HaxorParadox
New Member
Hi! This is my first post on this forum, and since it is my first, I'd thought I'd start with an introduction. Well, I'm not usually one to drabble on, so here it goes:
Some of you may know me from other forums around the net, more specifically the Nsider forums, and occasionally a few other random ones. I don't know how many of you are Nintendo gamers, but her, never hurts to check. Anyways, I got my first Xbox consol, the 360, about two weeks before the launch of Halo 3, and before that the only other Halo gaming I did was at my cousins house when Halo 1 was released, and then in May of 2007 I purchased Halo 2 for Vista. I only beat that game 2 days before Halo 3 came out... Yeah, I'm kind of lazy at beating games (I have a backlog of +40 and rising). (My Gamertag is HaxorParadox, add me for a decent challenge) Anyways, since I beat Halo 3 a long time back, I wanted to create a Mark VI armor suit as accurately as possible, for a number of uses. Paintballing, Airsoft, Cosplay conventions, and gaming tournaments around the city. And also because it just looks sweet! So, me having just gotten a job again, I should have money in a few weeks. Most of that money will be going to pay off debts, but after that, around 50% of what I make could go into a suit (2 weeks, $500, so around $200-250), but no more. I've had some experience building stuff before, but not to this scale. I want this to be as accurate as I can get it within my power, because of two reasons: I'm a perfectionist, and will not budge for errors, and secondly, to actually use this template to give me a good feel for actual body armor for military purposes. Yeah, sounds dumb, but I'm also a designer, and currently the military has some of the crappiest armor for soldiers, known as flak suits. Some people may argue that a full armor suit would be too heavy, but if I can get a feel for designing armor, and eventually have one crafted (I'm in contact with armor companies already), then I can prove them wrong! Currently, I'm 18 and just finishing high school, and after that I might pursue either that aforementioned military career, or go into game development, design, modelling, animation, storyboarding, or programming.
So, enough about me for now I think. I'll just get straight to the point now.
Ok, here's the deal! I'll list what I want on the suit, and you tell me what to or not to do, what to fix and what to leave. That way I can get a good sense of direction of how to make the armor.
-Mark VI
-Fully encased helmet, with gold visor specified for airsoft/paintball regulations
-Scale to me, each piece of armor
-Have an internal breathing apparatus
-Have a liquid pack in the back armor, where the shoulder/neck guard is (Housed inside)
-Have lights (Probably Leds) on the helmet, with a battery somewhere inside of the helmet
-A cooling system for the suit
-Full under armor, black, that looks as close to the same thing as I can get
-Make it paintball/airsoft proof, which wont shatter when hit
-TRY to keep the weight below 50 pounds (I'm thin, at 125 pounds. May change now tat I've started going to the gym). If it goes over, that isn't a problem, I can deal.
Ok, so there’s what I want. Not too simple I would think. At least, I would hope not! I always like a challenge
By the way, I'll ask now. Is it possible to get a paint/mixture so that when pieces are cast, they are already the color I want them to be? That way, if it got scratches, it would be the right color and not a plastic (Or what ever is best). I don't know if mixing resins (Or what ever is best) and paint would work.
What kind of resin or material is best for holding up to drops, paintballs, airsoft?
What fabric is breathable enough to be under armor, yet modable enough to change its looks, tough enough to take hits, and soft enough where it wont cause rubbing/irritation of the skin?
Can you list places where I can get these materials?
Alright, now I'm going to take a stab at how to make a suit. Correct me if I’m wrong, or if there’s a easier way to do it. I've read a few tutorials here and on other sites, so I'm going to try and form an image.
-For the helmet.
