This is my first post, but not my first time to this site.
I've always thought (like many of you) that having my own Halo-themed armor would indeed be both enjoyable and a fun experience to make. Like (I'm guessing now) many of you on this site, I really have no prior experience with resins, fiberglassing, polyurethane rubbers, silicone, release agents, quick-set plastics, casting, molds (or mother molds), perhaps save for the fact when I made an impression in plaster with my hand in 4th grade.
But discovering this site, reading thread after thread of tutorials, taking note of helpful comments, watching many (if not all) of the informative videos, and taking a lot of your passion and dedication to heart, I think I'm finally ready to begin the journey of making my own set of armor.
I'm probably going to go the "n00b" route and do a set of Mark VI, but I do have some experience with clay, so I'm going to forego Pepakura and try my hand at sculpting, and then following in Adam's footsteps (thanks for making the videos, no matter how "non-tutorial" they may be), and making molds from silicone them casting them in plastics.
Either way, I'll be more than happy to post pics once I get on my way, but I had a few (hopefully) simple questions for anyone with the answers:
1. What do you recommend sculpting the helmet around? I've seen some styrofoam heads, but those seem a tad flimsy. I know there is going to be considerable weight on the stand at least a few times, and I'm just curious what the more experienced sculptors are using.
2. The helmet (at least from the video) seems pretty straightforward. I've been reading a lot of tutorials off of Smooth-On's site, so I at least won't be running blind when I start. But I'm curious about more complex shapes like the chest/back pieces. I watched a video of Adam's where he was giving the armor some nice paint details, and it appeared as though the chest and back pieces were one piece, attached at the shoulders. I was curious, did you really cast it in one piece, or was it two pieces later attached by some method? I've thought about it, and that would be one big mold. Quite costly if nothing else.
Other than that, I've noticed there is no formal place for new users to introduce themselves and be greeted by the community. So perhaps a New User Introduction Thread could be started in the Noob Forum? Just a thought. I'm a member of another forum (Diablo3.com), and they have one. I just thought it might be a nice idea so the newbies can get their feet wet.
Sorry everybody about the wall of text, but I just wanted to formally introduce myself and air my intentions.
Oh, and to Doom, Adam, Sean, and all of the others playing Big Daddy: I promise to use correct grammar, English, punctuation, and spelling (at least as much as I can catch). I promise never to let my anger get the better of me.
(And I promise to treat the forum as if it were my prom-date and her dad was watching.)
Thanks!
I've always thought (like many of you) that having my own Halo-themed armor would indeed be both enjoyable and a fun experience to make. Like (I'm guessing now) many of you on this site, I really have no prior experience with resins, fiberglassing, polyurethane rubbers, silicone, release agents, quick-set plastics, casting, molds (or mother molds), perhaps save for the fact when I made an impression in plaster with my hand in 4th grade.
But discovering this site, reading thread after thread of tutorials, taking note of helpful comments, watching many (if not all) of the informative videos, and taking a lot of your passion and dedication to heart, I think I'm finally ready to begin the journey of making my own set of armor.
I'm probably going to go the "n00b" route and do a set of Mark VI, but I do have some experience with clay, so I'm going to forego Pepakura and try my hand at sculpting, and then following in Adam's footsteps (thanks for making the videos, no matter how "non-tutorial" they may be), and making molds from silicone them casting them in plastics.
Either way, I'll be more than happy to post pics once I get on my way, but I had a few (hopefully) simple questions for anyone with the answers:
1. What do you recommend sculpting the helmet around? I've seen some styrofoam heads, but those seem a tad flimsy. I know there is going to be considerable weight on the stand at least a few times, and I'm just curious what the more experienced sculptors are using.
2. The helmet (at least from the video) seems pretty straightforward. I've been reading a lot of tutorials off of Smooth-On's site, so I at least won't be running blind when I start. But I'm curious about more complex shapes like the chest/back pieces. I watched a video of Adam's where he was giving the armor some nice paint details, and it appeared as though the chest and back pieces were one piece, attached at the shoulders. I was curious, did you really cast it in one piece, or was it two pieces later attached by some method? I've thought about it, and that would be one big mold. Quite costly if nothing else.
Other than that, I've noticed there is no formal place for new users to introduce themselves and be greeted by the community. So perhaps a New User Introduction Thread could be started in the Noob Forum? Just a thought. I'm a member of another forum (Diablo3.com), and they have one. I just thought it might be a nice idea so the newbies can get their feet wet.
Sorry everybody about the wall of text, but I just wanted to formally introduce myself and air my intentions.
Oh, and to Doom, Adam, Sean, and all of the others playing Big Daddy: I promise to use correct grammar, English, punctuation, and spelling (at least as much as I can catch). I promise never to let my anger get the better of me.
(And I promise to treat the forum as if it were my prom-date and her dad was watching.)
Thanks!