ODST Foam build - Stepping up from DFT (Finished Build Pic on Pg. #11)

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How did you get the square texture in the paint? That looks awesome!

If you look in the background of the picture, you can see apiece of the material I used. It is nothing more than the non-stick, rubber type shelf protector stuff you can pick up for a couple of dollars in the household goods section at Wal-Mart or the like. I botched it up quite a bit on this piece, but was going for a carbon fiber type skin. However, this was literally the first time I have ever used an airbrush. I keep looking at the piece and on the fence of pulling the emblem off, repainting the piece, and trying again.

for an update on the build, the shoulder pieces and butt plate are sealed and need to be wet sanded and then paint. Those will be the next items up for paint.

As a side note: Thanks for all the input guys and gals!
 
Oh man, why didn't I pull the trigger on an airbrush set up earlier!!! Shoulders and butt plate are painted. Still need to weather it and all. Picture makes the blue look purple, but it is actually called Ultra Deep Blue.
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its so clean!!!
whats your secret?

Thank you. It's nothing more than repeated coats of mod podge then wet sanding the first couple of layers to smoothness. Of course, it all starts with your cuts, bevels, and making sure the two pieces line up as perfect as possible to avoid any gaps or open seam lines.

I weathered up one of the shoulder pieces and am kind of "meh" to it. In all the excitement of using an airbrush, I forgot to lay down a silver base coat with a barrier for creating a chipped paint look in certain areas.

Unfortunately, I have run into a major fit issue with the forearms and a fit assumption of the thigh and shin pieces. The BDU's I had planned to wear underneath are a bit loose and are not snug to the body. This creates "extra" material that was not accounted for in the sizing. Thus, theses pieces basically do not fit while wearing the BDU's. It was a bit of a bummer and initially destroyed my motivation to keep working on it. So I hung up the build for a couple of days to figure out the next step. I had considered starting all over, but that is a LOT of wasted time and effort. So I think I will look at each piece and see if I can created a clean slice on the underside down the entire length and insert a 3/4" - 1" piece of foam to allow for the added material of the BDU's. I think I am rushing it too much between the sizing and painting and need to slow it down a bit. I'll update as I make on the fly adjustments.
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As mentioned in an earlier post, I really didn't care for the botched carbon fiber effect and the ad hoc ODST emblem on the chest plate that was noobishly thrown on to quickly. Sooooo.........it all came off, sanded down, and a new coat of primer was applied.
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From there, a barrier (AKA: Vaseline) was added and then hit with a silver paint. The idea was to give the piece some depth between the gray primer and the silver.
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More Vaseline, then the straight black and blue were applied. A little bit of metallic saphire blue and sequin black dry brushing followed by some umber brown in the crevices to "dirty it up", then to a straight black wash to mute the silver and gray colors down a bit. That was then followed up with a umber brown wash to enhance the grime and wear and tear of battle. Lastly, a metallic gunmetal around the edging to highlight wear edges. I still am not comfortable with cutting or puncturing the piece to create an impacted look, but will practice that on some scraps first.

I opted to not put the emblem back on the chest plate and am now looking into just creating an ODST stencil with cardstock, then airbrushing the emblem on. IMO, this seems like it would be better served on battle gear versus some big protruding emblem on the chest plate.

Now I am finally happy with the way the paint scheme is coming along. Next up will be sealing, sanding, smoothing, and painting up the thigh and shin pieces. As a side note, the helmet is a dismal mess. After repeated tries with foam, I just cannot seem to master this and have opted to just save the foam (and money) and buy one from a reputable source.
 
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Hey Elcorio how did you attach the quick release buckle to the foam? I am looking to do the same and I was going to magnet my shins but the one I tried today didn't come out very good so I am thinking about putting the buckles on them as well
 
Hey Elcorio how did you attach the quick release buckle to the foam? I am looking to do the same and I was going to magnet my shins but the one I tried today didn't come out very good so I am thinking about putting the buckles on them as well

I think I have some pics of when I was building them into the foam. Essentially, I placed the buckle on the foam (1/2" foam), traced an outline, cut as much as I could with a blade, then dremeled the rest. Used contact cement to mount the buckle into the cavity I made in the foam then reinforced it with popsicle sticks on the interior of the foam piece. From there, I just covered it all with some 3mm foam for aesthetic purposes. I ended up cutting slits in the foam and use popsicles sticks hot glued in place to act as guides for the remainder of the pieces to be joined.

I'll see if I can find the actual pics as I was building it and post them.
 
Thank you elcorio. That is the part I was trying to make sure of was if it was attached to strapping or straight to form. I'm looking at going the same route and my attempt at magnets on my shin piece didn't come out very well so I may try these latches on the shin as well
 
Thank you elcorio. That is the part I was trying to make sure of was if it was attached to strapping or straight to form. I'm looking at going the same route and my attempt at magnets on my shin piece didn't come out very well so I may try these latches on the shin as well

Just to add a bit of build tips to the buckles. I also added a short piece of 3/4" nylon webbing folded in half where the strap would have gone for a helmet for added strength. Contact cement was used to secure it all and when I decided to go another route on the build, I literally had to cut everything out because the foam would tear if I tried to pull the buckles off.

What kind of magnets are you using? The ones I used in the forearm are neodynium bar magnets and even using their small edge, they have unbelievable holding strength. I believe somewhere in the 33 Lb. area. If using the flat broad side, I believe the foam would rip before the magnets would give. In fact, the magnets come with a small plastic separator between them because you have to slide them apart. There is no way you can simply pull them apart. You have to slide them away from each other. If you are using the cheaper ceramic magnets, then yeah, I could see the lack of holding power.
 
im using neodium magnets but my problem is using them on the odst mk2 shins in the location i did when i get the top magnets together i end up with a big gap at the bottom and vice versa. I used the narrow part of a 5mmx10mmx2mm in the middle and 4mmx2mm on the joining edges
 
Little bit of an update here. The shin and knee pieces were finally combined to make one piece and they were both given the standard multiple coats of Mod Podge. Smoothed out the left thigh piece, both shins, the belt buckle, and that other piece that hangs below it. Unfortunately, high winds and rain shut down my primer coating operations over the weekend. These pieces have only one coat of primer right now. I still want to add another layer, sand smooth, then apply an acrylic based primer for the final layer. Sand smooth then paint!
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While I had every intention of just purchasing a helmet from a popular vendor, I really wanted to complete the whole set myself. And.......since building the helmet out of foam has eluded me for so long, I decided to go the tried and true route of pepping, glassing, and bondo. It is more work, but it serves a couple of purposes. One being that I can say I did it myself. The detailing is phenomenal. Lastly, it should create a good visor base for the eventual vacu-forming of the visor. Of course, I still have to build all that, but so far, this process has been fun and coming along as planned. Enjoy the pics. More to come!
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Sorry everyone, but I just had to share this one picture. So I am a member of a first responder motorcycle club (Brothers In Blue) and one of my friend's wife has a cricut air 2 cutting machine. I ordered the plastic template stuff and asked if she could make a stencil of our club's emblem. Well...........she did and I air brushed it on to the chest plate. The lettering on the top? Well, Its a club thing, see if you can figure it out. LOL. Anyway, I absolutely love the way it came out! Still needs a bit of weathering, but, WOW, did I mention I love it!?
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