ODST Foam/Fabric/Filament Build

[CMYKey]

I started an ODST build back in 2020 but never brought it to the finish line. I’ve expanded my arsenal of tools and skills since then, and I'm now ready to revisit the build—starting from scratch.

The release of the official Rookie cosplay guide has motivated me to work toward something far more accurate this time around. I was blown away the work done by WhenInMaine and although my 3D printer will play a large role in bringing this build to life, it will not be the primary material used—I've instead decided to take my first shot at unfolding and create some foam templates from his 3D files.

The plan is to use foam for the majority of the build and use my 3D printer for the helmet, weapons, and smaller details/greebles with some fabric for the undersuit and other parts as required. I’ve broken everything down into a list below.

Foam

• Backplate
• Chest Plate
• Kidney Plates
• Forearms
• Shins
• Thighs
• Shoulders
• Lumbar Plate
• Boot Armour
• Field Pack
• Cod Plate
• Hip Plates

Fabric

• Undersuit (Torso)
• Undersuit (Pants)
• Shoulder Straps
• Field Pack Straps
• Shin Straps
• Ab Plates (Base)
• Belt (Base)
• Codpiece
• Thigh Pouches
• Shin Pouches

Filament

• Helmet
• M7S SMG
• M6C SOCOM
• Belly Plate/Wallet
• Combat Knife
• Belt (Details)
• Ab Plates (Details)
• Shin Details
• Forearm Details
• Chest Clips

Other/TBD

• Gloves
• Visor
• Grenade Canisters

Seems more daunting than it is, right? Oh – and I’m planning to have something wearable in time for Calgary Expo 2023 (April 27)

 

[CMYKey]

Over the past couple months I've been doing some retopology in Blender (similar to what is seen here) to simplify the 3D files before unfolding them in Armorsmith. With that (mostly) out of the way, I’ve started foamsmithing.

Back plate – haven’t decided how I’m going to rig this up yet.



Shoulders – these ones aren’t based off the FromTheBrink files. The ones on the armoury were accurate enough for my liking, so I decided to save some time unfolding. I used a Dremel to get the right look for the pilot holes. I plan to stick some real screws in there after painting.



Chest core – Dremeled out the pilot holes here as well. I’m going to try and make the chest panels magnetic so I can attach my combat knife to them.



I don’t have pictures, but I printed the SMG a little while back as well. However, I suffered a mishap while printing the combat knife and my printer hasn’t been behaving properly since then and I haven’t had a full day to troubleshoot yet. So that’s next on my list.

 

[CMYKey]

We've got some thighs. There was some trial and error with the thigh inserts. I found the patterns included in the armour files to be a little wonky, but that may have been a me issue.

I think they ended up a tiiiny bit too big - probably could've been scaled down another 1-2% - but not enough to be worth re-doing at this point. Hoping they won't impede my mobility too much once the shins are on.



As for the printer... no progress there. I've essentially taken the whole thing apart and put it back together, yet I'm still experiencing the exact same issue. With my bed as perfectly level as it can get (confirmed by the bed mesh visualizer in Octoprint) the left side of my bed is always too far away from the nozzle after probing with ABL. All signs point to this being a misaligned x-gantry, but after following some tutorials, taking the whole thing apart, measuring, etc. I saw no improvement.

It was printing perfectly up until that one print a little while back where there was a tangle in my filament that I didn't notice, and when I came back to the printer, the filament had snapped and stopped the print. I'm worried something got bent or misaligned due to the struggle.

 

[ReservedTaxo]

Shame to hear about your printer! But the foam parts are looking great!

 

[CMYKey]

Shame to hear about your printer! But the foam parts are looking great!

Death, taxes, and troubleshooting 3D printers.

Thanks!

 

[Invidiax4fan]

As for the printer... no progress there. I've essentially taken the whole thing apart and put it back together, yet I'm still experiencing the exact same issue. With my bed as perfectly level as it can get (confirmed by the bed mesh visualizer in Octoprint) the left side of my bed is always too far away from the nozzle after probing with ABL. All signs point to this being a misaligned x-gantry, but after following some tutorials, taking the whole thing apart, measuring, etc. I saw no improvement.

Could it maybe be a warped bed? Great work so far!

 

[CMYKey]

Could it maybe be a warped bed? Great work so far!

Thanks!

Well, the bed has always been slightly warped, which is why I have the BLTouch to compensate for it. This has only been an issue since the filament tangle incident. My bed mesh visualizer looks pretty much the same as it always has, so my bed hasn't suddenly become more warped. Which is why I think something got knocked out of alignment, but nothing I've done in that regard has been able to fix it yet. According to the bed visualizer, it's about as level as it can get. So maybe there's an issue with the BLTouch itself? I'm kinda stumped.



I guess the next step might just be removing the BLTouch and seeing if the issue persists.

 

[CMYKey]

I've been avoiding the shins, so I got the lumbar and hip plates done instead. Used my Dremel to make a countersink for the screws. I was originally planning to 3D print the strap clips and inserts for the lumbar plate, but there's really not much of a point in doing so, it's not like they're super detailed or anything... will revisit.