Fallout T-60 Power Armor build

[CobaltMan]

Hey all!

I've lurked around the RPF for a couple of years while being a costume and prop builder. I've seen some really fantastic work on here, and figured I could use advice and tips from people as I move through my largest ever build: A full set of T-60b Power Armor. The T-45d helmet was my first ever build, and I've always wanted to do a full suit. On to the build plan:

Being such a large costume, I created an exoskeleton to support the costume pieces. My goal was for it to be easy to get in and out of on my own, preferably in <5 minutes. I wanted to keep the skeleton as strong and simple as possible, none of the fancy motorized opening and closing you see in the game (or Blackout/jellis359's awesome looking build!). I've been working on the PVC pipe exoskeleton for just over two months now, and I'm almost at completion. It's surprisingly strong and flexible!


From left to right: Perfecting the $2 hinge joint, assembly/test fit of legs and back, full skeleton (~5 weeks in), balancing the chest bar, and assembly with chest bars and shoulder supports. I realize that that's a lot of work condensed into six pictures. If anyone is interested in how I did any part of it, I can post some more pictures and show my process a bit more.

Next weekend will hopefully be my last sessions before beginning construction of the armor. I just need to add in some supports for the sagging chest bar and clean up some mechanical details. Stay tuned!

 

[zapwizard]

Super cool beginning.I bet the skeleton gives the armor a bit more robotic motion, instead of looking like amor pasted onto your arms.

 

[CobaltMan]

That's what I'm hoping! Some of my previous costumes have lacked "depth," so I'm really trying to design a frame that will give the armor a nice positioning in 3d space. That said, it isn't too robotic- your freedom of movement is only really limited at extreme movements. I can easily jump, jog, and squat while strapped in.

 

[CLOTHAR]

Great start. If you get a chance you should do a quick video so that we can see how the motion looks.

 

[Laranorac]

Great start. If you get a chance you should do a quick video so that we can see how the motion looks.

I agree! This looks simply amazing, and we would all love to see it in action.

 

[Wes R]

Looks amazing so far and I love that you're doing more than just a foam costume. The game did amazing at finally showing how someone fit into these things.

 

[JWKruser]

I am really excited to see how this turns out. Great job so far!

 

[Sinbad]

Keep up the awesome work! Wish I had the space in my house to do this.

 

[CobaltMan]

Finally time for an update! I took a break from this beast to work on some smaller projects, but I'm starting up again for the spring. I've been working on some minor fixes, namely how to keep the straps from detaching. Nylon is not friends with hot glue, and became detached on one of the leg straps. Doing some research, it seems like adhesives and nylon can be pretty hit and miss so I opted for a mechanical solution: staples. Five of them per connection, then hammered/viced so they were buried inside the webbing. I tried sewing the straps together first, but it's time consuming and difficult if (like me) you're not set up to upholster heavy fabrics. It may look like they're sticking out, but you can't feel them if you run your finger over it.
Definitely a time saver.

I started playing Fallout 4 and I realized that these suits are taller than the previous t-45 and t-51, so I'm going to add 3"/9cm lifts to the bottoms of the foot pads to get it to a more accurate height. I didn't prepare for this in the exoskeleton, so my most viable option is just to glue layers of extruded polystyrene (hard insulation), seal it with an EVA foam layer and hope for the best. Under the feet is a high impact area and by far the highest risk for damage. As such, I did some tests to determine the toughest glue for this role. Still waiting on these to cure, then I can finally get to work on the armor itself!

 

[CobaltMan]

I started some of the foam work with 5mm EVA foam. I've been a bit anxious to get started and went ahead on the most prominent feature, the chest block. This is my first time with the 5mm stuff and boy it's a lot faster and easier to work with than 10mm foam. It took no time at all to get the basic piece made, and I've already moved onto the shoulders. Everything here is free hand, using in-game photos and renders I found online for reference and scaling. There are some gaps in places, but once the foam is sealed I'll be using some kind of filling putty to smooth things out and create the necessary curves.



My experiment from last week was kind of unnecessary, as hot glue is many factors stronger than anything else at bonding styrofoam/EVA foam.Not to mention it dries in an iota of the time it takes for caulking to cure. My lift blocks are now made and await attachment to the foot pads. The foot is divided in half and articulated with a door hinge, hidden under the shoe.

 

[CobaltMan]

Update time! The structure of the boots is complete and the sole is all sealed up in heat-stamped foam. Here's a photo from about halfway through this process. They work wonderfully, hopefully they'll be able to stand up to a little bit of concrete on the way to/from cons.

and here's where the feet are now:

It's still a work in progress, I need to round off those corners and add the detail layers but overall it's holding up well to walking. Once the foam has been plastic-coated, I'm planning to slice off the top and reattach it with a hinge, so it can easily flip open to unlace and undo the buckle. The whole thing feels very heavy to pick up on its own, but when strapped to your foot it doesn't feel much heavier than a shoe!

Last pic for today is the completed shoulder bells. They're a pretty complex part, but I think they turned out decently. It's definitely a slog to freehand all of this piece by piece, but it's getting there. I'm hoping to have everything complete and plastic coated by May or June when it gets warm enough to spray paint outside. I'm not planning on doing a helmet myself, so if you (or someone you know) are/is doing a run of T-60 helmet casts shoot me a message!

 

[CobaltMan]

Progress has been steady on the feet, which are structurally finished. I had to make some compromises since the real T-60 foot layout is a little bit more complicated than mine but I don't think it'll be that noticeable. I decided to stop working piece-by-piece and instead try to get through as many large pieces as I can now, then work on the details when it's whole. As such, I got the thighs made and attached yesterday, so this is the current state of the build:


To complete the chest part, I attached the tubular vents that stick out from under the plates- these things:

I used ABS trap adapters, which look pretty dang similar and are about the right size. They're heavy compared to the PVC frame and foam armor, so I bolted them onto the chest frame just to be safe. Here's how they look:


With the thighs in, I can get to work on the butt plate and abdominal area without worrying about reducing my ability to walk! From there, I'll be able to scale the backpack to my build, then get to work on the calf area, which looks to be the most complex area of the armor. Arms will come last, since they don't really have any bearing on movement or scaling in the rest of the costume.

 

[Saber Prower]

This is the kind of stuff i'm looking for, I'm actually starting my own power armor project and I need the back=bone for everything and this is what i'm looking for exactly. Great work, looks very stable and sized up.