MJOLNIR GEN2 Custom Armor | CODENAME: WOLVERINE - 1st build / try (foam)

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wolverine

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Hello everyone and welcome to the documentation of my attempt on building a customized MJOLNIR GEN2 armor (codename: WOLVERINE)...!!! I hope you will enjoy this, like I do... :)
For me, it's a way to keep the whole process on my mind long-term, so I'll try to create some kind of comprehensive photo-diary here. Following this objective, I'll start right at the beginning of my project with...


PHASE 01: RESEARCH & PLANNING

At first, I tried to get a picture on my mind of what suit I would want to have / how I would want to look like. So I googled the internet for good pictures of halo suits and found a nice collection on halo nation. Looking over all the somewhat different and somewhat identical suit variants, I realized the only suit I liked for 100% was the variant the Master Chief is wearing. But, well, there are way enough Master Chiefs on this planet, so I decided to pick out the parts I liked the most from any variant I found and create a custom variant just for me. Goin' with this approach also meant to create a customized undersuit, so I started there...

Searching the internet for pictures of the undersuit led my to deviantart, where I found some drawings made by the user uratz. I took those and photoshopped the hell out of it, trying to someway match my design approach with the visuals created by 343 for the game, using some screenshots I made from youtube copies of the render sequences... These are some of my inspirational pictures:

spartan_4_mjolnir_suitup_07.png spartan_4_mjolnir_suitup_06.png spartan_4_mjolnir_suitup_04.png spartan_4_mjolnir_base_suit_01.png

And here is, what I made out of it:

MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE Undersuit 02.png MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE Undersuit 01.png

The first picture is the attempt to create an overview on the different materials / material textures I would have to use.
The second picture shows the color scheme the undersuit should have and resembles in some way the colors used by Marvels superhero Wolverine.

For the next step, I raided the 405th database for pepakura models of the different suit parts I liked. I downloaded the models, loaded them into the Pepakura Designer 3, took some screenshots and added them step by step to my photoshop file:

MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE Armor.png

To my surprise, everything looked quite nice in white. But in the end, I'll go with some shades of metallic blue, so I colored everything and got there:

MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE Armor 02.png

Now I tried to figure out, how the different parts would have to be connected with each other and the undersuit. This is - for sure - still subject to change, but the first idea is this:

MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE Attachement Points.png

At this point, I was kind of addicted to creating new drawings and realized that there's a difference between the MJOLNIR undersuit and the uniform, the spartans are wearing in the spartan ops videos. So I took the drawings of my undersuit, just kept 90% of the outlines and created a drawing of the uniform. I don't know if this will ever come to life in some way, but maybe it's helpful for some of you guys. Anyway: I had fun drawing it:

SPARTAN IV Uniform 02.jpg SPARTAN IV Uniform.jpg

And this was the youtube screenshots I used as reference:

spartan_4_undersuit_01.png spartan_4_undersuit_04.png

And now, some thoughts on the weapons, with the idea in my mind to use the BOOMCO blasters (handgun already available, rifle coming later this year) as starting point - again, some pictures from halo nation came in handy:

M6H2 Paint.png MA5D Paint.png

After this was done, I did some research on materials, different creation techniques and material sourcing. I figured out, what stuff you guys are using and what the german pendants for the materials are (which can be a bit tricky) and where to buy them. Finally I decided to go with the foam-smithing method and found several nice guides and projects both here and elsewhere on the internet. Also pretty helpful is the Foamsmith Trilogy, an e-book I found at volpin-props.

With this phase done so far (at least for the moment), I decided to create my own account here on the forum and slowly get to the next phase...


PHASE 02: GETTING THE MATERIALS & BUILDING THE WORKSHOP

Last September we (my wife and me) moved from a flat, to our own house. *yeah* Increasing our overall living space also created the chance for me to get some space for working on cosplay armory. This was the initial ignition to switch from a suit-building-observer to a suit-builder. After completing phase 01, I started to order materials and tools and made plans for transforming my houses attic to an armory / workshop...

In the first step, I used some old and meanwhile unused living room furniture (had to buy one more corpus) to form the base of my workdesk:

Foto 23.04.16, 09 42 45.jpg

Then, I added some cheap 5,99 EUR desk tabletops from IKEA:

Foto 23.04.16, 10 07 38.jpg Foto 23.04.16, 10 44 42.jpg

Now, I needed to get some power supply and added some more space for materials:

Foto 23.04.16, 11 16 42.jpg Foto 23.04.16, 16 51 52.jpg

Then, it was tool-time *grunt.snort*...

