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

[electraflier]

I greatly appreciate the information! I am actually laminating a Mycarta plastic/ linen material to the surface of the torso and any place I have flat panel lines that need ultra smooth surfaces and razor sharp edges. Something like the metallic vinyl for the compound curves would help a great deal! I especially love the way it looked after you weathered it!!!

 

[Freya Willia]

I greatly appreciate the information! I am actually laminating a Mycarta plastic/ linen material to the surface of the torso and any place I have flat panel lines that need ultra smooth surfaces and razor sharp edges. Something like the metallic vinyl for the compound curves would help a great deal! I especially love the way it looked after you weathered it!!!

Interesting, I'll be checking that out.

Also there is one thing I should mention about weathering this stuff. The hand piece I consider to be successful - the forearm piece, not so much. It has a slightly textured surface, so rubbing or smearing paint on, while sometimes nice for smooth-surface weathering, will actually make this stuff look a lot like wood. It also resembles wood grain because the test piece I did on the left has the brushed strokes going the same direction as the length (which I almost did for the rifle :facepalm). I recommend not laying the vinyl in that direction for long pieces.



Also, Volpin just sent me a pic of the butt plates, hot off the vac former! My favorite thing about that photo is his reflection. So cheeky.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Call it "Reflections In A Buttplate" and I'm sure you could convince some rich art snob to buy it! :lol

I'm really digging that metal vinyl look! Now I'm trying to think of something that would look good on!

 

[The Ronin]

Good GAWD that metal vinyl looks downright brilliant! Nice find there.

 

[Nessy]

Funny that you mentioned Volpin's reflection in the butt plates, I was just watching his newest video on youtube where he is demonstrating the electronics that will go into his Halo 4 needler. I had lots of fun watching his reflection in the speaker, he moves his hands a lot when he talks. (Link Needler Audio Circuit Test - YouTube, you can really see his reflection well a bit after 2 minutes)

But getting back on topic, I really like the brushed metal vinyl you found. I have never seen other costumers use vinyl for anything other than decals. I wonder if it will start to catch on. I also have to wonder what the Mass Effect weaponry would look like if it were to be built out of wood. I have this mental image now of an Avenger made out of stained red oak with black or brass accents. Your build thread certainly gets my imagination working...

 

[Rysjin7717]

First I don't know how I missed this:facepalm, second this is an epic build incredible job in all that you've done. Best ME suit build so far keep up th' good workopcorn

 

[Freya Willia]

I also have to wonder what the Mass Effect weaponry would look like if it were to be built out of wood. I have this mental image now of an Avenger made out of stained red oak with black or brass accents. Your build thread certainly gets my imagination working...

It would probably look really classy, in fact.

I have been working on this costume almost every day, and I've been trying to solve the riddles of the mid-section assembly and mobility issues. Been too lazy to post (I've been sitting at my computer applying for jobs, which makes me want to run screaming into the sunlight like a vampire) so this one is kinda long.

First I sewed the side plates onto some strips, with the center retaining some flexibility (the top two and bottom two pieces are glued solid to keep them from flapping around).



Mounted them to the sides of the underarmor:



Hilarious things like this happened. My machine did not even flinch sewing through 030 styrene, except I don't really know how it got in that position:



Now the ab plates are functional! I'll maybe shoot a video of this, because it has a pretty awesome snakelike effect when I move around, and it's more fluid and comfortable than I anticipated it would be.

Then I found some exceptionally rare fabric at Joanne's in the upholstery section. I've never seen anything like it there, but it very closely mimics a carbon fiber texture without being redundant next to the vinyl I already have on my costume, so I was super excited to make the belt-skirt thingy with this stuff.





I found that foam stuff in the remnant rack, but it probably came from interior fabric section also. The vinyl fabric is a little thin and showed things like the pockets and belt loops on my space shorts, so the extra padding keeps it smooth.




