SgtSaint
Well-Known Member
- Member DIN
- S027
I'm going to PM ya about that. <wink>
Yep - I give that advice probably 10 times a week on one platform or another.
Halo The TV Series Master Chief full build
- Thread starter Nimitz
- Start date
Nimitz
Member
Even though the weather turned bitter cold today - high was only 58 deg , it was above the 50 deg threshold so I could do some more painting ...
The boots, forearm, bicep and shoulder cap armor is now done with the pre shading pass. Tomorrow I can do a final coat for the calf and thigh armor and depending on how much black I still have left I can do at least one full coverage coat on the remaining pieces - COD, chest and helmet. Then one final pass on them in 48 hrs and I'll be ready for the real work ...
So here's my overall cunning plan to recreate a screen accurate MC look with the understanding that set lighting and camera work make a big difference in what 'the paint scheme actually looks like ... remember the helmet and body are different. The helmet should read cooler and darker and the body warmer broader
Helmet:
1. Pre shading with flat black - in work
2. Main green core tone
3. Olive correction pass
4. Micro modulation to add subtle depth
5. Edge wear pass
6. Chip reveals
7. Grime layer
8. Matte clear
Body:
.5 Pre shading - in work
1. Main green
2. Panel depth boosting
3. Subtle highlight pass
4. Edge wear pass
5. Weather rebalancing
6. Subtle dirt layer
7. Matte clear
I'll provide the exact colors and mix ratios and what gets applied where as I get into the actual painting passes ...
The boots, forearm, bicep and shoulder cap armor is now done with the pre shading pass. Tomorrow I can do a final coat for the calf and thigh armor and depending on how much black I still have left I can do at least one full coverage coat on the remaining pieces - COD, chest and helmet. Then one final pass on them in 48 hrs and I'll be ready for the real work ...
So here's my overall cunning plan to recreate a screen accurate MC look with the understanding that set lighting and camera work make a big difference in what 'the paint scheme actually looks like ... remember the helmet and body are different. The helmet should read cooler and darker and the body warmer broader
Helmet:
1. Pre shading with flat black - in work
2. Main green core tone
3. Olive correction pass
4. Micro modulation to add subtle depth
5. Edge wear pass
6. Chip reveals
7. Grime layer
8. Matte clear
Body:
.5 Pre shading - in work
1. Main green
2. Panel depth boosting
3. Subtle highlight pass
4. Edge wear pass
5. Weather rebalancing
6. Subtle dirt layer
7. Matte clear
I'll provide the exact colors and mix ratios and what gets applied where as I get into the actual painting passes ...
Nimitz
Member
And the typical harsh convention lighting is like nothing used on any shows... the average convention-goer has no idea about what the interaction of set lighting and costume color do to achieve what they see on screen. They see something and go "... oooh I like that color" and then when they see you at a convention in the same costume and it doesn't match what they saw on their tv or at the movies, no amount of explanation matters, in their mind you didn't get it 'right' ....
That may or may not matter to you but for me since I'm not looking to get a job in the special effects dept I only care that 'it looks like it does when I watch the show' ... YMMV
Nimitz
Member
And just to continue to beat this dead horse ... here's another example form my personal experience...
While building Dalek Nim I eventually got to the point where I needed to figure out the paint scheme. In the 'painting' sub forum of Project Dalek' there was a 12 page thread 'debating' color. 12 pages! About half way through it a guy in the UK who had built the same style Dalek as me (so his paint scheme was very revenant ) posted that at a recent Con a BBC Dr Who prop dept guy came up to him, looked at his Dalek and said "You really nailed the color!" At that point I stopped reading the thread and simply got the color codes for the automobile paint he used and never looked back ...
While building Dalek Nim I eventually got to the point where I needed to figure out the paint scheme. In the 'painting' sub forum of Project Dalek' there was a 12 page thread 'debating' color. 12 pages! About half way through it a guy in the UK who had built the same style Dalek as me (so his paint scheme was very revenant ) posted that at a recent Con a BBC Dr Who prop dept guy came up to him, looked at his Dalek and said "You really nailed the color!" At that point I stopped reading the thread and simply got the color codes for the automobile paint he used and never looked back ...
