VP Hydra's Custom Reach Armour

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VP Hydra

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So after being a lurker here on the 405th for a while i decided to start of set of armour after getting jealous of everyone else's amazing armour. Late last year i made a set of the DFT odst set for a local con and made it in 3 weeks, with a rushed job like that it didn't come out great but i still loved wearing it. So that's why i want to go bigger this year.

I Started with the chest piece and this is where i learned real quick how much harder this is then the odst. For starters i cant seem to bevel at all but that's something ill have to practice and practice a lot. So this is what I have made so far almost kinda embarrassed to post this picture but i feel ill need to be honest and show you what I done if I want to get any feedback.

I hope i can improve and eventually build a full suit but yeah here's to the start of learning how to do that. :)
20190208_195810.jpg
 
So after being a lurker here on the 405th for a while i decided to start of set of armour after getting jealous of everyone else's amazing armour. Late last year i made a set of the DFT odst set for a local con and made it in 3 weeks, with a rushed job like that it didn't come out great but i still loved wearing it. So that's why i want to go bigger this year.

I Started with the chest piece and this is where i learned real quick how much harder this is then the odst. For starters i cant seem to bevel at all but that's something ill have to practice and practice a lot. So this is what I have made so far almost kinda embarrassed to post this picture but i feel ill need to be honest and show you what I done if I want to get any feedback.

I hope i can improve and eventually build a full suit but yeah here's to the start of learning how to do that. :)View attachment 265870
This is a solid start to a Spartan build. My one recommendation that's based on guesswork from seeing a few clues but I'd say pick up a steel ruler to help with your cuts. There's a few points that look like you had a stutter and corrected your angle. Getting nice parallel lines and straight edges that match up cleanly to the other foam pieces are the key to a professional looking build and having a ruler to guide your cuts makes everything so much easier.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing more progress pictures!
 
This is a solid start to a Spartan build. My one recommendation that's based on guesswork from seeing a few clues but I'd say pick up a steel ruler to help with your cuts. There's a few points that look like you had a stutter and corrected your angle. Getting nice parallel lines and straight edges that match up cleanly to the other foam pieces are the key to a professional looking build and having a ruler to guide your cuts makes everything so much easier.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing more progress pictures!

Yeah you are dead right on the stuttering I will pick up a steel ruler tomorrow thank you for the recommendation :)
 
Hey guys so due to being very busy the last week with coding competitions and assignments due I haven't got much work done only did a small bit on the chest piece and did some sample paint pieces and that has left me with some questions.

Both of these pieces have been heated and then given 2 coats of 50/50 water and PVA glue and then a coat of just PVA glue. The piece on the right has 3 layers of paint and the one on the left 1 layer. my problem is the paint not filling in all the gaps and leaving streak marks. Iv'e tried a few paint brushes and wetting the paint but there still seems to be some slight gaps do i just have to keep putting on more layers of paint?

paint.jpg


Also here's the updated chest piece not much done but I was wondering whats the best thing to use to fill in gaps on a budget?

chest.jpg


I have a day off tomorrow so going to start working on the back piece
Thanks for reading :)
 
i started out the same way, lurker for a long time and then got myself into gear. how thick are you painting on the layers of pva? maybe try more thinner layers
 
You could try foam putty for the gaps and filler. I would do 3 layers of 50/50, check for bumps and sand where needed. As far as painting goes, I would spray an undercoat first before painting your primary color. That might help prevent the gaps in the paint .....might. The under coat creates a better surface for the overcoat layers of paint.
 
You could try foam putty for the gaps and filler. I would do 3 layers of 50/50, check for bumps and sand where needed. As far as painting goes, I would spray an undercoat first before painting your primary color. That might help prevent the gaps in the paint .....might. The under coat creates a better surface for the overcoat layers of paint.

I'm going to set up another test piece and do as you said. Thanks for the advice i'll it you know how it turns out
 
Looking good, man. Maybe a little seam touch up, but it's looking solid.

The back vents at the bottom look cool, but the second one up is a little crooked.

I like how it's looking, though! Good job.
 
Looking good, man. Maybe a little seam touch up, but it's looking solid.

The back vents at the bottom look cool, but the second one up is a little crooked.

I like how it's looking, though! Good job.

After reading this comment i went and looked at the armour and you're right the vent is crooked. Yeah don't know how i missed that must have knocked it when it was drying so thanks for that and it will be fixed.
Also the seams i agree need a bit more then a little touch up and i bought stuff today to do that with but thank you for the feedback i really appreciate it :)
 
Hey guys so been a while who knew final projects and exams took so much time. well Im almost done all my exams and have done small amounts of work here and there. I finished up the chest peice and did a bit of filling to start with.

build.jpg


After that, I wanted to test a full piece as I've been doing tests and wanted to make sure it looked good over the whole piece so I did a base coat of black and then my main colour Orange

fresh.jpg


seeing as i'm doing this mostly on the cheap I painted using acrylic paint and this left a lot of brush marks which left me concerned but then I did a black wash on it and it helped hide some of the crimes also added a UNSC logo but the stencil broke while applying it my fault for not making a better one i do plan on getting my hands on an airbrush and redoing this. If there is any other great ways to do stencils I would love to know.

logo.jpg


After this i started construction on the helmet i decided to go with the scout helmet as it was always one of my favorites. this still needs to be sanded.

helm.jpg


I added a strap in the back of the helmet to help it stay on my head better and it feels so secure with it on.

strap.jpg


I also added magnets to hold in the piece i cut out so I could fit my big head in and it seals up nicely and I'm very happy with the fit.

magnet (1).jpg


Ever since I was a kid I wanted to make one of these suits but seeing how you guys on here were doing it and all the amazing resources on here provided by the community its possible so thank you guys i'm like a little kid again thinking of all the things I want to do with this armour and I can't wait to keep building.
 
