Halo Reach Emile Build

[JABProps]

Hey guys, yes I'm another member making the amazing and short lived Emile from Halo Reach.

I started this build a little over two years ago and it ended up sitting barely started until a few months ago when I started making slow progress again. Then I soon realized Dragoncon 2018 was just around the corner and I would love to have it done in time. At this point I'm still not sure if I'll make it but you can follow along as I'm getting closer to the finish.

Lots of pictures to come!

So chose to take the long route and make my suit using pepakura. There are tons of resources on this site and all over about the process so I won't go into detail. Here is a nice shot of all my pep parts out on the floor.



My only problem by this point was the first bicep piece I put together was too small (of course) so instead of rescaling the file and spending another day making one bicep I decided to make them out of foam.


You can see just how wrong I was on the scale for my first paper bicep piece (yicks)



Then I went to fiberglassing all the paper pieces.

Fiberglassing all the parts took me a couple days since I had to wait for the fiberglass resin to dry on the outside before I could Rondo (fiberglass resin and bondo mixture) or fiberglass mat the inside of the parts for rigidity. Then I could get the real FUN part. Applying layers of Bondo and sanding forever.

 

[Sean Anwalt]

Awesome, JABProps! Good luck, keep us posted!

 

[JABProps]

Been a little busy lately and haven't posted in a minute. Had some stuff happen and had to get back in the swing of things. Another semi big update on some things. Been in a kind of fever pace to get everything done in time to do a good paint job before the end of this month.

I finished both bicep pieces and then made on the security shoulder attachment for the right bicep. Which I then attached with contact cement and hot glue. Even with the attachment on the right bicep is still super light which will definitely help my arms while wearing this suit at Dragoncon.


On the bondo pieces, I sanded down to a fairly smooth finish, or at least until I couldn't tell where the high and low spots were anymore. Then I hit all the pieces with a good coat of filler primer. It's really great for filling in small holes, scratches, and sanding lines to help smooth everything out. (especially great for helping smooth 3D prints. The filler primer is easier to sand then most filaments)


I went a little further on the helmet with some additional sanding and filling any larger holes or gaps with spot putty to help continue to smooth everything. As you can tell there were a lot of areas that needed attention. I will still need to add another layer or so of bondo in some areas that are not even on both sides. The filler primer and spot putty helped really point out the areas that needed more attention.


While I was waiting for some of the parts to dry from applying filler primer, In decided to Rondo the inside of the chest piece anyway. I wasn't happy with how much the chest piece was still flexing after fiberglass matting the inside. So I applied the Rondo in stages so it wouldn't be flowing out of every side trying to coat the entire inside at once. I'm much happier now with the rigidity, I only did one coat for the inside which I think is enough since there is already fiberglass mat inside.


And if all of that wasn't already enough, it took me until I started applying bondo to realize the thigh pieces I made were gonna be way too big. Of course! So I took the same approach as the biceps and decided to make them out of foam. Thinking about it more, I think I'm gonna be really happy they'll be foam. It'll be a little warmer but more comfortable between my legs, and more flexible for when I sit down or walking.

I'm only a little over half way done on the right thigh piece. I'm tweaking the pattern I downloaded as I go, but that will make the left thigh piece go by faster.

Still a ton to do but I'm going to try to upload more consistently. I'm also posting video updates on my Youtube channel JB Cosplay.
JB Cosplay

 

[Lord of Reach]

It looks great! I hope you can finish in time for the convention

 

[IPv6 Subnet]

It looks fantastic! Emile was one of the coolest looking team members on Halo Reach!

 

[JABProps]

It's been a minute since I've posted. I wanted to keep posting regularly but I've mostly been sanding and stress is starting to kill me xD

I've finished sanding all the forearm, shin armor pieces and the helmet! Only took a million years. I started cleaning up the chest piece more. I'm not applying bondo to the entire chest because the pep came out with all the details I wanted so I've just fiberglassed the outside, and fiberglassed and applied rondo to the inside.


I also while I was out there the other day I decided to go ahead and cut the visor out. I'm planning on vacuuming forming a visor from the cutout so it'll fit my helmet perfectly. (fingers crossed)


Besides all of that the real news I wanted to post and update on was I started and am almost finished with Emile's signature weapon, his M45 shotgun. I started with the lovely blueprint by Juliet76. I've linked the original thread I got the blueprint from:
Juliet76's Blueprints


Yes I glued the entire rail by hand and yes it kind of sucked but I think it turned out great and the shotgun is almost finished. It'll also be totally con safe which is a huge plus!