Jorge Chest 3D Model Build (Kinda)

[KnavishPlum]

Hey everyone! With Christmas having come and gone excitement for my costume is at an all time high since I got a 3d printer! It's on the way still so no pics of it or anything but its an Creality Ender 3 Pro model printer. I have decided (against good judgement or not idk) that I am going to fully print the chest armor of the costume. I am going to use MoeSizzlac's Noble 6 torse armor and am working on a Grenider attachment to stick on top of it which is what this thread is about!

So my modeling skills are very bad so this isn't a original model in the slightest but it will be heavily modified by the end. To start, we are using the Grenider model from the thread about pull Halo Reach PC armor assets.

Sadly while being the actual model, it is missing a lot of detail that was being carried by textures and also the front canister just seems... flatter. Using my lack of skills, 3D Builder (probably the most limited 3d modeling software) and MeshLab I got the model to this point:

I removed the side things and bolts using MeshLab since I want to print the bolt heads separately with a custom model and the side things just seem a little off. I also replaced the canister thing in the middle using 3D Builder and its limited capabilities (I had to use cones to make the bevels). Its kinda jankily put together as I used cubes (Green) to get the top armor to meet the new canister. Because the new canister is more of a perfect circle than the OG one, some gaps exist between the top armor and canister.

The other thing which I have been having issues with is this detail on the canister:

It's an indent in the canister but the issue is that that sides aren't straight, they slope inward a bit as it goes up. The thing under it I haven't made yet since it also seems to just have been a texture on the armor or is just not part of it like the little black strip on the right.

Also just cause here is a pic of the chest on top of the Noble 6 chest. It looks so nice!! I plan to subtract the chest from the inside of this so it just kinda slides over and the N6 chest can print with no mods to it and be used without this on it.

 

[Zachary]

Hi, i'm also using a lot of 3D printing for my armor making (more specificly my helmets) and I aslo use very limited program so after a wile ive come up with diffrent post processing techniques to fix those issues. for the ides of printing a whole chest, it's not crazy, it's just ambicious, specialy of your only starting out in 3D printing, so to get the hang of it i'd say print smaller stuff at first (to learn you machine and slicer) then proceed with your chest plate. as for the gaps. if the cilinder is free floating in the chest, add some rough support on the top and bottom or back, (as long as it's not visible) then slice your model in smaller chunks for ease of printing. once your chest will be fully printed, you'll have to fill some seams and sand untile your fingers are no more. well in this step, use bondo to fill the bigger gaps, that you'll then be able to sand down to the desired shapes. digital work is not the only thing possible here and for the lack of details, on my 3D printed spartan fred helmet, i used 2mm craft foam for details, it's faster, easier and as efficient as doing it before printing.
one last word, check your scalling a billion time before pressing print, as it could be a VERY expensive mistake for massive peice like that.
i know i wasnt able to help you with your 3D model, but i hope you find this usefull! cheers, i cant wait to see your progress!

 

[KnavishPlum]

I have some experience with print in general, but not with the printer I am getting. I have a Destiny helmet sliced into a bunch of small pieces I am going to test with if I can locate the plastic baggy floating around my house with half a Destiny helmet in it.

When it comes to scaling, my main goal is to just scale it to the N6 chest under it. If I can scale that correctly to me then it shouldn't be an issue for the attachment.

 

[TurboCharizard]

Seconding Zachary that if you're just setting up your printer start off with some small props to make sure your calibration game is down and you know how to spot and fix issues with prints. From memory that Noble 6 chest on it's own is a good 10-12 pieces and this collar will likely be another 6-8 so there's going to be plenty of room for introduced error by any number of issues.

If you are keen on jumping straight into printing the armour I'd start with the chest cylinder since exact fit with the rest of the chest can be a bit looser and it's likely only 100g-150g of material which isn't that large of a loss if prints do fail.

If you're looking for some smaller bits to get printed fast and test sanding and cleanup, check out the props section of the Free 3D Model Index for some awesome 405th member created content.

Free 3D Model Index

3D printers are rapidly becoming a prop and costume builders best friend and many of the members of the 405th are extremely talented at developing high definition and accurate models for printing. This thread is an index to help both new builders find quality models and showcase the hard work of...

www.405th.com

 

[KnavishPlum]

Seconding Zachary that if you're just setting up your printer start off with some small props to make sure your calibration game is down and you know how to spot and fix issues with prints. From memory that Noble 6 chest on it's own is a good 10-12 pieces and this collar will likely be another 6-8 so there's going to be plenty of room for introduced error by any number of issues.

If you are keen on jumping straight into printing the armour I'd start with the chest cylinder since exact fit with the rest of the chest can be a bit looser and it's likely only 100g-150g of material which isn't that large of a loss if prints do fail.

If you're looking for some smaller bits to get printed fast and test sanding and cleanup, check out the props section of the Free 3D Model Index for some awesome 405th member created content.

Free 3D Model Index

3D printers are rapidly becoming a prop and costume builders best friend and many of the members of the 405th are extremely talented at developing high definition and accurate models for printing. This thread is an index to help both new builders find quality models and showcase the hard work of...

www.405th.com

I love the index! So my plan isn't to immediately jump into the the chest as scaling is something I really don't want to mess up. Like I said, I have an already half printed Destiny helmet sliced into many small pieces I can pick up or start with like the armor hand plate. I also have the chest split down the middle so I only plan on printing half of it at first.

Also speaking of the chest, more detail has been added to the model. I found a way to had the indented detail on the cylinder and the little panel slots on the edges of it plus the hex indent. I also added the small bottom part that is connected to the cylinder. I believe that is why the OG models cylinder is flat in the front.

 

[KnavishPlum]

Update on the chest! I just want to say that I am actually really impressed with myself here since I kinda suck at 3d modeling. I actually think this is coming out really well!

So I have gone ahead and added in multiple more details. Panel lines in the front and upper side that were textures on the OG model have been added back along with the trapezoid that faces down. The black strip on the right of the chest has also been made and added. Its sitting on the chest in the pic, but it comes out and has in indentation it fits into so it can be printed separately.

Outside of the bolt heads, I think this is everything (well at least it seems after googling Jorge multiple times throughout this). The next step is the bolts and after that its fitting it to the Noble 6 chest which is pretty simply though kinda lazyish. All I plan on doing is subtracting the chest model from the inside of this which will leave a Reach chest shaped cavity where ever these two overlap.

I still want to hollow the thing out but 3D Builder does it with voxels so I would be printing lots of edges and corners which seems less efficient than just leaving it as is. I just think it would warp less if it was not a solid piece.

EDIT: I just remembered! The side things right above the canister. I gotta add them back too.

 

[KnavishPlum]

Ok everyone, I think I have finally completed the chest itself ! As you can see from the picture below the bolts and side things have been added. Like the stripe (which add to be re-added a few times being the only non-symmetric part) the bolt heads and the side pieces have indentations so they can be printed separately and slotted into place later.

So for the bolt heads I decided to make them hex bolts. The OG model just had these bow-tie pasta looking blocks and other references seem to change the bolts slightly between other models outside the game, action figures, etc. When playing Reach, I always saw them as hex bolts so I made them hex bolts. But I did make two versions of the head. One is just a plain hex while the other has a Flathead line going through it. Idk which I want more so I just made both. I mainly kept the bolts separate so that this has the ability to switch between having and not having the collar. It can be stuck on with magnets from the holes with no bolts.

Here is a pic of the model and all of its parts separated:

The final thing to do is stick it on top of the Noble 6 chest and subtract it from the inside so this fits over it. This was a lot more fun and much faster to do than I though with my lack of modeling skills. I am very happy with how it came out!