I showed some dorm friends my mark VI build I made over the summer and we've decided to take up making the odst squad; Buck, Mickey, Dutch, Romeo, and the Rookie (no persons willing to be Dare yet). I've started this thread to show our method for building the popular new ODST armor as well as recieve input as to how we can improve our process.
Currently we have only finished the pep stage of the project but for only five days work, mostly done by myself, I believe we are making steady progress. Instead of making a fiberglass suit like my mark VI, this time around I plan on making molds of our fiberglassed pieces so we wont have to make five seperate suits. I plan on waiting until after the armor is finished before starting on any weapons, however you can look forward to seeing the new silenced SMG and magnum, as well as a scratch build rocket launcher.
Step 1: Pepakura
So far we've managed to pep an entire suit for a 6'-6'3" build, unfortunately two of the five of us are < 5'6" so we'll have to make a second set of certain pieces such as the shin and thigh. For items like the shoulder, hip, knee, and shin, we only needed to make one model since they're symmetrical and won't matter once they're molded. I also plan on getting away with molding only one forearm by molding the elbow seperately and attaching it later, although I'm still not quite sure how I want to go about doing this. Also, we will not be making a torso piece, instead we will be wearing tactical vests with custom made neck covers.
I've uploaded all my files as a .zip and posted it here. (Keep in mind these pieces are currently scaled for someone over 6 feet, so make adjestments accordingly.)
Here are some pics of our progress.
So heres the collection so far. There's not a lot of room in a college dorm so for now we're just taping them to te wall (Lets go Mountaineers!).
This pic only includes the pieces that will make it to the next stage. We started with the WETA models and got 1/2 way through those before I discovered the newer ODST thread with updated pieces. I can't tell you how many models we had to scrap due to poor scaling and outdated models. (So many hours wasted :angry )
The Helmet:
I started off making an NZ-TK model first but then found Ral Partha's unfold of Rundown's model. After making the NZ-TK scaled to 29cm I decided to scale the second down to 28cm. In hindsight 28.5cm probably would have been ideal but im sure as h311 not making another one.
Im still looking for a detailed model of Buck's helmet com, but since its such a small piece I may just take a whack at sculpting it from clay For now anyway I believe we're ready to move onto fiberglassing
Step 2: Fiberglass
Found a place to fiberglass.
It's not an amazing place to work but it will work for now.
Note: Laquer thinner eats through plastic cups. Something I had forgotten since my mark vi project
To help prevent leaving air pockets around edges and deep recesses I fill them with "mud"
So far ive gotten everything fiberglassed except for the breast plate. The one I had resined got warped so I'll have to pep a new one. (fortunate since a new, more accurate, model has been released since then) As for the permutation pieces such as Romeo's sniper plate and Mickey's CQ pad, those will have to wait until my friends are more willing to help me. I gave the pieces aquick coat of primer to get a better idea of what the pieces look like after adding the composites.
And some close ups of the helmet. No apparent warping except for some on the back. Nothing that cant be fixed with body filler though.
Step 3: Bondo
Comming Soon
Step 4: Molding
Comming Soon
Step 5: Paint
Comming Soon
Step 6: Strapping
I can't get to detailed on this section just yet because I don't have anything tangible to show you but here is the flight suit and tactical vest we plan on using.
To Be Continued!
Currently we have only finished the pep stage of the project but for only five days work, mostly done by myself, I believe we are making steady progress. Instead of making a fiberglass suit like my mark VI, this time around I plan on making molds of our fiberglassed pieces so we wont have to make five seperate suits. I plan on waiting until after the armor is finished before starting on any weapons, however you can look forward to seeing the new silenced SMG and magnum, as well as a scratch build rocket launcher.
Step 1: Pepakura
So far we've managed to pep an entire suit for a 6'-6'3" build, unfortunately two of the five of us are < 5'6" so we'll have to make a second set of certain pieces such as the shin and thigh. For items like the shoulder, hip, knee, and shin, we only needed to make one model since they're symmetrical and won't matter once they're molded. I also plan on getting away with molding only one forearm by molding the elbow seperately and attaching it later, although I'm still not quite sure how I want to go about doing this. Also, we will not be making a torso piece, instead we will be wearing tactical vests with custom made neck covers.
I've uploaded all my files as a .zip and posted it here. (Keep in mind these pieces are currently scaled for someone over 6 feet, so make adjestments accordingly.)
Here are some pics of our progress.
So heres the collection so far. There's not a lot of room in a college dorm so for now we're just taping them to te wall (Lets go Mountaineers!).
This pic only includes the pieces that will make it to the next stage. We started with the WETA models and got 1/2 way through those before I discovered the newer ODST thread with updated pieces. I can't tell you how many models we had to scrap due to poor scaling and outdated models. (So many hours wasted :angry )
The Helmet:
I started off making an NZ-TK model first but then found Ral Partha's unfold of Rundown's model. After making the NZ-TK scaled to 29cm I decided to scale the second down to 28cm. In hindsight 28.5cm probably would have been ideal but im sure as h311 not making another one.
Im still looking for a detailed model of Buck's helmet com, but since its such a small piece I may just take a whack at sculpting it from clay For now anyway I believe we're ready to move onto fiberglassing
Step 2: Fiberglass
Found a place to fiberglass.
It's not an amazing place to work but it will work for now.
Note: Laquer thinner eats through plastic cups. Something I had forgotten since my mark vi project
To help prevent leaving air pockets around edges and deep recesses I fill them with "mud"
So far ive gotten everything fiberglassed except for the breast plate. The one I had resined got warped so I'll have to pep a new one. (fortunate since a new, more accurate, model has been released since then) As for the permutation pieces such as Romeo's sniper plate and Mickey's CQ pad, those will have to wait until my friends are more willing to help me. I gave the pieces aquick coat of primer to get a better idea of what the pieces look like after adding the composites.
And some close ups of the helmet. No apparent warping except for some on the back. Nothing that cant be fixed with body filler though.
Step 3: Bondo
Comming Soon
Step 4: Molding
Comming Soon
Step 5: Paint
Comming Soon
Step 6: Strapping
I can't get to detailed on this section just yet because I don't have anything tangible to show you but here is the flight suit and tactical vest we plan on using.
To Be Continued!
