Mark VI - first build - WIP

[J63]

I have a quick question: How necessary is it to cut air holes/slits into the helmet along with the installation of a fan? Is it unbearable without it? Also, if I should install one, where is a good place to put the air holes/slits? What tool should I use to cut the holes? (dremel probs, right?) How long does it take? Etc...

honestly you should be pretty good either way...I have a small vent on the chin of my clone bucket and have been getting along fine without fans. However I have a royal guard helmet and with that thing totally sealing you off all the way down to the shoulders, fans are a must have. If you're pressed for time I wouldn't really worry...a fan (especially the squirrel cage fans) works sufficiently with or without a vent hole

 

[TheGimpMaster01]

Its completely up to you if you want to cut holes and add fans for ventilation, It will help with fogging and such, I personally don't install fans and I have no problems but I have to admit it does get a little warm, but I take the hellmet off and cool off every once in a while, and yes certain dremel bits do an excellent job at making holes in helmets, as for how long it takes to install fans and such, depends on how well you know how to wire it up and mount everything, I would suggest not installing a fan right now if you are rushing the build, do it later when you have more time, also if its cool where you live, fogging and heat probably won't be much of an issue

Yeah I was thinking I'd skip the fan for now, but I will definitely find places to cut in small breathing holes. It would be nice to avoid the fogging and heat issues. Thanks a lot for the suggestions! Very helpful.

Looking good dude, reminds me a lot of my build!

Regarding fan cooling holes, I don't have any in my helmet, and I have one Radio Shack micro fan right in front of my mouth. So far, I haven't had any major problems with fogging. However, if I were to do it again, I would put slits (using a Dremel or rotary tool) in the "rebreathers" on the cheeks, and maybe locate one (or even a second) fan over those to draw in fresh air.

The reason I think I'm not having problems with fogging is that my neck guard completely covers my mouth and nose.

A neck guard that covers your nose and mouth would be super useful, but I feel like that's probably the most heat-intensive solution? I'll definitely be putting holes in those areas. By the way, can you run one of those micro 12V fans on just a 9V battery or will it severely underperform with only 9V? Thanks also for the feedback, much appreciated.

A fan is a very good idea. If you don't have a fan the visor will fog up and you will have trouble seeing. The best area IMO for some vents is to hide the slits in the tubing on the chin piece. I suppose you could use just fans and no air holes but that will greatly reduce the effectiveness. To make the holes you can a dremmel, whole process shouldn't take long.

Edit: wow guess I type slow beat by two posts lol.

Should I go with the rotary tool or the drill bit? Or I guess I could do both, doesn't matter too much, I assume. Is there an effective way of hiding the holes and slits if I throw them into the "rebreather" tubes on the sides of the chin? Thanks also for the feedback


UPDATE: Today I sanded like crazy. I only have 1 bicep, 2 forearm, and 1 COD piece left needing sanding. Tomorrow I'll finish that up and get a coat of primer on everything. I also bought my first visor/faceshield today! It was gold and it cost $50. Ouch. But it looks sexy as hell, so it was worth it. I cut out the visor to the appropriate shape and used BLACKULA's tutorial to fit the visor. Tomorrow I will also be gapping the visor.

Here are the pics for today:

This is me this morning trying to think of a clever place to hide some air holes:

This is my wiring setup for the 4 LEDs will be using in the helmet. I guess LEDs actually do have a bit more internal resistance than I initially thought, so I will probably be swapping out the current 100 ohm resistor for a 50 ohm (or by putting two 100 ohms in parallel):

This was a test fit of my visor to the helmet in the car moments after I bought it. I was so excited! It was still in the bag lol:

This is the visor after I raped it with the dremel and made it fit appropriately. Note, at this point I have already installed 2 aluminum posts to mount the visor in with screws:

These are the thigh pieces I finished sanding today:

Hopefully I can get a lot done tomorrow! I don't know if I will be able to get more pictures tomorrow, but I will do my best!

Thank you all for the feedback so far. It has been very helpful and I really appreciate it!

 

[TheGimpMaster01]

Update: Finally got all pieces primed. I'm also FINALLY done shopping for everything that I need to complete this project! Spent the last $100 chunk that i'll be spending on this in a while today. I've found this project to be a hella lot more expensive than I had first anticipated, but it's totally worth it. No regrets. Starting from scratch does cost a lot, but it would be a lot cheaper if I were to make another one because I'd have all the necessary tools. And hell, I still have like 25 yards of 1080 fiberglass left, lol.

