COMPLETE! "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Jim Raynor Armor *PIC HEAVY*

[MWiggs]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

Thanks Dabboy! The details are gonna kill me... I'm too much of a perfectionist and I'm starting to worry it'll look good but I may miss my deadline.

One method I use for "clean" seams (up close theyre really not) is to cut everything just a hair large then sand the edges down where they meet. For the obvious seams tho I'm planning on going back with caulk and filling them in.

As for Blizzcon, I'm definitely hoping to make it! Looks like tickets are already sold out for this year tho... next year for sure. It'll be tricky getting this big thing there but I'm going to try. Just promise you'll bring that Hydralisk of yours! It's looking incredible!

 

[MWiggs]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

Haven't had much time to work on this this weekend cuz I'm walling in a bedroom upstairs, but I did get a bit done on the hands. They're now assembled, detail bits added (more to come as soon as my next order of foam arrives) and just about ready for sealing. I'm trying to devise a way to allow the hand to rotate indepently from the forearm. My design up until now has just been a hard mount but now that it's coming together I think I'd like a bit more movement. Any ideas would be welcome!



Also I now have my acrylic domes on order for the helmet, I've designed the hinges and am [hopefully] getting those printed out, and I'm gearing up to start working on the torso section at long last!

 

[Dabboy]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

for the hands you could use a single spring and tie it all the way to the shoulder... a little bit like how wood dummy for artists are made. youd be able to twist the arm without so much effort and release everything without being afraid the hands would fall
im not sure if this mechanism will work with your build... havent actually tried it myself but its a thought
otherwise, always looking fantastic... i can't wait to see those fingers wiggle!!

 

[MWiggs]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

Ok folks, I'm back on it! I just spent a week turning this:



into this:



Turned out quite well I think! Now all my kids have their own room! Yay!

Anyway, I built the pattern frame for the torso section. Gotta say, this part has me the most nervous of everything so far. Lots of little details, compound curves, random distances and the symmetry issue many of us have had problems with. Wish me luck! Skinned and patterned off the frame, laid out the foam patterns, cut, heat formed and glued as per usual to come up with this:



And just this morning I stared working on the power core covers. They'll look better as they progress.



More to come! Thanks for watching.

 

[CLOTHAR]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

I really dig your method of using the frames to help form the pieces just right. The torso is looking great, though I can't quite figure out all the holes. How many arms (and/or tentacles) do you have?

 

[MWiggs]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

I really dig your method of using the frames to help form the pieces just right. The torso is looking great, though I can't quite figure out all the holes. How many arms (and/or tentacles) do you have?

HA! tentacles.... None of those fortunately! Although the "infested Terran" version could look pretty rad!



No, no tentacles this time around. Maybe in the future I'll build an addition that can fit around the suit but still be removed for the "clean" version. Hmmm.... But alas, for now no. the many many holes are simply for other pieces that will be attached to the chest piece such as the power cores, exhaust ports, arms head etc. Hopefully this can help y'all picture what I have planned:



The power cores on the front go all the way thru to the inside of the suit and provide the basic geometry I need to add the rounded portions around them. The exhaust ports on the back need a chimney type opening into the torso so the cooling fans can actually do what they're supposed to and cool me down. Obviously the two on the sides are arms and the big one up top is the head, but you knew that.

On a side note, I've received the majority of the electronics that will be going into this thing, such as the wiring, LED's, fans, switches, etc. which means as soon as the inner framing and supports are done for the torso I can start setting all that up! I've got what I believe is the LAST of my foam supplies on order and on the way ('course we always say that right?) and the last of the hard parts such as the helmet (which will be a very detailed tutorial because information regarding stuff like that are almost impossible to find. More later).

I currently have the power core covers pretty much complete, minus the handles, the exhaust stacks built, minus the flaps inside, and the neck surround piece which just needs to be attached. Sorry, no pics of that yet but I'll post them sometime this weekend. Now that my daughter's bedroom is complete I should have some free time to make some real progress this weekend.

Oooo and as a bonus, just to prove there's more Starcraft love out there in the universe, I wanted to share THIS buildup done by Hyperion Armory. They too are building this armor and it's looking incredible so far! They're shooting for Blizzcon in November and I expect to see them in the Winner's circle at the end! Best of luck guys! And hope to see you there next year for Round 2!

Thanks for watching, more to come!

 

[CLOTHAR]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

Ah, I get it now. That is a great idea having the inner casing. And it would be pretty great to see an infested marine as well. But no rush XD.

