Spartan Fred and Kelly Build

[brkiker]

Hey guys. I've decided to begin building my wife and I's Spartan armor, and we've decided to do Fred-104 and Kelly-087. I'll be posting things here as I go, but I'll also be doing video logs.

Today we begin with an intro into Armorsmith Designer. Let me know what you think.

 

[Dirtdives2424]

WOW....another Fred build......and Kelly of course.

 

[SI3RRA 117]

I see more and more people using this armorsmith. Looks like it's the way to start. I think I'm going to have to make the investment. Wish you luck hope to see morr

 

[brkiker]

I see more and more people using this armorsmith. Looks like it's the way to start. I think I'm going to have to make the investment. Wish you luck hope to see morr

Thanks. It's a nice little program to help you get things started and make sure things are going to fit. It has a few little short comings, but I'm chalking that up to it not being 100% complete and me learning it.

 

[brkiker]

WOW....another Fred build......and Kelly of course.

Yep, and my brother is doing Chief, so we'll have most of Blue Team. Now if only I could find a person that does Fred's helmet.

 

[brkiker]

Now we move on to Kelly's armor. Scaling it for the wife, and it looks like things will work.

Just concerned about the upper arm armor. Not sure if I put it on right. Let me know guys.

 

[PaiganBoi]

I see more and more people using this armorsmith. Looks like it's the way to start. I think I'm going to have to make the investment. Wish you luck hope to see morr

I too have made the investment into this program. It has helped me tonnes. My scaling skills are quite poor and have failed many attempts when I started my ODST suit.

 

[brkiker]

I too have made the investment into this program. It has helped me tonnes. My scaling skills are quite poor and have failed many attempts when I started my ODST suit.

Good to know. I'm just glad it will save time in making the armor. No more cutting everything out putting it together only to find that it doesn't fit. The other benefit I'm finding with this is that I can use it to help 3D print parts, so I'm thinking of 3D printing the glove armor and upper arm armor.

 

[brkiker]

Quick update.

The upper arm armor and shoulder pad seem to have been put on right, and scaled properly. However, when I compare it to this nice reference pic I found, I'm wondering if I need to resize some things and I'm thinking about 3D printing the upper arm armor and maybe the shoulder pad.

Your thoughts.

 

[brkiker]

Well, I now have a huge roll of foam from Foamsmeef ready. I'm sure this won't be the only roll I need. I love the foam from Foamsmeef as it's a lot denser and cleaner than most other places. Once it's heated and shaped it's increadibly smooth. Price it good to.

So where should I begin?

 

[brkiker]

I know I've fallen behind in updates, but I've been doing a lot "behind the sences" stuff: printing and cutting templates, doing mock ups and test fitting, etc. However, I've have made first head way in cutting a piece out. It's the butt plate for Kelly's armor.

I'm just trying to figure out how to get a inward facing beveled edge so the side pieces can attach to the top at the sloped angle that it has in the reference picture. There are also some other details that I'm going to need to decide to free hand, or just not have them at all.

Next up. I managed to "finish" cutting out the visor section of Laura's helmet. She's not a fan of the Hermes helmet, so we went with an Orbital helmet from BMP Props. I still need to do some clean up with finer grit sand paper, but I have gone ahead mapped out some of the padding. We have the channel of trying to figure out how to get the helmet to quick sliding back on her head. With that said I do need to get a picture with her wearing it.

That's it for now. I'll post a recap video of me building the butt plate once it gets done. In the mean time, let me know what you think.

 

[brkiker]

Another quick and late up date. After a two our live stream, I cut out a few of the pieces of the boot armor, and have run into a few things.

I'm leaning towards 3D printing the boot now for a few reasons. Trying to do the toe piece in foam seems like it might be a huge headache. There's also the heel where I have to figure out how to transfer it to foam and cut it.

Finally, I did get a pic of Laura with her helmet on. When she doesn't have armor on, it looks a bit big, but it sits where it supposed to. That is until it starts sliding back on her head. I just need to set up the electronics in the helmet and figure out how to attach and tint the visor.

