The reasoning I've called this the 2.0 WIP is mainly because the original thread I had started with nearly 4 years ago has been locked. To be honest with you I had become quite distant within the 405th due to a number of reason's and I'm not going to jump into that. I'm jumping feet first into something quite different and I wanna continue the progress of this project as I'm getting closer to completion. But I'm gonna recap everything so let's dive right in shall we?
Now a number of years ago...gosh, 13 years ago, I met an awesome dude who got me into Halo prop building. However during that time I just wasn't able to get into it. Course I had tried a number of times but due to my size I was given a lot of discouragement from people around here who I don't even believe are active anymore.
Things changed though and by 2014 I said forget about being a Spartan or any of that stuff, I wanted to be an ODST, those guys are tough as nails and don't even need enhancements or super expensive armor to kick some covie butt.
I came across Sean Bradley thru my friend and was able to purchase an ODST kit from him while my friend provided me a helmet and a couple of visors to try out. The down side to all of this though was it was also the time I was going to move into a new home...so the project sat for a long length of time.
Then here we come to 2019, I had moved AGAIN 2K miles away from a home I'd known for 30 years! Course moving half way across the country you sort of have more free time cause you're jobless. That's when I started to get restless and began working on the ODST kit finally....
Before that time though I had gained some confidence in my costume making abilities as I had joined the 501st and Rebel Legion...I'd made quite a few suits during that time such as a Republic Commando, a Biker Scout, Most of a Tank Trooper, and others. So working on ABS wasn't new to me anymore and had a fairly good grasp of the game.
While searching for work I began my progress, slowly but steadily at the time:
The helmet came together fairly quickly of course, I'd had tons of experience in building that sort of stuff. Adding a yellow stripe to it gave it a nice personal touch as it's my favorite color, and the silver visor turned out rather well. My vision isn't entirely impaired but it wouldn't be fun wearing it in a tight crowd.
The next step was trimming the parts. The only thing I really hate about this part was just the particles and bits flying all over the place. A lot of this stuff I didn't do to bad on seeing how it'd been a couple of years since I had done this....buuuut....
the gauntlets came out horrible. Things just did not want to line up right, and my forearms aren't exactly beefy or long so trimming this area was exceptionally difficult. I'm half tempted on redoing these by buying a new set from Sean as the etsy page now has the option of buying individual parts.
The legs came out alright though, and I need to apply a little heat to these, and a light amount of foam for comfort.
The next step now that I had these and the shins finished is to get some 2 inch elastic around them....it's going to be interesting as it's I guess a loose fitting, nothing snaps into place or anything...it's just held together via the elastic belt I gotta make.
I also began work on the backpack during that time frame. I had purchased it I think before my 2nd move going to Texas. I felt sort of awkward not having this piece to the costume, it just didn't feel right to me so I had to get it.
Most of the backpack has been coming together well but I'm having some issues with the handles and strapping. I'll finish it eventually though and it'll be used of course to carry some of my personal belongings.
Thigh pieces were coming along nicely, I had trimmed these and cleaned them up to the very edge. I wanted to be sure these could comfortably get around me as I have short but thicker thighs...it'd always been my bane to do any kind of costume with thigh armor because of this reason.
Upper body strapping has come around fairly easy but being such a larger guy at the time, I didn't feel a lot of confidence in this area that it would fit right. Placement is rather difficult
but not impossible. I feel like at the time this photo was taken I've lost a lot more weight, and I can push that whole front down a bit more so it looks more natural.
Things came to an end at that point. I had gone thru a number of jobs and then we hit covid. It didn't feel like the right time during that stage to really continue building something when cons and events were non-existent.
Now we jump to 2023, and things are improving. Conventions are certainly coming back in droves, there's always one every month around me, but I'm picky on the ones I like to go too. However there's a retro gaming event in July and I'm pretty sure I can have this thing finished before then.
So I dug around my garage after doing a bit of a remodel in there recently. I found all my parts again and started digging around seeing where I had left off and what needed fixing.
The backpack is still a mess, I need to trim the right side of the top flap so it can sit a little more flush with the bottom side and providing a more solid close.
I'm still sort of dodgy on the strapping for it, wish I could see a lot more stuff or some sorta tutorial that explains and shows it more clearly.
I had to of course get more rivets as I went and trimmed a few off as I wasn't happy with the results...some were just poking me super badly cause they were to long.
I also needed to add some to enhance the overall look, and I figured I'd start the day off by working on the shoulder parts. I know in Sean's build he used some sort of canvas or leather looking like material to form it around the shoulder armor. Me on the other hand I'm going with a different approach.
for now I've tightly got a 1 inch elastic strap around the bottom and it's not moving much at all as I move my upper arm around.
I strapped on my gauntlets and grabbed my old laser tag plasma pistol and posed for you guys! For now I feel like I got a good range of movement and nothings shifting around anywhere.
I'm hoping tomorrow I can get a few other areas cleaned up and touched up, followed by strapping the thigh pieces to my belt and the elastic wrapping around my shins.
Now a number of years ago...gosh, 13 years ago, I met an awesome dude who got me into Halo prop building. However during that time I just wasn't able to get into it. Course I had tried a number of times but due to my size I was given a lot of discouragement from people around here who I don't even believe are active anymore.
Things changed though and by 2014 I said forget about being a Spartan or any of that stuff, I wanted to be an ODST, those guys are tough as nails and don't even need enhancements or super expensive armor to kick some covie butt.
I came across Sean Bradley thru my friend and was able to purchase an ODST kit from him while my friend provided me a helmet and a couple of visors to try out. The down side to all of this though was it was also the time I was going to move into a new home...so the project sat for a long length of time.
Then here we come to 2019, I had moved AGAIN 2K miles away from a home I'd known for 30 years! Course moving half way across the country you sort of have more free time cause you're jobless. That's when I started to get restless and began working on the ODST kit finally....
Before that time though I had gained some confidence in my costume making abilities as I had joined the 501st and Rebel Legion...I'd made quite a few suits during that time such as a Republic Commando, a Biker Scout, Most of a Tank Trooper, and others. So working on ABS wasn't new to me anymore and had a fairly good grasp of the game.
While searching for work I began my progress, slowly but steadily at the time:
Most of the backpack has been coming together well but I'm having some issues with the handles and strapping. I'll finish it eventually though and it'll be used of course to carry some of my personal belongings.
Things came to an end at that point. I had gone thru a number of jobs and then we hit covid. It didn't feel like the right time during that stage to really continue building something when cons and events were non-existent.
Now we jump to 2023, and things are improving. Conventions are certainly coming back in droves, there's always one every month around me, but I'm picky on the ones I like to go too. However there's a retro gaming event in July and I'm pretty sure I can have this thing finished before then.
So I dug around my garage after doing a bit of a remodel in there recently. I found all my parts again and started digging around seeing where I had left off and what needed fixing.
I'm still sort of dodgy on the strapping for it, wish I could see a lot more stuff or some sorta tutorial that explains and shows it more clearly.
I'm hoping tomorrow I can get a few other areas cleaned up and touched up, followed by strapping the thigh pieces to my belt and the elastic wrapping around my shins.