My first build - Pepakura Mark VI Spartan Armor

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Jalean4

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I have been snooping around the 405th community for over 2 years now, and I just decided to join the ranks as a member. I somehow stumbled across a build on this forum by LongshotX (LongShot-X's Mark VI HD MJOLNIR Armor - WIP) that truly inspired me. I've been a huge fan of the halo series since the first time I played Halo: CE in 2001. Seeing Longshot's artistic work led me to researching and eventually to start pepping my own pieces of armor.

I began in January of 2014. I made the Mjolnir Mark VI helmet first, just to see if the project was something I would be interested in pursuing further. Over the next two years I would go through spurts of interest and work on the set of armor in waves. But recently, I attended Anime Detour in Minneapolis, MN and I have been completely motivated to pursue this project to completion.

Follow along with me as I track my progress...
(Pepakura files are by FLYING SQUIRL, ROBOGENESIS, RAL PARTHA, NUGGET, and crackhead09)

Helmet
Pep Helmet.jpg

Torso and Hand-Plates
Pep Chest.jpg

Left Shoulder and Wrist
Pep Right Arm.jpg

Left Thigh (don't mind me in my skivvies)
Pep Thighs.jpg

Shin (I grew a lot more confident in the Pepakura process. I began to model a few pieces without using numbers to match up parts.
Pep Shin.jpg

Here is the full set of armor Pepped and ready for fiber-glassing... Which terrifies me
Pepped Armor.JPG

Just the other day I went out and picked up all of the supplies I will need for fiber-glassing. I've got a busy schedule this week though, so I'm not sure how much time I'll get to actually work on the armor.
Fiberglassing.JPG

Until next time...
 
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Welcome to the 405th! Your work looks great! I like your choice of files too. Fiberglassing is a pain, but you'll get it. You pepped the support pieces which is going to help you a lot.
 
If you have never fiberglassed before I would recommend that you start it on a small model not a big piece that takes forever to fold.:D
 
If you have never fiberglassed before I would recommend that you start it on a small model not a big piece that takes forever to fold.:D

Thanks for the tip, I'm the type of person to research as much as I can before I'll begin something, so I was fairly confident about using the fiberglass resin.

I started on the shins, because I thought they were probably one of the easier pieces for me to Pep, just in case I ruined them.

Work's had me pretty busy, but I got a little more time today to work on them. I finished applying resin to both of the shins. I am probably 2/3 done with the torso, and I finished the left thigh. Just going slow, section by section, doing about an ounce at a time to make my resin last as long as possible. That forces me to not over-apply the resin as well.

IMG_1828.JPG

I've also been thinking about picking up a pair of BoomCo M6 Blasters (Magnums) or M7 Blasters (SMGs) to paint, as I'm not particularly interested in Pepping a gun.

Had a funny thought today about building a 343 Guilty Spark hover-drone..
**Calamity.. If only we had more time!**
 
I was reading through someone else's build and noticed they used two coats of resin on the outside. Is that necessary/a good idea? I feel like the armor is becoming pretty firm with just a single coat and that double-coating it will just take away some of the detail when it comes to the bondo phase.

I'm tentatively planning on doing two coats of fiberglass on the insides, and then one coat of *Rondo* over the fiberglass to smooth any sharp corners on the inside of the armor.
 
I only used 1 coat of resin on the outside of my pieces and 1 layer of fiberglass. The pieces came out very strong and have withstood being thrown on a concrete floor with very minimal damage.
 
It's a matter of preference really. The more layers you put the stronger the piece will be but the heavier it will get. It's a trade off. And yes the more layers you do outside, the more details you loose. I believe that the outer layer is to just harden the piece enough to allow you to work on the inside w/o it warping.
 
I was reading through someone else's build and noticed they used two coats of resin on the outside. Is that necessary/a good idea? I feel like the armor is becoming pretty firm with just a single coat and that double-coating it will just take away some of the detail when it comes to the bondo phase.

I'm tentatively planning on doing two coats of fiberglass on the insides, and then one coat of *Rondo* over the fiberglass to smooth any sharp corners on the inside of the armor.

While it's purely preference, I don't think there's a need for a second resin coat on the outside. Personally, I'm doing 1 coat resin outside and 2 layers fiberglass inside with and plan on doing a thin coat of rondo inside just to smooth out what sharp edges I can't file/sand down in my helmet. But as Dirtdives said, more layers is stronger but heavier so you'll have to find that sweet spot for you. Either way I wouldn't want to put a bunch of coats of resin on the outside for fear of losing too much detail.

