The Skookum Halo Props Thread

Some of you folks may know my alter ego, some may not so the thread title may be lost on you but the gist of this thread is that I needed a repository for all of my Halo themed weapon and prop builds that's separate from several planned armour and costume builds.

The first post is reserved as an index with links to individual props and then each prop will have one or more posts dedicated to it depending on the build complexity and the media included to showcase the build. Expect basically an concept post, a build post and an "in the field" post showcasing the build somewhere that isn't on my workbench.

Questions are always welcome and if I don't cover something clearly just give a shout so that I can make sure everyone is on the same footing and can learn some sweet tricks from my trial and error.

Halo 3 Props
M7/Caseless Submachine Gun

• M7 Construction
• M7 Completed Photos

Halo 4 Props
Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher "Needler"

• Type-33 Construction
• Type-33 Completed Photos

 

M7/Caseless Submachine Gun
Halo 3 Variant

Build Concept
I'm kicking the thread off with some new content because that's what's honestly the most fun right? My visit to 343i for Halo Community Day was going to be the last hurrah for my two year old ODST costume since I've grown so much as a builder and I know all it's faults and inaccuracies that it's become the shunned costume in my storage room. Then I got to the Halo Museum prop weapon wall.



Some of you may recognize this one from about 1:27 onward.


I spent two evenings fiddling around in Fusion 360 to make as close to game accurate as possible a replica from Halo 3 while still matching the "We Are ODST" props that were in the museum. The main difference between mine and the museum piece is the build materials, I'm currently planning on leaving mine as a 3D print and not moving forward to resin casting. The museum piece also had a semi-movable priming bolt but I'm always hesitant to add details like those and triggers on my props for not wanting to be SWATed reasons. Additions that my version has that are not on the museum prop are a magnetized removable magazine and hinged folding foregrip.

The current setup is to allow a sleeve attachment for the extended suppressor and a bolt to be added to lock the red dot sight to convert between the Halo 3 and Halo 3:ODST variants. The Halo 3:ODST up-rev attachments will be added on in a later post.


As is usual, I'm giving myself a stupid short deadline to build this prop so between model start and debut convention was 9 days, I've currently modelled, printed and surface prepped everything in preparation for paint in six so buckle up kiddos. Next post is about all good things to do with PLA, adhesives and paints.

 

M7/Caseless Submachine Gun
Halo 3 Variant

Construction

Assembly for the current version of the M7 Caseless Submachine Gun was relatively simple and helped show the errors in the original model that needed rectification before making parts kits for sale to others and sending out to friends.

The model was split into ten pieces for printing on a Tevo Tornado (300mm x 300mm print bed) and would be required to be further split up for printing on a smaller print bed.

M7 Pieces according to .stl file naming

• M7Barrel
• M7Foregrip (2 required, one mirrored)
• M7LeftBody
• M7Magazine
• M7RightBody
• M7SightInsert
• M7Stock (2 required, one mirrored)
• M7StockExtension

Time was of the essence in this prototype build so the slight peel up on the handle of one half of the main body was allowed to continue and save redoing a ~20 hour print and potentially delaying the project. The only downside of this was that there was a little bit extra Bondo and sanding to do but it's a trade off of time occasionally, two hours of extra body work and surface finishing or wait until the next day for the part to hopefully finish correctly.



Because I might as well ease my way into posting videos of builds, I did a quick show off of the pieces in their test fitting. Once I have my crafting dungeon set up in a better way that's accomodating of audio and video recording you might be seeing more videos that are actually /helpful/ instead of just waving a prop around. Would videos be something that folks are interested in?



The M7 prototype was being built alongside a few other pieces in con-crunch for Fan Expo Vancouver so apologies if it's not the primary focus of all the photos. First up was a coat of Duplicolour automotive filler primer. This makes it easy to spot anywhere that may have been missed by making everything one colour and filling some surface imperfections and remaining layer lines. Low spots and cracks that weren't immediately visible before priming were filled with Bondo Glazing Putty, let dry and sanded with 220 grit sandpaper. Another coat of filler primer was then applied and then a pass of 300 grit sandpaper was the final cleanup before colour coats.