Foto 23.04.16, 18 07 36.jpg Foto 23.04.16, 18 07 40.jpg Foto 23.04.16, 18 07 46.jpg

And because I do not want to stand around, all the time, I added a comfortable chair (IKEA again):'

Foto 23.04.16, 18 08 31.jpg

And that's where I am right now... *tadaaaaaaa* Meanwhile, I'm waiting for the last materials to come: some 2mm foamies, some velcro and that kind of stuff is still missing... And then, after a short holiday in May, it's time for the next phase...


So, that's all for now. More pictures to come soon, as I'm already working on the handguns... See ya!
 
Best of luck and I look forward to seeing your build! You've got a great start and I'm really jealous of your work station! Lots of room!
 
Love your thoroughness in planning. I'll be watching this build closely.
 
I want your work space.


"I don't know what's weirder, that you're fighting a stuffed animal, or that you seem to be losing" - Suzie
 
I'm so jelly of your work space. @_@
Full professional room for the stuff... and there is me with a small little desk I'm using for everything and just working outside on the grass.... SO JEALOUS!
Seriously.

ALso, I really like how you researched stuff and put it all together. :)
 
Today, the post man brought me this:

Foto 03.05.16, 11 45 57.jpg

So now, that the first basic parts for the undersuit and my "mini-me-head" reached me, it is time to consider building a duct tape dummy or something similar... I've not decided yet, if I will go with the tape or if I'll try to do it with a plaster cast of myself... The plaster thing should be more exact, the duct tape version would be more flexible which should make it easier to dress / undress the dummy... Feel free to tell me your opinions on this or even give me completely new ideas!

By the way, I've chosen to order a cast of my desired helmet instead of trying to build it myself. The helmet is the most iconic part of the suit, and for this reason should be the most perfect solution I can get. And as I wanna go with the HUNTER helmet, building it for myself could be quite impossible for me (at least for now). I found one on etsy.com in the IconProps shop for a reasonable price and this bad boy is pretty detailed:
hunter_helmet.png

It should arrive within the next two or three weeks, hopefully before my holiday. Can't wait to get this one into my hands. When it's ready (with visor, paint and some lights) it should look something like this (hopefully):

hunter_helmet_previs.png

Meanwhile, I'm still fiddling around with my two Magnums. The magnets I got, just don't wanna do their job as good as I wanna do them, to. But overall it was a good decision to go with the BoomCo's, I think. *just.keep.it.goin.spartan*


And that's it, for today. See ya!
 
I really should get a set-up like you have IM SO JEALOUS !!! that helmet is really cool by the way!
 
Icon props really do a great job

- - - Updated - - -

I'm thinking of making a detailed under suit
 
As I'm still thinking about my Undersuit, I searched Google for some Halo 5 Undersuit images - just for comparison / ideas - and found a very, very nice Halo 4 Undersuit rendering instead:

spartan4_undersuit_render.png

Thank you so much, however did this! I guess, more accuracy is not possible, so I putted my undersuit layout back to the "drawing board" (PhotoShop in my case) and tried to apply my ideas to the new image. This is, how it turned out:

MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE Undersuit Rendering.png

I guess, I'll have to build some kind of muscle suit... :rolleyes :popcorn
 
Here I am over here jealous of the fact that you own a table and I don't... LOL! I love your concept Wolverine is my favorite character in X-Men so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing your progress.
 
This is funny. I was about to do some screenshots of the Rogue and... the colors fit a lot your build.
I was on the Blue Team, but the golden markings are part of the armor skin.

rogue.png

As for the undersuit - that picture you used is a digital painting, here is the model and here is a link to full-size 5000px - https://www.flickr.com/photos/vrogy/17863683618

17863683618_82b1c3fece_b.jpg
 
This looks like it will be an awesome suit and the amount of time you have put into the researching so far is very impressive. Look forward to seeing more of it.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
"Oops, I did it again..." After having a closer look at the undersuit image Mara - aaahhhm... Palmer *g* - provided, I got back to the drawing desk and refined the undersuit design. I used the new picture (originally provided by Master Builder as far as I can say), removed the background, added the head from the deviant art image and recolored the undersuit again. This is, what came out:

MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE Undersuit Rendering_02.png

