My First Armor Build; Halo Infinite Master Chief

[marinesniper]

“Are those a bunch of scaling errors?”

“What? No! Of course not. I totally meant to print a bunch differently sized, full pieces…to test various base coats and shades of green. Intentionally…”

I do the same thing I print smaller chest parts and others to test my colors on you will see that it helps greatly. Awesome job on the armor by the way

 

[ForwardUntoDusk]

I do the same thing I print smaller chest parts and others to test my colors on you will see that it helps greatly. Awesome job on the armor by the way

Mine actually are scaling errors. lol. Think I’ve got it nailed though with version 5.

 

[ForwardUntoDusk]

UPDATE: Working on the chest & back pieces. Finally got the scaling down right, and they fit together really well. The shoulder ring and joint are currently 3D printed and I'm trimming and sizing to get the shoulder ring to fit properly into the chest/back pieces. Current plan is to join the ring and shoulder into 1 piece, smooth and fill, then mold cast it in soft rubber or foam.

To attach to the chest and back, I'm going to try building up a flange around the shoulder ring, and mount some magnets that will lock into place inside the chest/back pieces. That's the current plan anyway...

 

[ForwardUntoDusk]

UPDATE: Got the clasp system done for the chest and back pieces. Found some stupidly strong magnets. I wanted to make the outside look as seamless as possible. The little gap on the top clasps will eventually be filled with a small piece of plastic, to help hide the magnets. For the bottom, I heat-molded some left over raft material, superglued it down, then used hot glue to fill gaps and make it more stable. I put a thin layer of hot glue over some of the magnets as well, to keep from getting that metal clanking, and also to make it a little easier to pull apart.

Bonus photo bomb from my cat, Moby. Lol.

 

[marinesniper]

UPDATE: Got the clasp system done for the chest and back pieces. Found some stupidly strong magnets. I wanted to make the outside look as seamless as possible. The little gap on the top clasps will eventually be filled with a small piece of plastic, to help hide the magnets. For the bottom, I heat-molded some left over raft material, superglued it down, then used hot glue to fill gaps and make it more stable. I put a thin layer of hot glue over some of the magnets as well, to keep from getting that metal clanking, and also to make it a little easier to pull apart.

Bonus photo bomb from my cat, Moby. Lol.

That looks awesome, now you need to build a grunt costume for Moby lol then he can get all kinds of pictures

 

[ForwardUntoDusk]

UPDATE:

Been working on the long process of sanding and smoothing out the prints. Trying to remember the 5-foot rule, but I’m too much of a perfectionist. Lol.

 

[marinesniper]

UPDATE: Got the clasp system done for the chest and back pieces. Found some stupidly strong magnets. I wanted to make the outside look as seamless as possible. The little gap on the top clasps will eventually be filled with a small piece of plastic, to help hide the magnets. For the bottom, I heat-molded some left over raft material, superglued it down, then used hot glue to fill gaps and make it more stable. I put a thin layer of hot glue over some of the magnets as well, to keep from getting that metal clanking, and also to make it a little easier to pull apart.

Bonus photo bomb from my cat, Moby. Lol.

the gap you talk about you can just paint black with the hole clip set up and no one would notice anything. but i know it will bug you that its there i got ya. i will wait to see how you cover it .

 

[ForwardUntoDusk]

UPDATE:

Just finished up my first attempt at a 2-part mother mold. Planning to use this method for the joints of my under suit. For this first attempt, I decided to use the elbow joint.

I printed out the joint on my 3D printer, sanded and smoothed the parts. I used BBDino platinum silicone, with a liquid thickener, to make the inner silicone sleeve. For the hard outer shell, I used some fast-setting plaster bandages. For the actual under suit, I did a 3 layer slush-casting with some PT Flex 50 that I got from www.brickintheyard.com.