I have the Legendary one included with Halo 3. Cast a mould of that, scale it to my head so it will fit, cut individual pieces off the mould, create a helmet shape moulded to my head shape so it will fit properly, attach those to the helmet mould of my head, implant the gold visor (Make it stick out in places like Master Chief's), as well as a mini fan to blow air from one side, through the "pipe" across my mouth, and have the air expelled out the other way through the pipe. Depending if I can get enough money fast enough, I can get a set of ear phones that do two things. 1, stop the sound of an actual bullet from entering your ear, and make it sound like someone’s just talking, and 2, make it so I can hear outside of the helmet. They are like $250-500 though, depending on quality. Inside the helmet, have pads that hold my head in place, have soft padding, yet rigid enough to hold the helmet under my chin. If I can get a coolant system in there, cooling my head is priority, because sweat is never a good thing to have inside an encased object (Think swimming goggles). Oh yeah, and have a de-foggier in the helmet. That is a huge problem when paintballing, is that your breath fogs up the visor, making you have to sit out a round to clean that thing.
-For the chest/back plates.
Cast a mould of my body, this way I can get it to fit accordingly to me. When that is hardened, use sculpting clay/putty to form the armor on both sides to make two single pieces. When that is done, mould the putty, fill it with a resin (Something that is strong), and then let sit to dry. From there, attack the under suit (Below), put neck, arm, and torso seals on it. Attach one side of the armor with a hinge, and the other with a clasp that will hold it until "I" release it. It sucks when armor or articles just fall off because of poor planning/poor build. Bore out the shoulder extruding things, and get a water pack in at least one. Run a hose system through the shoulder piece, under the under armor of the neck, and have a screw top which will attach to a second tube in the helmet itself (Towards the back of the helmet). This way, it is unseen, and I wont have a floppy hose inside the helmet. Gravity should keep the water down so it wont flow into my face. In the other shoulder piece, have either a coolant system, or another water pack. I would opt for a coolant system over the water. If there is a system, have the outer armor thinned down from the bottom, have the necessary space for the system, and then place another plate of armor over top of the system, therefore creating an Oreo effect.
-For the arms
Mould my arms, much like the body. Fill it with a resin, place putty/clay over top, sculpt, mould, fill. Attack these to the under armor, as well have two straps which go under the under armor which will tighten them to my body. That way there will be no floppiness. Have a seal on the under armor that attaches to the seal from the under armor from the body plates, as well as a seal which connects to the hand area.
-For the hands/gloves
I have seen a lot of hand plates that cover the back side of your hand, and a lot of them are pretty fat. I would want a thinner profile, as well as have gloves that can easily match the under armor and are tough enough to take shots and not kill my hand from little coverage. Also, I'm thinking of putting steel caps inside/outside (Paint it black) the gloves. That way, getting shot in the finger wont hurt as much.
-For the torso area
This part I don’t think I will be able to mould me. Because wearing clothes is necessary when you have someone else mould you, and moulding yourself is unpractical. This, I think I will just have to go by sight, try it on, make adjustments. For creating it, it will have to have a hinged part, unless if I can get in it by putting it on before the chest plates, which means under armor has to be included in it up to where the top of the "belt" is. There has to be a seal/lock connecting it to the under armor of the upper body at that point. Under armor would then have to extend down to where it "disappears" on Master Chief's legs. There has to be a seal/lock here too.
-For the upper legs
Quickly explained, mould leg, fill, putty/clay, mould, fill. Under armor lock where it would connect to the torso, and then extent the under armor to the lower leg.
-For the lower leg
Repeat the upper leg, extend the UA to the boot
-And lastly, the boot!
For cosplaying reasons, I want to up my height of 5' 8". Reading some of the other posts, it is possible to get another 6" on me. Elevated boots, steel toed, risers in the boots, helmet height above my head. Attaching parts to a boot though is something I would have no clue how to do. So, another stab I shall take! I can get an external steel part which would cover the front of the boot, and attach it via, well, dam. I don’t have any idea actually. Welding it? Strapping it on? Beats me... I want the boot to be as accurate as possible, so that means essentially mudding the entire boot. I need something with comfort For action packed activities, such as paintballing, a lower profile is better. Ill just use running shoes for stuff like this, and maybe get some plastic parts on it.
All right! So that took way longer than I expected! Now, for my body size
5' 8"
125 pounds
Size 9.5-10 shoes
Ok, that’s about it really. Any help would be great. And don't think I'm just another kid with a big idea of how things work, and I won't follow through. When I start something, I intend to finish the figh- er, it. I have technical knowledge of some things, so this is going to be a learning experience for me. And, when I start, I WILL make a guide of progress on how I do it. K?
