My first "Halo Reach helmet and armor build"

[Mstruvmgc]

Sexy looking leg ya go there
You could attach the knee guard with a small piece of Eva foam connecting the two if you decide to to it mounted to the actual shin. This way it still has a squishy spot and it doesnt hurt your knee. just a suggestion. Its what i plan on doing when i get around to building mine.

 

[Renraku]

Thought I would post the thighs, these are mostly complete short of more details. Sorry for the blurry pictures.

 

[EVAkura]

Those thighs are looking great! Also, great tips. I look forward to using the heat gun to make the line technique

 

[Mstruvmgc]

Dude i love that idea for making the detail line! I was just thinking about how i wanted to do this with an ODST helmet i am going to attempt. I will have to test it now. Thanks

 

[cha0skn1ght]

That is a great idea for the detail line, just remember, since a cut is already made, the foam will be slightly weaker. I would recommend adding some foam behind it to reinforce that section (if you haven't already)
Keep up the good work, it all looks fantastic!

 

[Harri51]

Very nice work man. Killer detailing as well. Thanks for the tips too

 

[Renraku]

Chest progress

Update on my foam armor build, foam is a tricky thing when it comes to detail and holding a straight line. I think I did a good job considering I have never worked with it before. I still have more to do on this but wanted to share my progress. I plan on using Episilon for the hardening since you can sand it it. From what I have learned it easier to cover mistakes, and thickens as it hardens. I was going to go the wood glue and plasti-dip route before learning about Epislon.

I still have the neck to do and other details. The cut out holes you see are where lights will be mounted and it looks like there will be a lot of them lol. I can only imagine how heavy this would have been making it out Bondo.

Thanks for your feedback guys.

 

[Mstruvmgc]

Progress is looking great

 

[Renraku]

Hello, everyone

The chest piece is now basically complete for the foam phase. I still need to add lights, harden with Epsilon, paint etc... Overall there is over 400 pieces of foam to the chest, that is a lot of cutting. Some places didn't turn out as well as I wanted but overall I am happy with it. I had to remove over 2 inches in the top part of the chest as it was too deep and didn't fit right when compared to the action game figure. Also I have to remember that once the whole suit is worn all the parts will compliment each other and look better. The blue spots you see in the image are where lights will be placed, I wont be doing that until after the hardening process. I didn't like two of the main parts, the front-center-lower and back-center-lower pieces. So I went into 3D max and remodeled them to what I thought looked more accurate to the the actual Carter figure. I couldn't resist placing my helmet on the chest piece just to see what it would look like. I haven't tried it since I completed the sides since I don't have my clips yet and I am still a little nervous to be cutting the sides so I can get it on right .

Your feed back is always welcomed, and that's for taking the time.


Dave/ Renraku

 

[Serin]

Damn! That looks amazing!
Dem edges.

 

[RyanSam117]

Hi,

I'm Ryan-Sam and this too is going to be my first halo reach armour build exept I'm going to be doing it with pepakura coated in fiberglass, I just wondered if you could help tell me where I should begin, and maybe help me look for the reach reacon shoulders pepakura file, as its the only armour piece I cannot find...

Thanks :3 and good luck with your project

 

[Renraku]

Here is my latest update, sorry it has been so long but I switched hosting providers and my domain was out of commission for quite some time. Here is the Reach boot/shoe I have created, it slips over my tennis shoes or hiking boots. It will be held on the bottom with a strap to stabilize it. I have tested it by walking around and it works great, I can even slip them off with the shoe still inside without any problem. I modeled this in 3D from scratch as the model I found online was pretty bad and wouldn't work for what I was going for. I wanted to do the boots next since I needed to test fit the shins and thigh armor to be certain I could walk and possibly go up stairs lol. I had to adjust the shins and thighs some to make that possible. So remember when scaling you have to take into account mobility and not just how it might look on the game model. Remember in video games armor always clips or penetrates the characters body some, and that wont work for us real people let me know if anyone has questions.

 

[Apothacary]

Seeing amazing foam work like this is so inspiring. Too bad I always come across it late into the night/ wee hours of the morning...

Keep up the great work, it's coming along quite nicely.

 

[ferret304]

DAYUM. Someone's got a large talent pool lying around... Top foam work. The chest looks amazing

 

[Renraku]

Hi,

I'm Ryan-Sam and this too is going to be my first halo reach armour build exept I'm going to be doing it with pepakura coated in fiberglass, I just wondered if you could help tell me where I should begin, and maybe help me look for the reach reacon shoulders pepakura file, as its the only armour piece I cannot find...

Thanks :3 and good luck with your project

Hey, Ryan

Sorry I didnt get back to you until now. My whole build is in EVA foam with the exception of my helmet. Fiber glass is heavy, the average full suit will be around 60 to 80 lbs when you are done. First you will need the program called "Pepakura" this is needed to open the files you will need for all the pieces. If you choose pep and then fiber glass then your process will be quite different from mine. Do you have fiber glass experience? You will need a fume respirator, gloves when handling the fiber glass and bondo. Foam you can do indoors and only have to worry about the dust of the foam if you Dremel or sand it. Let me know what you want to do Fiber glass or foam and I will try to help.

 

[Renraku]

DAYUM. Someone's got a large talent pool lying around... Top foam work. The chest looks amazing

Seeing amazing foam work like this is so inspiring. Too bad I always come across it late into the night/ wee hours of the morning...

Keep up the great work, it's coming along quite nicely.

Thanks everyone for the nice words Ill have a new post tomorrow maybe with the bicep all foamed up.

 

[anhtrung]

woww,it looks damn good.......

 

[HALOSPRTAN]

Hi,

I'm Ryan-Sam and this too is going to be my first halo reach armour build exept I'm going to be doing it with pepakura coated in fiberglass, I just wondered if you could help tell me where I should begin, and maybe help me look for the reach reacon shoulders pepakura file, as its the only armour piece I cannot find...

Thanks :3 and good luck with your project

I really recommend looking at the sticky for safety before starting or even purchasing any equipment/build. I hope you have a great build. you can check for files in ms7's 4shared database

 

[Mstruvmgc]

Man Renraku, i sure have missed a lot! Everything is looking fantastic as always. I have a question for ya though, well two actually lol.
1. for your chest armor, i noticed that a lot of the big parts (like the front for example) dont have seam lines or anything like where you had multiple pieces put together. Im guessing that those bigger pieces are just one piece, so i was curious as to how you went about doing that? did you just cut a crevice in the back of the foam and bend it?? if possible could you post some photos or how you went about it??
2. would you be willing to share that boot file?? its very nice and i would like to use it for a reach build when i get around to it.
Keep up the great work

 

[HALOSPRTAN]

Man Renraku, i sure have missed a lot! Everything is looking fantastic as always. I have a question for ya though, well two actually lol.
1. for your chest armor, i noticed that a lot of the big parts (like the front for example) dont have seam lines or anything like where you had multiple pieces put together. Im guessing that those bigger pieces are just one piece, so i was curious as to how you went about doing that? did you just cut a crevice in the back of the foam and bend it?? if possible could you post some photos or how you went about it??
2. would you be willing to share that boot file?? its very nice and i would like to use it for a reach build when i get around to it.
Keep up the great work

I seem to remember EVAkura doing that in his exo suit build. He has instructional videos up on his thread which show you his process.

I have to say, this is an amazing build, after i finish my bondo suit, i plan on doing a foam ODST