Props Lego Spartan Laser Prop Build (Halo Reach)

[Brickbuilt]

New user here! I've been building Lego gaming props for ~10 years now. I've been following lots of cosplayers & prop makers in the community but realized what I do is fairly niche that many folks may have not seen before. So I'd love to use these forums to document build process, techniques, and of course the cosplay pics, because the EVA foam Chief suit is too fun to wear.

I finished this Spartan Laser at the beginning of this year. It was about 2 months of off-and-on building, but a huge learning lesson in engineering that goes into prop making. Total weight is just about 20 pounds (~6,0000 Lego pieces), and used a 1:1.17 scaling ratio to bring this down to my size like all the other Halo builds I've done.

Of course, I had to add all the working features. There's a set of springs behind the trigger to reset, custom lighting throughout the interior, and a working LCD screen using a Raspberry Pi to loop the video feed from the first-person POV. The screen was the worst part as I had zero coding experience / never held a Pi before, but the payoff was absolutely worth it.

I'll be including a few other pics and videos below of the build process, but figured I'd share my own prop builds here for a community of like-minded folks who may be interested!

 

[Brickbuilt]

Here's the reference 3D print I used during the build process. In the past, I used to just print a side profile across multiple pages for scale reference, but having a 3D print was a really neat way to have more accurate dimensions on hand.

 

[Brickbuilt]

Here's the suit-up in Infinite Chief EVA cosplay. Not the easiest thing to hold 20 pieces of bricks on one arm while trying to move around. Maybe that's why Chief was given all those injections...

 

[Brickbuilt]

The lighting was a fun part to figure out. All of the internal wiring was hidden so that I could get LED panels behind certain panels, and Pico lights behind the rest. Photo was taken from the expo Brickworld Chicago this year.

 

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The Lego math was most of the tricky part for angles. Even thought the Spartan Laser is a pretty smooth design, there's some double angles and other parts that Lego wasn't necessarily designed for. The hinge placements underneath all of this don't look the prettiest, but it was worth it for the smooth tapers.

 

[Brickbuilt]

And lastly, here's the look at the first person view where you can see the LCD screen! It's powered by a USB power bank under the side paneling, to loop a small video. This was the one part of the design that didn't use Lego, but I think it was a nice combo and fun detail to add in.