KAT ARMOR BUILD - with custom undersuit

[LilTyrant]

<< I wish there was a bigger smiley. Thanks everyone for helping to get the thread moved!
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@ CrazedOne, DagothDraal, Annanymous, rickrtickr, drack, Toja, DYSTORTED, ACDC, and mannyledesm:
Thanks guys. The comments always help for motivation!

This looks great as always, and you make it look so easy. I when you made your template for the thigh, you wrapped it tight to your leg. Did you have to make any adjustments to account for the thickness of the foam? This way just seems so much easier than messing with pep templates.

Thanks, vshore! So far, I’m definitely preferring to make my own templates instead of using pep. I find it much easier to scale and make adjustments as I go! For the template, I didn’t totally wrap the newsprint tight to my leg. There was some wiggle room, then I added a little more when I cleaned up the template. I didn’t really measure, just kind of eyeballed it. I also kept holding the foam up to my leg as I built the thigh to double check the diameter as I went. The last piece I added was the small inner thigh piece (the only place where it’s actually connected), which could easily be adjusted for the best fit. Foam thickness should definitely be accounted for though, because it makes a difference! For example: where the thigh snap closes, the diameter of my leg is just under 16,” but the diameter of the foam thigh is over 20.” Insanity!

My female spartan friend was just encountering the same "bathroom" problem... this should help!

Great idea with the clip! Going to have to integrate that into my girlfriend's thighs... Always good to have the female perspective, practical issues like that just sail over my head

Glad to help . Gotta look out for my fellow lady Spartans!

Is that a veloceraptor in your pants? lol
This is an amazing build, the details are awesome. Are you able to flip the template over to make the other thigh piece?

Hahahaha, yes…yes it is. I stuffed the pants with some sheets. Yes, I rock dinosaurs sheets. Don’t judge . And yup, I can flip the template for the other thigh. The template is actually now cut into a bunch of small pieces, so none of the details will be missed!

Moving this out of Noob section, into the Creation Discussion section... for now...

I will certainly be moving it into Elite as soon as it's done.

Your soft parts work is simply amazing, and your method to creating slick custom foam parts is fantastic. Love the shapes and curves you're able to achieve.

Keep up the great work!

Thank you! Totally made my day

Hey! Lookie, Lookie!!!!
Well it's about time.... Noob Section.... (Pfft!) My A$$!
We'll deserved! Just a matter of time until your moved up to Elite!
Let me congratulate you in advance!

Thanks Dave! You’re too kind

Congrats on the move, Lil! Definitely deserved. As for the thigh, you've got me starting to think I should make my own templates as well when I start foam work on my armor!

Thanks! For foam, I find it easier. But, definitely do whatever fits your work style best!

Dang...you're thighs are looking great. The detail work is just amazing.
And in other NEWS Congrats on the big move.:cool NO more noob section for you.

Hehehe, thanks.

congrats on the move! and dang those thighs are awesome, it fits so well, i cant wait to see the finished product. for the inner part of the thigh, those three wrap around things, are you going to put those on the undersuit, because i imagine it would be a little difficult to put them on the thigh piece itself with how you made the thigh unbuckle in the middle of where those pieces are.

*after re reading I think what i am talking about is what you called the leg seal so nvm haha muh bad*

Hahahaha…no worries. Yeah, I’ll be doing them in vinyl. But they will actually be attached to the thigh and be able to open as well, similar to how the arm seals on the chest can open.

I wonder if we can vote to move this build into the top 25 works in process not only for craftsmanship but for innovation as well. The under armor is her own unique design, attaching each piece individually so that the suit articulates easier, I don't remember seeing any visable buckles or straps, I am sure that I have probably left out a lot more reason why, but she has my vote.

Thanks Crimmson . My plan is to hide all buckles and straps…but we’ll see how that goes!

Im with everyone else amazing build, Congrats on the move out of the noob section hopefully you will be joining us soon in the Elite section

Thank you Hyper! I still have a long way to go before I get there!

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Things are pretty busy at work/home right now, so I'm not sure how much build time I'll have this week... but until next time, keep buildin' guys!

 

[Mstruvmgc]

Holy cow, I am off the forums for a few days and I miss so much lol. Grats on the move hon, well deserved for sure. The thigh looks fantastic great job

 

[Tylp]

I love the Under suit. Great job. /clap can't wait to see the rest of the armor build.

 

[Charlie117]

miss , how do you draw well on the newsprint while it is placed on your jean?? what did you used to fill up the jean? a maniquin?

Thank you...and you totally have foam skills. I've seen your build, you can't hide it


Thanks ! Yay for more armor builders. I'm planning on doing foam for everything, including the helmet. I think the helmet will wind up being the last piece I make though...so it'll be a while before I get there...

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Oke doke...didn't get a ton of build time in this week, but...it's UPDATE TIME!

I decided to work my way down the armor to the thighs (gotta buy some time before I tackle that robot arm...). First, I taped some newsprint to my leg to roughly mark where the thigh would go:

Once I had the rough markings, I transferred the newsprint to a pair of stuffed jeans to make sketching the shapes easier. Drawing upside down on your own leg is rather tricky:

Next, a quick check for rough fit:

Then cleaning up the template base:

And into foam:

It still needs the beveled edge along the front bottom notch and the leg seal (which will be added in vinyl). I also realized (after the fact) that the side detail on the left thigh was totally pointless...I had a momentary lapse of brain power and forgot that Kat's tactical case will cover it. Face palm.

