Foam ODST Build - Upgrade Time Again

[Fallen]

The tools post combined for pep and hardening.

Pepakura:

Tools used for this part of the build phase don't vary too much.

Computer
Glue - I use Aleen's Quick Dry Tacky Glue as it sets quickly but not too quickly for my taste
Scissors
Exacto Knife
Cardstock - I use 110lbs
Metal ruler
Cutting mat

Some other tools I use that may not be as common
Bull clips of varying sizes - great when you have a tricky part and don't want to hold it until it sets
Embossing tool - sometimes use for scoring, plenty of others use pens of different colors which works well too
Craft stick (or used popsicle stick) - use this to spread glue so I don't have too much on the tabs

There are also some times that instead of cutting by hand, I choose to use a Silhouette Cameo to score and cut my parts. For this I just need a computer, the Cameo, some cutting mats, a removal tool, and some bags to store the cut out parts. I like to label the pages they came from and stick a scrap paper with the number so I can quickly find parts.

Hardening:

Hardening is also pretty straightforward in supplies

Fiberglass resin and hardener
Fiberglass (not pictured)
Brushes
Respirator with vapor filters
Gloves
Scale for measuring how much resin poured
Aluminum foil to be able to reuse the top of the resin can for mixing resin and hardener

And sometimes followed up by a coat of rondo using body filler (not pictured) and resin.

 

[Fallen]

Getting even closer. I've got the calf plates completed enough to move them on to paint. They're not perfect, but unless someone's going to pull them off my legs and inspect them they'll work well.



I like to use glazing putty to really get those areas that are tough to get to with a putty spreader or craft stick and use my fingers and then sand with a sanding sponge.



This leaves me with needing to shape the shins and knees and build out the inner chest part.



The inner chest has been sized, templates printed, and transferred to foam. I bought 10mm foam from TNT Cosplay. I already have plenty of 6mm, 4mm and 2mm for details on various pieces. Plan to start assembling the chest core this week.

Checking the shins and knees, they don't appear as though they'll require much shaping to be ready. I hit them with some filler primer to get an idea of how they'd look without doing any shaping, and other than a few drops of resin that gathered around some edges, I could get away without bondoing them at all.

On the 3d printing front, I printed out the inner side parts but haven't yet glued them together. Low priority but would be nice to have them ready instead of the pep'd versions as these have more detail.



I also did a size tester of a new forearm after getting my new printer. Already had a Flashforge Creator Pro, but decided to add the Creality CR-10 to my arsenal so I can do larger prints without slicing a ton if I want to.



That print was at 77% size thinking more about movement and bending and took ~20hrs with 6% infill 0.3mm layer height, and supports. I adjusted to scale a bit bigger even though it will slightly restrict movement, but in reality it's unlikely I'll need as much bend in my elbow and wrist as the above size allows me. So I'm going up to what will allow me a 90 degree bend in my elbow with a little more than 45 degrees at the wrist without shifting. Also because the CR-10 is still a new printer to my home, I don't like leaving it unattended for long periods (the 20hr I started in the evening and set an alarm every 3hrs to wake me up and check on it and left the house for no more than 10min at a time). Given that, I'm choosing the split the model and print on the Flashforge and CR-10 at the same time and glue them together. Ideal? No. Peace of mind? Yes. Given that it will be about a 7hr on the Flashforge and 13hr on the CR-10. Easy to do on days I work from home. For anyone who is curious, the two machines are currently in different rooms on different electrical circuits.

 

[Fallen]

Getting really close to assembly time. Shins and knees are down to spot putty to fill in small areas that aren't quite where I'd want them. I plan on 3d printing some new knees this weekend to get a little better fit, but a v1 of every outer armor piece will be ready by then. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup is tonight, so depending on how things are going I plan to spend intermissions working on the inner chest.

As I start to think about how I'm going to strap up everything, I decided I didn't want to glue straps inside the armor like I have previously. The most common failure I get w/ a part is that glue failing and having to either tape or re-glue the strapping to put it back on. I also plan on making the straps more adjustable than I typically would.

I'm looking at Chicago Screws for attaching any straps to my armor. Was going to do regular screws and nuts, but these look like they'll lay more flush to the surface than most nuts and therefore be less likely to rub or press into any skin.

