Halo The TV Series Master Chief full build

[Nimitz]

More molding progress ...
First half of mother mold on boot cap

And mold max 25 silicon mold over boot top panel

Tomorrow I'll do the second half of the mother mold on the boot cap and the first half for the boot top

 

[Nimitz]

Boot cap mother mold is now done ...

And first half of boot top is also done

Tomorrow I'll finish the top piece mother mold and then add some bolts and trim up the cap mother mold and get it ready for roto casting. Assuming the resin cast works I'll then go on and make molds for the last 2 pieces of the boot.

 

[Nimitz]

Roto casting mold has been successfully completed for the
boot cap

Over the next day or so I'll roto cast the cap using Smooth On smooth cast 45D semi rigid resin and then move on to the rest of the boot armor assuming it's successful

 

[xaero]

I recently embarked on this new build after completing a 3 year build of a full size, operator-on-the-inside, motorized, fully electro mechanical Dalek. I done several other cosplay builds - 10th Dr Who, Mandalorian including Amban pulse rifle, Bo Katan (for my wife), an original character I call 'Future Man' and a bunch of additional sci fi weapons: DL-44, DL-17, Westar 35s, heavy infantry tri-barrel, Callahan full bore auto lock ...

While aware of the game I had no knowledge about the universe until I saw the TV show which is when I got inspired for my next build. After a bunch of research I settled on a sewn version of the undersuit like in the show. I've looked at those doing cast silicon versions but that seems to me to be going to be extremely uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time

In order to be able to size the base armor correctly in ArmorSmith I need the undersuit done so that is what I'm working on first. Like the show my undersuit will be a pair of pants, long sleeve top and a flak vest. I'll be ignoring all the details which are not visible since I don't plan to walk around in just the undersuit like John 117 does ...

I've completed the side panels for the pants. I wanted them removable so the pants could be washed. My research showed that the ones from the show are actually velcroed on to the pants as well. I tested several different methods and finally settled on using 1/4" OD medical tubing glued to the back of the Velcro.
My brother's wife is a seamstress and is sewing the pants for me so I provided her a sewing pattern, material and a bunch of reference images to see how the ribbing pattern is done. Similar to how those Star Wars ribbed neck seals are done will be how I'm doing my neck seal, elbow sections and shoulder sections. Each will be with Velcro closures to go over the long sleeve Lycra top.

I'm waiting for my new PRUSA XL to arrive since my beloved PRUSA Mark 3 i3S won't cut it for this build ... I've also printed is magnum pistol which fits on my Mark 3 and will be finishing that in the mean time.

My target for completion is MegaCon 2025, 6-9 Feb 2025 so currently I think I am on track ... we'll see. During the year I do need to do one system upgrade to my Dalek and I'm also putting the finishing touches on a full Jayne Cobb cosplay outfit complete with a screen accurate Callahan Full Bore Auto Lock, modified LaMatt revolver and Bowie knife so I have no shortage of stuff to do ... lol

Super cool!

 

[Nimitz]

Ok, boot cap successfully cast in the 47d semi rigid resin. Is super strong but also has a nice amount of give to it ... you can see th3 cast piece

along with the PLA model it was cast from so ive cast another cap for the other boot. I've also finished the mother mold for the top piece as well as completed claying up the heel piece in preparation for making its silicon mold. Once all 4 pieces are cast I'll start testing various methods for attaching to my boots. I'm thinking I might be able to just Velcro them on to the boots which if it works would be the best solution but we'll see.
Also, using my newly acquired Singer heavy duty 4423 sewing machine I think I've figured out how to sew the piping for the under suit shoulder and elbow sections of my top shirt. I've already successfully sewed the leather gun belt and pistol holster for my Colt Severs (The Fall Guy) space cowboy costume I'm also making. That build thread is on The RPF if anyone is interested. Ryan Goslin's 'Metal Storm' costume in The Fall Guy

 

[Nimitz]

Got the 2nd boot cap cast as well

Tomorrow I'll cast the first top piece, had a small issue with the mother mold and had to use some Smooth-On Habitat Black epoxy putty to stiffen but since it only needs to survive 2 pulls hopefully I'll be ok.
Also completed flaying up the heel and mid section pieces so as soon as my next batch of smooth cast 25 arrives I'll make each silicon mold and the plaster jackets.

 

[RageGoblin]

The way you're making these pieces looks really friggin cool. Do I understand correctly you're 3D printing the parts for the suit, and then using those parts as a mold to cast softer less rigid parts you'll actually be wearing??

 

[Nimitz]

Correct. I was going to do the all the armor pieces this way but now that I've actually cast them I'm rethinking some of that. While it's obviously way more time consuming to do this vice just 3D print pieces, the real issue comes down to actual usefulness. Makes perfect sense for the boots since to walk normally you need them somewhat flexible but for everything else I'm not sure how much I gain. It's not like an Iron Man suit where your entire body is covered. All the joints, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees are all exposed and since I'm sewing an undersuit out of stretch fabric there should be no issue with flexibility and movement.
Yes, the armor would be somewhat lighter overall but it's just PLA so it's not like it's that heavy and as for the individual pieces being not rigid I don't know what that will really buy me. And finally, the cost is pretty significant since I need mold max 25 to make each mold, a bunch of plaster bandages to make the mother molds and then the smooth cast 45d resin to make the part. While roto casting does use quite a bit less silicon for the molds, 'less' is relative ... so we'll see.
Luckily, since all the arm and leg armor are basically hollow tubes there would be much less prep for molding. Simply block off one end and you're ready to make a mold. The chest and COD will require a little more work like with the boots if I go that route.
If I could have cast the parts in a urethane rubber so that they would end up flexible like a toilet plunger that would be different but then you encounter painting issues since you need to use a Special flexible automotive paint that you spray with an hvlp sprayer and the stuff is more expensive than silicone! Now you can tint the rubber before casting but then you run into how to get exactly the same color on each part you cast since again you'd be mixing tints to get the correct color and unlike airbrushing you can't layer pre tinting the urethane resin. this smooth cast 45d is paintable just like PLA so it's easy.
Anyway, it may turn out that the chest pieces would benefit greatly from being semi flexible so we'll see ...

 

[RageGoblin]

That sounds so much more intense than regular 3d printing, sanding, filling and priming, and then painting. I agree it makes total sense for the foot pieces to be flexible. That's actually an issue I have been troubleshooting with my suit.
If you were to do a mixed media suit, how difficult would it be to get the finally coloring to match across the entire suit once all is said and done? I am afraid it would be quit difficult to get the shine or lack thereof to be consistent with some parts being cast and other parts being 3D plastic.

 

[Nimitz]

When you look at it i think it actually might be less work ... all the effort is in prepping the part for molding. The actual mold making and casting doesn't take much time at all and when the part comes out of the mold it's literally ready to paint. Since I'll be using the exact same process for painting it doesn't matter that the underlying part is cast resin or PLA ...