Hey guys so been a while who knew final projects and exams took so much time. well Im almost done all my exams and have done small amounts of work here and there. I finished up the chest peice and did a bit of filling to start with.

View attachment 269744

After that, I wanted to test a full piece as I've been doing tests and wanted to make sure it looked good over the whole piece so I did a base coat of black and then my main colour Orange

View attachment 269745

seeing as i'm doing this mostly on the cheap I painted using acrylic paint and this left a lot of brush marks which left me concerned but then I did a black wash on it and it helped hide some of the crimes also added a UNSC logo but the stencil broke while applying it my fault for not making a better one i do plan on getting my hands on an airbrush and redoing this. If there is any other great ways to do stencils I would love to know.

View attachment 269746

After this i started construction on the helmet i decided to go with the scout helmet as it was always one of my favorites. this still needs to be sanded.

View attachment 269747

I added a strap in the back of the helmet to help it stay on my head better and it feels so secure with it on.

View attachment 269748

I also added magnets to hold in the piece i cut out so I could fit my big head in and it seals up nicely and I'm very happy with the fit.

View attachment 269749

Ever since I was a kid I wanted to make one of these suits but seeing how you guys on here were doing it and all the amazing resources on here provided by the community its possible so thank you guys i'm like a little kid again thinking of all the things I want to do with this armour and I can't wait to keep building.
For making stencils you can't really beat the quality of a cut vinyl stencil applied with transfer tape, if you have anyone local with a Cricut machine or a sign shop that has a vinyl cutter you may be able to get a page of various stencils done cheap. I've also used high quality painters tape (Frog Tape is my go-to) laid out as a sheet and then cut out from a paper pattern, it works, it's fairly cheap and just takes a bit of fiddling.

My one recommendation is to lose the helmet strap and move to foam inserts to keep everything in place. Having to undo that buckle will be difficult if you ever have to get your bucket off quickly for whatever reason be it conversation, discomfort, or emergency. Just having a way to lift up the helmet quickly and be able to see and breathe freely is always a good idea.
 
Hey, so a small update on what I've been doing. First off I removed the buckle on my helmet as what TurboCharizard said gave me flash backs to a con last year when I was an odst and needed to get my helmet off fast on a few occasions so yeah thanks for that and it is a lot easier to take on and off now.

also, I've done a small bit of work below the waist. a bit of clean up and gap filling needs to be done and some adjustment of the boots but it's coming along.
waist down.jpg


Also worked on straps to hold the thighs in place and stop them from moving when I walked for a while. I simply put a buckle from my thigh to the chest piece where the buckle is concealed inside the chest.
support strap.jpg


I also made a neck guard as I didn't want to do what I did last year and use a scarf. I used 2mm craft foam to create the neck piece and used a piece of fake leather to attach at the bottom so you can't see my neck at all. I use velcro to secure it at the back as shown.
neck.jpg


neck piece off.
neck closed.jpg


back of the neck piece open.

neckopen.jpg


Thanks for reading will try and update again soon.
 
Hey, so a small update on what I've been doing. First off I removed the buckle on my helmet as what TurboCharizard said gave me flash backs to a con last year when I was an odst and needed to get my helmet off fast on a few occasions so yeah thanks for that and it is a lot easier to take on and off now.

also, I've done a small bit of work below the waist. a bit of clean up and gap filling needs to be done and some adjustment of the boots but it's coming along.
View attachment 270492

Also worked on straps to hold the thighs in place and stop them from moving when I walked for a while. I simply put a buckle from my thigh to the chest piece where the buckle is concealed inside the chest.
View attachment 270493

I also made a neck guard as I didn't want to do what I did last year and use a scarf. I used 2mm craft foam to create the neck piece and used a piece of fake leather to attach at the bottom so you can't see my neck at all. I use velcro to secure it at the back as shown.
View attachment 270494

neck piece off. View attachment 270495

back of the neck piece open.

View attachment 270496

Thanks for reading will try and update again soon.
It looks awesome! Good work on that belt, those things are always a pain to put together. Yours looks really neat and tidy.

I'm really liking the colour selection as well and I can't wait to see the final suit up.
 
Hey,

So more work has been done over the past while and the one thing I've learned while working on this is that I'm terrible at documenting my work. so I've done most of the painting and construction on the suit.

I've added a bag I found at an army surplus store to the left leg to help hold some items such as phone when wearing the suit and seeing as they're 3 pockets might label the pockets 4 0 5.
legs.jpg


the left arm I was happy with but I had a bit of a problem with the shoulder when using masking tape and it pulled off some of the paint so it left a few blemishes that I hit wit a small bit of silver to look like its taken some hits.
left.jpg


the right arm is a little simpler so I tried adding some scratch marks to the shoulder with a soldering iron and it worked out all right and will be using this again in the future.

right.jpg


But yeah apologies for the lack of progress photos as I said I'm terrible at documenting this but I'm having a lot of fun doing it. I will try to put the whole suit on soon and get some pictures to post on here. I also want to start on a weapon soon as I don't think the suit will be complete without it. I'm looking to go to a con in a month so hoping to have the whole thing together by then.

Thanks for stopping by and reading :)
 
Hey so attended Dublin comic con over the weekend and got a few pictures id like to share with you guys. threw a gun together but I'm not really happy with it so I will be remaking it when I have the time. The heat inside the suit was almost unbearable I will definitely need to add some fans or do something to combat the heat, but overall I had a great day and everyone seemed to really enjoy the suit.

405.jpeg


405t.jpeg


FB_IMG_1565518356326.jpg
 
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