WIP- Fully 3D Printed ODST Build

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Crumpus

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Hello, fellow recruits. I started this project in March 2019 with the help of the lovely TnG R1ckx, who has an excellent thread about their own 3D printed ODST build that I absolutely recommend for anyone who is interested. My goal for this thread is to get some critique in how I am doing and show off some techniques that I have not seen mentioned too often. Hopefully we can all learn something!
 
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I believe that I got all of the 3D files from Mr. TnG R1ckx's post. I can repost them all here if y'all would like, just let me know. But the first thing I had to do is actually print everything. I use the Anet A8 and as long as I perform regular maintenance on it, it performs beautifully. The filament I use is the cheapest black PLA filament I can find, with mixed results as you'll see. Total print time: obscene.
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As you can see here, I have the helmet, left and right gauntlets, left shoulder, a dirty coffee mug, and right bicep/shoulder. I went with Kat's bicep and shoulder armor from Reach because I want a little armor variation and I love Reach. You can see in this picture that the helmet and left gauntlet are assembled, done with a dirt cheap 3D pen from China. I tried several methods to accomplish this, including epoxy, zip ties and loops, tape, fiberglass+resin, and prayer. The 3D pen worked the best, but any advice is appreciated as I still have more pieces to assemble :) "Welding" the PLA together held really well and had the added benefit of making use of that annoying bit of filament left over at the end of a roll.
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^ Here are the welds that I made with the 3D pen. They're low profile enough to be sanded down if you need to, but I didn't really have to worry about that because I welded on the inside seam wherever I could. I'll answer any questions I can, and any advice is appreciated! As you can see, the two halves of the chestplate look way different despite being the same brand. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter as they both hold paint well and I can't tell any big differences in the material properties. I liked the more matte spool better but haven't gotten one that looked like that again.
 
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Awesome! I just finished a hybrid EVA / 3D Printed ODST suit, im wanting to make another one though, it would be awesome If you could share where you got those files. Some parts of the build would have been much easier to 3d print.
 
Awesome! I just finished a hybrid EVA / 3D Printed ODST suit, im wanting to make another one though, it would be awesome If you could share where you got those files. Some parts of the build would have been much easier to 3d print.
This URL will take you to the page where I got pretty much everything from. For ease of future access though I will repost what TnG said
 
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As promised, here are the files. Big thanks to TnG for gathering them together, as well as the creators of these files without whom I would have approximately nothing to do with this project. Again I definitely recommend going through the thread that I linked above, as there is a lot of really good advice in there as well as an awesome ODST build. TnG R1ckx definitely deserves the recognition they're getting. Below is the files section from that thread.

Helmet, I ended up using only the helmet, not the vac buck which was included with this. The file names are reverse for some reason. I used default scaling
Visor, It's actually meant for pepakura but I've used it for printing. I wouldn't recommend this one unless you're backing it up with clay or something.
Shoulders, I scaled mine roughly 122%, but it's entirely dependent on your own persona. Take a good look at many reference pictures. It's a lot bigger than you might think and even the author printed it way too small.
Ab plate, (Smoothed) credits to Kirrou for the PDO and model file. Modified for 3D printing by me. The original is included in the 405th archive. (Legacy old unsmoothed file: Ab plate)
Side ab plate, (Whole) also credits to Kirrou for the PDO and model file. Modified for 3D printing by me. The original is included in the 405th archive. (Legacy old unsmoothed file: Side ab plate)
Gauntlet (Smoothed) even more credits to Kirrou for the PDO and model file. Modified for 3D printing by me. The original is included in the 405th archive. Simply mirror both parts for the other arm. (Legacy old, unsmoothed files: part 1, part 2)
Chest (Smoothed) Credits to Hugh Holder for the PDO and model file. Modified for 3D printing by me. The original is included (together with other chest armor) in the 405th archive. I used the size between armpits for horizontal scaling. (Legacy old, unsmoothed files: part 1, part 2)
Hip plate (Smoothed) Since it's been so long, I forgot who to credit, sorry... My plates are exactly (from bottom to top) 20 centimeters and the scaling seems perfect for me. (Legacy old, unsmoothed files: part 1, part 2)
Rib plate I actually had to rip this model out of the game model and heavily modify it because I couldn't find good files. That's why it looks so odd. It's covered under your arms and sanding goes a long way, don't worry.
Chins, knee (Smoothed) Again forgot who to credit, sorry! Modified for 3D printing by me. (Legacy old files: part 1, part 2, part 2.5)
Thighs, inner (Smoothed) You guessed it, I forgot who to credit! Modified for 3D printing by me. I scaled this model too big, so watch out. (Legacy old, pre-cut parts: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8)
Belt plate (Smoothed) Modified for 3D printing by me. The scaling is perfect for it right now. There fits a buckle nicely behind it.
Butt plate (Smoothed) Modified for 3D printing by me. The scaling is perfect. It's strong enough to sit on it if you print it solid enough.
COD plate (Smoothed) Modified for 3D printing by me. The scaling is perfect. You can put stickers behind it for fun little easter eggs.
Core (Precut, in a RAR, 12 parts) I don't recommend printing this as it is.. I thickened it not so strongly, I smoothed it weirdly, I sliced it weirdly, and the scaling is all wrong. I might redo this someday. For now, it's the ugly little duckling of this collection.
M7s + silencer (two parts) The body is designed by Brain Westgate. Replace his nozzle with my silencer. The silencer is ripped from someone else's model and modified by me to be mostly smooth. I forgot who it's from, sorry.
Backpack V1 (Made from the ground up, multiple parts that screw together with metric screws) My most requested file. The hinges don't fit that well so get out your heat gun, trooper! I'll fix that in V2. Unlike the other files which are modified, this one is made from scratch by me. The handlebars are an original design, since the official design is not that good for printing, and this looks cooler :p
 