Great job so far. It's looking good.
 
Last night I noticed that my Mark VI helmet was sagging to one side. Makes sense, as that was the first piece I had pepped, over 2 years ago. I had pepped it without the visor, thinking that way I wouldn't need to cut it out later, but that was a mistake. I reprinted a portion of the visor and added it to the helmet to increase it's structural strength before I put resin to it.

IMG_1834.JPG
(sorry I can't seem to figure out why it's rotated, the original file isn't)

Same thing for the codpiece, I had initially pepped it in pieces knowing I would need to be able to get inside of the built part, but that left it pretty weak structurally, which made the two halves lay flatter than I would need. I added some supports across the inside to hold it in shape before resin.


Also just noticed that my two forearm pieces are slightly off in size.. Small miscalculation on my scaling.. whoops! :facepalm
IMG_1835.JPG

I don't think it's too noticeable, but I know it's going to bother me if I don't correct it... I think I might resin both, and see which one fits me better.... and I thought I was done pepping for this build

Getting down there in pieces left to resin, then it's on to fiberglassing.
 
Great progress! I think the forearms are really close.

I was reading through someone else's build and noticed they used two coats of resin on the outside. Is that necessary/a good idea? I feel like the armor is becoming pretty firm with just a single coat and that double-coating it will just take away some of the detail when it comes to the bondo phase.

The benefit to the second coat on the outside is for when you go and file down the harsh edges on the outside.. with one coat you will break though to the paper very quickly, which is fine, but then requires more work to get rid of the paper fibers sticking up. You won't lose very much definition if you keep your resin coats thin.
 
Great progress! I think the forearms are really close.



The benefit to the second coat on the outside is for when you go and file down the harsh edges on the outside.. with one coat you will break though to the paper very quickly, which is fine, but then requires more work to get rid of the paper fibers sticking up. You won't lose very much definition if you keep your resin coats thin.

Another way to handle this problem is to use super glue on any paper you expose. It will saturate the paper and turn it hard, as if it were covered in resin. Ultimately it's up to the builder to choose what they want to do, but it's always nice to have options.
 
Another way to handle this problem is to use super glue on any paper you expose. It will saturate the paper and turn it hard, as if it were covered in resin. Ultimately it's up to the builder to choose what they want to do, but it's always nice to have options.
Yeah, this would be the "more work" I was referring to. :p I use Krazy Glue, doesn't dry quite as fast as regular super glue, but still achieves the same result.

Just smear it on there with your finger?
Yes, I use a plastic glove to avoid getting stuck together
 
not unless you want your fingers to stick to the the helmet or to themselves.........:facepalm
 
I went outside yesterday to try finishing putting resin on the last few pieces of armor I had. Look around, and all of my neighbors are out in the street looking up, so I go and join them...

tornado.jpg
Apparently we were in a tornado warning...

I ended up not bothering with working on my armor hehe

So today I got to do a little bit of resin work.
IMG_1842.JPG
Once all of these pieces cure, I will only have the forearms left to resin. Not sure why I kept them until last, since I'll probably want to redo one of them to make the two the exact same size (see earlier post).

Anyway, work shouldn't have me as busy this week, so I'm hoping to get an okay jump on fiberglassing. Still planning on taking it nice and easy though as it will still be my first time working with it.
 
Where do you live? I live in Texas and there was a tornado not 5 feet from my house, thank god it wasn't all that powerful. It still broke around 10 roofs in my neighborhood as well as cut the power off for two days.

Are you going to use rondo to make it tougher, or are you going to make molds and casting resin?
 
Where do you live? I live in Texas and there was a tornado not 5 feet from my house, thank god it wasn't all that powerful. It still broke around 10 roofs in my neighborhood as well as cut the power off for two days.

Are you going to use rondo to make it tougher, or are you going to make molds and casting resin?

I live in Fargo/Moorhead (the North Dakota/Minnesota border), we had 2 funnel clouds that night. One touched down in a field just South of town and the other dissipated, so there wasn't any consequential damage.

My current plan is to do two layers of fiberglass and then use rondo to smooth the insides to make it look more *finished*. Since this is my first build, I'm not even considering delving into the mold/casting area of the 405th community.
 
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