Help with looking bigger in armor

[Mike283]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum and have recently undertaken the task of building my first Mjolnir Mark VI armor suit. So far, everything is going smoothly. I'm still in the Pep phase of construction. My issue is that John-117, along with most spartanII's is in the 7 foot range in height, with a big build. I stand at 5'11" and am not all that big. I plan to pad the undersuit of the armor to add bulk, but I'm looking to make most of my other areas (hands, neck, knees, ect...) look bigger. This way, when I'm in platforms in the final product, I don't look like a lanky tall guy with tiny hangs wearing armor. Have any of you tackled this problem. I know the easiest thing to do would be to make smaller armor, but I'm going for accuracy here. Thanks for reading and I welcome any advice you can throw my way.

 

[GundamEternity]

Hmm well the only thing i can think of is more padding :/ sorry thats all i can think of.

 

[wongone]

Use a Bmx crash suit/ body armor. I am very skinny but tall. Maybe 13" biceps, and everyone said that I look huge.



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[GundamEternity]

Yea i forgot about that. Pressure suits that have padding can make you look bigger. Not sure about the neck though.

 

[flipt69]

Well for the neck im not so shure about getting it longer?But i know that people who do clone trooper suits from star wars have neckseals hope that helps !

 

[kirshan]

Perhaps a black turtle neck shirt may help for the neck area, I to am working on my first suit I'm 5' 10" fairly well built. I hadn't really considered,the areas not covered in armor other then black thermal undies.

 

[Mike283]

Thanks for the input guys. I think I've nailed down looking bigger body-wise. I'm going to have to build up my hands though. I have big hands as it is, but with the height I'm adding to the boots, I'm going from 5'11" to probably 6'3". My hands would look small in proportion to the rest of my body. I'm thinking at the moment, I'm going to build up hand mass by padding out some over sized gloves. It's the simplest solution I think, but I haven't explored any options yet. I'm still in the pep stage and probably will be for a while. I'll post up some pictures of my progress in another thread soon. Thanks again, and if you have anymore advice you think a n00b like me needs to hear, please feel free to throw it my way. This is my first suit, but that doesn't mean it has to look crappy.

 

[J326]

you can try working out and using steroids because that's basically what the Spartans had, overly enhances steroids lol.

 

[Telemus]

you can try working out and using steroids because that's basically what the Spartans had, overly enhances steroids lol.

Yeah just hope you are the one that does not get all disfigured from it. Honestly though you would be surprised how much better just running and working out makes you feel and especially feel about how you look. Definitely a morale boost.

 

[playdohlord]

size equation:
lifting for football and wrestling + protien powder (i use whey protien) = larger size!!!

at least in wadsworth it is like that...then again it helps to have an undefeated UFC/MMA fighter as my high school weight trainer...although i doubt any of you have heard of him...his name is Bobby Jones...he is totally ripped 6'4" 220lbs of pure muscle...the man is practically exploding out of his shirt

 

[nil8]

To be honest with you I wouldn't sweat the minor details, most people at Halloween parties will not even notice and if it's a good build there will be too many people at conventions to pick on those tiny details (and if they do then they're just jerks anyway). I'd say go with what's most comfortable for you. It's been said many times to me about this on this forum, Master Chief is like 7' tall, most of us are not...just have fun with your hobby.

 

[Zat German]

I am 5'10" and have thought about the same issue of size. I have come to the conclusion that it is a non-issue. If I build the armor in the same proportions to the helmet(one that properly fits my head), it is going to look correct, even if I am more than a foot shorter than Spartan-117. It will only look odd if the armor is out of proportion to the helmet or vice versa.

 

[rumble]

For your neck, get a neckseal that is large enough to stay loose for a bit of width. It's easier than trying to fiddle with padding underneath the neckseal. You also want to make sure you don't pad too much to the point that you overheat, so make your padding count. I've found that using blocks of padding here and there work much better than trying to use a long but thin rectangle. It's also far cooler, and that's important when you're wearing something as enclosing as MC armor. As far as what type of padding to get, I've had a good bit of success with the insulation padding you can find in air conditioning aisles at Walmart/Home Improvement stores. It works better than the thinner white padding, holds up to sweating, breathes, and doesn't disintegrate during trooping.

Your knees won't really stand out truth be told. Your undersuit, if accurate, could bulk you out naturally a bit. People will be looking at the armor over you, and as long as it sits right, most will miss thinness.

If you're holding a weapon, your hands won't really be an issue. If you want added length, and it's a significant disparity between what you have and what you want for the costume, look at monster hands that you could wear under the gloves. If the monster hands don't fill out the gloves though, it could look bad. Again though, if you're planning on holding a weapon, hand size really isn't that big of an issue because they'll be partially hidden.

Start by looking at the body armor like some of the guys above me mentioned - then see what you still want to fix. If you want broader shoulders, add some padding to the inside of your shoulder plates so they offset a bit more. Build your biceps and forearms wider than you would naturally need, then pad them out. It's all about tricking the eye into seeing a complete costume.

Good luck with your build!

 

[Telemus]

With a little time, hard work, and patience you can build up your body like you want.