Thanks for your time!
Some of you may know me from other forums around the net, more specifically the Nsider forums, and occasionally a few other random ones. I don't know how many of you are Nintendo gamers, but her, never hurts to check. Anyways, I got my first Xbox consol, the 360, about two weeks before the launch of Halo 3, and before that the only other Halo gaming I did was at my cousins house when Halo 1 was released, and then in May of 2007 I purchased Halo 2 for Vista. I only beat that game 2 days before Halo 3 came out... Yeah, I'm kind of lazy at beating games (I have a backlog of +40 and rising). (My Gamertag is HaxorParadox, add me for a decent challenge) Anyways, since I beat Halo 3 a long time back, I wanted to create a Mark VI armor suit as accurately as possible, for a number of uses. Paintballing, Airsoft, Cosplay conventions, and gaming tournaments around the city. And also because it just looks sweet! So, me having just gotten a job again, I should have money in a few weeks. Most of that money will be going to pay off debts, but after that, around 50% of what I make could go into a suit (2 weeks, $500, so around $200-250), but no more. I've had some experience building stuff before, but not to this scale. I want this to be as accurate as I can get it within my power, because of two reasons: I'm a perfectionist, and will not budge for errors, and secondly, to actually use this template to give me a good feel for actual body armor for military purposes. Yeah, sounds dumb, but I'm also a designer, and currently the military has some of the crappiest armor for soldiers, known as flak suits. Some people may argue that a full armor suit would be too heavy, but if I can get a feel for designing armor, and eventually have one crafted (I'm in contact with armor companies already), then I can prove them wrong! Currently, I'm 18 and just finishing high school, and after that I might pursue either that aforementioned military career, or go into game development, design, modelling, animation, storyboarding, or programming.
So, enough about me for now I think. I'll just get straight to the point now.
Ok, here's the deal! I'll list what I want on the suit, and you tell me what to or not to do, what to fix and what to leave. That way I can get a good sense of direction of how to make the armor.
-Mark VI
-Fully encased helmet, with gold visor specified for airsoft/paintball regulations
-Scale to me, each piece of armor
-Have an internal breathing apparatus
-Have a liquid pack in the back armor, where the shoulder/neck guard is (Housed inside)
-Have lights (Probably Leds) on the helmet, with a battery somewhere inside of the helmet
-A cooling system for the suit
-Full under armor, black, that looks as close to the same thing as I can get
-Make it paintball/airsoft proof, which wont shatter when hit
-TRY to keep the weight below 50 pounds (I'm thin, at 125 pounds. May change now tat I've started going to the gym). If it goes over, that isn't a problem, I can deal.
Ok, so there’s what I want. Not too simple I would think. At least, I would hope not! I always like a challenge
By the way, I'll ask now. Is it possible to get a paint/mixture so that when pieces are cast, they are already the color I want them to be? That way, if it got scratches, it would be the right color and not a plastic (Or what ever is best). I don't know if mixing resins (Or what ever is best) and paint would work.
What kind of resin or material is best for holding up to drops, paintballs, airsoft?
What fabric is breathable enough to be under armor, yet modable enough to change its looks, tough enough to take hits, and soft enough where it wont cause rubbing/irritation of the skin?
Can you list places where I can get these materials?
Alright, now I'm going to take a stab at how to make a suit. Correct me if I’m wrong, or if there’s a easier way to do it. I've read a few tutorials here and on other sites, so I'm going to try and form an image.
-For the helmet.
I have the Legendary one included with Halo 3. Cast a mould of that, scale it to my head so it will fit, cut individual pieces off the mould, create a helmet shape moulded to my head shape so it will fit properly, attach those to the helmet mould of my head, implant the gold visor (Make it stick out in places like Master Chief's), as well as a mini fan to blow air from one side, through the "pipe" across my mouth, and have the air expelled out the other way through the pipe. Depending if I can get enough money fast enough, I can get a set of ear phones that do two things. 1, stop the sound of an actual bullet from entering your ear, and make it sound like someone’s just talking, and 2, make it so I can hear outside of the helmet. They are like $250-500 though, depending on quality. Inside the helmet, have pads that hold my head in place, have soft padding, yet rigid enough to hold the helmet under my chin. If I can get a coolant system in there, cooling my head is priority, because sweat is never a good thing to have inside an encased object (Think swimming goggles). Oh yeah, and have a de-foggier in the helmet. That is a huge problem when paintballing, is that your breath fogs up the visor, making you have to sit out a round to clean that thing.