I used too much material for this first casting, and it ended up being about 3/8" thick in places. I was going for about 1/8" thick, to maximize strength and flexibility. Otherwise, I think it came out looking really good. That satin black finish is exactly what I was hoping for. We'll see how the subsequent castings come out, once I get my technique and product measurements dialed in to get the thickness I'm looking for.

Also, going to look for flexible paint to get some of the dark grey details on the under suit.

 

[marinesniper]

UPDATE:

Just finished up my first attempt at a 2-part mother mold. Planning to use this method for the joints of my under suit. For this first attempt, I decided to use the elbow joint.

I printed out the joint on my 3D printer, sanded and smoothed the parts. I used BBDino platinum silicone, with a liquid thickener, to make the inner silicone sleeve. For the hard outer shell, I used some fast-setting plaster bandages. For the actual under suit, I did a 3 layer slush-casting with some PT Flex 50 that I got from www.brickintheyard.com.

I used too much material for this first casting, and it ended up being about 3/8" thick in places. I was going for about 1/8" thick, to maximize strength and flexibility. Otherwise, I think it came out looking really good. That satin black finish is exactly what I was hoping for. We'll see how the subsequent castings come out, once I get my technique and product measurements dialed in to get the thickness I'm looking for.

Also, going to look for flexible paint to get some of the dark grey details on the under suit.

hey just to let you know you are right that 3/8 would have been way to much to work you would be tired fast. but 1/8 is good and as far as flex able paint for the silicone i would try the following and see if it works for you it did for me.

As silicone is flexible it is important that the paint has the same flexible quality. Without this, the paint will have a tendency to flake off. A good method of creating a flexible paint is to use an oil-based paint (your chosen colour) alongside silicone caulking. To thin it down, use orange solvent or white spirit. You can then paint the silicone, and the solvent in the mix will evaporate (leaving the coloured silicone before curing). The mix can be thinned down until it’s very runny, enabling you to paint with an airbrush if you choose. We would recommend that a respirator (3M Mask) should always be used when spraying any solvent based liquids.

 

[ForwardUntoDusk]

Second casting came out much better! Exactly the thickness I was going for. It’s much more flexible, but should still be durable enough to hold up.

This time I used about 1/3 of the material, and did 4 slush coats.

 

[ForwardUntoDusk]

hey just to let you know you are right that 3/8 would have been way to much to work you would be tired fast. but 1/8 is good and as far as flex able paint for the silicone i would try the following and see if it works for you it did for me.

As silicone is flexible it is important that the paint has the same flexible quality. Without this, the paint will have a tendency to flake off. A good method of creating a flexible paint is to use an oil-based paint (your chosen colour) alongside silicone caulking. To thin it down, use orange solvent or white spirit. You can then paint the silicone, and the solvent in the mix will evaporate (leaving the coloured silicone before curing). The mix can be thinned down until it’s very runny, enabling you to paint with an airbrush if you choose. We would recommend that a respirator (3M Mask) should always be used when spraying any solvent based liquids.

Thanks! I may give that a shot.

 

[JammedMite942]

Second casting came out much better! Exactly the thickness I was going for. It’s much more flexible, but should still be durable enough to hold up.

This time I used about 1/3 of the material, and did 4 slush coats.

I might have to try this out, cuz it looks awesome! Nice job!

 

[Citruspers]

Hey, great progress on the armor, particularly the boot molding!

I've also been experimenting with flexibles and paint. If you need a starting point: Rosco Flexbond works great as a flexible primer (I've used it on both EVA foam and 3D-printed TPU so far), and for the paint I used HexFlex.

I painted a little TPU sample card in my thread if you want to see how far it can bend: 3D printed mkVI build (Citruspers)

 

[ForwardUntoDusk]

Hey, great progress on the armor, particularly the boot molding!

I've also been experimenting with flexibles and paint. If you need a starting point: Rosco Flexbond works great as a flexible primer (I've used it on both EVA foam and 3D-printed TPU so far), and for the paint I used HexFlex.

I painted a little TPU sample card in my thread if you want to see how far it can bend: 3D printed mkVI build (Citruspers)

Thanks! I’ll check that out.

