I wanted to post this in the noob forum but it won't let me....
Anyway, like most I've been watching all of these really sweet foam armor build go though the forums, some looking just as good or BETTER than the classic Fiberglass builds.
On my first and most recent suit, everything is 100% fiberglass except for the boots. The boots I just free handed and didn't do bad on my second attempt.
Now, I want to re-do my Mk V before Halo 4 arrives and I decided to give the foam route a try. So, I gave it a shot for real using the pep templates and I gotta say, this IS NOT as easy as everyone makes it look
Here is a shot of a shoulder piece I did, I used the templates to get the foam shapes and then I put the pep together (I just folded the tabs rather than cut them off since I still wanted to use the paper)
Now, it took me a long time to put the foam piece together. WAY longer than I thought it would.
You'll see that compared to each other, the foam one looks kinda pathetic imo. Before anyone says anything, the seams are actually really close, you may think there are large gaps but that's because of the black sharpie I used... it makes the lines a little too bold haha.
I studied a lot on getting the seams close, so that didn't bother me.
The over all shape doesn't look right, and I'm not sure what I did wrong. I did make sure to cut behind the piece on the major bends, but the lines where it needs to be sharp and creased aren't and I don't know how to get them sharp. In the picture below, you can kind of get an idea of what I mean
The front trapezoid area is sharp with the paper, but more rounded on the foam. I DID cut lines on the inside seam to bend it easier but it still doesn't look right. That piece is also one large foam piece.
Should I be working in smaller pieces with the foam?
Should I be cutting the pieces everywhere there is a line?
On paper, you can just fold to get the shape, but the foam is too thick for that: how do I achieve a similar look?
Should I be using every piece from the pep template when I foam a piece? Or are there certain pieces I should just skip?
Do I just have to accept that on certain areas it won't look like the pep or can I remedy the problem?
Last question: to those who have foamed AND glassed, do any of you prefer glass over foam for more than just the helmet? I like that the foam pieces are light, but they feel...........too light. I find myself liking the weight and feel of fiberglass more, but I'm trying to keep an open mind for both methods.
This is harder than I thought!!
Anyway, like most I've been watching all of these really sweet foam armor build go though the forums, some looking just as good or BETTER than the classic Fiberglass builds.
On my first and most recent suit, everything is 100% fiberglass except for the boots. The boots I just free handed and didn't do bad on my second attempt.
Now, I want to re-do my Mk V before Halo 4 arrives and I decided to give the foam route a try. So, I gave it a shot for real using the pep templates and I gotta say, this IS NOT as easy as everyone makes it look
Here is a shot of a shoulder piece I did, I used the templates to get the foam shapes and then I put the pep together (I just folded the tabs rather than cut them off since I still wanted to use the paper)
Now, it took me a long time to put the foam piece together. WAY longer than I thought it would.
You'll see that compared to each other, the foam one looks kinda pathetic imo. Before anyone says anything, the seams are actually really close, you may think there are large gaps but that's because of the black sharpie I used... it makes the lines a little too bold haha.
I studied a lot on getting the seams close, so that didn't bother me.
The over all shape doesn't look right, and I'm not sure what I did wrong. I did make sure to cut behind the piece on the major bends, but the lines where it needs to be sharp and creased aren't and I don't know how to get them sharp. In the picture below, you can kind of get an idea of what I mean
The front trapezoid area is sharp with the paper, but more rounded on the foam. I DID cut lines on the inside seam to bend it easier but it still doesn't look right. That piece is also one large foam piece.
Should I be working in smaller pieces with the foam?
Should I be cutting the pieces everywhere there is a line?
On paper, you can just fold to get the shape, but the foam is too thick for that: how do I achieve a similar look?
Should I be using every piece from the pep template when I foam a piece? Or are there certain pieces I should just skip?
Do I just have to accept that on certain areas it won't look like the pep or can I remedy the problem?
Last question: to those who have foamed AND glassed, do any of you prefer glass over foam for more than just the helmet? I like that the foam pieces are light, but they feel...........too light. I find myself liking the weight and feel of fiberglass more, but I'm trying to keep an open mind for both methods.
This is harder than I thought!!