Halo Reach Prototype and Concept Art Creation

[Ghost Bear 027]

I learned I am no longer able to post to the Noob file... So hopefully efforts to date have been satisfactory. There should be a pic of my latest endeavor. If you saw the Recon helmet I made a while back, I'm clearly into doing something unique but still distinctly Halo. In particular, I love the concept art for Halo Reach, and I've been looking at a few pics in particular and fell in love with this helmet design. It was originally made for Jorge, but you can see the beginnings of the Air Assault, Noble 6, and CQC design being thunk out by the artist Isaac Hannaford. I've tweaked it a bit myself, using the Air Assault as the base (I kind wish I'd started with the Mk V(b) helmet instead...), and doing a LOT of bondo work. I was really inspired by the concept art, he clearly studied US troops in the recent wars, of which I participated in as a Scout Platoon Leader, so maybe it's a personal thing. You can see the image in the back, with the helmet attachment with the straps going around the back just like our eye protection goggles you see on so many pictures from the fighting overseas.

It's coming along pretty well amidst other projects and life in general. I hope to make some CQC face plates once I am satisfied with the helmet itself, and figure our how people work with magnets. I'll look for some of those hopefully in the next week or so. I certainly would like an extra plate of armor over my face rather than this giant face screen! I think that was Hannaford's original intent, and looking at helmets like the CQC, you can see how the CQB armor could slide in place over the face plate to provide additional protection for the Spartan in combat. I'm really excited about the projects potential though and think it might come out quite nicely.

This is probably about 60+ hours into creation, shaping, reinforcing, and reshaping, and I'm sure there is lots of work left. I can't do fast, it just won't work for me.

Any input, tips, and thoughts are appreciated though.


Troy

 

[edwardjlw]

Looks nice so far!! Seems like a lot of work has gone into this, you said it's based off an air assault helmet? Wow!

I definitely know what you mean when you say you can't work fast, I'm going through the same thing with iron man at the moment. I seem to work better going through the process slowly, doing little bits at a time. In the end we'll end up with pretty sweet helmets though (hopefully)

Nice work on the concept helmet so far, keep it up!

 

[FlusherCape26]

Well ain't that something.... it looks awesome

 

[Ghost Bear 027]

I hate to admit that this is probably close to 15-20 hours of building, shaving, and sanding later, but I think I'm almost to the spot putty phase... The intakes in the top/rear took a while to get sorted and sanded down properly, and those protrusions over the sides of the face plate took about 3 hours alone! I can't do anything quickly, but in the end they came out looking pretty good. Like I said, spot putty and maybe Rondo glazing phase coming on soon and I'll get some pics posted once I finally do.

Side note: If using utility blades, putting a layer of tape over the back while working with them, will save your fingers a lot of cuts from the back of the blades itself. I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner...:confused

 

[Ghost Bear 027]

A frightening amount of hours later, lots of sanding, getting my money's worth out of those little files, and wracking my brain as to how to make sure things are aligned, this is where she stands. I've actually done a bit of sanding and added more detail late last night, but I'll have to post that later.

I'm having a devil of a time filling in those small scrapes in tight corners with spotting putty, and may try glazing with rondo before the next coat of primer to see where it stands. Sucks to burn up a paint brush like that, but the end result should be worth it.

If you see anything or have any recommendations, please post.

 

[Rosh]

Yes! I loved the halo reach concept stuff. Keep it up!

 

[Ghost Bear 027]

Almost finished! I can't tell you how many hours this took, and I'm kind of ashamed of it. Probably 120 neighborhood! But overall, I'm really happy with how it came out. Started with an Air Assault pep file, and really went to town! Influences range from Samurai armor, to battlemechs, to modern jet fighters and sport bikes, and a whole mess of things besides. Probably too many to mention at this time...

Still some sanding to do before I start molding, but it's great to have this about done!