Here's to the final push for v1.

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Chicago screws are great but make sure to get the correct size.

 

[Fallen]

Dirtdives do you have any size you'd recommend? I was thinking of starting by getting a kit of m5's that includes at least 6, 10, and 12mm lengths and go from there.

 

[Fallen]

I'm gonna go ahead and double post on my thread with content unrelated to my build.

To those who are Bruins fans. It was a hard fought series and as much as I hated him blocking so many shots Tuukka Rask was insane. To those who aren't hockey fans, please give me and the rest of the Blues fans some grace as we celebrate our FIRST Stanley Cup after waiting 52 years. A team that was in last place on January 3 to Stanley Cup champions, my city couldn't be more excited.

With that, the season is over, and I can focus on my build. Thank you for putting up w/ my unrelated post.

 

[Dirtdives2424]

You are more than allowed to post a tangent thought on your own thread.....Congrats to the team and your city. Well earned victory!!! As for the Chicago screws.....that you will have to play by ear. It all depends on how thick your armor and straps are. A variety pack might help at first to figure that out. Then get a pack or two of the correct size depemding on how many you need and go from there.

 

[Fallen]

Minor update:

Most of the supplies for strapping came in. I'm going to need more buckles and webbing material to cover everything, but I'll buy that as I go. This week I'm focusing on getting that inner chest piece/back plate done in foam. I'll get a supplies post for foam work soon enough, just not yet.

Here's all of the main parts at least rough cut from the foam. Some of them I may go in and use a dremel to clean up edges or get better shaping. My weakness w/ foamsmithing is bevels. I've never been very good at them w/ a blade. The struggle for me is usually holding the correct angle to get a clean bevel even w/ a newly sharpened blade. Just need more practice. Thankfully looking at the model for this it doesn't appear as though I'll need a lot of bevels, might even get away with just the bottom of the back.


Wanted to add something in for those who do 3d printed armor to share something that happened while printing an updated version of the knees and a way to fix it.

Story Time:
On days I'm mostly at home I've started 3d printing updated armor parts. Any that happen to get done in time for HOD: Chicago, awesome. Any that don't, well they'll be done someday, there's a v1 of every part they'd be replacing anyway. I've been starting with parts that I'm less happy with either the scale or level of detail, but also that are relatively quick to print (e.g. takes less than a day given my chosen settings). Therefore, the knees were up. Setup on the knees was 4 outer shells, 5% infill, 0.3mm height (most of the surfaces are pretty flat or have virtually no detail, so sanding is easier and why I chose 4 shells instead of 2-3). Print time on my CR-10 was ~10hrs.

Well Sunday I started the print first thing in the morning. Went out to lunch with my family for Father's Day around noon and was gone for a couple of hours. Well I didn't calculate my remaining filament correctly, so I got back and the printer was "printing air." I know some who would at that point call the print a failure and toss it to start over. However, looking at the print, it wasn't a bad print, just not finished. Which brings me to...

Fixing Failures:

This method will work for either running out of filament or losing power mid print when you can't just restart from where you left off. I hear Marlin 1.1.9 has the ability to restart from a power outage, but I haven't tried that yet. Someone might have posted this in 3d printing somewhere already, and I know I've seen other processes like this, but here's an overview.

What You Need:
partial print
calipers (you could use a ruler if you want to leave the part on the print bed, but it won't be as accurate)
your slicing software (I use Simplify3D)

Take the partial print and measure it's height to where the print stopped. Go into your software and calculate the difference between the total height and the printed height. If you took the part off the print bed (which is most likely if you used calipers to measure instead of a ruler), then you'll want to offset the part by the amount already printed so that the remainder is on the print bed. You'll have to glue to two parts together.



If you decided to print keep the part on the bed and measured the remaining height, most software allows you to set the height or layer to restart the print at. Simplify3D allows you to set the start or stop height.

Using the offset height I printed the top half, and upon putting the parts together to check noticed that my estimate was slightly off by a few mm. Remeasured by both parts, shifted the model up so that more printed and set the print to stop printing at the height I needed. In Simplify3D this is done under Edit Process Settings > Advanced > Layer Modifications.



