Help for halo 3 marine armor

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puckkeeper34

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I'm planning on a first-time build, specifically for the halo 3 marines. I couldn't find any guides or anything online and that's fine, but I need help on where to start. do I buy the BDU under the armor? is the halo 3 BDU even for sale? are there printable cutouts or designs for the armor? how do I make the helmet? what materials and tools do I need? is it better to contract someone to do it? how long will it take? how much money will it cost to make?

those are just the questions coming off the top of my head, and if I'm honest, this is quite daunting

so, I would appreciate some tips or something to help me get started.

thank you in advance
 
Hi there puckkeeper34 ! Welcome to the 405th! We love first time builds and there is a very strong Marine gang here.

It seems like you have chosen which suit to make which is a first step so congrats! The next step is deciding what material to use. The most common medium here is eva foam. Other popular options are fiberglass/bondo, and 3D print. I would suggest watching some videos on youtube and checking out our "tutorials" section to help you choose a method that works for you and your resources.

After that you should check the "Armory" tab at the top of the screen. That is where we keep all of our free files for various armors. Idk what's in there for marines bc I haven't made one but it's worth a look. If you can't find what your looking for, I'm sure one of the active Marine gang people has some files you can use.

After that, you just pick a piece and start working. Some people say start with something small that you can remake easily while you are learning. Seems logical, personally I like to start with something fun/wearable. That way you can wear it for motivation once it's done. It doesn't really matter what you start with, although some pieces are traditionally harder than others.

Tools you will need and cost of the build will depend on material chosen. You can certainly pay someone to make the suit for you but that's not as much fun and frankly is not likely to be cheaper. Time depends on how much time you have to commit to building every day and what level of detail/ perfectionism you are going for. Some people crank out a suit in a few months, others it takes a few years. The Marine suit doesn't look as complicated as say a spartan suit so I don't think it generally takes THAT long.

Idk about where to get the BDUs for under the armor but I think people just buy a camo set of BDUs that they like without worrying about it being specifically from Halo. Idk, I will have to refer to someone who has made a marine for that one.

Building a suit of armor from scratch IS a daunting task. It's a lot of work and usually involves learning some new skills and buying some new tools. It's a big undertaking which is what makes it such a rewarding project. A lot of people stop, run out of time, or lose motivation and have to decide if they want to continue. It's not something that's simple or easy to do. But if it's something you want to do it can be a very fun and rewarding process.
This forum is probably the best place for support and encouragement on the entire internet, so you're in the right place for taking on such a challenge. Ask questions, read other threads, watch videos, and don't be afraid of mistakes. Some people rebuild parts over and over again.

Good luck and have fun! We are here to help!
 
Thank you!

where would you recommend buying EVA foam or fiberglass, I'm split between the two.

I've also heard of these thin fiberglass sheets you can lay on top of stuff, so is it possible to make it out of EVA, then reinforce it with fiberglass because foam seems to have more room for error?

is it possible or viable to make the parts on a simple desk in a garage? or would you recommend a cutting board?

this is for future reference, and I'm going to take a look at the tutorials and armory.

thank you again
 
The Halo 3 Marines use a custom camo pattern for their BDUs. My own personal opinion is that the closest commercially available match in terms of color, pattern, and shape is the British Desert DPM.

Spidermonkey60 has made one of the best sets of Halo 3 Marine armor I have seen:
 
Thank you!

where would you recommend buying EVA foam or fiberglass, I'm split between the two.

I've also heard of these thin fiberglass sheets you can lay on top of stuff, so is it possible to make it out of EVA, then reinforce it with fiberglass because foam seems to have more room for error?

is it possible or viable to make the parts on a simple desk in a garage? or would you recommend a cutting board?

this is for future reference, and I'm going to take a look at the tutorials and armory.

thank you again
Idk about eva foam as I do pep and fiberglass.

For that method, you print the patterns out onto cardstock. You then assemble the cardstock pieces so that you have a paper model of the object. You then apply a few layers of fiberglass resin to harden the paper. Then apply fiberglass mat (or cloth) and resin to the inside to strengthen. Finally use layers of bondo autobody filler and spot putty to shape the piece and make it smooth.

I found all of these things at home depot, except spot filler which I could only find at ACE Hardware. I'm assuming in this response that you are in america.

That's kind of a brief overview of the method. There's more details to learn from tutorials and videos and whatever else.

You can def just do it on a desk but you are most likely going to cut up your desk so the general recommendation is to get a cutting mat. They're not terribly expensive from joannes or marshals or Amazon or something.

I have heard of using fiberglass mat to reinforce foam, but I don't know if that's commonly done or not.

My opinion is that foam has more room for error in that when you make a mistake the piece looks messed up. When you make a mistake on pep the piece is ruined and not usable and you have to start over. That's just my opinion tho and again, I have never used EVA foam.
 
Thank you!

where would you recommend buying EVA foam or fiberglass, I'm split between the two.

I've also heard of these thin fiberglass sheets you can lay on top of stuff, so is it possible to make it out of EVA, then reinforce it with fiberglass because foam seems to have more room for error?

is it possible or viable to make the parts on a simple desk in a garage? or would you recommend a cutting board?

this is for future reference, and I'm going to take a look at the tutorials and armory.

thank you again
Hey Puck, where abouts are you based? There's a few foam suppliers that you can use depending on where you are.

For foam and even 3D printed suits, you can definitely just use a desk in a garage - in fact, I still work from a workbench in my bedroom. If you're cutting EVA foam, I definitely recommend a cutting mat.
 
Thank you!

where would you recommend buying EVA foam or fiberglass, I'm split between the two.

I've also heard of these thin fiberglass sheets you can lay on top of stuff, so is it possible to make it out of EVA, then reinforce it with fiberglass because foam seems to have more room for error?

is it possible or viable to make the parts on a simple desk in a garage? or would you recommend a cutting board?

this is for future reference, and I'm going to take a look at the tutorials and armory.

thank you again
A fairly (unfortunately) universal way to get ahold of some EVA foam relatively inexpensively is to snag some anti-fatigue mats at Walmart or another big box store. I usually get the 2'x2' square puzzle piece mats in four packs and can do the majority of a costume with one or two packs depending on how efficiently my patterns are laid out. Fiberglass equipment is usually easy to find anywhere there's automotive supply under the body repair section.

For mixing materials like adding fiberglass to EVA foam you're kind of kneecapping one of the benefits of the flexibility of foam by adding rigidity to it. Sometimes you want to do that but I'd keep the comfortable foam costume or do a hybrid build with some hard parts (helmet is a good choice) and some soft parts to make it more comfortable to wear for extended periods of time.

For three years or so I just used a cutting mat on my dining room table for building foam stuff so a garage is a step up from that! Look into a self healing OLFA cutting mat or similar to protect the surface and extend the life of your knife blades.

If you need to get a bit more inspiration every third week of the month there's currently a Halo 3 Marine build stream going on with multiple builders working on their costumes and answering questions. Luck has it, that's tomorrow night.
twitch.tv/405thhalo
 
around Los Angeles
Hobby Lobby sells some great EVA foam for cosplay. Normally they sell stuff kinda overpriced but you can basically always get a "30% off one item" coupon and just buy a roll or two every once in a while. I think I got a big like 24x36x0.25 in one for like $12?
I used to use the cheap puzzle mats from places like Harbor Freight but there definitely is no real substitute for the good stuff.
 
As an Austalian I don't know all the American cosplay foam suppliers, but I do know of SKS Prop's HD Foam which you can get from Blick Art Materials, as well as TnT Cosplay.
 
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