My First Mark Vi Armor W.i.p.

[Saber]

Nice work man, I couldn't see the AR, but I've seen the file you guys were talking about.

Yeah sorry about the earlier posts. They were done before 405th was hacked so they've been messed up afterwards.
The AR ended up being dumped because it got crushed by a dictionary in my closet. I was thinking of making another one after I finish my suit. But I'm more focused on my suit for the time being.

 

[Saber]

Gettin' a fire under mah butt.

Hey guys,
It's been a while and I don't have a lot to bring to the table. But none the less, I have some progress to share.
For starters, I've glued the ab plate to the chest piece. I hotglued the crap out of it! Just to make sure it'd stay. I also fiberglassed it so I'm done fiberglassing the chest.

Next: For pieces that I have already fiberglassed, I just bought a can of white primer spray paint at Freddies ($4) and applied a layer to the handplates, a full boot and a toe piece.

Here is my "paint station" and paint of choice:

For anyone who doesn't know why you should so this, it's so you can see resin blemishes like drips and maybe even hotglue rough spots.

And lastly: I have a gauntlet and the back of the second boot fiberglassed.

I really have to get a-goin' on my suit so I can finish by "Halo"ween this year. So be expecting some updates in the next couple of days.

I greatly appreciate criticism and please comment if you have questions or concerns.

Saber Out.

 

[Saber]

On a Roll!

'Sup guys!
I'm back! I got a lot more fiberglassing done and I'm getting really excited for the rest of the suit to be finished.
So far, I fiberglassed the second gauntlet, both shoulders, and the helmet. I need to glue in popsicle sticks in the bicep parts of the shoulders because they are starting to fold in on themselves. I can't have them dry that way or I'll have to pep them all over again.

As for the chest piece, I got a bottle of expanding foam and sprayed the back of the chest piece in places where my hand couldn't fit very well. My dad also sprayed some foam in the sides and a little in the front. He told me that when I need to cut the chest piece in half, the chest won't vibrate as much and will keep the cut straight.
I know the spray job looks a little messy, but when it fully sets, I'll chop it down so it's not in the way.

Also, my friend's marine helmet is finished being pepped and I gave it a layer of resin today. I forgot to take a picture of it so you guys won't be able to see it. It might be a little big for my friend, but I'll just put some padding in it so it fits better.

My plan for tomorrow is to shave down the excess foam, put a second coat of resin on the helmet (if the first layer cures by then... <_<), and finish fiberglassing the rest of my suit (Thighs, shins, and COD). I don't know how much I'll get done for sure... The weather might change everything I have planned. Just now I had to run outside and save my pieces from the beginnings of a rain shower (THAT was effing scary!). And it all deoends on homework from school.
I don't expect everything to be fully cured or dried for a week or more. I don't see any warm temperatures till next summer (Oregon weather SUCKS for this kind of thing!)

Thanks you guys for following my thread.
Comments and Critique gratefully accepted.
Saber Out

 

[Saber]

Closer and closer to Finishing

Hey guys!
My SD card is missing from my camera, so I have no pictures for this update.
Although, I have gotten a lot done!

1. All of my pieces are fiberglassed!
It took longer than I wanted it to, but I got it done.

2. All but three pieces are sanded of visible boogers
The COD piece and a thigh and a shin just finished drying today so tomorrow I will sand down the resin drips and "boogers" on those too

3. I'm about to start the bondo stage
So now... This is where I'm kinda stuck. My dad and I hardly have the slightest idea how to tackle this stage of my suit production. I've been "Reading around" on the forums and have learned a lot about bondo, but further tips and advice would be GREAT!

4. A few days ago, I got my golden visor for my helmet!

Great story! (This will take just a sec...)
When I was viewing a visor from a seller on eBay, I asked the seller what the size dimensions were of the visor.
When I got a respond message, he told me the dimensions. The last sentence in the message was:
"You building a Halo helmet?"
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
I thought that was great...

Anyways... I found out that the visor is actually a little too big for my helmet and I was wondering if anyone can give me advice as to cutting the visor to fit the helmet?

I'm really close to finishing this thing and I have two weeks before "Halo"ween! I'm trying to finish before then.

