's the case with all the Fireteam Osiris members.
 
Not a problem! I'll get you some more pics as soon as I can! Just a heads up, not sure if your aware, but the thighs and forearms need to be there. Not sure why 343's modelers decided to model the Osiris team that way, but there is nothing there if the armor is removed.
fangs backt-view.png


Is it me, or is there a dragon face, on the under suit where the butt plate is supposed to go?
 
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Can't wait to see how this turns out! Honestly what I would recommend is that you just use a black body suit similar to vales and wear the armor like that.
 
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