Hey everyone I’m back with the final progress update for my Mark IV build, The first torso I made was definitely too bulky and restrictive being fully welded together and only being able to be put on over head like a shirt. So, I ended up fully reprinting the torso and connecting the front and back via straps with quick release buckles over each shoulder with the collar pieces welded only to the back half below the thrusters to hide said straps and buckles. I got the idea from how
BHE Photos did his. I managed to finish the whole thing in time for GalaxyCon Raleigh last weekend and even made a cryst knife (from infinite) and OG M6D magnum to mount to the thighs with a strip of Velcro and made a few vinyl decals to add to the armor the night before when the idea came to me. The decals I made was Emile’s skull which I put on the right shoulder, a small legendary icon which I put on the left shoulder, a small Demon Multiplayer medal which I put on the side of the right thruster, a small tebag which I put on the cod piece (no one noticed it though
) and lastly the Swords of Sanghelios emblem but I had made it too big to fit anywhere but across the chest and didn’t want to put anything especially that big on the chest and was too tired at that point to remake it so I ended up not using it. I had loaded the armor into the car right after I put the decals on and unfortunately the NC heat even in the morning was enough to cause the hot glue that I used to hold some straps together to soften up and let go, go figure the few straps I forgot to redo with fabric glue when I had did the rest
. So, the butt plate of the belt came undone from its hook on one side while I was walking to Steve and Jen’s tables to get a picture with them and the Velcro wasn’t enough to hold the magnum and cryst knife to the thighs with the crowd all pushing past and bumping against them so I ended up having to take those off too, but all things considered it held up pretty well and should be pretty quick and easy to fix and future proof, minus the crowd knocking the cryst knife and magnum off, that is. I will have to come up with a better solution to the Velcro that would be more secure while working in the same way to allow hot swapping of accessories. The heat was also unbearable in the armor even with a fan in the helmet so I ended up having to take it off almost immediately after I got the picture with Steve but I at least got the picture with him in the armor like I wanted and will probably do something along the lines of the RAKSHASA class Mjolnir for my next Spartan build and maybe make an ODST as well just in case as a fall back cosplay since both would be much lighter weight and should be easier to survive in without being cooked alive.
I met a few other Spartans in Steve’s line who also had their armor on but unfortunately didn’t get pictures with any other Spartans this year, but I did get one with a fellow halo fan who stopped me for a photo and my fellow Spartans did give me a few ideas on ways I could perhaps hybridize a few pieces from the Mark IV with the RAKSHASA though. I also settled on having them both sign my near mint Halo 2, 3, 4 and 5 limited editions, my near mint Halo CE and Steve sign my 2022 SDCC exclusive jazware master Chief. I would have liked to have them sign the rest of my joyride, jazware figures and spec ops chief Nendroid but I couldn’t swing it this year at $80 each per an autograph . I also got to give Steve and Jen both the 2 Cortana statues that I made for each of them, Steve displayed the halo infinite Cortana statue I made for him back in 2022 (last time I met them both) on his shelf that’s behind him in some of his interviews for his docuseries so hopefully they both like these ones just as much (I will attach a picture of each of those to this post as well). If you haven’t gotten the chance to meet them yet and ever do get the chance they are both awesome and super friendly people, I attended GalaxyCon as a VIP again this year and both of them were at the VIP party, Steve recognized me from earlier in the day at his table and walked right over shook my hand and said hi and Jen not only said hi but also gave me one of her drink tickets. So, I guess I can now say Cortana/Dr. Halsey has bought me a drink now and as If all that wasn’t awesome enough I had one of my 2 best friends with me at the VIP party and was able to introduce her to both of them as well, which after meeting them she now has started to show an interest in Halo too!
Lastly, before I attach the photos I want to give another huge thank you again to
BHE Photos because without him going above and beyond showing me how he rigged up his straps for each piece on his Mark IV build, I would still be stumped trying to make it wearable and it certainly wouldn’t have looked nearly as good as it does using things like the Chicago screws to anchor the straps on the belt and bottom side straps of the torso because I would of never thought of that!