On a different note: I wanted to make a UNSC and 405th logo stencil but I have no clue as to how. I've taken logo pictures off of the internet and used Adobe Illustrator to create a black and white stencil model. I tried printing out the stencil on cardstock and it didn't work so well... If I could get some help on this as well, I'd be highly grateful.

Advice from everyone would be UUBERLY accepted and appreciated.
Again, sorry about the lack of pictures. I will try and find my SD card and post some pics tomorrow.

Thanks for following this thread:
Saber Out

 

[Jabenbetz]

I could help you with the stencil. What you need to do is look at the general design of the logo and try to work out what the most important/iconic parts are. after this, you have to decide where you will put the braces and other peices which hold the inside parts of the stencil in place. If it's too complex to do in one go, make a 2 tone stencil (or more).
It's kinda hard to Explain.
If you want, I could give it a shot for you?

 

[LongShot X]

Hey guys!
My SD card is missing from my camera, so I have no pictures for this update.
Although, I have gotten a lot done!

1. All of my pieces are fiberglassed!
It took longer than I wanted it to, but I got it done.

2. All but three pieces are sanded of visible boogers
The COD piece and a thigh and a shin just finished drying today so tomorrow I will sand down the resin drips and "boogers" on those too

3. I'm about to start the bondo stage
So now... This is where I'm kinda stuck. My dad and I hardly have the slightest idea how to tackle this stage of my suit production. I've been "Reading around" on the forums and have learned a lot about bondo, but further tips and advice would be GREAT!

4. A few days ago, I got my golden visor for my helmet!

Great story! (This will take just a sec...)
When I was viewing a visor from a seller on eBay, I asked the seller what the size dimensions were of the visor.
When I got a respond message, he told me the dimensions. The last sentence in the message was:
"You building a Halo helmet?"
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
I thought that was great...

Anyways... I found out that the visor is actually a little too big for my helmet and I was wondering if anyone can give me advice as to cutting the visor to fit the helmet?

I'm really close to finishing this thing and I have two weeks before "Halo"ween! I'm trying to finish before then.

On a different note: I wanted to make a UNSC and 405th logo stencil but I have no clue as to how. I've taken logo pictures off of the internet and used Adobe Illustrator to create a black and white stencil model. I tried printing out the stencil on cardstock and it didn't work so well... If I could get some help on this as well, I'd be highly grateful.

Advice from everyone would be UUBERLY accepted and appreciated.
Again, sorry about the lack of pictures. I will try and find my SD card and post some pics tomorrow.

Thanks for following this thread:
Saber Out

You can cut the visor using a dremel with the cutting blade. I found that the visor is quite flexible so that you can bend it to fit into the helm... All I had to do was cut off the excess at the sides and then hot glue the visor into the helm.

 

[Swift]

Wow, that's looking utterly awesome O:

My advice, unless it's really obviously in need of it, DON'T use body filler. I'm currently working on a helmet, and well... get it wrong to begin with, and you'll be at it till christmas (which I will). A lot of the armour looks pretty awesome as is, and, if it were mine, I probably wouldn't use any bondo, but it's really up to you
It's only eally necessary where the curves are really needed (like, mosto f the helmet). But if it's meant to be angled (or just looks plain better that way) don't bondo it.

Also need to find the right amount to put on the armour. I made the mistake of lathering it in a lot places, but not the corners and angles I really needed it on.

Also also, watch the drips. They're just a dang nuisance once they dry.

Good luck, looking awesome

 

[Saber]

Picture heavy!

Hey guys, I found my SD card. It was in the bottom of my camera bag... ^_^;

So here's my suit overall.

I forgot to tell you guys! I finished my handplates!
They're pretty BA if you ask me...
I did some major detailing with the dremel and some places are a little rough, but I think it adds to the effect. To paint it, I started with a coat of primer, and let it dry. Then a coat of silver, and let it dry. And then a coat of Italian Olive Green to finish. After the third paint coat dried, I attacked the handplate with sand paper and sratched the hell out of the edges to give it a worn look.

For strapping, I bought black elastic bands from the local craft store and cut out three pieces or various lengths and glued them on the back side of the hadnplate as you see here:

When I glued the elastic on, I found out that I keeps the handplate straight and it won't fall off for any reason whatsoever! Which is pretty sweet.