Fortunately, I remembered that (being a girl and all) the thighs will need to come off any time there's a bathroom break. How inconvenient . I really don't want to have to remove my knees, shins, and boots to get the thighs off (sounds like a time consuming nightmare)...so I split the thighs and added a clip for easy removal:

That's all!

 

[R8b]

This is pretty fantastic! I'm keeping my eye one this one! Great work, keep it up!

 

[UNSC LT commander]

our shields cant with-stain epicness of this magnitude!

 

[ka5p3r]

just getting caught up with the builds again here at the 405th and have to say your doing awesome i love the work on the under suit keep up the awesome work

 

[Xarmymustang]

I am definetely going to have to use craft foam more. I was just using it for minor details but you make it look so clean wrapping it up like that its making me reconsider to doing that also. Great work girlie, Bravo!!!

 

[drgon47]

Unbelievable work. Keep it up.

 

[ObiJ3ff]

where do you get the white foam from?

 

[Dhamone]

believe the white foam is a thinner foam which you can buy at most crafting stores...found mine at a "dollar store" it comes in various thicknesses from 3mm - 6 mm...hope you dont mind a noob answering for you 8)
PS: it also comes in many colors..

 

[MistaJ27]

great build! awesome work, keep it up, i will be definitely be paying attention to this thread from now on!

 

[LCBeagle]

Teach me your ways...
But seriously, how did you go about with making your armor?

 

[LilTyrant]

Sorry for being MIA lately…life has been hectic. Hopefully it’ll settle down this week so that I can get back to the build.

I hate to post again without an update , but I also hate to vanish into thin air without replying…

@ Tylp, R8b, ka5p3r, drgon47:
Thanks guys! I appreciate the comments.

Holy cow, I am off the forums for a few days and I miss so much lol. Grats on the move hon, well deserved for sure. The thigh looks fantastic great job

Thanks sir!

our shields cant with-stain epicness of this magnitude!

Hahahaa, thanks.

I am definetely going to have to use craft foam more. I was just using it for minor details but you make it look so clean wrapping it up like that its making me reconsider to doing that also. Great work girlie, Bravo!!!

Yesssss…and another joins the craft foamers. Eeeexcellent.

where do you get the white foam from?

believe the white foam is a thinner foam which you can buy at most crafting stores...found mine at a "dollar store" it comes in various thicknesses from 3mm - 6 mm...hope you dont mind a noob answering for you 8)
PS: it also comes in many colors..

I get mine at JoAnn’s and Michael’s, but like Dhamone said most craft/hobby stores carry it. And correct about the thickness and colors!

Teach me your ways...
But seriously, how did you go about with making your armor?

Thanks, but…hmmm…not really sure how to answer such a broad question. As an overview, the updates pretty much show how I’m going about the process.

miss , how do you draw well on the newsprint while it is placed on your jean?? what did you used to fill up the jean? a maniquin?

I’m not totally sure what you mean. I just draw it? I used a Sharpie and didn’t push super hard. I don’t have a mannequin for the legs, so I stuffed the jeans with two rolled up towels and some sheets.

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Hopefully next time I’ll have a much needed update!!! Until then, keep buildin' guys

 

[Cinderblock]

any progress yet? I'm dying to see more lol. You and Roxy def need some sort of shoot together though haha.

 

[thorn696]

Don't you just hate when life gets in the way.
It's ok most of us have the same problem. So till then be Happy

 

[usmccountryboy1]

Your armor is looking great keep up the work

 

[SkullBoy13]

Hey!
awesome work! I'm getting amazed picture by picture!
it's full of details! and uhm.. too bad that the undersuit had some "side effects", don't even know if that's the right term.. I'm so jealous of your skills...
I hope to see more amazing progress!! goodluck!!

 

[LCBeagle]

Originally posted by LilTyrant
Thanks, but…hmmm…not really sure how to answer such a broad question. As an overview, the updates pretty much show how I’m going about the process.

Well, I was wondering how you used that white foam over the regular gray. I saw RoxyRoo do that with her armor too, and I'm wanting to know how it should be used on a suit.

 

[LilTyrant]

Thanks for continuing to check out the build guys

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any progress yet? I'm dying to see more lol. You and Roxy def need some sort of shoot together though haha.

Yes! Finally I do . And yessss it would be awesome to team up the lady Spartans!

Don't you just hate when life gets in the way.
It's ok most of us have the same problem. So till then be Happy

Totally.

Hey!
awesome work! I'm getting amazed picture by picture!
it's full of details! and uhm.. too bad that the undersuit had some "side effects", don't even know if that's the right term.. I'm so jealous of your skills...
I hope to see more amazing progress!! goodluck!!

Thank you . Side effects? I'm not quite sure what you mean.

Well, I was wondering how you used that white foam over the regular gray. I saw RoxyRoo do that with her armor too, and I'm wanting to know how it should be used on a suit.

I've pretty much been using the 2mm white in two ways: 1) To cover multiple pieces of the gray foam so that it looks more seamless (the thin foam is super flexible so it can conform well to curves without being separated into multiple pieces), and 2) To add surface details with layering, rather than cutting into the gray foam. I create the basic structure with the thicker foam for stability, then glue the thinner foam over the top. Since the 2mm is so flexible, it needs to be mounted to something more rigid for structural support. I hope that helps!

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I managed to get some build time in today (hooray), which means... UPDATE TIME!

Nothing major, but I got the other thigh foam bits together and added the bevel to the front notch on the first thigh. I just flipped the original template over to mirror the pattern from the first thigh. They're still missing the seals, but here's what it looks like together:

Both thighs have the easy release snap so they can be put on/removed without having to slide over my feet . That's all for now!

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Next up: I shall tackle those thigh seals!