HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread (helmet rebuild begins on p.19)

[thorssoli]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

I'm not sure how your vac-forming buck is, but I imagine that if you added the details using really thin plastic, that it'd be good for forming and would solve the problem?

No buck. For this method I'm actually sucking the plastic into a hole the same size and shape as it needs to fit the helmet. It makes a nice profile, but there's nothing to form details. I was thinking of using two of these visors layered together and cutting the details out of the top one, but it ends up being too thick and the variations from one pull to the next make it nearly impossible to get them bonded together without bubbles or voids.

I also tried using a thinner sheet for the outside detail layer. This ended up looking hokey since I can't get the thinner acrylic sheet in the right color.

In the end, the absolute best solution is going to be to carve out a few proper bucks and actually vacform them like normal, but I've got to upgrade my vacforming rig first.

This was really looking like a step in the right direction, but you're right. I'll be happier when I've got the proper forming buck made up and I'm started making the actual shapes the way they're supposed to be.

 

[tubachris85x]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

No buck. For this method I'm actually sucking the plastic into a hole the same size and shape as it needs to fit the helmet. It makes a nice profile, but there's nothing to form details. I was thinking of using two of these visors layered together and cutting the details out of the top one, but it ends up being too thick and the variations from one pull to the next make it nearly impossible to get them bonded together without bubbles or voids.

I also tried using a thinner sheet for the outside detail layer. This ended up looking hokey since I can't get the thinner acrylic sheet in the right color.

In the end, the absolute best solution is going to be to carve out a few proper bucks and actually vacform them like normal, but I've got to upgrade my vacforming rig first.

This was really looking like a step in the right direction, but you're right. I'll be happier when I've got the proper forming buck made up and I'm started making the actual shapes the way they're supposed to be.

Please don't feel I was knocking your idea down. I know as well as you know that having an accuratly shaped visor for an MC helm is hard to come by. You've gone a VERY long way at making your pieces as accurate as possible, right down to the sole of the boots!

Here's an idea. Take one of your currently shaped visors that you feel best fits the helmet. Add the physical details to to the outside of it, and fill the inside with expanding foam, cut it square on the bottom and sides. You could mold this, and cast this in the resin. The casting should be good to use as a vac-forming buck.

 

[FGC]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

awesome job!! you make it to look easy, Im making my mark vI armor and its kind difficult to bondo my stuff n_n, again, nice job

 

[thorssoli]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

BOOT UPDATE:

Lopez made me the soles yesterday:

These will be good for up to about a size 10:

Next I'll be sculpting out the uppers by hand. Once I've got them molded up I'm going to stretch them to make them about three sizes larger and then make another mold. They should be plenty wide enough to fit a size 13 if I make them longer. If I end up needing a smaller size I'll be making a new prototype from the sole up.

Stay tuned...

 

[CGClone]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

Nice tan lines there man - and nice routing job.

 

[tubachris85x]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

lol after I can manage to get the rest of the suit pieces from ya, I might need to comission you to make me a size 15 EE boot :lol

 

[VaultUK]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

this suit is looking great. i want

 

[HOOKEEMAN]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

Blue Halo eiei

 

[DuneSoldat]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

This is an awesome thread.

 

[n0regret5]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

someones' already done it, but i don't care. it needs repeating

i've just finished reading all the 14 pages of this thread and you, sir, are some kind of freakin genius. had i the money (any money?) i would be purchasing one of these fine suits off you quick-smart.

keep up the freakin good work man this is some serious ****-hot talent and i'm so glad to see its being put to some amazingly good use!!!!

 

[Warcft]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

You've done a really good job on these.

 

[thorssoli]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

Thank you all for the kind words.

I suppose this thread is massively overdue for an update.

First off, I've been building a sniper rifle:

Also, I've finally gotten back to remaking the boot prototypes. They don't look like much just yet:

But as soon as I've finished making the foam base I'll be doing the smoothing and detailing in clay. Then I'll mold them and pull copies in flex foam.

Stay tuned...

 

[tubachris85x]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

The sniper is looking sexy!

 

[Bimmer]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

thats badass! and huge!