So let's start from the top:
The helmet:

I've decided that I am NOT going to be using bondo on it. It may need a little more sanding on the top to smooth out some rough spots, but it's looking pretty good for a first-timer.
I'm going to convince my dad to take me to Home Depot later (maybe not today) so we can get some LED lights for the sides of the helmet.
I have also bought a sheet of one inch foam padding. I'll be experimenting with cushioning and such later today. I will also get some black fabric soon and glue it to the in side of the helmet and other pieces so my clothes don't get caught on fiberglass chunks that weren't sanded down on the inside.

For the chest piece:
I don't think I'll be using any bondo for this piece either. The details on the back are AWE-SUMMM and I am really proud out myself on this one.

The second picture looks a little messy, but that's because there isn't a coat of primer on it.

When my dad put expanding foam into the back of the chest piece, he put it all in there at once so it expanded and bulged the back sides of the chest. Luckily, I was able to fix it by cramming a butter knife in the cracks it made and chop down some foam so it'd be back to normal again.
Here's a couple pics of the cracks:

And here's the profile views of the bulges now chopped back down again.

I'm gonna wait till my dad gets home from work to cut this baby in half and get a hinge working for the chest piece.


Moving on...
The right shoulder pieces may need a little bondo in the bicep area. The biceps look a little... Well it doesn't look sanded at all, actually. It's really bumpy and I'm going to have to sand it a lot more if I don't want to use bondo.

(To be Continued...)

 

[Saber]

Sorry about the double post: The thread will let me post so many pics. So here's the rest of my update.


For the thigh, shin, and COD:

I gave all of them a "tacky inspection" and there are some tiny spots on the shin and the thigh that are a little tacky, so I can't sand them down today. I will, however, be sanding down the COD plate. When I'm done, I want to cut it in half so I can put it on easier. But I'll wait for my dad to help.

As for the boots, I cut out the bottom on one of them and placed it on top of the black sketchers I got from the discount store. I don't like how they look...

I was thinking of going to Goodwill and try to find some rainboots. If they fit but are not black, I"ll just spray paint them black. As to the issue of them fitting on on my boot, I was going to use the same elastic method as I did with the handplates. For the toe, I was going to glue an elastic strap that looped around the back of the heel and HOORAY! All fixed!

So here's the deal on my friend's marine suit. I don't think much is going to happen. I applied a coat of resin and it warped... A lot. I forgot to hang it up to dry rather than putting it on a flat surface and look what it did.

The side doesn't look too bad though.

And here's the back.

When I'm finished with my suit, I will go ahead and try to finish the helmet for my friend. I'll glue some wooden batons in it for now so it doesn't look so warped.

REPLY TIME:

@Jabenbetz:
I have my copy of my idea of a stencil somewhere but that seems to have gone missing. *.*
I have a file at school and I'll upload the stencil tomorrow to show you.
If you want to take a swing at the stencils, go right ahead! You'll probably do a better job than me anyways.

@LongShot-X:
Thanks for the tip! I've already tried putting the visor in the helmet and I'm really happy it's that flexible. It's just the outside edges that are a little long so I'll try not to eff up the visor with the dremel blade when I cut it.

@Swift:
Thanks for the advice! I'll try to sand out as much as I can before I decide whether I'm to use the bondo or not. If I don't end up usin git, I'll just return it.


Thanks again, everyone, for your support and tips!
I hope to see more advice soon and I'll post more as soon as I get more work done.

Saber Out.

 

[JUSTINIAN 117]

Before you do any work on the visor I would reccomend taping the entire thing, so that while you are fitting/cutting it it won't scratch. Paintors tape works best, but masking tape would be fine too. Just try to fit it into place, and trim off parts that keep it from fitting, just remember that you can always cut off more if you have to, but if you go too far, then most likely it will be ruined.

If you have an electric sander you should use a little bit of bondo on the bicep, but if you don't, it isn't that critical. Bondo is similar to resin, as it is a two part mixture. It is much thicker, almost like drywall mud. Depending on how much hardener you add it dries fairly fast (15 minutes at most) and it sands much easier than resin. In my opinion it is easier to work with than resin. It can take some practice to master using Bondo, but it really if one of the best things to use for smoothing out surfaces. And it is also fairly inexpensive, $19.00 for a gallon at walmart.