I checked out that Hyperion Armory as well. Looks like they do good work as well. Maybe one day I can join in the Starcraft love.

 

[MWiggs]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

@CLOTHAR we'd be happy to have you! I've always thought Starcraft was so underrated... Being overshadowed by Warcraft and the like. Oh well.

So good and bad news... I'd give you a choice of what you want to hear first, but seeing as how this is a forum and not a telephone I'm just going to just going to jump into the bad news first.
My local Con, Salt Lake Comic Con, just announced they're changing up the way they do the costume contest. I thought I had until the actual Con to get this finished, but now it looks like I have to be pre-registered before Sept. 4th! essentially, I've just lost a month of work time. Eek. Pre-judging will then take place on the 19th, so at least by then I can hash out a few minor issues, but on the whole that's a lot less time than I was planning and I'm still waiting on several different shipments of supplies..... If you've got fingers, cross as many as you can for me. Thanks.

On a lighter note, I've worked out a few more essential pieces this weekend. I have the back plate done in all its detailed glory, as well as the exhaust stacks out the back and they mounts with built-in fan holders. I made the fans easily removed before I suddenly realized once the stacks are in place there's no room to pull the fans out anyway. Oops. Oh well, moving on. the power core covers are built and I've added a couple structural panels to the torso. Keeping it short today, but seeing as how my time table is now truncated, I'll quote Tychus Findlay in saying my deadline is officially "Right the h*** now!" Hopefully there will be more updates for you guys in the coming last weeks. Enjoy! and of course, wish me luck.

 

[CLOTHAR]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

Good luck Wiggs! That is an unfortunate hitch in the road but you can do it! I got my fingers crossed for ya.

 

[MWiggs]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

Thanks again Clothar!

Been working on the torso piece almost without sleep but I finally have the frame inside adding much needed structural support. Also added the exhaust mounts and I've decided to try to keep the chimneys removable in the event the fans burn out or something. We'll see how that plays out. I've also got the neck surround piece done, just trimming it up to make it fit where it needs to go.

 

[MWiggs]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

So I spent a couple hours over the weekend building a Tron identity disc for a cousin of mine for his Halloween costume. He ordered one in the mail but when it arrived it was a thin flimsy half-mold of plastic. He was really upset about it so I rushed him a foam version that's durable enough he can even throw it. No progress pics, but it gave me a good opportunity to test out the Plasti-Dip for the first time. Three thin(ish) coats and i can start seeing what it does and how it coats. All it needs now is a little paint. I even found some spray on glow-in-the-dark paint for the edges, as I don't have the time or budget to wire the thing up with lights right now. Maybe later...



I do like the plasti-dip as a coating but I'll have to try painting it to see how that does for durability. More tests to come.
Other than that, I was able to knock out a couple more essential parts of the torso: the neck surround, outer layer of the helmet, and the hood piece that extends down the back. The helmet is an acrylic globe from 1000bulbs.com. These guys are awesome BTW, fast shipping great prices and an incredible in-stock inventory! I had the globe in my hands less than a week after ordering. My only complaint is the shipping cost which is dang near almost as much as the globe itself... and no shipping discount on multiple items either. Adds up fast. But I'd order from them again in a heartbeat!
Also, hats off to James at XRobots for the tips on finding centerlines of spheres! He has a tutorial on his site and Youtube channel which were essential to me being able to cut the globe to the right shape. Thanks!
The hood still needs to be trimmed to shape and attached, but I'm very happy with the overall shape at the moment. Turned out quite well I think!

On a side note, I burned thru another hot glue gun, that makes 3 so far. If anyone has a suggestion on a better brand let me know. I've tried two different Arrow versions that I picked up from Lowes. Each one eventually leaked hot glue into the handle compartment and shorted out the heater element. No fun.

Anyway, on with the show. Enjoy.

 

[MWiggs]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

Two weeks left and counting! It's crunch time now.
I built the front chest piece so now I'm adding detailing to that. I got the second layer around the neck built up to my liking and sanded it down for a nice place to mount the chest piece. I decided the hood was too small and I couldn't modify it to be any longer without messing up the shape of it, so I rebuilt it with modified templates. I ended up stretching it 5 inches longer to make it fit! Yeah no idea how it got so far off in the first place, but there it is. That is officially the first piece I've built thus far that didn't work out like I'd planned and had to be remade. (I blame luck) I spent the next couple nights cutting and sanding away the openings for the chimneys, as they had to be perfectly contoured to make it look and fit right. Blending that into the back will be the next tricky thing. I got the inner hood mounted and was about to attach the outer when I realized I had some detailing to do underneath that I wouldnt be able to access, so it's still loose until that's complete.



