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

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Con question for all you veterans out there: What is the amount of wear and tear on your armor after attending a con? I mean, basic wear and tear without any exaggerated movements, dancing, running, etc. Just normal walking around, posing for pics, etc.

If you're going for a multi-day wear of the same costume bring some super glue, black paint and a silver sharpie at a minimum as a repair kit. The paint and sharpie are to cover up any dents or rubbing that may have chipped paint away at friction points. The glue is in case you have a seam pop and you need to get to the Cosplay Repair Station or back to your hotel where you can decide if major repairs are needed or if the super glue will hold.

Expect a lot of weird touching. Like a lot. People love pulling at ODST shoulder pieces for some reason. If there's anywhere on your suit that I'd recommend strengthening it's the shoulders because that's what will be bumped into while moving through a gormless crowd and people will always go for that spot to test "is this real armour".
 
Luckily I have been fortunate enough not to have any seems blow out while at a con. I did have them blow out during my test fits though.
The most common wear and tear that my suit has experienced (this is for foam suits) is wrinkles. This is mainly on the greaves/knees from walking and and kneeling. Even putting on and taking off the armour can add a few wrinkles.
Most wrinkles can be worked out by gently heating up the area. Just be careful to heat up too much. If you you used PVA glue to seal the foam it can begin to bubble. Even paint itself can bubble as well.
 
Luckily I have been fortunate enough not to have any seems blow out while at a con. I did have them blow out during my test fits though.
The most common wear and tear that my suit has experienced (this is for foam suits) is wrinkles. This is mainly on the greaves/knees from walking and and kneeling. Even putting on and taking off the armour can add a few wrinkles.
Most wrinkles can be worked out by gently heating up the area. Just be careful to heat up too much. If you you used PVA glue to seal the foam it can begin to bubble. Even paint itself can bubble as well.

Good to know. Thanks!

Latex paints go a long way to prevent wrinkles. Has some stretch to it.

So far, I have only used acrylic and spray paints, but may have to start broadening my horizons. Thanks!

I am slotting my debut con for the Big Easy Con in New Orleans around June. So I still have a good bit of time to finish it, but thank you all for the insight and tips.
 
Update and photo dump time!

Alright, so after a couple of failed attempts at the boot covers, I believe I finally got them. The rib parts around the top middle part were more the challenge and aren't as evenly spaced as I would have preferred, but they'll do. I mean, how many people really look at the feet of a build? Maybe a lot, but ah well. Mobility is excellent and the slip on shoes are ridiculously comfortable to wear! Win / Win!
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In another thread, turbocharizard made reference to sealing foam with Rustoleum Leak Seal. Well, cruising through Home Depot this weekend, I decided to grab a can. Stuff isn't cheap at just over $8.00 bucks a can, but did it work! Got the boot covers and the left forearm piece covered with 3 coats each.

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The only couple of issues I ran into was texturing and lighter colored paint. I am not a huge fan of the rougher looking texture that the leak seal leaves and tested a piece with some light sanding. It worked fairly decently, but I will still need to work with this medium a bit more to fine tune it.

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The other issue was with the blue paint that I am using on the armor. The black sucks the color right out of it. That was an easy fix by base coating the black pieces with a grey base coat before applying the blue top coat.

Lastly, I wanted to add a bit of a color tie in to the gloves I plan to wear with the armor and watered down the blue a bit so it would seep into the crevices of the impact gloves. They came out well. Still need to rough them up a bit and distress them with some paint. I know they are not true ODST gloves, but I do like the way they look and am going for more of a "head to toe" full coverage on the build.

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Got the chest piece sealed and the base paint on. I really need to mute that blue though! It is way to "bright" for me. I also cut out the center on the chest piece and fabricated an opening on the backside out of thin aluminum sheeting. The idea is to use the hollow backside of the center chest plate as a battery storage for possible future LED upgrades. At this point, the build is complete (sans the helmet) and all base coats are on. End goal right now is to get the final paint / weathering done and a full test fit by this weekend to make whatever small corrections are needed.
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I've also been toying around with making the shoulder strap buckles. After drawing up the buckle, I initially tried it using 5mm foam, but didn't like the way that came out. So the plan going forward is the make a master buckle using layers of HDPE plastic, create a mold, them cast them using epoxy resin for uniformity. Then fabricate the actual 1.5" & 1" nylon webbing with the buckles and mount the whole thing to the chest piece. On that, I added bevels to the hard edges of the shoulders and plan to run a 5mm foam strip down the shoulder channels then secure the webbing to that. In theory, this should cause the 1.5" webbing to "round" out over the length of the shoulder and give a more three dimensional look to the shoulders versus simply gluing them flat to the foam.

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Alrighty folks, this about ends the build! There is still the helmet to do, but that is going to be a little while in the making being as it is the old tried and true pep and body filler build. I will still need to add the shoulder straps once I get the buckles made, but as far as the overall build? It was a long process (started in March), but I took my time to make sure it was the way I wanted it. I'll also use the DFT assault rifle template to fashion a rifle, but that hasn't even been started yet.

So for now, thank you to all who may have followed the build and I look forward to stalking the rest of you as you work on yours. Happy building!!!
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Ok, so I thought I was done and.....well......nope. Buckles are painted and working on the strapping. While waiting for those to dry, started toying around with whatever kind of grenades the ODST carry on their hips.

Can anyone tell me if these were standard or were these just on a specific game, mission, etc. I can't seem to find many reference images or anything and this is what I was able to pull out of the hat with the few images I did find.
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Can anyone tell me if these were standard or were these just on a specific game, mission, etc. I can't seem to find many reference images or anything and this is what I was able to pull out of the hat with the few images I did find.

Unfortunately I cannot help you with the in in game details. However the shape is similar to a flashbang grenade, which would be a lot of fun!

Possibly also an incendiary grenade?
 
Sorry, almost forgot. Here are the shoulder buckles with the complete strapping. The pic of it on the chest piece is a fit check pic. By going with the dual strap and velcro option, I can add in the 1" MOLLE slide D-Rings to the smaller strap (by the sewing machine in case anyone doesn't know what it is). This will allow me to sling a weapon or at least give me hard mounting points for something. Perhaps a future ODST backpack.......HMMMMMMMM...........

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I remember seeing your build over on FB, it looks seriously incredible man. We always need more ODSTs in the fight! Feet first!

Thank you. I saw your flip up ODST visor on FB as well tying it back to the 405th. Quite impressive work to say the least.

The actual armor is done, but the foam skills needed to pull off the helmet escape me. I have reached out to Gabe Shulz w/ Lost Viking Props to go ahead and purchase one for now. I still want to make my own, but the itch to have the WHOLE thing completed is killing me. That and my wife wants some kind of scratch built witch / werewolf hunter type costume. So I need to start on that, but am determined to get mine finished first.
 
Thank you. I saw your flip up ODST visor on FB as well tying it back to the 405th. Quite impressive work to say the least.

The actual armor is done, but the foam skills needed to pull off the helmet escape me. I have reached out to Gabe Shulz w/ Lost Viking Props to go ahead and purchase one for now. I still want to make my own, but the itch to have the WHOLE thing completed is killing me. That and my wife wants some kind of scratch built witch / werewolf hunter type costume. So I need to start on that, but am determined to get mine finished first.
I've always printed my helmets because I know how much it sucks lol. 3d printed or resin cast buckets are real nice as compared to foam but they of course require a bit more work to prep for painting
 
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