The suit really does look good though. Keep up the good work.

 

[Saber]

Happy "Halo"ween!

Hey everyone!

Guessssss whaaaaat...?!

My armor is finished! (For the most part, atleast)
Sorry for the lack of updates up to this point, but I was trying to finish it by Friday and I didn't have the time to get on my computer and post pics for you guys.

I decided not o use bondo, but I am still really happy with the end result. And I hope you guys are as happy with the finished product as I am!

Here is the armor all layed out on the carpet for you guys.

Here is a closer look at the chest piece and helmet.

And a closer look at the shoulders, gauntlets, handplates, thighs, and shins.

And the COD plate and boots.

Now here's the best part...
I sent an e-mail to the Prinicpal of my school and asked permission to wear my armor to school the Friday before Halloween and he accepted, on the condition that I took my helmet off during class.
So I wore my suit to school!

I got to school extra early so I could walk around the school. INSTANTLY! I got a little group of paparazzi following me around asking who I am and such. I wouldn't say anything to them, trying to conceal my identity.

As the day progressed, I went to classes with an invisible smile as people stared, pointed, and took pictures as I walked by. I had my friend and my sister take pictures and my friend, Kira, had a camcorder and taped me walking down the halls.

My first class is Game Design. And I found it extremely funny that I am the only female in that class so when I came to class, heads turned at the Master Chief who sat down in the back of the class. They all stared at me till class started and I took my helmet off (as in agreement with the principal) and I heard a number of gasps and saw eyes widen. I couldn't help but laugh and I said aloud, "Didn't expect THAT. Did jah?"
I did hit a couple road bumps in wearing this to school as some pieces decided to fall apart as I walked around and people kept trying to "Man-handle" me as I passed seeing if my armor was made of cardboard or not.

Here are some pics of the early morning.

This pic is of me in my spartan armor with my younger sister dressed as "Clifford" at my house before I set out to school.

Look at what Clifford was doing while Chief wasn't looking!!!!!! >:O

BAD CLIFFORD!!!!!! (Sorry that the pic is sideways!)

Chief posing for the camera before she goes to school.

Here I am infront of the "tank" before I go inside the school. It was a MIRACLE that I was able to get in that thing! I couldn't wear my seatbelt but it's a good thing that the high school is not that far away.

Here I am walking down the hall with my friend's boyfriend, Jared, before the paparazzi team arrived.

We're talking about how epic I am.

See the guy in the background? He's probably thinking, "What... The... F-?!"

Here I am in the hall with some kids walking by. They were asking me a bunch of questions but I would only nod or shake my head to yes or no questions.

My friend from all the way back to 2nd grade talking about how he wants to make his own armor!

 

[Saber]

Pics continued:
At lunch, I walked around the cafeteria to show off my armor. Everyone stared and a lot of people started yelling "HEY CHIEF!", "OVER HERE! OVER HERE!"

Sorry about the butt plate but my rump isn't exactly form fitting to the COD plate so the back liked to ride up a bit.

Now THIS was a funny moment!
I was by the student store dancing to a remix of "I gotta feeling" and I turned around and the entire Senior Football team stood up and started walking towards me with wierd smiles on their faces. Honestly, I though they wanted to beat me up. But they only wanted a picture! When they congregated around me, thirty more people got up and whipped out their camera phones!

You have NO idea how awkward that was for me!

After I finished my rounds in the cafeteria, I decided that it was time for the big reveal. So at the lunch table where I usually sat, I took off my helmet. I turned around and I heard people yell "Chief's really a chick!"

So in a nutshell, I really had a lot of fun with this build.
Thanks to everyone in the forums for giving me advice, to the people who created the pep files for the armor, and to everyone who has supported me on this 18 month journey of creating my first set of Halo armor.

I gotta tell you now, I am NOT done with this suit!
There are some things I'd like to add and fix up so expect some upgraded pics in the future. I cannot tell you exactly how quickly occurring that is gonna be, but this is not the last you'll hear from me.

Comments and Critique greatfully accepted.
Saber Out

 

[Roadkiller]

This is so many kinds of awesome I can't add them up!

