FemShep N7 Armor, Valkyrie Rifle, + Omniblade (Mass Effect 3)

[agirlcalledbob]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

Throwing pieces out that are not up to par is probably the hardest lesson of them all :lol

This.

Everything looks fantastic! The attention to detail is amazing and you can really see the time you have put into everything (even if most people don't get to see that pile you are tossing out).

 

[Freya Willia]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

BTW, talent can also be by accident. I discovered that accidentally leaving a rag soaked in lacquer thinner on a piece of styrene can make a neat melting effect that kind of looks like a laser hit it. That technique is hit or miss though.

You have a point, quite a bit of my sculpture experience has just "happened" to me, whether I wanted it to or not. From a young age I just kind of painted, and it never frustrated me, I could get disappointing results or amazing ones by accident and just keep going with it. Somehow working in 3-D is not that "chill" for me. I end up with lots of trash bags.

Thanks for the support guys! Heh, most people here get it. Roomates, family, and significant others... usually don't.

Not terribly fascinating stuff going on, but since I don't have time for building work I've been editing things I need to get on the laser cutter. This is basically an illustrator file where I've been drawing directly on top of my reference image. This is also how I did the omniblade templates, been getting a lot of questions about that but it's not a huge secret really. Good reference images of it are out there if you have either software ...or tracing paper. This particular one came from the art book (it was maybe 1.5" on the page) and I took a photo of it with my iphone, expanded it a bit there.

View attachment 155253

View attachment 155251

 

[Freya Willia]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

Finger armor!

Those are held on with carpet tape for the moment. I attached them to the material first, THEN tried to put my hand through.... it was a near fail. I'm glad I tested that out before gluing them on like I had planned. Too difficult to punch my hand/fingers past those sharp edged plastic bits (which might tear the thin spandex) all the way to the tips of the glove. So, somehow they will have to be removable for when I want to initially put the glove on my hands.



Sorry for the crappy pic quality, but I had my phone on the table camera-side up... and I think that was 30 minutes of pollen dust settling on the lens. Friggin gross.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

Looks good enough to punch a reporter with! (which won't make sense yet if you haven't played ME2)

 

[darkside501st]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

Thanks for the support guys! Heh, most people here get it. Roomates, family, and significant others... usually don't.

So true!

Good progress since the last time I checked. Waste is unfortunately a pretty big part of prop making. You should see the box of scrap Wolverine claws I have that didn't meet my QC standards.

 

[Emmabellish]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

You could attach them with velcro pretty easily. Sew the soft side to the spandex (so that when the spandex suit is lying in a crumpled heap, the velcro won't stick to the fabric), and glue the rough side to the armor bits. Easily attachable after it's on.

 

[Freya Willia]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

So true!

Good progress since the last time I checked. Waste is unfortunately a pretty big part of prop making. You should see the box of scrap Wolverine claws I have that didn't meet my QC standards.

Yes, that's the definitely the part that feels silly explaining to others. Or:

Friend: "___is going on downtown tonight! do you want to come get dinner and go with us?"
Me: "... can we wait 30 minutes until my glue cures? are we going somewhere nice? I probably smell like... toxic fumes."
Friend: "... sounds alluring. don't sit next to me."

I know I smell like epoxy after leaving my studio, because my brother asked if I had "burned my hair" once when I hopped into his car.

Still playing around with paint. I probably wont have a damage area this large on my suit, but I wanted to test some options on a scrap panel.

This is all acrylic, with a heat gun applied (lightly) to the damage area, a hot knife, powdered charcoal (to plan out where my dark areas will go, it brushes/wipes off easily), and glazes.



A detail of the front grip. Over the black primer I put a thin dry brush layer of silver to bring out the texture, and satin clearcoat. This was mostly a test, as you can see I haven't finished trimming or filling the end of the grip where it meets the main body yet.

 

[River]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

this is awesome!!

 

[Dagnie]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

This is by far my favorite N7 build.

 

[Nwerke]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

Ditto, it's just amazing. Loved the texturing.

 

[Fly4v]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

I know I smell like epoxy after leaving my studio.

All arguments end when your work is shown.

 

[Freya Willia]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

Thanks everyone.