Nimitz
Member
Just got notified that I'm a finalist for the Orlando MegaCon Masters of Cosplay Contest ... now the pressure is actually on to finish. Toward that end I finished the paint step 1 which means all the armor has been pre shaded. In 2 days once everything has cured it will be time to break out the airbrush and start the initial base olive color ...
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Nimitz
Member
Well, I've decided to take a quick (?) 2 day detour ....
After finally getting the COD to fit , the final size of the butt plate (does this make my butt look big ? ... lol) always bothered me, it looked well, big ... so I left it but was always annoyed with it
Well last night I was rewatching some episodes to look for details on weathering and wear of the armor when I saw a shot of the MC standing from behind and it was obvious teh butt plate is reasonably small as you can see quite a bit of the undersuit pants.
That was enough for me and I couldn't stand it anymore and it finally dawned on me that instead of just scaling it universally to 120% to make everything fit, if I left the z axis alone which is what increases its size, and just scaled x and y, left and right and forward and back I could probably make it fit around my waist but keep the actual butt plate small, like on the show ..
Duh.
Besides, since I spent millions of hrs learning how to sew those ribbed pants I want to show off as much of that as possible - vanity for sure ... .
So last night I got back into the s/w and after a bunch of testing slices on my duck tape dummy I came up with dimensions that fit my waist with the undersuit on and located the sides of the hip panels so that the hip connector boxes were in the correct position. Of course it was now just slightly too big for my print bed so I had to slice it in half which is not really a big deal.
The first half printed last night (10 hrs) and the 2nd is printing now. Next will be to scale the side plates to fit and the hip boxes. The COD is already printed and primed at 100% which I'm hoping will fit since I'm not changing any z direction dimensions.
Long story short I also needed to touch the black pre shading on one calf armor piece, one hand plate and most importantly the helmet which I also did which now gives me 2 more days of cure time before I can do the first airbrush layer. That should should be close to enough time to get the new COC sanded primed and pre shaded ...
Of course I can't do much else in teh shop now since everything is set for painting with the armor ladies out in sequence with pieces hanging everywhere ... lol
I'll use the next 2 days to hopefully solve my sword electronics issue as well
Only 20 days left so it's definitely crunch time ... no more back tracking for sure
After finally getting the COD to fit , the final size of the butt plate (does this make my butt look big ? ... lol) always bothered me, it looked well, big ... so I left it but was always annoyed with it
Well last night I was rewatching some episodes to look for details on weathering and wear of the armor when I saw a shot of the MC standing from behind and it was obvious teh butt plate is reasonably small as you can see quite a bit of the undersuit pants.
That was enough for me and I couldn't stand it anymore and it finally dawned on me that instead of just scaling it universally to 120% to make everything fit, if I left the z axis alone which is what increases its size, and just scaled x and y, left and right and forward and back I could probably make it fit around my waist but keep the actual butt plate small, like on the show ..
Duh.
Besides, since I spent millions of hrs learning how to sew those ribbed pants I want to show off as much of that as possible - vanity for sure ... .
So last night I got back into the s/w and after a bunch of testing slices on my duck tape dummy I came up with dimensions that fit my waist with the undersuit on and located the sides of the hip panels so that the hip connector boxes were in the correct position. Of course it was now just slightly too big for my print bed so I had to slice it in half which is not really a big deal.
The first half printed last night (10 hrs) and the 2nd is printing now. Next will be to scale the side plates to fit and the hip boxes. The COD is already printed and primed at 100% which I'm hoping will fit since I'm not changing any z direction dimensions.
Long story short I also needed to touch the black pre shading on one calf armor piece, one hand plate and most importantly the helmet which I also did which now gives me 2 more days of cure time before I can do the first airbrush layer. That should should be close to enough time to get the new COC sanded primed and pre shaded ...
Of course I can't do much else in teh shop now since everything is set for painting with the armor ladies out in sequence with pieces hanging everywhere ... lol
I'll use the next 2 days to hopefully solve my sword electronics issue as well
Only 20 days left so it's definitely crunch time ... no more back tracking for sure
Nimitz
Member
One of the things I'm including in my Build Book for the judges is a 'paint progression' page so they can see how it was done. I'm using the front chest armor piece and taking a picture under the exact same light conditions and position at the end of each step so i thought it might be instructive to do the same here so here's step 1: flat black pre shading pass.