Nicely done, a great build that you put to its' actual purpose, having fun!

 

[ventrue]

Oh I would have loved to see that live :-D

 

[LongShot X]

Considering that no bondo was used... I'm extreemly impressed as to how this turned out. VERY IMPRESSED! Fantastic paint scheme. Congrats and Kudos!

As for your outing at school... I know exactly how you feel. I get that everywhere I go. Everyone wants to stop you and have pics. Have FUN and enjoy the fame!

Thanks for sharing your pics.

Cheers!

 

[JUSTINIAN 117]

Considering that no bondo was used... I'm extreemly impressed as to how this turned out. VERY IMPRESSED! Fantastic paint scheme. Congrats and Kudos!

That is really really good for no bondo. And also great work on the paint. Excellent job.

 

[Saber]

Returning with Backup!

Hey guys and gals of 405th!
Sorry, it's been a few months since I last posted anything, but that soon is going to change!

Recently, since showing my suit to the school, I've been confronted by my friends about armor making and we've actually established an armor making club because we all want to work on armor together!
We made up a name, plan as to what we want to do, and have actually started a build togther!
Our name that we've devised with our creative little minds is Omichron ForgeCraft. I know "Omichron" is spelled wrong if you look at the names of Greek symbols, but we liked the way it looked more.
Our plan is to make a set of suits to wear to Kumoricon this summer and put them up for sale so we can make more suits. We are doing this more for fun than for money, but the extra cash is a nice little incentive.
Since I am the only one who knows how to build armor (only kinda compared to LongShot and AceNat), I will be teaching my fellow OFC members the "Art of AmorCrafting" with our first build.
Our first build is a Naval Marine Pilot (just a marine build but with the pilot helmet). It should be fairly easy and quick to go through since the details aren't as extensive and nit-picky as Mark VI armor (or Reach armor for that matter!:O).

In relations to my own armor, I've taken it out for a spin only one other time. I actually wore it to Wallmart by the I-205 mall (How original am I? ). Even though it was in the earlier morning and there weren't many people, I still got a good reaction from the public.
I walked around the store while my mom and sisters were clothes shopping and got lots of smiles and confused stares as I passed by (What fun!) After a quick spin around the store, I went to the front of the store and asked the greeters if I could greet with them. Well OF COURSE they let me!
I stood infront of the store and waved at people as they came and go. I took a few pictures with some kids who wanted them and shook hands with plenty of people.
I was even asked a couple of times if I was a member of 405th (I couldn't help but laugh every time)! I hung out infront of the store until my mom and siblings were ready to go and we went to the Target promenade that was nearby.

But this was when I regretfully found out how "nooby" my build actually was .
My chest piece, that was unfortunately already too big for me, became cumbersome because it constantly got in the way of my shoulder pieces and one of the buckles that I used to make sure it stayed together, broke.

Well I have definately learned from this build and I won't be making the same mistakes twice! This week is Spirit Week at my high school and tomorrow is "Big Bang Theory Day!" I thought to myself, "Master Chief = Gaming Icon, Video Games = Nerds, Me Wearing MC Suit to school = Another day of epic awesomeness!"

So tomorrow, I will be taking my suit for another public debut. But I'll have to make those quick repairs to my suit before hand! :O (Well duh...)

I'll be taking more pictures, and possibly be videotaping this public appearance tomorrow, so be expecting more pics in the future!

Haha, this is so cool! This is post #117 on my thread! >8D

(Edit: Oh, and thank you to all of the members of 405th who have commented on my suit's progress! You guys kept me goin' when my spirit in the project was low!)

Happy Armor building!
Saber

 

[MariaThibeault]

your question is how will you harden your Assault rifle? Your question is so simple.just go to you tube.com and type your questions there and i know you'll get your answers right away. Hope you like my idea.hope it help..

 

[Saber]

Hey guys! I've started a new armor project, hence starting a new thread! If you wanna check it out and watch me take another whack at armor building, here's the link below!
Thanks again for supporting me, you guys!
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/32372-Saber-s-Second-Mk-VI-Armor-Project-(Pics-Included)
Cheers

 

[gc 3000]

The finished product looks absolutely wonderful. Nicely done.