In the initial screen, you don't see a difference, but upon hitting "Prepare to Print" you can see just those layers I needed ready to print.

The end result?



Three slices of knee that fit together. Will need to sand the surfaces that get glued together and glue them, but it certainly beats starting the print over.

I hope to add some modifications for example a filament sensor and octopi with a camera so I can catch these things sooner and have more peace of mind leaving my printer for longer prints. But for those who are tempted to throw out a print just because they lost power or ran out of filament or a clogged nozzle with an otherwise fine print, at least there's a simple way to salvage it without starting over.

 

[RandomRanger]

The edges on those knees are so clean, I'm looking forward to the rest of the build
Also, the paint job on your helmet looks great!

 

[Fallen]

Not a huge update today as I was out of town Thur-Sun, so lost a weekend of work. Started on the inner chest build out of foam.



It's coming along, just need to finish up the front and sides of it plus adding the raised shoulders. I'll likely use some 4mm foam to make the neck ring raised so I don't have a large gap between the chest and my helmet. Foam clay should be showing up today to help fill in the seams, and I need to cut or dremel out the lower bits in the back section. I'll probably do those after work tonight and before finishing the front and raising the shoulders. This chest part is the last build part for MVP, so next update should have a pic of all parts, even if not assembled.

Expecting buckles, webbing, and elastic, and some d-rings to show up today, so I should be good to start strapping things up. Tonight in addition to the chest I'm hoping to get the rough padding setup for my helmet so that I just have to glue everything in. Waiting until everything else is done before focusing on wiring fans.

If there's anything about the build that I would say I'm unhappy with, it'd be the fitting on the shins and calves. Because I built the part split, it doesn't match up well when put on. I plan on taking 2-4mm foam and attaching it to the shins and be wide enough that the foam will slide behind the calf then paint that with everything else to make it look better. Enhancement on the shins/calves will be 3D printed and remain split along the side for easy assembly/removal.

 

[Fallen]

Got a few things ready for the weekend. First, priming all parts that are completed. Not all of them are shown in the image as they didn't all fit on the table, but basically all outer armor parts (except the knee remake that was split) have been primed. That last knee is now glued and needs the gaps filled and sanded to be ready.


I also decided to rebuild the inner chest part because the foam I used was 10mm and felt a little too thick, to the point it wasn't a comfortable part. So I ordered some 6mm foam that came today and started working. Still keeping 10mm for the piece over the shoulder.



Everything is cut out, so I should be able to assemble and possibly coat this weekend.

As for supplies when assembling foam:

• Contact cement (Weldwood and Barge shown)
• Superglue and accelerant
• Extra brushes for contact cement
• X-acto knife and utility knife
• Blade sharpener
• Foam of varying thicknesses (typically have 2-10mm foam around)
• 1-2-3 Blocks - great for holding down foam and/or templates
• Templates and tape
• Heat gun

 

[RandomRanger]

That workspace is so much cleaner than mine, let us know how well the 6mm works though

 

[Fallen]

That workspace is so much cleaner than mine, let us know how well the 6mm works though

It gets that way once a week. My workspace is also my office, and I can't stand clutter when I'm working. So since I work from home one day a week the office gets cleaned the night before. The 6mm works ok, but if I could get some 8mm for a happy medium that would probably be ideal. I think the bigger problems I was seeing with the part had to do with the build of the model vs. the shape I'd prefer.

I now have 3 inner chest plates to choose from in varying degrees of assembled.
1) 10mm foam and is completely assembled. Unhappy with how the chest kind of bubbles out when assembled.
2) using 6mm foam and about 75% assembled. Also has the bubble, but in a state that's not difficult to flatten out.
3) combination of mostly 10mm with some sections in 6mm also with the model scaled up slightly and adjusted the fit to flatten out the curve on the chest some. ~90% complete just needing to fill in areas I left open to adjust the curve

I took a break from that to get the helmet padded so that when I decide which one I want to finish my helmet will sit properly on my head to gauge with the chest plate.