Currently working on the translucent olive base layer but I ran out of Vallejo airbrush thinner ... I big bottle arrives later today so I have to wait a bit and work some more on my new COD ... looking to do a more reliable attachment mechanism than what I did for my 'big butt' version ... lol. I'm also working on the magnetic attachment for the energy sword so I can free up my right hand when needed. I built a prototype using the first generation of the sword handle which worked by I needed a slightly smaller neodymium magnet which also arrives tomorrow ...crunch time is getting closer but I think I'm still on track. Good thing I'm retired and have no life but to go in my shop every day ...
I have a big bottle of Tamyia airbrush thinner but that is for alcohol based acrylics and Vallejo is polyurethane water acrylics so mixing chemistry at this point would not be ' bad '
I have a big bottle of Tamyia airbrush thinner but that is for alcohol based acrylics and Vallejo is polyurethane water acrylics so mixing chemistry at this point would not be ' bad '
Nimitz
Member
Well it had to happen .. my airbrush compressor failed hard this morning ...
New one arrives Wed, probably in the afternoon which means realistically I can't paint again until Thursday. The good news as such it is is that I still need to finish my new COD setup, energy sword armor attachment system, airbrush MirrorChrome in my visor and reinstall it and redo the electronics on the energy sword ...
I only have the final attachment to do for the CoD, then prime and flat black to get it to where the rest of the armor is so I can do that over the next 2 days. Also my new micro controller board arrived today so I can reprogram the board and then check it out as I've already redone anll teh wiring except for soldering the switch to the new board and was just waiting for the new board. The shorter magnets I need for the sword handle arrive tomorrow so I can work on finishing that up as well.
So I've got plenty to do over the next 2 days and my new cunning plan is to have everything but painting done by Thursday so that only painting is left to do ...
New one arrives Wed, probably in the afternoon which means realistically I can't paint again until Thursday. The good news as such it is is that I still need to finish my new COD setup, energy sword armor attachment system, airbrush MirrorChrome in my visor and reinstall it and redo the electronics on the energy sword ...
I only have the final attachment to do for the CoD, then prime and flat black to get it to where the rest of the armor is so I can do that over the next 2 days. Also my new micro controller board arrived today so I can reprogram the board and then check it out as I've already redone anll teh wiring except for soldering the switch to the new board and was just waiting for the new board. The shorter magnets I need for the sword handle arrive tomorrow so I can work on finishing that up as well.
So I've got plenty to do over the next 2 days and my new cunning plan is to have everything but painting done by Thursday so that only painting is left to do ...
Nimitz
Member
Yes. So I'm a finalist in the Novice division where a Build Book is not mandatory but it's really a good idea if you want to have any chance. You only get 5 mins meeting with the judges, they actually use a stop watch and there are 15 finalists in each of the 3 divisions plus the 8 Masters finalists for the 2025 Finale which is held at the beginning of each year at MegaCon to pick the $10,000 overall winner from the previous year. The judges spend all afternoon looking at those books after all the 5 min meetings are done.
There's a real art to those as well. You don't want them to be more than 5-6 pages but still be able to convey in my case a years worth of work ...
I've already finished the draft and now it's refining it to tell a succinct but complete story. Since unlike last year, this costume is 100% handmade by me, I'm stressing all the different maker skills that went into it hoping they will recognize the broad breath of skills involved: sewing, 3D printing, 3D modeling s/w, mold making and casting, airbrush painting, electronics with micro processors, EVA foam and laser cutting.
Regardless of how it turns out this is probably the last time I'll enter a contest ... there's is a lot of 'overhead' involved in participating which takes away time at a Con and to be honest I've not been very impressed with how judging is conducted. All types of cosplay are lumped together regardless of whether you are recreating a character or making up an original one which doesn't seem fair. If you're recreating a tv/movie/ etc character then screen accuracy should be the over riding factor but even if it is judged that way ... which it's not at MegaCon ... how do you compare that against an original made up character where there is nothing to compare against?. At MegaCon, screen accuracy is a very distant third criteria with build quality and handmade being the primary drivers. And unfortunately, at least at MegaCon, there seems to be a distinct bias towards costumes where sewing is the dominant skill involved.
