Re: RPF 2014 Halloween Costume Contest
http://www.therpf.com/f24/grimwoods-2014-halloween-costume-entry-222190/#post3406005
My entry!
This is my first real attempt at an EVA foam build, from the ground up. I have created some simple armor pieces in the past, but nothing of this magnitude.
When I first started this project, I suppose my imagination was bigger than my reality. I didn't realize how much space this project would take, all of the additional materials that would be required, and all of the "last trips" to the home improvement store to buy supplies. All told, this project cost me approximately 1200.00 to build.
Some of the problems I faced were, first of all, finding a space to build this monster. The paper templates were easy enough, though tedious. Many thanks to Hasenbrau's excellent pdf's that made the final job much easier. This project literally took over my craft room in my basement. I would spend hours there, inhaling rubber cement fumes, burning my fingers on the hot glue from the glue gun, and scream in frustration at parts that weren't fitting together correctly.
I spent a good two weeks attempting to build a helmet from pepakura, which resulted in time wasted. Regardless, I toiled ever onward.
Emboldened at how "easy" the legs and boots were, I jumped in to building the chest piece, the pelvis and abdomen pieces.
I liked the shape of the original pauldrons, but those seams defeated me. More time wasted. I ended up using Hasenbrau's original shoulder design.
Those shoulders... what a pain. Nothing was fitting together correctly. Too much room inside the chest cavity, I struggled for weeks trying to find the perfect attachment for the pauldrons and finally devised my own design.
The end result?
A lot of people gave me some very helpful advice, as well as reviewing other people's threads on their builds of the epic Space Marine. Mockle was a big help, whether he realizes it or not. We had a sort of unspoken competition build (hah! I'm done with mine!!) which kept me enthusiastic about the build, especially when I was close to calling it quits. Pilerud, Sylgian, Hasenbrau were all very helpful also.
There are many things I would do differently if I decided to build another Space Marine. Taking my time, measuring thrice, cutting once... I don't want to talk about how much foam was wasted when I tried to "eyeball" certain things. Understanding my limitations and working to overcome them... perhaps the biggest achievement of all.
All thanks to the very talented people here who inspired me, who post their works here not for the money or fame, but because they love what they do.
Last, a link to a little video I put together.