Mark IV Armor

[Posiedon]

Over the past about 8 months, I've been working at slowly piecing my first cosplay together via 3d printer and sheer will. The one I chose was the mark IV armor from Halo Wars–the same as Spartan Jerome's. Now, I’m still working on it, but the amount of people who have made this version of mjolnir armor is few and those who have posted about it are even fewer. This realization has made every obstacle I've come across so much worse than if I chose a mark 5 or a later armor, but I'm still working on it. If anyone has any tips on things such as in-armor padding, armor fusion (gluing etc.), armor rigging, and tricks that have helped with your cosplays, let me know. I also have some pictures to show where I'm at.

 

[SgtSaint]

I know plenty of people that have done the MK-IV, so don't think its rare or a bad choice.

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I don't get the painting going on when you're still seaming & sanding. Or is that just a quick visualization helper for ya?

 

[BHE Photos]

If you haven't referenced my build thread already, I used the Mark IV files from Galactic Armory. I've got an entire post dedicated to showing all of the straps that I use, and you can see most of the padding that is in there.

Most of the concepts apply to every armor set though, as far as gluing/welding pieces together, padding, and rigging. Not many armor files these days have specific rigging features designed in (something I wish designers would start considering), so it tends to be the same concept for just about everyone.

I make all my armor out of PLA, so my post processing is coating with UV resin, using filler primer and sanding, and then primer, top coat, clear coat. Padding is mostly driven by how you specifically wear items (how high the thighs sit, how tight/loose the belt is, etc), so I'd recommend making some reasonable assumptions and then doing some extensive "shake downs" where you wear the armor and see where the pieces rub you or pinch you, then add padding.
For rigging, I use a lot of 1" nylon webbing, 1" plastic buckles (buy in bulk), and I anchor all my connection points to my armor pieces with chicago screws and washers.

Keep up the good work. Mark IV is definitely the best looking armor set, though it can be tricky to make it comfortable.