My hopes for this costume took a huge hit recently. I found out they are closing the Techshop where I've done all of the vac-forming, laser cutting, and any part of the costume that required a machine I don't own at home. NEXT WEEK.

I have only two more weeks left until I graduate, and was really looking forward to getting those Illustrator templates I just posted a few days ago on the laser cutter. No time to do it before they close.

Not that I can't finish this costume without it... but I won't be able to do those parts myself. I'll have to pay someone to print or ship parts off to form those things now. If I don't like the results, I still have to pay for it and do it all over. Way different when you can stop the machine yourself and make adjustments.

Sometimes I feel like it will never, ever get done.

 

[metal wood]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

have faith in the build, the build will not let you down. bummer about your shop getting shut down and good luck finding another way to get the pieces you want done and done right. still love this build and will continue to follow it recent hiccup or not. cheers to the continued awesomeness that is this N7 build!

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

Well you have two advantages. You're a girl and you already have a great costume started. I'd be surprised if someone on here that has the equipment you need didn't help you out. If it was me, I'd get the help, but I'd have to pay. :lol

 

[Fly4v]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

Yeah, Graduation! Welcome to the private sector, "they expect results".

Is that Techshop for students and closing early at the end of the school year or just flat out closing? Either way so sorry to hear the news.

I know you are not doing this for commercial gain but your work is so good there should be someway to work out a quid pro quo.

 

[Simple]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

Simply amazing work!

C

 

[Freya Willia]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

Well you have two advantages. You're a girl and you already have a great costume started. I'd be surprised if someone on here that has the equipment you need didn't help you out. If it was me, I'd get the help, but I'd have to pay. :lol

I know people who do, but it's hard for me to ask when I know they have either their own costumes to work on, or commission deadlines, especially this time of year when people are planning for summer conventions. Hopefully I wont have to bother anyone that much.

Fly - Techshop is actually a business where you can take classes and become certified to use their equipment/industrial machines. It's like a gym where you pay by month to use whatever you want. Insurance for a place like that must be absurd, so... that's likely one reason why they had to close.

At least this part of my suit went smoothly. I mounted some elastic with center-release buckles to the chest armor, and also sewed some to the shoulder straps. Now it won't slip down to the narrowest part of my torso.





Tackling the other glove and the elastic configuration for the ab plates for a few minutes every day. I've tried a couple of different things for those which I'll explain later, but I really want something that will give me the most fluid and comfortable results for articulating those pieces.

 

[Freya Willia]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

Here's what I've got so far!



Man I wish that had been a finished costume shot. Getting that lighting, contrast, focus, and no derp face on a self-timer with my camera is damn near impossible. There were actually 3 or 4 shots I took showing different angles holding the rifle that came out decently, but I'll post them later. This was the best one.

The elbow-out angle is pretty consistent in those, so I think that's likely going to be the way I hold it for poses.

My new space chaps are doing an excellent job holding my leg armor up - I haven't even put the straps back on. They sag a bit after a lot of crouching but I might put an actual belt in the loops when I plan on wearing this for long periods of time.

 

[vargatom]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

Check the Fab Lab website to see if there's one in your area. It's basically a public workshop of sorts with a minimum list of equipment. Vacforming is not a necessity but laser cutters are as far as I know.

The suit looks pretty good, one thing to consider though is to make the undersuit a bit darker.

 

[Freya Willia]

Re: FemShep N7 Armor and Valkyrie Rifle (Mass Effect 3)

Check the Fab Lab website to see if there's one in your area. It's basically a public workshop of sorts with a minimum list of equipment. Vacforming is not a necessity but laser cutters are as far as I know.

The suit looks pretty good, one thing to consider though is to make the undersuit a bit darker.

The patterned part?

This is a more accurate photo of what it looks like. That pic came out a bit on the overexposed side, even though it was in focus.



But even looking at that, I do agree the fabric would look richer if there were a way to make it closer to black. When I saw the results from the printer, I wish the pattern had been just a tiny bit more subtle.

My whole suit might go a little darker as well. If I'm standing outside, I want it to be metallic/reflective but not like steel or something bright if that makes sense.