-For the chest/back plates.
Cast a mould of my body, this way I can get it to fit accordingly to me. When that is hardened, use sculpting clay/putty to form the armor on both sides to make two single pieces. When that is done, mould the putty, fill it with a resin (Something that is strong), and then let sit to dry. From there, attack the under suit (Below), put neck, arm, and torso seals on it. Attach one side of the armor with a hinge, and the other with a clasp that will hold it until "I" release it. It sucks when armor or articles just fall off because of poor planning/poor build. Bore out the shoulder extruding things, and get a water pack in at least one. Run a hose system through the shoulder piece, under the under armor of the neck, and have a screw top which will attach to a second tube in the helmet itself (Towards the back of the helmet). This way, it is unseen, and I wont have a floppy hose inside the helmet. Gravity should keep the water down so it wont flow into my face. In the other shoulder piece, have either a coolant system, or another water pack. I would opt for a coolant system over the water. If there is a system, have the outer armor thinned down from the bottom, have the necessary space for the system, and then place another plate of armor over top of the system, therefore creating an Oreo effect.
-For the arms
Mould my arms, much like the body. Fill it with a resin, place putty/clay over top, sculpt, mould, fill. Attack these to the under armor, as well have two straps which go under the under armor which will tighten them to my body. That way there will be no floppiness. Have a seal on the under armor that attaches to the seal from the under armor from the body plates, as well as a seal which connects to the hand area.
-For the hands/gloves
I have seen a lot of hand plates that cover the back side of your hand, and a lot of them are pretty fat. I would want a thinner profile, as well as have gloves that can easily match the under armor and are tough enough to take shots and not kill my hand from little coverage. Also, I'm thinking of putting steel caps inside/outside (Paint it black) the gloves. That way, getting shot in the finger wont hurt as much.
-For the torso area
This part I don’t think I will be able to mould me. Because wearing clothes is necessary when you have someone else mould you, and moulding yourself is unpractical. This, I think I will just have to go by sight, try it on, make adjustments. For creating it, it will have to have a hinged part, unless if I can get in it by putting it on before the chest plates, which means under armor has to be included in it up to where the top of the "belt" is. There has to be a seal/lock connecting it to the under armor of the upper body at that point. Under armor would then have to extend down to where it "disappears" on Master Chief's legs. There has to be a seal/lock here too.
-For the upper legs
Quickly explained, mould leg, fill, putty/clay, mould, fill. Under armor lock where it would connect to the torso, and then extent the under armor to the lower leg.
-For the lower leg
Repeat the upper leg, extend the UA to the boot
-And lastly, the boot!
For cosplaying reasons, I want to up my height of 5' 8". Reading some of the other posts, it is possible to get another 6" on me. Elevated boots, steel toed, risers in the boots, helmet height above my head. Attaching parts to a boot though is something I would have no clue how to do. So, another stab I shall take! I can get an external steel part which would cover the front of the boot, and attach it via, well, dam. I don’t have any idea actually. Welding it? Strapping it on? Beats me... I want the boot to be as accurate as possible, so that means essentially mudding the entire boot. I need something with comfort
For action packed activities, such as paintballing, a lower profile is better. Ill just use running shoes for stuff like this, and maybe get some plastic parts on it.All right! So that took way longer than I expected! Now, for my body size
5' 8"
125 pounds
Size 9.5-10 shoes
Ok, that’s about it really. Any help would be great. And don't think I'm just another kid with a big idea of how things work, and I won't follow through. When I start something, I intend to finish the figh- er, it. I have technical knowledge of some things, so this is going to be a learning experience for me. And, when I start, I WILL make a guide of progress on how I do it. K?
Thanks for your time!
