So, here I go, violating one of my rules again... don't do concurrent builds. Try as I might, I was powerless to resist when I got the urge to do a Reach build. I've tried (unsuccessfully) for two years now to get to Dragon*Con, despite living only a few miles away. Besides a fear of large crowds, I had major issues with overheating in the MkVI, plus the general clunkiness. In an effort to both solve that and pay homage those hard-working marines on Reach, I present the Reach Trooper/Marine build!
One of the things I learned right away about the Troopers is that there are a ton of variants, with the Marines having even more possibilities. The first order of business was to determine which ones I'd use.
This particular resource was very helpful, though there's even some things that were left out. What does seem consistent is that the Army Troopers have an open helmet with several available attachments, one or two EOD shoulders, one or two of the "Trooper Shoulders", NxRA thigh plates and standard knee pads. The Marines use the Military Police setup noted above, with the closed helmet, "Trooper" shoulder, UA-BaseSecurity shoulder, up-sized kneepads and the additional collar around the top of the torso armor. Anyone can wear the shin armor as shown in the ODST loadout as well.
After pouring over about 40 reference pictures, I decided on a marine loadout, but with an open helmet to help stay cool.
Construction began soon afterwards:
You can see the NxRA and UA-Base Security in the background. The NxRA warped during hardening, but I think it'll be salvageable once I secure it to a board and apply a few heat treatments. If not, it's a relatively simple piece to rebuild.
The helmet has the right shape to it but lacks a few of the details I wanted to include. Once it's completely hardened I'll get to cutting those into the bondo.
The torso armor presented a bit more of a challenge. I hadn't been able to find any pep models of it that had the detail I was looking for, so I decided to go another route and try to freehand some foam. It's strange working in a different medium, but I'm starting to appreciate some of the advantages that foam has. I started by printing out one of the better reference pictures I had and measuring the body, scaling those measurements up to match my own and comparing them with the ones I'd taken of my body. Most of them came out fairly close and from those I was able to draft some templates.
With the under-arm and chest parts added...
And finally cut out and curved appropriately...
If I did it all over again, I'd cut down the inner edge of each shoulder "strap" and curve the outer part correctly from the start, but for a first attempt it's not too bad. The overall shape is right and it fits pretty well, with most edges coming out about where I'd expect. This will form the under layer of the armor, with the brownish plates laying in layers over the top of it. The edges will be covered with craft foam, so all those nasty cuts will disappear in the end (though I won't do this until I can say for sure that everything is the right size). By this weekend I should receive a set of ACU coat/pants in universal digital camouflage, which was the closest pattern I I could find to the grey/green that the Reach Marines wear. Once those items arrive I'll suit up and see how it looks and fits with the additional clothing underneath.
One of the other aspects of this costume that I found exciting is that I can build storage right into it! Rather than go for 100% accuracy on the entire suit, I substituted in some tactical gear that I was able to find on Amazon. Besides being exceptionally durable, it should lend a fairly authentic feel to the costume while providing a place to put my phone, wallet, and any overpriced trinkets I purchase at any convention. One pouch will go on my belt, while another will be modeled after the soft case that can often be seen on the left thigh of Troopers and Marines in Reach.
That's it for now, but hopefully back with another update soon.
Comments/criticism/sarcasm welcome; thanks for looking!
One of the things I learned right away about the Troopers is that there are a ton of variants, with the Marines having even more possibilities. The first order of business was to determine which ones I'd use.
This particular resource was very helpful, though there's even some things that were left out. What does seem consistent is that the Army Troopers have an open helmet with several available attachments, one or two EOD shoulders, one or two of the "Trooper Shoulders", NxRA thigh plates and standard knee pads. The Marines use the Military Police setup noted above, with the closed helmet, "Trooper" shoulder, UA-BaseSecurity shoulder, up-sized kneepads and the additional collar around the top of the torso armor. Anyone can wear the shin armor as shown in the ODST loadout as well.
After pouring over about 40 reference pictures, I decided on a marine loadout, but with an open helmet to help stay cool.
Construction began soon afterwards:
You can see the NxRA and UA-Base Security in the background. The NxRA warped during hardening, but I think it'll be salvageable once I secure it to a board and apply a few heat treatments. If not, it's a relatively simple piece to rebuild.
The helmet has the right shape to it but lacks a few of the details I wanted to include. Once it's completely hardened I'll get to cutting those into the bondo.
The torso armor presented a bit more of a challenge. I hadn't been able to find any pep models of it that had the detail I was looking for, so I decided to go another route and try to freehand some foam. It's strange working in a different medium, but I'm starting to appreciate some of the advantages that foam has. I started by printing out one of the better reference pictures I had and measuring the body, scaling those measurements up to match my own and comparing them with the ones I'd taken of my body. Most of them came out fairly close and from those I was able to draft some templates.
With the under-arm and chest parts added...
And finally cut out and curved appropriately...
If I did it all over again, I'd cut down the inner edge of each shoulder "strap" and curve the outer part correctly from the start, but for a first attempt it's not too bad. The overall shape is right and it fits pretty well, with most edges coming out about where I'd expect. This will form the under layer of the armor, with the brownish plates laying in layers over the top of it. The edges will be covered with craft foam, so all those nasty cuts will disappear in the end (though I won't do this until I can say for sure that everything is the right size). By this weekend I should receive a set of ACU coat/pants in universal digital camouflage, which was the closest pattern I I could find to the grey/green that the Reach Marines wear. Once those items arrive I'll suit up and see how it looks and fits with the additional clothing underneath.
One of the other aspects of this costume that I found exciting is that I can build storage right into it! Rather than go for 100% accuracy on the entire suit, I substituted in some tactical gear that I was able to find on Amazon. Besides being exceptionally durable, it should lend a fairly authentic feel to the costume while providing a place to put my phone, wallet, and any overpriced trinkets I purchase at any convention. One pouch will go on my belt, while another will be modeled after the soft case that can often be seen on the left thigh of Troopers and Marines in Reach.
That's it for now, but hopefully back with another update soon.
Comments/criticism/sarcasm welcome; thanks for looking!