Trooper Cooper
Well-Known Member
Right, so. Since I'm a relative newbie (new time poster, long time reader!) I guess I'm still too new to post in the creation discussion forum - not a prob, I'll just dump my thoughts in here for the time being :3
Marines. ODSTs. Badasses, every one. Many dress as the Chief and his Spartan bretheren, but true men join the Corps!
I've been staring at screen shots endlessly in between watching the live action combat shown in the Halo 3 ad campaign. Every bit of it is wonderful, and as an Aliens costumer I really feel the need to add the UNSC uniform and gear to my collection!
Besides downloaded .avis of the ads, I've also been staring at this archive of Marine screenies:
http://geocities.com/pantherkk2002/Halo_Marine_Armor/
The idea was to set up a small armoury in mt garage, cut down sheets of steel or aluminium, and bash out the armour plating, and of course the helmet itself. Pepakura files for the chest and back armour, helmet and so on would be great - but I have yet to find files for the Halo 3 Marines as yet - which would probably make the templating process FAR easier.
The secondary armour onto which the body armour is built on appears to be motocross armour, looking at how it wraps around the Marines, has the spine protection, and also offers the upper arm padding:
http://i1.ebayimg.com/04/i/000/bb/5b/f756_1.JPG
http://i8.ebayimg.com/08/i/000/c6/af/6831_1.JPG
So, remove the pads already present, build in steel/aluminium plating, uniform underneath, soft cover/helmet on the head, then build up the leg webbing/armour panels and boot parts!
My first thoughts on the underwear. The camo is reminiscent of British DPM faded down to greys in the way the lines move, although the camo in the games and the clips was far more blocky:
http://www.euro-surplus.jp/Jacket/UK-Deser...al%20Jacket.jpg
I've been told that trying to wash it at 95 degrees would be a good start, just to see if it will fade down. Personally I'm not confident, but at the same time, I am unsure whether dying would really do anything... has a camo pattern been confirmed from the adverts?
Then boots and lower leg armour. Regular assault boots/black jungle boots would be the basis. Steel/aluminium plates are attached to a rubber sheet which is then strapped over the top of the boots. Retaining straps could be added to make sure they don't slip. As for the chunkier plates... these would be much harder, since the steel/aluminium plate would need to remain somewhat adjustible. Perhaps make the rear "central" calf piece slide underneath the plating? I get the feeling these would have to remain quite loose. I could see them getting very uncomfortable. Same can be said for the knee plates. That said, both of these could have closed cell foam undersheeting, so it could be made more comfy...
The biggest conundrum I have is the shoulder/neck armour. I loved how in the videos the Marines actually had a classic flak vest style neck armour, rather than the games which seem to have a complete composite armour around that area. Flak vest would be softer and prevent scratching on the helmet should I wear one - the armour would probably need some serious modifications from the game type if It was metal. Not sure what to do about that.
Any thoughts on what I've been musing on?
Marines. ODSTs. Badasses, every one. Many dress as the Chief and his Spartan bretheren, but true men join the Corps!
I've been staring at screen shots endlessly in between watching the live action combat shown in the Halo 3 ad campaign. Every bit of it is wonderful, and as an Aliens costumer I really feel the need to add the UNSC uniform and gear to my collection!
Besides downloaded .avis of the ads, I've also been staring at this archive of Marine screenies:
http://geocities.com/pantherkk2002/Halo_Marine_Armor/
The idea was to set up a small armoury in mt garage, cut down sheets of steel or aluminium, and bash out the armour plating, and of course the helmet itself. Pepakura files for the chest and back armour, helmet and so on would be great - but I have yet to find files for the Halo 3 Marines as yet - which would probably make the templating process FAR easier.
The secondary armour onto which the body armour is built on appears to be motocross armour, looking at how it wraps around the Marines, has the spine protection, and also offers the upper arm padding:
http://i1.ebayimg.com/04/i/000/bb/5b/f756_1.JPG
http://i8.ebayimg.com/08/i/000/c6/af/6831_1.JPG
So, remove the pads already present, build in steel/aluminium plating, uniform underneath, soft cover/helmet on the head, then build up the leg webbing/armour panels and boot parts!
My first thoughts on the underwear. The camo is reminiscent of British DPM faded down to greys in the way the lines move, although the camo in the games and the clips was far more blocky:
http://www.euro-surplus.jp/Jacket/UK-Deser...al%20Jacket.jpg
I've been told that trying to wash it at 95 degrees would be a good start, just to see if it will fade down. Personally I'm not confident, but at the same time, I am unsure whether dying would really do anything... has a camo pattern been confirmed from the adverts?
Then boots and lower leg armour. Regular assault boots/black jungle boots would be the basis. Steel/aluminium plates are attached to a rubber sheet which is then strapped over the top of the boots. Retaining straps could be added to make sure they don't slip. As for the chunkier plates... these would be much harder, since the steel/aluminium plate would need to remain somewhat adjustible. Perhaps make the rear "central" calf piece slide underneath the plating? I get the feeling these would have to remain quite loose. I could see them getting very uncomfortable. Same can be said for the knee plates. That said, both of these could have closed cell foam undersheeting, so it could be made more comfy...
The biggest conundrum I have is the shoulder/neck armour. I loved how in the videos the Marines actually had a classic flak vest style neck armour, rather than the games which seem to have a complete composite armour around that area. Flak vest would be softer and prevent scratching on the helmet should I wear one - the armour would probably need some serious modifications from the game type if It was metal. Not sure what to do about that.
Any thoughts on what I've been musing on?