NCR Veteran Ranger Build (Complete)

[Absol898]

Hello 405th!

I put together this build for Detroit's Youma con however, ended up finishing it for Lansing's Shuto con. Here are some pictures!

For the helm, I peped it (followed by SO much sanding) and used magnets to hold the face mask in, allowing me to remove the mask and keep the helm on. The body is done with EVA foam, along with the hand and arm plates. I sealed the foam using latex caulk then painted it. I used a dark metallic paint as the base then used a brush and a light metallic paint for the weathering details.

As for the rifle...

I used a nerf retaliator as the main part of the gun, a pipe for the barrel, foam for the stock/tip, and wood for the bolt. I painted it with a light metallic and used a dark metallic to give it the worn look. As for the stock I used brown paint and went over it with a black acrylic. I would then wipe off the black paint, with a paper towel, to give the stock that dark brown look.

I would like to thank to 405th for all the helpful guides and hope you guys enjoy the pictures!

 

[RobTC]

It seems a little glossy and uniform of colour for a post-apocalyptic environment, but other than that it's pretty awesome. I do love the Veteran Ranger outfit, this definitely seems to my untrained eye like a solid reproduction.

 

[FoxtrotZero]

Oh man, I love the Ranger outfit so much. Yours looks good. How is it to move in? Did you make it out of half-inch foam? In my experience, trying to move in that at all is terrible, so I commend you. What did you use as a backing, and how did you attach it? What did you use for the eyepieces? Does your "rifle" actually fire? What is your favourite flavor of pie? SO MANY QUESTIONS.

I tried making that vest three different times. The first was some rough, spraypainted EVA foam hotglued to a sweater and looked like crap. The second was really nice. I made a good stencil, dremel-sanded the edges, used heavy nylon thread to stitch the pieces to the backing (which was now a half-vest with straps around back), and coated the whole thing in plasti-dip. It was too long, so I was halfway through reconstructing the bottom half when I gave up. It was simply way too difficult to move in. I also never figured out the throat guard or mask and helmet. This is why I'd be so impressed if you built that out of 1/2in foam.

Well now here I am, working once again on that mask (I plan to pep most of it, with complex features like the speaker, filter, antenna, etc. being 3D printed). I'm actually in the process, as I type this, of (trying to) export the filter piece to be printed. If I successfully finish this project, I might retry the vest, but I'd have to do it out of something like two layers of 3/16 foam (a backing layer and a detail layer). Since I have a big duster I don't want to spray-paint the bear and star on, I've been thinking about ditching the NCR look, and go more like the courier, just wearing co-opted gear. Might paint the vest in Desert Ranger camo and modify the mask and helmet a bit to look more like the Advanced Riot gear (dual filters, bridge the eyepieces, add a bit to the helmet). Pipe-dream status is to have some replica guns, maybe a Gauss Rifle or YCS/186 and a 5.56mm Pistol.

I always do this. I see something that interests me or that I have some input on, and then I make it about me. But I saw the topic and knew I'd find a kindred soul. It's always nice to see another Ranger out there, every time you search for NCR Ranger cosplays you come up with Kommisar's original build. Great work.

 

[Absol898]

A lot of questions! Alright here we go.

RobTC: Yeah, it is clean for what it should be, but I wanted to leave it on the clean side making it looked scratched and not rusted.

Fox: First off blue berry crumb pie.

The cosplay is very easy to move in (well from the hip down). The vest is made of 1/2in foam. Here are some pictures of just the vest on. (sorry for the poor quality photos, best camera I have on me)



What I did is I cut out the pieces, used a mouse sander on the edges, used a hairdryer to get it's shape (I now own a heat gun and it is well worth the investment), sealed the foam, and primed/paint. To attach the pieces I found a dark sports T shirt (for $10), put on a T shirt I did not care about (under the sports T shirt), and hot glued the pieces to me. (It did hurt a bit, be very careful). As you can see from the picture, the pieces do not have to perfectly be glued to the shirt, your body will fill in the empty space. What is important is the pieces stay on the shirt and some of the edges. After I got the pieces to at least stay on the shirt, I made sure all the pieces and edges were secure, then I fixed any big gaps in the armor by gluing the pieces together (I had to glue the 2 chest plates together, glue the 2 plates to the middle piece, and glue the big bottom piece to the middle piece). My tip Is glue the vest pieces as close as possible to prevent really big gaps. To hide the glue and bring out the gaps I painted them with a black acrylic paint and then weathered the edges. Another tip would be remember that the jacket is going to cover up some of the vest.

As for the mask, I bought the eyes to it. Here is a link! https://www.etsy.com/listing/193364395/flexible-metallic-visor-material
It took about 7 days to ship.



I glued the ear pieces to the helmet and used hot glue to hold magnets. I have 4 magnets on the front rim of the helmet and one magnet on each side of the face (the cards cover the magnets on the face). I will say, using hot glue the magnets ripped out, after taking my mask off for about the 7th time. I am trying something new, using the cards to hold the magnets in. So far it is working.

As for the back. The cool picture!

The real picture



I got some thick illustration board for the top part (could not find foam big enough at the time.) the bottom is 1/2in foam. all of it is hot glued to the back. I ended up painting the 8 too low on the back so I glued the collar down.

And no, the rifle does not fire =(. Apperently con's do not like it, if it can fire.

Hope this helps and feel free to ask questions!