I got my hinges printed up for the helmet and got those assembled and attached, now I just need to find a way to attach them to the servos. Any ideas, Electronic Wizards out there? I've thought of belts, linkages, and gears so far, pros and cons for each. The hinges are set up for belts, they're kind of like pulleys. I've got them mounted on micro ball bearings and an aluminum shaft so they spin really nice. I can probably attach points for linkages but I think gears may be too big for the space restraints I'm working within. Any tips would be greatly appreciated here!



Which brings me to another help request, powering servos! I have battery packs of varying sizes but what I'm wondering about is how to hook them up using only one power pack but using two different switches to control each one individually. I guess I'm just looking for a way to do it without going the arduino route. No real reason other than I've never played with one before and don't think I have time to learn.

Speaking of switches, I hooked up the fans to try them out and they look pretty good, but the fan seems a bit slow and the LEDs a bit dim... I've got it hooked up to an 8-pack of AA's which is the required 12V. I tried with a 9V as well with virtually no difference, even tho I was expecting even worse results. I hate to exceed the power limits of the fan but it's not moving as much air as I'd like. Anyone got any ideas there? On the plus side they're completely silent so that's always good.



Lastly, I started working on the innards of the chimneys like the flaps and whatnot before my wife stepped in as the voice of reason and common sense wondering why I was working on such tiny details when the whole torso was still waiting for the major structure to be built. She had a very strong point. Thanks love! So i bounced back to the torso piece and got the H-harness attached in the right place, and even swapped a few of the straps it came with to buckles so it can now be removed from the hips with ease. The new harness is MUCH more comfortable than the webbing I was using before and it hooks to the frame in the torso in several places so it's nice and solid.




Thanks for watching!

 

[MWiggs]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

HEYO! Sorry for the long time between updates! Life's been busy and stressful but what else is new?! Well, I'll tell you. I've done more work on the "hood" back behind the head on the torso, adding the pocket for tubes etc. and the (I think) emergency ejector handle? Not sure exactly but anyway got it sanded down and reattached. I finally mounted the exhaust vents PERMANENTLY (scary thing) and did some more work on the front chest piece. The pic below is just a mock-up placement to see where I need to trim to get it to fit.




At long last, my acrylic domes finally arrived! These are seriously WAY higher quality than I could have expected! They took a little more than a month to arrive but I'd say the timing was pretty good considering all the other things I've had to work on. I got the middle dome cut to shape and stuck in onto the hinges for clearance and operation check. SUCCESS! Could not be happier with the result! Smooth rotation, great mounting contact, folds completely out of the way, YAY! Ok calming down now.. This one is the one the marines use as a blast shield no protect the guy from things like nukes and whatnot. No big deal.



And yes, I know it looks like a huge space between the clear visor and the outer helmet, but I assure you I will address this later on with trimmings and whatnot. Yes, that was planned. Next, I worked on cutting out the inner visor and trying my best to dye it the correct color. Only problem is, this crazy plastic is SO perfect, it has no pores for dye to fill in, no surface imperfections to penetrate, and it's acrylic so already doesn't want to take any color. I tried the RIT dye method of 8 packs of dye in boiling water for close to 8 hours and all I got was the slightest yellow hue around the edges where I trimmed the ring off the bottom. Useless.

So in addition to needing tips on before-mentioned issues, now I have another conumndrum of not knowing how in the blazes I'm going to color this thing. Feel free to jump in with ANY suggestions on coloring this thing. Yes, I've seen the tutorial on the 415th where he paints the outside of the HALO visor, but I'd really like to color the thing for real because I've never had good luck with paint on plastic surfaces. (I'm looking at you, clear windows on every model car I've ever tried to tint. Grr) If I can't figure it out, I guess painting will have to do. I have a couple scrap pieces of the stuff so I'll try some more tests this week.