 

[PlanetAlexander]

Hey, great progress on the armor, particularly the boot molding!

I've also been experimenting with flexibles and paint. If you need a starting point: Rosco Flexbond works great as a flexible primer (I've used it on both EVA foam and 3D-printed TPU so far), and for the paint I used HexFlex.

I painted a little TPU sample card in my thread if you want to see how far it can bend: 3D printed mkVI build (Citruspers)

Do you find the Flexbond adheres well to the TPU? It doesn't easily separate when flexed?

 

[Citruspers]

Do you find the Flexbond adheres well to the TPU? It doesn't easily separate when flexed?

I applied the coat flat and can't get it to crack or flake, even when I wrap the test print 180 degrees around a pencil. So it seems to be pretty tough

 

[3MIL3R34CH]

Quitas algunas líneas de impresión con acetona.

 

[Citruspers]

Quitas algunas líneas de impresión con acetona.

Translated: "You remove some lines of print with acetone."

Acetone vapour smoothing only works for ABS unfortunately. Though you can use D-limonene if you print HIPS.

 

[ForwardUntoDusk]

UPDATE:

Been a while since I've posted an update. The last couple months have been a little crazy, between work and life... My original plan was to have the suit completed by the end of March, but I find that to be highly unlikely at this point. Lol.

Mainly still working on sanding and smoothing out the prints, and constantly reminding myself of the 5-foot rule so I don't drive myself crazy obsessing over tiny flaws that only I will ever see. The boots and shins are mostly done and prepped for paint (although I'm trying to think of a flexible and durable way to smooth/fill the gap between the 3D printed boot top and the rubber sole...).

Also working on the joint pieces for the undersuit. I have the 2-part mother molds created for the elbow and ankle joints, and have finished smoothing the 3D printed core for the knee joint mold. Once I get my tax return, I'll be buying all the silicone and urethane rubber for those parts. Lol.

For the chest piece, I am almost done trimming and smoothing both of the shoulder joints so that they will fit seamlessly into the back/chest pieces. Once I have the silicone and rubber, I'll be casting those parts in soft rubber as well. I am planning to line the inside of the chest/back pieces with some fiberglass cloth to help reinforce and strengthen those pieces. Given the size of those pieces, and the relative thickness compared to that, I really want added durability.

Recently, I have had more time to work on my suit, so hopefully there will be more regular progress updates. Thanks!

 

[Nimitz]

Some really nice work there!
I’m in the process of researching how I’m going to do my full master chief build when I found your thread - some really good info here that will definitely help me out! One question for you on your selection of the 3D files for the base armor … did you happen to look at InfinteCreative3D’s files before selecting Galactic Armory? Also, you mentioned something earlier in this thread about something funky with how some of the pieces went together? Could you elaborate? I’m down to either GA or IC3D for the files although I’ve already purchased the GA file for the Helmet as I like how he sliced it for printing.
My big struggle right now is what method to use for the undersuit. I can’t start on the base armor until the undersuit is done to ensure I scale the armor correctly via ArmorSmith. I know some are casting in silicon or urethane but I just think that’s going to be really hot to wear for any length of time. My preferred method is to make a fabric full body undersuit by getting the pattern to sew a full body suit and then use ribbed material to make it out of to look similar to the TV show version or just sew ribbed fabric pieces that are the ones that will be in exposed areas and add Velcro to them so I can just put them on over a black Lycra skinsuit. This will require me to find a seamstress but the current difficulty is finding suitable ribbed fabric. I know a talented seamstress can make Ribbing in material but that will add significant cost to making the undersuit vs just sewing a simple full body suit together with me supplying the correct fabric. I’ve got some 1/4” diameter silicon rubber medical tubing coming that im going to experiment with gluing together to se if I can replicate the ribbing pattern for the arms and shoulders at least. The upper part of the pants; butt and thighs requires a larger rib patter tah5 I haven’t found a good fit for yet …