I also re-did the belt sides. They used to be leather, and the leather ones didn't make a nice streamline silhouette with the skirt part so I scrapped them.

I've almost completed both sets of gloves. Cut a negative space in the finger armor for some LED panels if that actually does work out.



She was like "um, no."




My mannequin didn't mind. She's a lot taller than me at the moment.

 

[Fly4v]

That fabric looks great. Wonder what other colors there are and if it is available at their online store.

Need a dog, he would be "uh, yeah!"

 

[Freya Willia]

Need a dog, he would be "uh, yeah!"

There are only a few kinds of dogs I like, mostly I'm a cat person. They are quite content to sit and watch you shuffle around the studio all day long; I need a pet that ignores when I come and go. Bonus - she keeps mice out of my basement workspace.

Spent a long, tedious day on the leg straps. These are going around the edges of the thigh guards, like a trim. They are reinforced with craft interfacing and super ugly on the inside because I repositioned those straps until they were JUST tight enough to hold the plastic against my leg, but not so tight they gave me sausage-legs.



Also, butt plates were padded with some light foam, the same kind I used above in the belt-skirt. This will help them stick to the pants. This will make my butt comfortable and less receptive to panty-shrapnel.

Do you remember the magical trash can? Of course you do. Well the can itself has exactly the compound curve I need for the hip-rotator pieces, so I heated up some styrene and slapped them down on top of baby powder in the inside.





It's very subtle, but it follows the curve of my leg exactly. God I love that trashcan.

 

[Nessy]

I love how that trash can just keeps on giving, what a great story. And I would also like to support the idea of making a video featuring the ab plates. I am very excited to see more of them. Great work, and good luck with the job hunt!

 

[bat77]

awesome work , read all the posts, you are tenacious and hardworking , you are the an inspirations to other costume makers out there !!!! Keep it up !!!

 

[Freya Willia]

awesome work , read all the posts, you are tenacious and hardworking , you are the an inspirations to other costume makers out there !!!! Keep it up !!!

Thank you, I was just reading back over all of this thread too, and thinking about all of the nice things people have said to me. It means a lot guys. I picked a very difficult year to start this intricate build (but of course I had no idea at the outset).

The glue for the leg straps cured, so I immediately started doing movement tests to see if it would actually hold. I did lunges, ninja crouches, and rapidly ran up and down stairs - nothing budged! That is, until the zipper on one of the lower calf/boot guards came off. I forgot to score the inside of the plastic on that one as it turns out (glad I discovered this before a convention). But I'm so incredibly happy with how snug the armor is on my legs. I took a few millimeters off the edge above my knee, so the gap there is larger than the game references. I think the benefits outweigh the cost though, and my legs are so short you probably wont even notice.



The boot armor is still missing those carbon fiber knee-cap details, but those will probably attach with snaps. Those are upside down separating-coil zippers I used, and it's kind of nice to have the whole piece release when I need to take them off.



I can't describe what a miracle it is that I can do this comfortably. I don't have the hip/belt armor on though in this picture, so, that will be the real challenge.

 

[metal wood]

glad to see you still rocking this build! looking better and better. ever think about making one "uncomfortable" set up for photos and one "comfortable" set up for lengthy wearing at cons and so forth?

 

[darkside501st]

I love how that trash can just keeps on giving, what a great story. And I would also like to support the idea of making a video featuring the ab plates. I am very excited to see more of them. Great work, and good luck with the job hunt!

I second this notion, lol.

Great progress on the build. I love reading this thread.

 

[Freya Willia]

glad to see you still rocking this build! looking better and better. ever think about making one "uncomfortable" set up for photos and one "comfortable" set up for lengthy wearing at cons and so forth?

There might possibly be two belt sets - one for photos and one for actually walking around/doing fun stuff. The costume as a whole I would say is not "comfortable," heh. Especially in anything over 65 degrees. When I take the plastic parts of the armor off, underneath it the bodysuit is soaked in perspiration - anybody who has worn armor, foam or plastic, probably knows what that is like. Too bad my suit is too small for things like fans... but on the other hand, I predict I would feel the effects of alcohol IMMEDIATELY. :thumbsup This wont be necessary

I second this notion, lol.