Here are some more pictures of my progress:

** By the way, guys, I know some of the pieces look kind of rough... The excuse is that I am blazing through the final stages of this project so I can complete it in time for Halloween. I will be going back and sanding off paint, redoing bondo/spot putty, etc until it looks good, but only AFTER Halloween has passed. It's unfortunate that the helmet has as many rough spots as it has, but I think I will use the rough patches to make the armor look weathered and beaten up by using the spray/wipe off technique.

Boot piece with primer:

Helmet with primer:

Forearms:

Thigh piece:

Inside of the thigh piece:

Back of the chest piece with primer:

Another view:

Front of the COD piece:

Yet another view of the thighs (these are like one of my favorite pieces, if you can't tell):

Yesterday I gapped the visor and made sure that all fits. Turns out that using only 2 screws and posts works just fine; I had anticipated on using 4, but 2 is doing the trick just fine for now.

Once the paint is on, it's time to start putting the pieces together with buckles, straps, and velcro. I will be adding pics of that tomorrow, but tonight... expect more pictures from the painting process

Nearly there!!

 

[sithinstructor]

Should I go with the rotary tool or the drill bit? Or I guess I could do both, doesn't matter too much, I assume. Is there an effective way of hiding the holes and slits if I throw them into the "rebreather" tubes on the sides of the chin? Thanks also for the feedback

I use a rotary tool cause you can make lines not just holes. Lines are easier to hide, either in a line on the helm or in the tube like you said.

 

[TheGimpMaster01]

More pics!

UPDATE: FINISHED THE ARMOR (for now)!!! Here are the pics! Pics also include shots of the painting process, etc.

Here are the boot pieces. I used semi-elastic black fabric to bridge the gap between the toe and ankle pieces. Works really well and gives me lots of flexibility (relatively speaking, of course):

Boot piece before black paint:

Helmet before black paint:

The forearm piece with the weathering effect complete:

Another view:

 

[TheGimpMaster01]

For these next pictures, sorry about my roommate's not-so-hot picture-taking skills... I know these next few are kinda crappy but I think they get the point across! Very excited to have it finished finally. Ready for Halloween tomorrow! Also, I will be wearing these to class, for sure.

Thanks everyone for being so helpful! Hopefully I will have more pictures of me actually wearing it around!!

 

[Oak Man24]

Your left shin is lower than your right one. Start over. jkjk Dude this is SICK!!! Cannot wait for more pics, and I will be getting mine up soon!! have fun tomorrow night!

 

[halokillskat]

awesome and that was a really big update

 

[TheGimpMaster01]

More pictures:

The kids in the picture are one of my friends' kids. I took them out trick-or-treating, and they loved the costume!

 

[OldFox]

Man this is so awesome, you just need a rifle on your hand.

 

[TheGimpMaster01]

Yep, Fox, the next step for me is to create a weapon! I'm thinking a good old-style battle rifle from H3. Would compliment the suit well. Of course, I'll have to create the Magnum as a sidearm.

Quick side-question: once I start making those weapons, should I create a new WIP thread for those or throw them in here, since they're relevant to the suit's total completion?

 

[vshore100]

Great job on the armor Gimp. Looks like you had a great time.

 

[TheGimpMaster01]

Thanks vshore!!

I wore my Halo armor to classes on Halo-ween. Here's a pic someone took. It made it to the 4th page of Reddit, apparently! Not too shabby!

 

[Spartan Devastator]

I wore my Halo armor to classes on Halo-ween. Here's a pic someone took. It made it to the 4th page of Reddit, apparently! Not too shabby!

That is just too awesome! Who says Chief doesnt need school??

 

[sithinstructor]

lol. That is cool. I think half my professors would throw me out if I showed up like that.

 

[TheGimpMaster01]

lol. That is cool. I think half my professors would throw me out if I showed up like that.

Throw you out? WHY ON EARTH? My profs spent like the first 5 minutes of class asking me about my armor, lol. It was a nice distraction.

 

[rx bonz]

Thanks vshore!!

I wore my Halo armor to classes on Halo-ween. Here's a pic someone took. It made it to the 4th page of Reddit, apparently! Not too shabby!

wow. i see this on facebook.. wow great costume dudez

 

[TheGimpMaster01]

Thanks! It was apparently on Reddit too. I'm not a huge Reddit-er, but I was told by friends about it. Never thought I'd see myself on "the front page of the internet" as they say, lol.

Next step is to build a Magnum. Haha... help??

 

[joemc81]

great work man I plan on wearing my build to work next year

 

[TheGimpMaster01]

great work man I plan on wearing my build to work next year

Be sure to have someone take pictures I'll definitely want to see the suit!