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

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

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

The metal looks perfect on there! The thing that made me laugh about the dryer is that it took me two play throughs of ME2 before I accidentally found out there was a bathroom in Shepard's quarters. I backed into a wall and it opened. So when I saw the dryer I was thinking "Hmm maybe there's a laundry area I missed..." :lol

 

[Freya Willia]

I backed into a wall and it opened.

^That is pretty much how I find everything in Mass Effect. I've at least gotten used to playing on the Xbox controller by now, so backing into walls and punching characters is at least somewhat intentional...

Junk in the trunk:



Only the round plates are being glued right now. The thong shapes are going to have to be glued while I am wearing it, because as you can see from this photo the mannequin's butt deflates the fabric, and I really don't want a lopsided armor-cheek thing going on.

After the first plate dried enough, I slipped on the leg gear for a test - while it's increasingly difficult to pull everything up into place, this might just turn out to be my most flattering pair of pants.

 

[Freya Willia]

Spending yet another Friday night in my house/studio:



This is the part that is so overwhelming. I can work off of my mannequin - but my torso is way shorter than hers, and when I try things it is impossible to reposition stuff and mark the new location on your OWN back. I texted my roomate to see if she would be around to help me glue butt armor to my ass, but, she didn't respond. Seriously, what better things does she have to do.

I have a bunch of oversize snaps, mini release-buckles, magnets, and all kinds of stuff for this half of the suit and making all of these parts come together.

In other exciting news, I earned +50 evil points for hosting a bat in my lair! Who can guess which piece of my studio equipment this bat was hiding in? Hint: it has to do with sewing! It also did not have rabies! :thumbsup

 

[Rysjin7717]

Sewin' machine !!!! Your roommate should really help ya glue your butt armor together. :lol!!!!! Awww He's hungry :devil!!!!Keep up th' good work. opcorn

 

[Astrokid248]

Yeah, the bat is ridiculously adorable. LOOK AT HIS CUTE WIDDLE FACE! If I had a rabies-free one get stuck in my shop, I'd probably keep it as a pet though. Mainly because my workspace is mosquito-ville deluxe. I doubt you have that issue.

Also, obligatory "dat ass".

 

[vargatom]

Still amazed how you can pull off stuff in real life that we had to seriously cheat in CG...

 

[Freya Willia]

Well guys, the bat actually lived in my dressform! This is not where I found the bat, she made herself known in our kitchen, but I did wonder why a small pile of turds mysteriously appeared under the dressform - studio equipment, no matter how human-like in appearance, SHOULD NOT have bodily functions. I was really grateful though that I did not move or disturb my dressform while she was in there, because if a bat had flown out of her nether region, I might have died.



After trimming that wig and sewing on some heavy duty snaps for the neck guard, I did a fit test. The snaps are sewn on so that when the neck guard straps are tucked under the ab-plate underarmor, you can't see them, but they are very secure.




That part I re-did? It was the neck guard, to make it lower - if I ever wanted to wear a helmet with this suit. The left photo I am looking down, but the right photo shows how much more room I have below the chin.

Everybody's been waiting on this one:



I am waiting on some paints to come in, that might make it to the final coat on this suit. Half of the stuff above is just flat black while other parts still have the gunmetal-gray I began with.

 

[vargatom]

 

[Freya Willia]

So far, this is the most difficult part of the costume to make flattering. The belt curves really go up quite high and it makes me look like I have no torso at all. Like some kind of space-Urkel throwback. Also haven't decided wether this will just attach with velcro, or snaps.



This photo probably wont make a whole lot of sense. I attached the shoulder cap to the vac-formed pauldron with blocks of 1/4 inch foam and elastic bands. This makes it springy like the ab plates, and it can compress a bit if I raise my arm.



up:



down:



- - - Updated - - -

View attachment 201992

 

[Rysjin7717]

Freya, nice work on that shoulder pauldron also th' collar looks more comfortable keep up th' good workopcorn

 

[Astrokid248]

Space Urkel is a thing that needs to happen.

 

[Nessy]

I have been away for far too long... all of a sudden bats are living in dressforms, space pants are looking incredible, collar gets some more loving attention, the pauldrons are compressing, and people are talking about a space version of Urkel. This is alot to take in over breakfast, thank goodness I was sitting down.

 

[CobraCommander]

Haven't stopped by in way to long . A bat ?! This build is becoming prodigious ! That's the only word I can think of . Absolutely amazing is another that comes to mind . I feel like a slacker with my build every time I pull this page up . At the same time it inspires me to throw out the stuff that's "ok" and start again until its perfect .

 

[Freya Willia]

This is alot to take in over breakfast, thank goodness I was sitting down.

I agree. This amused me.


Incoming change of plans, possibly - AGAIN. SORRY. I enjoy trying new paint on this space armor and rifle as much as I enjoy getting my nails done - except that one day, the paint on either of those will stay for good. Btw ladies (there's a few of you out there reading this I think) gel manicures are the only kind that can withstand a costume hobby and all of its solvents.

I have noticed that every photo I take of this suit looks way too bright - even with a polarized lens filter. The gunmetal gray shade you get in person somehow ends up looking silver in most of my shots.

The in-game appearance looks almost black in a lot of settings.



So I decided to try out some Testor's metallic black spray enamel.