After this, I looked over the several armor parts I wanted to use again, and decided to change the layout a bit. Again, I used the pepakura models (mostly) and stitched everything together in PhotoShop:

MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE Undersuit Rendering_02_Armor.png

This time, having an accurate undersuit image as base layout, the armor parts match the suit beneath far more accurate. And this is the first new attempt on the coloring:

MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE Undersuit Rendering_02_Armor_Color_01.png

I'm thinking over trying some different color layouts, maybe I'll do some more pics over the coming weekend. Meanwhile, I got my Under Armor Shirt and the HUNTER helmet has cleared customs at the airport in Frankfurt and should be on it's way to the customs office near me. Should get my hands on my helmet within the next few days...



Edit: Had some time left within lunch-break and did two more shoulder armor variants...

MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE - MK VI 117 Shoulders.png

MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE - SCOUT Shoulders.png

Not sure, which version I like the most... :wacko

MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE Undersuit Rendering_02.png


MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE Undersuit Rendering_02_Armor.png


MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE Undersuit Rendering_02_Armor_Color_01.png


MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE - MK VI 117 Shoulders.png


MJOLNIR GEN2 WOLVERINE - SCOUT Shoulders.png
 
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Hah, nice to see you actually like the colored undersuits, haha.
I still prefer them to be one-colored and dark, kind of subtle... maybe because I have light gray armor, so it kind of highlights and is a nice contrast to dark gray/black undersuit.


Just as correction - in your last image, with the Scout shoulder pauldrons - you have them wrong... The longer part is the front... o.o' Not the back, as in your picture.
The front should protect more, that's why it's a longer and bigger part, the back is smaller and shorter.
I swapped the shoulder pieces just for reference.

But, from the shoulder armor options you posted I like the original one most, the first one you used for the whole time. Master Chief's shoulders fit nicely with the forearms, but personally I'd go with the first option or I'd take completely different shoulders.

Also, I hope I'm not imposing - the knee and shin armor parts are actually connected together.

recsout.jpg

Frankfurt? Oh, you're from Germany! COOL! :D
Will we see you at Gamescom?
 
Hah, nice to see you actually like the colored undersuits, haha.

Yeah, well, it's part of that wolverine-theme-thing I'm trying to achieve. Several different ideas still floating around my mind... We will see. :D

Just as correction - in your last image, with the Scout shoulder pauldrons - you have them wrong... The longer part is the front... o.o' Not the back, as in your picture. The front should protect more, that's why it's a longer and bigger part, the back is smaller and shorter. I swapped the shoulder pieces just for reference.

Of course you're right. As I wrote, I made the pix the quick and dirty way within my lunch break. Just missed that...

Also, I hope I'm not imposing - the knee and shin armor parts are actually connected together.

Good to know! Thanks for the hint! I will change that for the next series of pictures... ;)

But, from the shoulder armor options you posted I like the original one most, the first one you used for the whole time. Master Chief's shoulders fit nicely with the forearms, but personally I'd go with the first option or I'd take completely different shoulders.

Well, the WARRIOR shoulders look quite nice on the ingame renders and the action figure and go well with the whole WARRIOR set, but after looking at them for a while together with the other parts, they seemed to be a bit "small"... As the whole suit is a modification, I started with changing the biceps armor part and added the WARRIOR pauldrons to the chief's bicep armor... Look a lot better than, but whith the first side view I did, I ran into the same problem again. So I checked the other suit versions I used and was attracted to SCOUT shoulders and the chief's ones... This time, together with the matching biceps parts... Just now, I'm tending towards the SCOUTs... But - as you may now, meanwhile - this is still subject to change.

As far as "completely different shoulders" go: Any suggestions? :)

Frankfurt? Oh, you're from Germany! COOL! :D Will we see you at Gamescom?

Yes, I'm from Germany and even used to live near to Frankfurt nearly my whole life. Moved more to the south last year, but Frankfurt Airport is still the first place to get for items from another continent. Message from my local customs office should arrive tomorrow, so I can say: HUNTER helmet incoming... *cheers* Regarding Gamescom: Still not sure... I've already thought about it. If yes, I'll try to get there on thursday or friday - this would mean to ask for a vacation day (which could be difficult in this month) and plan it as a one-day-trip, driving 300km to Cologne in the early morning and 300km back home in the evening. Well, we will see... If I'll get there, I won't stay invisible... :lol
 
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