Warhammer 40K Dark Angels Space Marine Build

[Elcorio]

Hello all. After finishing my ODST, I got tied up in projects for others and haven't figured out what I wanted to do for myself. Well, I stumbled upon the Warhammer 40K cosplay and have spent the past several days reading up on it and looking in to the build process. The size and complexity (engineering) of the internal supports structure fascinates me and I am heavily leaning towards pulling the trigger on building this.

I have quite a bit of questions and feel that I can answer most of them, but is there anyone on the forums that have pulled off a build of this size and are there any tips / tricks you wish you would have known beforehand when building the set?

 

[he4thbar]

EbonyWarriorLLC is currently working on a general RAM cosplay from gears of war. and i have to say that thing is mmassssiiive. Maybe he can give you some tips? otherwise there's a few fallout 4 cosplayers I could recommond you reach out to?

 

[RandomRanger]

I don't have any answers for you, but I kinda want to do one myself as well, and wanna follow your build.

 

[Elcorio]

Thanks he4thbar for the suggestions. Not being one to fully sit around waiting for answers, I went ahead and got started and will figure it out as I go. After talking to a few Warhammer players online and getting some suggestions from friends, I decided to go with the Dark Angels chapter for my build. I went ahead and changed the thread title to reflect that and will go ahead and use this thread to document the build.

I've downloaded quite a few reference images and already have one boot built and am working on the the shin as of now. The first hurdle I am having to get across is the shear size of this build! While pictures certainly help, actually having a piece built was kind of mind blowing and exciting at the same time. While on the subject of size, I wonder how people get through doors at cons or if they have to be very specific in the cons they attend due to the size. Thoughts to ponder there.

Last but not least, I will apply the same mindset with this build as I did with my ODST and engineer each component as I go in terms of engineering an internal support skeleton, cooling fans, LED's, Etc. along with functionality and mobility. Once I get both boots & shins built, I will work through the stilt issue and plan to get plenty of practice walking with them before even daring to venture out around people with it. Safety for myself and onlookers is paramount to me.

Finally, like the HALO universe, I've never played any of these games, just enjoy the builds and the lore, so doing the build justice to the game fans will be at the top of my priority list as well.

.......and here are the first set of pictures. The last shows the size as compared to me. Enjoy!

 

[Elcorio]

Alrighty...................Hurdle #2: The insane amount of foam I am going to need for this build. Why. Oh Why did I decide to do the 7' - 8' version of this! Because go big or go home right?!

So I placed an order for four full sheets (4' x 6') of 1/2" XLPE foam but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, my supplier is shut down until April 14th. In the meantime, I plan to buy several packs of the floor mat foam from Harbor Freight and will implement that into some of the smaller pieces. Goal is to have as little seam lines as possible.

The shin piece is massive by itself!

 

[RandomRanger]

Looking forward to it!
Hopefully 4 sheets is enough. That's about how much I used on my Spartan, and although this build will be bigger it doesn't have as many small details.

Foam Guide

Contributors: RandomRanger , Fallen Introduction This is a tutorial targeted at beginners to help understand what EVA foam is, the different types of EVA foam available, how and where to buy EVA foam, and some basic tips/tricks/and tools for working with EVA foam. Index What is EVA foam? What...

www.405th.com

 

[Elcorio]

Looking forward to it!
Hopefully 4 sheets is enough. That's about how much I used on my Spartan, and although this build will be bigger it doesn't have as many small details.

Foam Guide

Contributors: RandomRanger , Fallen Introduction This is a tutorial targeted at beginners to help understand what EVA foam is, the different types of EVA foam available, how and where to buy EVA foam, and some basic tips/tricks/and tools for working with EVA foam. Index What is EVA foam? What...

www.405th.com

Thank you sir and I suspect that 4 sheets is not going to be enough. I figure each sheet is 24 Sq. Ft., so that gives me 96 Sq. Ft. to start with and I'll order more when needed. I certainly did not factor in cost to this build, but I've started it, so now I'll have to see it to completion. I did start me a tracking spreadsheet to track my hours and costs from start to finish. Those seem to be the most commonly asked questions I've gotten at cons. "How long did this take you to make and how much did it cost?" Right after "What is the suit made out of?"

 

[RandomRanger]

Thank you sir and I suspect that 4 sheets is not going to be enough. I figure each sheet is 24 Sq. Ft., so that gives me 96 Sq. Ft. to start with and I'll order more when needed. I certainly did not factor in cost to this build, but I've started it, so now I'll have to see it to completion. I did start me a tracking spreadsheet to track my hours and costs from start to finish. Those seem to be the most commonly asked questions I've gotten at cons. "How long did this take you to make and how much did it cost?" Right after "What is the suit made out of?"

Yup! Those are definitely the 3 most popular questions.