After that I moved onto a base colour primer that suits the needs of the prop. For guns with moulded plastic and rubber parts I like to use a satin finish paint to save on effort later on so this was a job for Rustoleum Canyon Black Satin.


Moulded plastic sections were masked off after the black primer was given a day to full cure. Vallejo Model Air paints were used for this one so that the metals matched the M45 and M6 on the wall once mounted. First I did two heavy coats hitting everywhere with Metallic Black for a good base colour. From a high angle to exaggerate highlights and fake light hitting raised sections I used Gunmetal being careful to avoid deep recesses. Aluminum was then applied to extreme corners and high spots. Dark Gray was then added into the recesses to mute some of the possible shine from the paints. If there's a general tip I can offer for painting, build up depth of colour to make things look more natural looking and add highlighting that exaggerates the form of the prop in its natural held position.


A Krylon Crystal Clear coat was then applied to protect the airbrush paint and make the weathering step easier. This was allowed to cure for two hours and then the el cheapo dollar store paints came out along with the chip brushes for some dry brushing. Light scraping around edges and protrusions (magazine edges, receiver, stock corners) were brushed on using FolkArt Silver Anniversary. For plastic sections I took a similar approach but focussed more on points of contact with gloves and hands wearing down material and went crazy with DecoArt Storm Clod Grey.


As a last step, I use acrylic vanishes to protect the paint job with a hard top coat because I'm clumsy and every bit of protection helps! It was my first time using these and I'm definitely a fan. A little goes a long way and the cure time is super quick, especially when you use thin coats as directed. For a large-ish prop like this I poured a little bead onto a spot of the region I was working in and spread it out with a foam brush.


A bolt, two washers and a nut were installed to secure the foregrip and then the M7 got to go meet it's big brother!


Materials Used
eSun PLA+ Gray
EconoFil PLA Orange
LePage 5 Minute Epoxy
Dupliolor Filler Primer
Rustoleum Painter's Touch 2X Satin Black
Krylon ColorMaster Clear Gloss
P3 Khador Red Base
Folk Art 506 Silver Anniversary.

 

M7/Caseless Submachine Gun
Halo 3 Variant

Completed Photos

I like you guys so I'm going to give you an advance look at a bunch of stuff from this weekend that was shot by cywhphotography took this weekend that showcase both the M7 and awildshannon 's convention debut of her Noble 6! We also met a new friend! dezwings (going to be making a 405th account) was super nice and I'm really happy we bumped into her in her Master Chief for some photos together.

This post will be updated in the future as more photoshoots and glam happen surrounding the M7.

No more words, just pictures. Enjoy.

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Epic prop in 6 days. Yay!

 

M7 Caseless SMG posts are updated and a poll was added to the top of the thread. The plan for the poll is to let it run for a week, do a bunch of posts and then refresh the poll by removing the most popular option.

As I build more Halo props, I will update the poll options on a regular basis.

 

Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher "Needler"
Halo 4 Variant

Build Concept
This build was one that was taken on as a challenge for a child's costume nearly two years ago so the photo documentation of the process wasn't quite as consistent and the skills employed were... lesser. The important thing though is it taught me concepts required to complete the Fuel Rod Cannon and other large XPS builds.

The challenge was for a child sized Needler that could light up, be convention friendly and stay within a materials budget of $30.

To do this I made use of the most lightweight materials that would still be able to withstand the trials of a seven year old that I had excess of and sample pieces (free) from the local plastics store.

A quick pattern was designed in SketchUp and printed to approximately 60% in game scale (which is still goofy big because Needler).

 

Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher "Needler"
Halo 4 Variant

Construction

[POST RESERVED]

 

Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher "Needler"
Halo 4 Variant

Completed Photos

[POST RESERVED]