So, once again, I'll be back. and be interested in knowing your thoughts.

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Great work man......one thing though, the helmet may be a bit big length-wise, but if it remains as is, Laura's cheeks are going to be rubbed raw. You want the helmet to sit on the crown, not squeezed the head to stay in place. You may want to look into getting a helmet liner/insert.

 

[Reclaimara]

Holy crap that helmet is huge! O_O
And first I thought you 3d printed it because of all the printing lines visible... but it's a cast. Bit surprised they didn't clean it up. Depends if you want to clean it all up, but damn it would be bit of work.
But also that's why I personally don't bother with buying helmets because I know they are overly big... but damn, that's huge. O_O
I recommend adding some foam inside to make it sit higher, because how it sits currently, it's very low - and if you raise the helmet, your wife's cheeks won't rub on it PLUS you still need to insert the visor. Basically your wife's chin should be where the helmet's chin is, not so high up. But that's because of the size of the helmet, and best way is just to add multiple layers of foam (or anything that suits you more) to make the helmet sit higher and your wife will feel the difference plus it will hopefully be better too. Plus, it sitting low like that may be very restricting in terms of head movement.
And I've read it was your intention to go with Orbital instead of Hermes but damn, I still silently wish you went with Hermes, haha.

 

[brkiker]

Great work man......one thing though, the helmet may be a bit big length-wise, but if it remains as is, Laura's cheeks are going to be rubbed raw. You want the helmet to sit on the crown, not squeezed the head to stay in place. You may want to look into getting a helmet liner/insert.

Thanks. I'm realizing the helmet was probably designed for a normal 6 foot guy and not a 5'4" woman. I have put padding in. I'm just thinking if push the chin back closer to her actual chin it's going to increase the amount the back of the helmet will want to slide.

 

[brkiker]

Holy crap that helmet is huge! O_O
And first I thought you 3d printed it because of all the printing lines visible... but it's a cast. Bit surprised they didn't clean it up. Depends if you want to clean it all up, but damn it would be bit of work.
But also that's why I personally don't bother with buying helmets because I know they are overly big... but damn, that's huge. O_O
I recommend adding some foam inside to make it sit higher, because how it sits currently, it's very low - and if you raise the helmet, your wife's cheeks won't rub on it PLUS you still need to insert the visor. Basically your wife's chin should be where the helmet's chin is, not so high up. But that's because of the size of the helmet, and best way is just to add multiple layers of foam (or anything that suits you more) to make the helmet sit higher and your wife will feel the difference plus it will hopefully be better too. Plus, it sitting low like that may be very restricting in terms of head movement.
And I've read it was your intention to go with Orbital instead of Hermes but damn, I still silently wish you went with Hermes, haha.

Thanks for the feed back. I may try and get her to switch to the Hermes or maybe even the EVA helmet. They are smaller, which should make them a bit easier to fit. I tend to go with cast helmets because I'm constantly taking them off to talk and see, but Laura might be different and prefer to keep hers on. The challenge with making the switch is time, money, and finding a pattern for the Hermes helmet and then a visor.

Open to suggestions.

 

[Reclaimara]

You could always ask Danielle, since she has made her own helmet and got the visor from someone. Maybe she can help bit more here.
And I can understand the time pressure. :/

 

[brkiker]

You could always ask Danielle, since she has made her own helmet and got the visor from someone. Maybe she can help bit more here.
And I can understand the time pressure. :/

Got contact info or account name?

 

[Reclaimara]

Danielle Debs Props & Cosplay

 

[brkiker]

So after getting some feed back and looking up a few tutorials I've gone back and reworked the armor. Editing a lot of the parts to make it easier and less confusing to cut from my foam. The only pieces I have left to "simplify" are the shins, thighs, forearm, and chest.

In the mean time, I do have a little model for the hand plate. I'm just on the fence as to if it's the right size. Don't know if it should be bigger or smaller, so feed back from all of you would be great.