Try Try Again Halo Infinite Marine Build

[Darkhorn0]

A very very long time ago, in this galaxy, less than a mile from my current home, i started a project that went basically nowhere. I think i managed to get a handplate done and that was about it.

Fast forward some indeterminate amount of time; and here i am feeling like a kid again playing halo infinite. I've come along way since that first attempt, got into miniature wargaming, got into costuming with the 501st and fell back in love with halo after not really loving 4 and 5.

Long story short i really want a halo costume to wear by this coming Halloween, and also by the time the local comic/video game convention starts up which is also in the fall.

That means its time to do what ive always wanted! an ODST.... which you will notice is not the name of this thread. I had been planning on getting a SBS ODST kit. But that fell through, so i went "Hey lets make one of those cool new marines from halo infinite". and here we are now. my thought process is simple, i can hopefully avoid biting off more than i can chew, while making something recognizable, and developing my foam skills.

So join me on this adventure where i learn im not near as crafty as i think i am.

Next Post Research!

 

[Darkhorn0]

Ok so research. Ive done lots of it, and most of it comes from in-game.

Marines in reach are quite varied in their attire. BDUs can be different colors, levels of armor are variable, equipment is variable, even the color of armor/equipment seems to be variable. It is completely likely in about 5-10 minutes to see captured marines in boots, BDU pants and a t-shirt as well as seeing rocket launching, heavy armor wearing crazy bois at a FOB.

I want to do more hard armor than less because otherwise whats the point right?

So i tried to get images from two sources in game to do my research, the marines themselves and the banished built target dummies.
I have attached numerous photos to this post to showcase some of what i found.

I love that these little things are easily found in the game. and getting okay pictures of everything was pretty easy.
But wait a minute this all looks really familiar right? or am i just crazy?

Turns out im not crazy! the armor is very much like the Halo reach armor. Which also happens to be my personal favorite.

What does that mean? well it means that there are already really good resources on this forum. the most important being the following 2:
Reach Army Tutorial
Reach Marine Tutorial

Those two tutorials have all the foam templates and pep files a man could dream of to get started! and with the additional tutorial on foam from the tutorial index i am ready to get started.

Next up deciding on the costume specifics and buying foam!

 

[Darkhorn0]

Now i need to land on exactly what i want my marine to look like.

I want to keep a few things in mind:
1. i want lots of armor.
2. I want a color scheme that may be able to reuse parts for an ODST costume should we get to see ODSTs during infinite's lifetime.
3. want to make it out of foam or bought materials (like the BDUs) as much as possible. The wife is not keen on the bondo life.

those things stated i decided to go with something closely matching the marine from this photo:

This marine has armored shins with very basic knee pads in his pants, one thigh plate (the other side is just a psitol holster, but i may make 2), the full chest rig (i may add the collar) shoulder armor and a helmet. for the helmet i at least want the main helmet portion with tac-glasses and a balaclava like the one below:

though i admit the heavier helmet is really cool. to be honest im terrified of the helmet and will be doing it last.

i'll do the armor in black as the odst armor tends to be at least darker than the tan or green marine/trooper armor. and i have to admit i like those colorful camo BDUs.

so now i have a plan lets but foam! i went to hobby lobby and by pure coincidence their "cosplay" foam was on 40% off sale so i bought one roll of 10mm, one of 5mm and one of 3mm to get started.

its hard to believe i've started this up again but the next post should be about the process actually getting under way with printing and cutting out some templates!

 

[Darkhorn0]

ok so i have ran into my first question. Am i using these foam templates right? they appear to all be portrait orientation. but my printer seems to be less than ideal and only give me an option to fill the sheet with each template. is this correct for scaling? the shoulder i cut out appears correct. but i dont know. i need to get some photos of this pulled together.

using the same settings on each print out has led to them all being the correct size when cut out and lined up so thats good. but i do worry about scale. im 6'1.5" more or less and currently attempting to cut weight. so i figured the shoulders would be a good place to start. most of the contours are made with cuts and a little what i assume will be heat forming for the curve in the armor. and it should be affected by my weight loss like the chest and abdomen will be.

i couldnt find instructions on the reach army trooper templates so i am just using the fill sheet option on 8.5"x11" paper as my base for now.

 

[he4thbar]

Scaling is going to be important if you want a properly sized cosplay. So question is Do you have a PC or laptop that runs windows? And what templates are you using? the armory templates? or somewhere else?

 

[Darkhorn0]

PC that runs windows and i was using the foam templates from the armory under Halo Reach.

I was having trouble locating any info on how those were scaled.

 

[he4thbar]

ok! so there's 2 options for scaling, well 3 i guess.
Free - Pepakura designer 4: Free and lets you scale up and down in uniform size. you will have to do manual measurements to see how itll turn out. you can also modify the templates if you need to for cuts and stuff if you need to. and you can reference the 3d model in the program for that. (this program uses .PDO files and can import .obj if needed.
+cons: the free version you can not save any modifications you make to the file so you will either have to keep the file/program open the entire time you are working on it or you have to use the base size/cut out given.
Paid versions...............
pepakura designer pro ($35 one tim purchase) - does everything pepakura desinger does, but you can save your files and a couple other small things. honestly if you are going to pay for a software don't use this instead get the one listed below.

ARMORSMITH DESIGNER ($30 one time purchase)
1. You get an avatar in a 3d enviroment. you can scale all parts of the avatar to accurately reflect your IRL size.
2. You can import .pdo, .obj, .stl files into this program in the library section.
- You can then take these parts and attach them to your model where it will be located on your person
+ You then can Scale the piece either as a whole (meaning it scales in all xyz directions). or you can independently scale the X, Y and Z directions to make it perfectly fit your avatar/self.
- Click on the part on your avater and select the 2d layout, this will look and act almost exactly like pekura designer 4. modify the part however you want. and use the model as a reference when cutting out foam and gluing them together.

I absolutely love armorsmith and suggest for anyone, I used it for my first cosplay that was an ODST and it came out great (there were some minor errors but nothing i couldn't fix and this was due to inexperience).

quick example, For my power armor, i made a pauldron using armorsmith model. the highlighted purple one I ahered to the body, scaled it for the size I wanted, then cut it out (don't mind the gaps on the paper template, that was cuz I was shortcutting some of the pieces for foam)


If you ever need help with the software there are plenty of guides here and on youtube. and the discord for the 405th are always eager to help.

 

[Darkhorn0]

so do we know anything about the armory files? where they came from? who made them/used them originally?

And thanks looks like i got some looking to do. though i will say i already like the look of armorsmith

 

[he4thbar]

I don't know much about them sorry. TurboCharizard has made a very well done marine with those files I believe he may be able to help, but it is very attainable, and using armorsmith you can make them spot on i'm sure.

 

[Darkhorn0]

no problem! i will reach out to him and check out his website and such. i will also still look into armorsmith after work tonight.

 

[Rock Lobbster]

so do we know anything about the armory files? where they came from? who made them/used them originally?

And thanks looks like i got some looking to do. though i will say i already like the look of armorsmith

most armory files are ingame rips that are then converted and unfolded to be pepakura files.

 

[Darkhorn0]

OK so its pure coincidence that the shoulder template fit my shoulder so well. and oddly enough coincidence isn't reliable enough for me so its on to ArmorSmith for me. Will get some update shots of the armorsmith suite in action today if i can. im focusing on the shoulder and thigh armor first as they really shouldnt change while im on my weight loss mission.

 

[Darkhorn0]

Does anyone know where i can find a gungir variant pdo to pull into armorsmith?