I used a padding kit and some scrap foam to get the fit I wanted. The helmet, a purchase from Sean Bradley's Etsy shop, I always thought was too big for my head, so it took some work to get the padding right. I' planning on installing a chin strap and buying longer chicago screws for the visor instead of the screws used currently. I checked with the ones I have right now, and the color is near perfect. Still debating which visor to use though as I bought the silver pictured above and a black one. The black doesn't have any scratches, but it is like wearing sunglasses indoors.




The last piece of note is that I've gotten the majority of parts primed and given a base coat of silver. I'll get those parts strapped before I hit them with the Black Stainless Steel color and a clear protective coat. Shoulders already have hooks built in for straps, so I was able to go ahead and paint and assemble those. Noticed a little late that some superglue had dripped along one shoulder. No worries. It'll get fixed or turned into something.

 

[Fallen]

I’ll post an update over the weekend, but I want some feedback/insight in deciding which visor to use at HOD.



I have silver and black visors, and there are pros and cons to using each. Black is like wearing sunglasses indoors, but the silver is pretty scratched up now and kind of blurry. Each can be fitted in using the Chicago screws I got, so even though they aren’t in the pic of the silver visor I’ve test fitted that.

Ultimately I want some opinions on what you all think looks coolest with the helmet. I may overrule you, but want to hear it nonetheless

 

[Sean Anwalt]

Silver. I'm sorry it's scratched but the silver is so much better.

 

[he4thbar]

i'm partial to black but probably cuz it reminds me of "we are ODST" they both look good though.

 

[xXDashIVXx]

I say silver because it matches the helmet. I also say black because it is different to the paint and is a great contrast...

I vote black...

 

[SquishyShoes]

I'm partial to the black one, but I think that might be the lighting of the picture making all the other colours pop.
I might change to silver depending on how the rest of the helmet looks in the light compared to it.

 

[Fallen]

No build pics in this update because I've been working at it too hard to stop and take pics. I promise I'll get some when I finish strapping everything.

This week I got from the chest plate down through the belt and hip plates painted with at least the primary color of Black Stainless Steel. I've run out of paint for now, and Home Depot doesn't carry it anymore (Lowe's never did). Thankfully the Menards near me has it, so I plan to pick some more up after work and paint the thighs and shins/calves.

Was happy to work from home on Wednesday, so I printed off a new forearm and then printed the other arm on Thursday with the holiday. Used resin to fill in the lines so I had less sanding to do and got those primed and painted.

The main thing I'm focusing on is strapping this week. So far I have a tactical vest that I'm attaching all of the upper body and back plates to. I sliced out the front of the inner chest to keep only the back as I found that the most comfortable setup for me to move around, and considering most of it gets covered it was worth it.

I'll post pics of how I'm doing strapping when I get everything done, but as of right now I can attach the shoulders to the vest and used elastic around my arm, but I still need to attach the biceps around the elastic band, so those will always be attached. I got everything on the belt attached, but want to make some more adjustments to the butt plate to secure it a little better. Still figuring out the best way to attach all of the chest plate parts together. I'm always worried about glue failing or if there's any paint under the glue peeling off and the part falling off. My plan for most everything has been to glue a strap down and all use a chicago screw to back it up in case the glue were to fail. Sometimes this means putting screws where the reference photos don't display any rivets or screws (and adding detail screws where it does display them), but I actually like how it's looking by doing so. The downside is I really have to think about placement of straps because there will be a screw visible on the outside wherever that strap is located.

For what's left to do, I need to cut a portion of the thigh plates off so that they fit better. They're a bit too tall for me to move freely and comfortably. I hope to finish strapping everything up today or tomorrow as I'm waiting on one more Amazon shipment with 1.5" straps and a new undersuit with a different style shirt that'll be more breathable. After all of that's done, should be able to get some more detail painting done by hand to give the parts a little more pop. I do not plan on doing much in terms of weathering at this moment.

As for the visor, I'm a glutton for punishment, so leaving the black visor in for now while I stripped the silver one back down to clear. I'm sanding and polishing out the scratches and will, depending on time, re-chrome the visor with Krylon Looking Glass paint, or better yet dye the visor blue and then chrome it.

Here's to the final (less than a) month.

 

[Sean Anwalt]

*chanting*
Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!

Look you've got a month, you can do this!