In person this looks like a shiny black car (I'm amazed how the gloss showed up on the arm piece, because this is just layered on top of the rolled acrylic coat that was already there). It's almost a bit TOO shiny, when I think about how the contrast between my carbon fiber vinyl parts and the metal parts of the costume looked next to eachother. Not every part of the styrene on this suit is that well molded, either, and the shine would make some of the minor-warped areas stand out. Boo.

It's way too humid to risk clear-coating that piece, so I sprayed a few other things and if it magically gets sunny and dry tomorrow I will test out buffing and spraying those with some matte, to see if the shine kicks down a notch and looks good.

I have plans for a video or two coming up!

 

[metal wood]

friggen awesome, love the wig its spot on. this build got me to start up a new MA game, first time through as the female (chose the short red hair )

 

[ScorpyX]

-> Freya Willia: its not black - it very reflective (metal or plastic properties..)

=== Part 1 - How and Why
video games have many technical limitation and therefore game developers (designers \ artists)
use a variety of tricks to enhance the effect of impressions
in this case game could not have dynamic light (This means that light cant move - it's like paint on the wall)
but the characters are constantly moving and need a way to show the impact of lighting
here saves trick with reflections (but surface reflect not whole world and only the strength and color of the light \ bulbs)
trick gives the feel of a real lighting environment and the types of surfaces..
Here's why armor can look black in a dark room - and gray on a bright white light
(im not props profissional but) I think you need to keep the 2 design concepts - "feeling of Reflective(Gloss) surface" and " feeling of Dark tone"

=== Part 2 - Usefull tools
If In-game model of armor required as a reference
advanced players (modders) can extract 3d model of armor and images(textures) for correct display surface(of armor)
after the model can be opened in any special program to demonstrate the 3D model
for example "Marmoset Toolbag" - Video 1 - Video 2
this will give an opportunity to consider(see) model(reference) at any angle and lighting
and also save photos(screenshots) and videos from selected angles (for example for printed paper sheet - or mobile tablet)

i hope this information will be helpful - by the way it awesome work on photos - keep it up!
PS. i can try extract armor models if you want (i PM to you my contacts)

 

[Dinara October]

My budget for this costume (costumes in general, but I've pretty much only worked on one this year) was around 50-75$ per month. The largest investments were the custom printed fabric, which had a 5 yard minimum for service, so that ended up being around 120$. I got that for my birthday last July (I'm super lame). Still have 3.5 yards of that, 60" wide, which I plan selling - there's easily enough for two more suits. The carbon fiber vinyl and my wig were around 50$ each. I've probably spent 100$ in plastic, which I still have 90% of. Then there are a lot of things like leather, glue, apoxie sculpt, paints, and silicone that I've already had around for years.


Thanks!

I recently found your page and also am wanting to do a Shepard cosplay. First off you are amazing, keep up the good work! I cannot wait to see your final version! Anyways like I mentioned I hoped to make my own shepard cosplay with about a year to make it... I hope I can get it done! But I would like to know how much would you be selling your extra custom printed fabric for?

 

[Freya Willia]

I recently found your page and also am wanting to do a Shepard cosplay. First off you are amazing, keep up the good work! I cannot wait to see your final version! Anyways like I mentioned I hoped to make my own shepard cosplay with about a year to make it... I hope I can get it done! But I would like to know how much would you be selling your extra custom printed fabric for?

Not positive but I'm pretty sure there is enough to make two suits, so when I get the fabric out to see exactly how much is left I'll give you a PM. It wouldn't be outrageous.

-> Freya Willia: its not black - it very reflective (metal or plastic properties..)

i hope this information will be helpful - by the way it awesome work on photos - keep it up!
PS. i can try extract armor models if you want (i PM to you my contacts)

Wow, earlier in the build this would have been great, but I'm pretty close to being finished, so don't worry - thanks though!

I agree that the suit isn't "black," it just "feels" black. After playing the game the past few days, I think whatever lighting rig is used on the in-game armor makes it somber and dark looking, in addition to being shiny like metal. (The problem I had was with my own paint application, not understanding the 3-D model, but those are all good things to know). I had a stint in college where I majored in 3-D modeling/animation before I switched, wish I had kept myself up to date with the software.

When I put my mannequin outside or in a brightly lit space it had a stainless-steel reflection, even though the paint I used was gunmetal gray. Part of being a painter is knowing how your work is going to look under different light situations and distances. Up close, in person, in indirect light - which is how I worked on it - the suit did reflect a gunmetal/graphite color, but guess what - most people will see this suit either from a camera lens, or from far away.

That said, here's a crappy iphone shot of my new paint. I've only just begun adding highlights to the chest armor. Glazing over metallic black is horrifically difficult (I tried and gave up), so I put a little bit of silver overspray to work on top of:

 

[Dinara October]

Not positive but I'm pretty sure there is enough to make two suits, so when I get the fabric out to see exactly how much is left I'll give you a PM. It wouldn't be outrageous.

Ok! Awesome! Thank you, I would probably want to have extra incase I mess up. I also live in Canada do we'll have to work out the cost shipping, but we can worry about that later when you are ready to sell

Oh and I love the latest photo, even of it was done on your phone, I hope my costume turns out half as good!

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Looks great!