he4thbar's 1st Build(complete) - ODST

[RandomRanger]

The end is getting closer... Gotta sand and Kwik seal obvi still.
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I too tend to post my photos before sanding and quicksealing xD
Looking real good Heath, keep it up

 

[he4thbar]

Finished the boot covers! They are a little bulky on the top but I think it looks fine assuming it fits with the shins.

I have officially finished the "building" stage. Now it's time to move onto fixing up the seams on the 2nf half of my armor pieces.
Then I get to start leak seal and painting!
Helmet can start being sanded now too I guess.

 

[PaiganBoi]

The end is getting closer... Gotta sand and Kwik seal obvi still.
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Question. Are you using the files in the armoury? It appears that you used less bits than I did. Or did you simplify the templates and combine some of them so there is less cuttinig?

 

[RandomRanger]

Question. Are you using the files in the armoury? It appears that you used less bits than I did. Or did you simplify the templates and combine some of them so there is less cuttinig?

I went heavy on this sort of freehanding on my first suit.
"why make many pieces, when I can make a foam tube?" - RandomRanger

 

[he4thbar]

Question. Are you using the files in the armoury? It appears that you used less bits than I did. Or did you simplify the templates and combine some of them so there is less cuttinig?

RandomRanger called it. I cut out the files from the foam template. then I tape the pieces together that I know can make one solid piece if I rolled it "like a tube".
This method in my opinion limited seams and made the pieces look smoother overall as there are less pieces.
I had the same approach with almost all my pieces. If you look at my gauntlets, I just taped all of the pieces together that would be the "base" and just cut out a big piece, this also gave me the round affect on the gauntlets instead of making them boxy. (except the top where I made cuts to force the squared part).

 

[RandomRanger]

RandomRanger called it. I cut out the files from the foam template. then I tape the pieces together that I know can make one solid piece if I rolled it "like a tube".
This method in my opinion limited seams and made the pieces look smoother overall as there are less pieces.
I had the same approach with almost all my pieces. If you look at my gauntlets, I just taped all of the pieces together that would be the "base" and just cut out a big piece, this also gave me the round affect on the gauntlets instead of making them boxy. (except the top where I made cuts to force the squared part).

This is the same reasoning I had on my first suit as well.

 

[he4thbar]

Making this post for record keeping, going through and Kwik sealing and sanding seams (finishing with 1000 grit to places i sand down) before shoe goeing the internal seams to make them indestructible.
So I got all my pieces out to start working one by one.

 

[RandomRanger]

shoe goeing the internal seams to make them indestructible

ExCeLLuR8 I've been spreading the word hehe.

 

[master_colt_117]

ExCeLLuR8 I've been spreading the word hehe.

Haha I've started a new movement!!

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Shoe Glue: The way we stick together!!!

 

[master_colt_117]

Shoe Glue: The way we stick together!!!

Yup!! Turn all those little pieces into one big strong piece!

 

[he4thbar]

Yup!! Turn all those little pieces into one big strong piece!

I use it for skateboarding so when I saw you & random mention them in your builds It made perfect sense because that stuff will tear up around the foam before the seams do.

 

[he4thbar]

Armor & Kwik seal/sanding complete.
Time to move onto shoe goeing and leak sealing

 

[Sean Anwalt]

Nice!

 

[RandomRanger]

I love how tanky those legs are looking. Keep it up!

 

[he4thbar]

Well all primed and ready to wet sand before painting my armor. I went ahead and used leakseal as suggested by a few people here and have to say that stuff was a lot harder to control then I expected. Not as forgiving as plastidip on application
Also I cut out the visor finally on my helmet



Also check out my makeshift paint/leakseal booth

 

[master_colt_117]

Well all primed and ready to wet sand before painting my armor. I went ahead and used leakseal as suggested by a few people here and have to say that stuff was a lot harder to control then I expected. Not as forgiving as plastidip on application
Also I cut out the visor finally on my helmet
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Wow it looks so good and yes Leak seal takes getting used at first to but is so much better in the end. Its stronger and sandable. I usually spray from at least 18 inches away and build up my coats lightly, especially at first. But it's nice because you can literally eliminate all imperfections if you let it cure for a day, sand and caulk imperfections, then spray your final coats. It can get expensive though.

 

[he4thbar]

Wow it looks so good and yes Leak seal takes getting used at first to but is so much better in the end. Its stronger and sandable. I usually spray from at least 18 inches away and build up my coats lightly, especially at first. But it's nice because you can literally eliminate all imperfections if you let it cure for a day, sand and caulk imperfections, then spray your final coats. It can get expensive though.

Thank you!
I think I'm mostly done sealing(already spent $60 on it ) then if that's the case. I think I was doing about 12"-18" distance so maybe that's why sometimes it pooled a little. Luckly it didn't happen much and the one big pool will be under my chest plate.
I'm glad to know it's good for sanding so I can at least fix any pooled imperfections, but I'm also not going for t3 so there's some sacrifices I'm willing to make
thanks for the advice though!

 

[master_colt_117]

Thank you!
I think I'm mostly done sealing(already spent $60 on it ) then if that's the case. I think I was doing about 12"-18" distance so maybe that's why sometimes it pooled a little. Luckly it didn't happen much and the one big pool will be under my chest plate.
I'm glad to know it's good for sanding so I can at least fix any pooled imperfections, but I'm also not going for t3 so there's some sacrifices I'm willing to make
thanks for the advice though!

Absolutely man it looks absolutely fantastic! Great job and yes you should be able to lightly sand the pooled areas. Just go easy on it and make multiple light passes with the 320 grit sand paper. No need to bare down hard on it.

 

[he4thbar]

Layed down my base coat color of Montana Rhino spray paint. I highly suggest Montana cans to anyone. Pooling felt non existent(though I had some pooling from leakseal stage..) and the coverage is amazing.




Now this week I'll be using acrylics for some black undertones and whites/grays for some secondaries before weathering and then finishing up with a black wash.