Scorch's Reach Torso V3 - Progress and Advice Request

[scorch15]

Hello All,

In this post I will go over my experience with armor crafting, and lastly put some concerns questions if anyone can help. Thank you for reading.

I love Halo and have since H:CE first came out. I always wanted to be able to have my own armor. I signed up less than a year ago and began with pepakura taking it step by step.



I decided to stop going the paper route after learning about resin and the difficulties of using it skillfully. Luckily I learned about foam, and was much more excited about that.

Here are pics of my first attempt at foam armor. I destroyed most of this piece (chest/shoulders/abdomen) because I felt like something wasn't right with it. I think I was being too harsh on myself. Real life was very difficult and I think I projected flaws on this armor. I kept the back side because I felt like I needed it as notes for what I messed up on.



This back side very difficult for me, particularly down the mid-line.



You can see in the picture above how rough the cuts were, because at this point I didn't know I had to use new blades frequently.

I decided to get a little 'creative' and sort of make the pieces fit and cover up some of the errors with a lighter, less dense foam. This hid the rough cuts.



I still wasn't happy, so I quit. All of the work above occurred in less than a week. I had a lot of zeal though.

Fast forward to today (a year later about), and I decided I need to at least give this a shot and see where it goes.

The following is what I have so far:

Front:




Back:



The blue and clear tape is there to hold in pieces I have not glued yet. I am not sure if I want them to pop out or in.

So now the old concerns are popping up.
- If you have the eye for it, you can tell it is not symmetrical between right and left. It is a a bit crooked and it drives me insane.

- The parts bridging the two shoulder pieces (see below) is angled incorrectly. There was no way to get the pieces to fit any other way that I could manage.



- Lastly, what do I do about those gaps where you can see light coming through? The backsides of my previous armors had no holes, but they were rigid and somewhat forced together carefully. The particular part in the picture below drives me insane. The current backside pictured below is more faithful to what the pepakura foam template wanted me to do than my own 'creative' version a year ago. Can this be improved on with putty or filler of some sort?



What I have left to do is to put second inner ring of the underarm on both sides and some small glue work. Other than that I have no idea if I should proceed.

Thank you for reading.

scorch

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

While I don't have any advice, I do have some praise! That looks pretty freakin awesome man. I hope either someone gives you the advice you need or you figure out what to do. That looks pretty good!

 

[HaloGoddess]

Instead of using a lighter, I would HIGHLY suggest in investing in a heat gun. They are pretty cheap and they are VERY helpful when you need to curve pieces such as the thigh armor. Secondly, using sandpaper on the bad edges helps a great deal too.

As for the gaps, foam is way more forgiving so you can force it to fit together and glue it. Foam doesn't rip and tear as easy. I've had to stretch pieces to just push it together. Sometimes, in those higher stress areas, using contact cement works wonders! I get the DAP brand and if you get it in the bottle, it comes with a brush for easy application. Make sure you line it up and stick it together just right because that stuff bonds pretty instantly. Everything is looking pretty good so far though.

 

[Yokim]

I like how you've captured the signature shape of the back of the reach chestplates, if you know what I mean anyway. I'm not good with wording things, good work!

 

[scorch15]

I like how you've captured the signature shape of the back of the reach chestplates, if you know what I mean anyway. I'm not good with wording things, good work!

Thank you very much. I hope it retains after the seam filling and paint. It's gettin messy.

 

[scorch15]

Instead of using a lighter, I would HIGHLY suggest in investing in a heat gun. They are pretty cheap and they are VERY helpful when you need to curve pieces such as the thigh armor. Secondly, using sandpaper on the bad edges helps a great deal too.

As for the gaps, foam is way more forgiving so you can force it to fit together and glue it. Foam doesn't rip and tear as easy. I've had to stretch pieces to just push it together. Sometimes, in those higher stress areas, using contact cement works wonders! I get the DAP brand and if you get it in the bottle, it comes with a brush for easy application. Make sure you line it up and stick it together just right because that stuff bonds pretty instantly. Everything is looking pretty good so far though.

Yes I realized I could push things together on my first builds. Looking back at my earliar builds I was surprised how well forcing them together. I took a gentler approach this current way through but I won't forget that ideas.

When I first read your blog a year ago I purchased a heat gun but didn't need it at that point. Your info gave me some of the nudge to start.

 

[AtomicDeadlock]

I like how you've captured the signature shape of the back of the reach chestplates, if you know what I mean anyway. I'm not good with wording things, good work!

I agree with Pidgeon. I've seen far too many people skip some of the most important details. Keep up the good work.

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Yes I realized I could push things together on my first builds. Looking back at my earliar builds I was surprised how well forcing them together. I took a gentler approach this current way through but I won't forget that ideas.

When I first read your blog a year ago I purchased a heat gun but didn't need it at that point. Your info gave me some of the nudge to start.

Instead of forcing the pieces together which could give you a crooked seam, you could fill the gap w/ some caulk or silicone. or even a bit more hot glue. Just remember to wipe away any excess.

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

Lookin pretty good man, I can't wait to see more progress from you!