Spartan Armor Overhaul

[captaincaliflour]

Ugh...so many orders...

Not that I'm complaining about having enough comissions to support myself without a "day job" or anything, it just means I haven't had much time to work on my own suit. Probably not gonna get to the undersuit before Halo 5...drat.

However in between waiting for glue to dry on pieces I've managed to do some assembling on the legs:





So with any luck I'll at least get the armor refurbished in time.

 

[Frozensnot]

Those shins and thighs are looking pretty good! Good luck in getting your armor refurbished by the launch of Halo 5.

 

[captaincaliflour]

While waiting for the next ten orders to cut I got some time on the vacuum former

Here's the bicep patterns and the knuckle pattern

And here's the lower arm and hand forms

And last but not least:


The visor forms are done! Just need to paint it all and finish gluing

 

[captaincaliflour]

So I just realized today is the 26th...not the 25th as I thought it was.

****.

12 hours to finish my replacements! I think I can...

 

[captaincaliflour]

So I got (most) of it done(ish) in time!


The visor doesn't move yet because the mechanism isn't secured properly, and the skull isn't mounted


The hand is done, but I don't have the replacement fingers so I used my old hand last night

Also the legs are plastidipped but not fully painted. Fortunately my armor is a white basecoat, so I plastidipped the helmet and legs in white without painting it to save time.

 

[captaincaliflour]

Managed to get my helmet done

 

[captaincaliflour]

I been trying to catch up on all the people waiting patiently for their orders so I haven't had much time to work on the armor, but I did manage some quick additions

The first of potentially 8 pouches on the armor:


Also I began work on the paintjob for the shins

This is mirrored on all four sides for the calves

And I'll be cleaning it up and adding more details to the front and back of the shins later when I get the time

 

[captaincaliflour]

Christmas kept me busy with orders, but my workshop closed for the winter which left me with a lot of free time and nothing to do with it, so I cleaned up the dragons and added some bushido kanji to the shins (because I felt they were suitably ironic for the Meta)



I've also started remaking my chest piece. Chernobyl's new model was definitely a step up, particuarly since it had some important cutouts where there once was just parts clipping together, but sadly he unfolded it for you guys...which meant I had to re-unfold it for the parts I'd need on the laser, and then I got to start the fun process of mapping out all the individual marking lines for the laser to etch in so that this chest piece will have all the details of the 343 renders released



Unfortunately my laser has a limited color pallette, so anything not black is what it etches and I'm stuck using yellow for etch marks. Only a few pieces done atm but I should hopefully get the rest done on monday or tuesday

 

[captaincaliflour]

Got Chernobyl's file suitably unfolded, all the etchings laid out, and the resulting pieces assembled for the most part




I've got the front and back plasti-dipped for a few layers as well, though the fusion cores aren't attached yet because I intend to make them detachable by custom 3d printing some parachute buckle style connectors that will let me clip them in and remove them more securely than just gluing a couple of parachute clips to the chestpiece. I plan on doing the same thing for the front and back connectors, so that they can be more game accurate as well.

In addition, I've begun phase 2 of my armor overhaul...which is to make myself a friend.

See I hate the FOTUS armor, because it's ostentatious and overcomplicated, but at the same time incredibly boring in its design. It occured to me though that the horn is pretty wicked, and there's another "suit" I quite like that is similarly ostentatious and overcomplicated while simultaneously boring: Gundam Unicorn.

With that in mind, this is the gameplan:

Make it pull a Gundam Unicorn and go from boring to awesome

And this is the beginning of said gameplan

 

[Chernobyl]

Glad you're making use of the file I put up. It's always nice to see the community making good progress with the resources I provide.

Also..

she unfolded it for you guys

Corrected c:

 

[captaincaliflour]

she unfolded it for you guys

Blasphemy! There are no girls on the internet I'll be sure to correct myself from now on when I tell all the people asking for Halo files on the Halo Props facebook page about your hard work.

I'm working on 3d printing individual clasps for my chest plate so that it'll look more game accurate (in addition to slicing up some unfolds of the Fallout 4 power armor so I can get vacuum forming on that monstrosity) but in the mean time, progress! Specifically progress on my friend



Also re made the entire form for my visor and did a couple pulls of it. the first pull was 1/8th in, but that didn't get the detail I wanted so this pull is 1/16th in.



Now I gotta dye it again and paint on the white triangles for the land of the rising sun look. Also probably gonna mount LEDs on it, at least one where the camera goes and probably two rear facing ones that will trigger as soon as the visor slides up...as soon as I figure out the switching for that, since there's not a whole lot of room in my helmet for accoutrements...

 

[captaincaliflour]

Had a lot of minor improvements over the past couple weeks, got the visor cut out and partially dyed. Then I chromed it but it became too difficult to see through so I stripped the Looking Glass off and am gonna try a different tact. Also managed to get the base painting done on all the armor plates and redid the Rising Sun on my chest piece


And the current state of the visor, before I attempt to rechrome it

 

[captaincaliflour]

So it's been a while (cue bad song by staind) but in amidst the crazy requests I been getting for helmets and such (including making a Kelly one...that was fun. Visor's a nightmare) I managed to get more work done on the rest of my armor. got the visor chromed for the most part

Just needs some touch up to cover the bleed that happened from the red dye...though I may also be tweaking my pattern and recasting it since it doesn't quite fit right in the helmet slot since it slopes in at the base instead of out. Whatever, we'll see if I have time, still so much to do and so little time!

Also rebuilt my forearm, so now it fits properly and matches the asthetic of my suit

and lastly, I completed the physical armor components for the FOTUS NTD armor and am now molding all the parts that will be moving before I cut out their requisite slots and fab the servo compartments for them...