Spartan Blade: first ever attempt at this

[Rustmonkey]

As the title suggests, I am a complete noob to anything like this. I discovered the forum a few days ago after watching some of the great Youtube vids. I have to say that I am not a big game player and have only brushed quickly over Halo, however, this seems by far the best site for pepakura knowledge and I was blown away by the sheer skill you guys and gals have.

SO.....I thought I'd give it a go.

My intention is to eventually build an helmet but rather than jump in at the deep end, I thought a smaller project would be the best course of action as I have no doubt that I will make mistakes along the way and felt that the Spartan blade would give me a good understanding of all the required steps as well as giving me experience that can eventually be used on a bigger project.

This afternoon, having been out and purchased my basic starter kit: Printer, 200gsm card, steel rule, Knife, cutting matt, glue gun, I set about printing out and building the Pep.



First thoughts are....The glue gun takes a bit of getting used too and the pep tabs can be fiddly little blighters but all in all I am quite pleased with it so far, having completed the blade section. Not to your high standards but a starting point at least



I am watching and reading and trying desperately to ensure that I don't ask any noob questions.

Any help or advice will be most welcome.

 

[DystopianDeer]

A razor blade could go a long way in making it look better. Just use it to remove any glue that's come out from under the folds.

I'm new to this myself and I haven't even gotten started yet. Looks nice, even for a first try.

 

[Rustmonkey]

thnx.......I will tidy it up once I have the pep complete.

With the dagger being so thin.....when I do the Inner Rondo......is it best to coat the inside or do people completely fill it for a more solid feel???
I was just thinking that it might make the weight feel more realistic....thoughts please

 

[gothylox]

thnx.......I will tidy it up once I have the pep complete.

With the dagger being so thin.....when I do the Inner Rondo......is it best to coat the inside or do people completely fill it for a more solid feel???
I was just thinking that it might make the weight feel more realistic....thoughts please

most people seem to use fiberglass cloth and resin for the inside, and resin for the outside. I've seen someone fill a gun with expanding foam too.
I think filling it with rondo would make it really heavy.

 

[Rustmonkey]

getting the cloth into a small area might be an issue? Also, isn't there a danger of the expanding foam exploding the model?

 

[zombiegrimm]

I work a lot with smaller pep files. Being as small as the Halo 4 knife is, I personally would leave the middle hollow. Most people put the fiberglass resin on helmets and other armor pieces.

I work with Skyrim daggers a lot, so this is a close call. I resined the outside lightly to give a nice base coat. This prevents it from warpping as its a light coat. Once it sets, I use two heavy coats, and then no need to worry about the inside. Hope this helps.

 

[Agonize]

mh, the blade dosent look this difficult, why you want to make it with pepakura? Foam Cardboard etc would be a better if you ask me. Dont know if resin makes it hard enough. And if you want to apply fiberglass on it the shape will get lost.


well if you want to do it this way i would resin the outside and mh.. maybe fill it up with rondo.

but thats only my opinion

 

[AugmentedHuman013]

would to also say what Zombiegrimm said about the resin after that i would rondo the outside and sand sand sand thats how i do my gernades. its not going be good for alot of abuse but you can get a good looking product from that.

 

[gothylox]

getting the cloth into a small area might be an issue? Also, isn't there a danger of the expanding foam exploding the model?

yes, and yes. lol. I would go with zombie's suggestion, he seems like he knows what he's talking about, too.

 

[Jason 078]

If you just need it to be solid on the inside without the weight, why not fill it with expanding foam?

 

[Rustmonkey]

Thanks for the advice ppl....very useful.

In answer to the question of why Pep and not foam....because I want to use this as a way of learning how to pep and gaining experience before I commit to a bigger project like an helmet.

 

[Rustmonkey]

Finished the pep today....oh boy ..are there some fiddle bits but still, it went together ok. Put a coat of resin on but found it was still tacky after an hour so I used Cereal Kill3rs corn flour trick and the tackiness has gone....thnx cereal. Great vids btw.

I know it's not as good as other people's efforts but I'm still quite pleased for a first attempt.




As always....any advice is welcome

 

[Rustmonkey]

So....today was full on. Learned how to pep, to resin and filled blade with a wash of Rondo. This evening I started putting filler on the r/h blade. Sanded it down a bit but couldn't resist the urge to give it a quick prime.

 

[Jason 078]

Looking good.

 

[Rustmonkey]

Quick update:

More Bondo and smoothing on the one side. Noob error unfortunately because the blade is slightly warped but I plan try to even it up. Still......the reason for the build is to learn new techniques.

 

[BHF Dark Phoenx]

looks good this may be the next project i try

 

[AugmentedHuman013]

looking good just needs details put in but very nice

 

[Rustmonkey]

Thnx.

The only issue I have is that I don't actually know what it's supposed to look like. I did a google search but couldn't find this particular weapon. If anyone can locate an image then that would be great

 

[Mstruvmgc]

I think for your first attempt it looks very good
and if youre happy with it then thats all that matters

 

[AugmentedHuman013]

if your happy with it its fine my suggestion and this is just my oppinion is maybe some steel color paint and wrap the handle some how either grip tape, fabric, rope or somthing along those lines.