There is an art to making nice, clean models and then throwing mud at them. I think when I originally saw this method on a youtube video they used petroleum jelly and sand, but I live in Alabama and it was rainy, so I got a bunch of semi-wet mud, and slung it at the freshly painted models to see if any interesting patterns developed. First I would sand the finished 3D print to remove surface lines, apply a filler spray, and sand some more till it was pretty smooth. After that I would apply a black base coat for any "exposed" armor under the paint. Then I'd grab my trusty cup of mud and start throwing it. The faster you throw it, and more oblique the angle it hits at, the better it will look. There is such a thing as too much weathering though, so don't go crazy
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You can see that my main color is kind of an olive green. I would tell you why I picked it but honestly I can't remember. I just think it looks dope. On the upper right side of the helmet you can see where I just took some mostly dried mud and made a little pattern for the paint to be chipped off. Painting these armor pieces has definitely been the most fun part for me, as I love seeing how doing different things leads to different effects on the final look and weathering.
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The weathering looks good! I used a damp rag to wipe the now dried mud off, and the remaining mud kind of acted like sandpaper to scratch the surface up a bit. I'm not mad, but I got a bit too excited in a couple of areas and scratched down to the primer layer. It also still looks too clean, so what I'll do is use the tried and true method of wiping it all down with a diluted mix of black and brown paint to finish up the look. Stay tuned for more! :)
 
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Short update here- I used a tube of spot putty for the weld lines and seams on most of the parts, as well as some of the areas that I really wanted to look nice and flat. I'm sure this advice is all over the forum already, but for anyone who hasn't heard it yet: sand the living crap out of everything. Science can't explain it; the more you sand it the better it looks. Also wear a dust mask or a respirator unless you want super cancer or something. I sanded each piece for no less than two hours, applying more filler spray/ spot putty in between. Could've gone for more but I do want to finish this eventually.
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Some more glamour shots of the helmet as it is right now. How does everyone feel about the amount of weathering? When I step back and look at it, it really looks beat to hell and I notice most other people have their armor a little cleaner and less banged up.
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It looks great! The amount of weathering really comes down to personal preference as well as the story you want your costume to tell, i.e. how much action they've seen, what type of combat they get into, etc. I'm a big proponent of heavy weathering myself because a) I think it looks good, especially in photos; and b) the UNSC frontline troops went through hell and back and since humanity was on the back foot then replacing any armor that was worn but still functional wouldn't have been a priority. Keep up the great work!
 
Well while we are talking about going through hell and back, here is the assembled armor so far. I was going to sit on these photos for a while so there will not be any long periods of inactivity from me while I sluggishly work on things, but I am pretty proud of how things are turning out and wanted to share!
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The undersuit is some cheap motorcycle armor from Wish. It is pretty tight on me, but I'm not a big guy so it works. The undersuit is ideal for me because the hard plastic armor pieces are relatively easy to cut and thread webbing through for attachment points. The abdominal armor is currently held on by safety pins and prayer, so I will need to come back to that. Nothing really wants to adhere to the armor pieces that I have 3D printed so gluing buckles and the like is out of the question for now. Perhaps some skillfully applied epoxy will stick better. Any questions and suggestions are welcome!
 
It looks great! The amount of weathering really comes down to personal preference as well as the story you want your costume to tell, i.e. how much action they've seen, what type of combat they get into, etc. I'm a big proponent of heavy weathering myself because a) I think it looks good, especially in photos; and b) the UNSC frontline troops went through hell and back and since humanity was on the back foot then replacing any armor that was worn but still functional wouldn't have been a priority. Keep up the great work!
I like the way you put that, I guess I am trying to tell a story with the armor and the various impacts, burns, and grime are all a part of that. Thanks :)
 
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