Case in point: the judges told me that they would have liked to see in my Fallout:The Ghoul costume that I hand made the overcoat even though I did all the distressing and weathering and that's NOT how that costume was made by the prop dept. Also, even though they were blown away by the full head platinum silicon mask I made exactly like they are done by Immortal Masks in Hollywood and not a single contestant across all 3 divisions and the 8 overall finalists for the $10,000 had anything even remotely close to it they couldn't get over the fact that I didn't make the overcoat. The winner in my division was this 'large bunny' which I assume was from some amine I think and was just this 3D printed outfit with a bunch of things that lit up and rotated.
Anyway, I know it sounds like a bunch of sour grapes (and maybe it is) but clearly my thought process for cosplay contests doesn't line up with how they appear to be run (I've entered 3 so far) so since they are obviously not going to change just to accommodate me I need to move on.
Ok I'm done feeling sorry for myself (and being mad my airbrush compressor failed ...)
SgtSaint
Well-Known Member
- Member DIN
- S027
It still seems a ton better than the smaller "audience response" contests where the $7,000 home build Optimus Prime with electronics and and and and and... looses to a busty coed in a barely-there fur bikini and ears going as a cat - because she does a bump and grind on the stairs banister.
{Yeah, that really happened}
It is odd how some things (like the coat) can stick in someone's mind. Because a judge doesn't do masks themselves and doesn't grasp the technical skill of it, but they dew sew, they focus on the sewing work. In theory a panel of judges should be a cross-section of skills so they can offset each other but that doesn't always happen especially if availability means the judges are all from sewn anime backgrounds (or whatever).
{Yeah, that really happened}
It is odd how some things (like the coat) can stick in someone's mind. Because a judge doesn't do masks themselves and doesn't grasp the technical skill of it, but they dew sew, they focus on the sewing work. In theory a panel of judges should be a cross-section of skills so they can offset each other but that doesn't always happen especially if availability means the judges are all from sewn anime backgrounds (or whatever).
Nimitz
Member
Exactly! In the 3 contests I did the judges experience was widely variant and it was obvious what skills they had no knowledge of. I get that a large percentage of cosplayers are 'young' but organizers need to do a much better job of screen8n* judges IMHO. Competitive equity is the hallmark of elite competitions which is where my background is ... I was a nationally ranked competitive shooter for about 7 years and that was. Very big deal.
During the MegaCon contest last year they had a 'fan favorite' caytagory which I thought I might actually have a shot it .... well the way they instituted it was via an App where you voted for a contestant but you were able to vote for as many contestants as you wanted ! The winner was literally the very first person on stage in the novice category who beat out all the Masters and Journeyman. Her outfit? A StormTrooper that she 'acquired' and then bejeweled the entire thing. So, here demonstrated maker skills? The ability to glue beads on some armor ...
But wait, there's more! At the Fallout Convention in Vegas the winner of the Journeyman category was a women dressed in a Vaultec jumpsuit that she purchased and then, you guessed it, she bejeweled the entire thing! Also, they told us there would only be 15 in each category (novice, journeyman, master) .. They ended up allowing 43 in Novice and 5 in Journeyman and 3 in Master. And the judges never bumped anyone from novice to journeyman even though there were many that should have been ...
During the MegaCon contest last year they had a 'fan favorite' caytagory which I thought I might actually have a shot it .... well the way they instituted it was via an App where you voted for a contestant but you were able to vote for as many contestants as you wanted ! The winner was literally the very first person on stage in the novice category who beat out all the Masters and Journeyman. Her outfit? A StormTrooper that she 'acquired' and then bejeweled the entire thing. So, here demonstrated maker skills? The ability to glue beads on some armor ...
But wait, there's more! At the Fallout Convention in Vegas the winner of the Journeyman category was a women dressed in a Vaultec jumpsuit that she purchased and then, you guessed it, she bejeweled the entire thing! Also, they told us there would only be 15 in each category (novice, journeyman, master) .. They ended up allowing 43 in Novice and 5 in Journeyman and 3 in Master. And the judges never bumped anyone from novice to journeyman even though there were many that should have been ...