Ok enough ranting and pleading, back to the progress. I free-handed the trim for the front of the torso around the power core tubes. These took a TON of trial and error, with very much more error than success. Sencond one slightly easier 'cuz at least I had something to go off of. Get your little boy giggles out of the way now, I know what It's beginning to look like. Trust me, by the time the light pieces go in it'll look much better. I spent some time trimming the inside edges to make room for the chest piece which I finally got mounted in the right place. Next, I decided to try my hand at wrapping the blast shield with carbon fiber vinyl. This is the higher-quality 3M stuff with the full texture on it so in the light it looks fairly close to the real thing! FYI, when working with vinyl and trying to wrap a crazy shape like a sphere, it either takes a lot of hands or a lot of tools. Two people, not enough. I cut some lengths of PVC and stuck those on to each edge of the square I cut, heated the entire thing with my heat gun and pushed the dome up thru the middle, trying to stretch the thing as evenly as possible. I won't mention how easily you can melt a hole thru the stuff if you're not careful. Not going to do it. I swear I didn't. Ok I did, but only once and you'll never know where! Anyway, I thought it turned out pretty good and it catches the light really well! But with the blast shield down I can't see a thing, so how am I supposed to fight?? HA! ok moving on....




I'm still taking votes for the end color of this whole thing, so far voting scores as follows:

Black: 0
Blue: 0
Red: 0
Camo: 0
Something else: 0

Looks like we're neck and neck! Let the race continue and cast your votes! More to come, thanks for watching and the great tips!
Cheerio!

 

[dedguy]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

I am getting excited to see this done. It's very very impressive all the complex forms and details you're making in foam.

Color is a hard one. Blue is the classic but also kinda boring imo. The camo would be cool especially fi you did Horace Warfield's awesome robot arm. Might be a bit of an ask.

Personally if it was me, I'd go for an original design. Do something that hasn't been done before. Do like a yellow or green construction marine or something. idk.

 

[Khaylain]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

I would like to echo dedguy in saying green or another original color. I'd say white would have been cool, but that would be more medic, and then you'd maybe want syringes on the arm.

Are you going to use the blast shield just for pictures, because I can't understand how you'd see out of it unless you have small holes/clear spaces in it. (And did you melt the vinyl at the back of the blast shield as seen in picture 12?)

Anyway, this is an epic build, and I'm keeping an eye on this thread. Keep up the good work.

 

[MWiggs]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

Thanks for the feedback! I agree blue is what people expect, it's been done before. I did have a brief vision of white but not a medic. I also thought of carbon fiber instead of brushed steel for accents and a blue visor instead of the typical gold. I did a fun rendering just to see how it would look and I think it ended up looking a lot like the Stig. Intrigue! Definitely a possibility.



@dedguy I definitely thought of Warfield, and I love the mech arm! I'd probably do some alternate adaptation tho, like camo or primer-like as kind of a first run prototype testing suit or something to that effect. Good call!

@Khaylain nope can't see a thing thru it, the vinyl is completely opaque so yes, brief moments of having that one down only. Like you said, photoshoots or whatnot. Keen eye as well, yes you can see a bit at the back of the dome where the vinyl didn't quite stretch as far as the edge, but the melted part is around the other side. Luckily it was back far enough I could trim that part off and no one will ever see! (lucky) but I've also coated the rest of the clear sections in Plastidip and that really hides the seam as well.

Thanks for the kind words and the feedback! I was beginning to think I was boring y'all to death! Glad I haven't killed everyone off yet. I'll keep the color ideas in mind and keep you posted. Build on!

 

[dedguy]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

Not bored in the least. This is possibly my favorite build I follow. I do really like that white and carbon fiber look. Has a similar feels to the Portal/All is Full of Love/iRobot aesthetic which is a look I am rather fond of.

 

[Belgen]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

Your color scheme seems to Jim Raynor's scheme negative. Camo as the General Warfield's armor would not be bad, maybe you can make even the cannon and a system for exchanging the hand with the gun. However I vote for the classic blue, without adhesives or numbers, or with details made by you (maybe heavy damage?).

A really good job.

 

[MWiggs]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

@ dedguy I'm a fan of that scheme too. Looks futuristic and sleek. My only problem is attaching the carbon to the body panels. I'd have to finish off the foam in something harder and smoother than plastidip, maybe epsilon or 65D? Something the vinyl can stick to. I'll look into it.
Belgen I hadn't thought of that before but kind of a bizzaro-Raynor sounds sweet! I absolutely plan on damage, pretty generously i think. Just want to finish construction first so I can plan out the damage all at once. As far as interchangable arms, that'd be pretty easy actually due to the way I'm mounting the shoulder to the torso. I'd just remove the shoulder down and attach the new one in its place. I just might tackle that later, thanks good idea! Classic blue noted!

 

[dedguy]

Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*

Weathering like oil stains, dirt, and the like would look great on the white.