Great progress on the build. I love reading this thread.

I'll make a video. I want to figure out some creative spin. I'm not an actress but there are plenty of things I would really enjoy making fun of while dressed up as Shepard in complete N7 gear. A short clip of the ab plates might happen a bit sooner though.

Chopped some more hair off this wig. I know nothing about styling, but almost 2/3 of the hair on this wig has either been trimmed, plucked, or sheared off. Doing some work in the studio right now so I should have more progress later.

 

[Freya Willia]

And here we are, doing this part again.



I slapped a bit of paint on this, which came out really dark in the photo. Some of it will be rubbed off with alcohol, I tend to make stuff super dirty and then clean up the parts that don't look glorious. I also put apoxie sculpt on the vinyl seam line at the bottom of the stock, which I will sand to flat invisibleness. Made it look like a toy, it had to go.

I made a circuit for this too, which I hope when I get done soldering it will work.

 

[Rysjin7717]

Thank you, I was just reading back over all of this thread too, and thinking about all of the nice things people have said to me. It means a lot guys. I picked a very difficult year to start this intricate build (but of course I had no idea at the outset).

The glue for the leg straps cured, so I immediately started doing movement tests to see if it would actually hold. I did lunges, ninja crouches, and rapidly ran up and down stairs - nothing budged! That is, until the zipper on one of the lower calf/boot guards came off. I forgot to score the inside of the plastic on that one as it turns out (glad I discovered this before a convention). But I'm so incredibly happy with how snug the armor is on my legs. I took a few millimeters off the edge above my knee, so the gap there is larger than the game references. I think the benefits outweigh the cost though, and my legs are so short you probably wont even notice.

[url]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3753/9047373170_6a24fbd4fb.jpg[/url]

The boot armor is still missing those carbon fiber knee-cap details, but those will probably attach with snaps. Those are upside down separating-coil zippers I used, and it's kind of nice to have the whole piece release when I need to take them off.

[url]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7379/9047373120_1c59e15f6e.jpg[/url]

I can't describe what a miracle it is that I can do this comfortably. I don't have the hip/belt armor on though in this picture, so, that will be the real challenge.

great work on that boot and leg armor:cool looks killer and durable. lovin th' weatherin' on th' rifle too keep up th' great work.opcorn

 

[oysteinhole]

And here we are, doing this part again.

[url]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3753/9070903673_1e476aa173_z.jpg[/url]

I slapped a bit of paint on this, which came out really dark in the photo. Some of it will be rubbed off with alcohol, I tend to make stuff super dirty and then clean up the parts that don't look glorious. I also put apoxie sculpt on the vinyl seam line at the bottom of the stock, which I will sand to flat invisibleness. Made it look like a toy, it had to go.

I made a circuit for this too, which I hope when I get done soldering it will work.

Amazing wheathering and battledamage on your Rifle Freya just love it

 

[Freya Willia]

Haha, I love how we are calling this "battle damage" when it's just chilling on my dryer.

Wiped some of the grime off and added highlights to a few areas. I put a butt-plate there so you can see the difference between a totally flat back and the black areas on the rifle. Still patching up that epoxy texture.



HHHNNGGG I can't wait to put LEDs in it!!




Also worked on these. The two linear pieces on the ends are wrapped with the brushed metal vinyl, and they are SUPER reflective. This doesn't have an ideal "drape" when my weight is shifted on to one hip (it buckles weird), but this might be one of those parts of the suit I sew the purse magnets into the bodysuit and hope it clings properly.

 

[Rysjin7717]

Freya, I love th' different values and shades black and gray, it gives it character and a worn effect that:cool metal vinyl just sets it off right, keep up th' great workopcorn