SgtSaint
Well-Known Member
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35 years in cosplay. Conventioned from California to New York. Farscape convention in Chicago. ComicCon Diego the year Starship Troopers was due out. DragonCon. Big stuff. Little stuff. Won some contests along the way. Lots of after-hours with stars. And two things I've learned:
Oh... One con... Robert O'Reilly (Gowron from Star Trek), mentioned he wished he "could go drinking with all these fine Klingon warriors". Ok. I lead the group (40 full-uniformed Klingons) that night to his B&B, asked the counter girl to ring him and tell him "his pub crawl had arrived". He comes down the stairs slow, peeks around the banister... Then bounces up in cheer.
[And I could tell ya a dozen more stories like that from the years and none of them are about how great the contest was]
Nights like that stay with your for life - The poorly run contests don't. If you win you do, great, grab some cash to pay off the weekend. If you don't, that's okay too. Just be sure to HAVE FUN AT THE CONVENTION. Don't be so focused on the work, the costume book, the competition that you forget you're there to have fun, make friends, and freak out the normies.
(Most times, I'd rather go to the pub on Halloween - go to have fun - and if I walk away with the $250-$500 price because I got pushed on stage - that's a way better time than the convention contests)
- No two contests are run the same-and rarely seem to be run on a truly level playing field as one expects.
- I don't give a sh*t about contests anyway unless its almost for laughs.
Oh... One con... Robert O'Reilly (Gowron from Star Trek), mentioned he wished he "could go drinking with all these fine Klingon warriors". Ok. I lead the group (40 full-uniformed Klingons) that night to his B&B, asked the counter girl to ring him and tell him "his pub crawl had arrived". He comes down the stairs slow, peeks around the banister... Then bounces up in cheer.
We hit like 10 clubs and I don't think any of us paid for a drink - either the manager said "don't worry about it" or the patrons said "I got you", all night long.
[And I could tell ya a dozen more stories like that from the years and none of them are about how great the contest was]
Nights like that stay with your for life - The poorly run contests don't. If you win you do, great, grab some cash to pay off the weekend. If you don't, that's okay too. Just be sure to HAVE FUN AT THE CONVENTION. Don't be so focused on the work, the costume book, the competition that you forget you're there to have fun, make friends, and freak out the normies.
(Most times, I'd rather go to the pub on Halloween - go to have fun - and if I walk away with the $250-$500 price because I got pushed on stage - that's a way better time than the convention contests)
Nimitz
Member
Agree. As I mentioned, this will be my last contest regardless of the outcome. I have a lot more fun interacting with convention guests who just want to take pictures and talk about the costume and/or character. Because I'm stubborn and I said I was going to do this contest I'm going to go thru with it (with zero expectations). Life is too short to get all worked up about what some 25 yr old judge who only does sewing thinks about my build - lol.
UPDATE... They just posted the 4 judges social media urls .... 4 women, all under 30 and tons of pics of what type of costumes? You guessed it ... 90% all sewn puffy dresses, skirts, jumpsuit, etc type costumes ,... lol. At least I know where I'll fall in the judging ... lol
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Nimitz
Member
New compressor arrived this morning so I was able to get back to painting ...
Both half's of the chest, shoulder caps, hand guards and boots are finished with their olive base. I ended up with a bunch of dry spray on the thighs, calf's, bicep and forearm armor so I hit it with some 400 grit and then resprayed the black pre shading. So tomorrow I can complete the base olive layer on them as well and if time do the base olive layer on the helmet which is the same as for the body armor ...
Here's what the chest plate looks like now. In the 2nd pic I just put the bicep piece next to it which enables you to clearly see where the base layer stands now ...
Both half's of the chest, shoulder caps, hand guards and boots are finished with their olive base. I ended up with a bunch of dry spray on the thighs, calf's, bicep and forearm armor so I hit it with some 400 grit and then resprayed the black pre shading. So tomorrow I can complete the base olive layer on them as well and if time do the base olive layer on the helmet which is the same as for the body armor ...
Here's what the chest plate looks like now. In the 2nd pic I just put the bicep piece next to it which enables you to clearly see where the base layer stands now ...