 

[thorssoli]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

thats badass! and huge!

Believe it or not, I actually scaled it down a bit to give it more portable dimensions.

I'm planning on molding and casting copies once I've finished the prototypes.

 

[Baron]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

I just spent all afternoon reading the entirety of this thread instead of working. Bravo for the impressive build, and bravo from keeping me from work

 

[Evil Benius]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

Amazing looking rifle I definitely will be keeping my eye on it.

 

[thorssoli]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

I decided to knuckle down and get a suit finished in time for the Reach launch, so I've been working lots of hours in the workshop and I've got a lot of updating to do since my last post.

First up, it's time I explained my marker lights...

While I was in Afghanistan I spent a lot of time mulling over ways to make all of the lights turn on and off without an obvious pushbutton or switch. I also didn't want to have wires running all over the suit to a common battery pack and/or actuator.

Somewhere in my quest, I stumbled across this page: http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/nightlight

This one might work better though: http://www.instructables.com/id/ligh...ust-simple-el/

Using the evilmadscientist method, I started making LED circuits that would automatically shut themselves off when exposed to daylight. I had to make some changes based on the fact that I was using different LEDs, so the only part numbers that match up to his tutorial are the transistors themselves. The phototransistors are sensitized to infrared light, so they don't tend to turn off in flourescent lighting. Otherwise, they're great.

I also got a great deal on a large pile of battery holders that hold 3 "AAA" batteries. They're bulkier than the button-cell that they show in the article, but they'll also run the lights for years. Literally. Years.

Anyhow, once I had enough of the lights to outfit the whole suit (twelve of them) I started making the fixtures themselves. First, I cut out the hole where the light would go. Then I would cover it with duct tape like so:

Then I filled the hole from the inside with water clear surfboard resin (essentially a high-end polyester resin) to make a transparent plastic window:

The lights were then embedded directly into the resin:

Once the resin had cured, all that was left to do was peel the tape, put batteries in the battery box, and find somewhere dark to test them.

Et voila!:

Here's the one at the back of the calf:

I used the same clear resin method to embed all of the lights in the suit, so there's a separate battery pack in each shoulder, the helmet, the backplate, the chest, the thighs, and each calf.

When I get a moment, I'll post a video of me walking in and out of shadows to illustrate how well they work.

On the subject of lights and wiring: in addition to the two marker lights on either side of the helmet I decided I needed working headlights in the cheeks and a pair of cooling fans. Here's a shot of the whole rat's nest coming together:

The switch on the right side turns the cheek lights on and off. The one on the left is for the fans. The black piece is a piece of Sintra that I heated up and formed to fit inside the chin of the helmet. here you can see the fans and the backside of the pushbuttons fitted to it:

The way the black plastic is shaped, it will duct air flow from the fans across the visor and then my face. This way the fans work to defog the visor and improve visibility.

Here's the only part that will be visible when it's installed:

Once I was done soldering all of the wire ends together, the next step was to tape the whole assembly into place and then glue it in with some black casting resin I picked up from jgreer.com. All of the wires were taped to the edges inside of the helmet to keep things neat.

I failed to get a picture of everything tucked in, but you get the idea.

Coming up next: Building the harness and undersuit.

 

[thorssoli]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

All of the pieces are a bit tough to keep together and properly aligned. Because I was in a rush to prep for the Reach launch, I had to go with plans I'd already made whether or not I was completly satisfied with them.

For the diaper, I'd started with having it split at the sides, so I just went with it. The plan was to have it buckle together and then have the hip boxes cover the buckles:

Once I'd installed buckles on either hip, the next step was to install the thong strap:

When she took this picture for me, my little sister remarked, "There's no way you were able to find that particular detail in the game."

She was wrong.

The thong strap is important because it keeps everything aligned when I sit down:

In other news, I can sit down in this outfit.

Still, the part I'm happiest with on this whole outfit is my arrangement for holding the backplate and ab plate in place:

The back straps on like a backpack and then the chest just has to be buckled on. This way the whole torso moves like it's a part of your body:

The only other minor issue I had to sort was how to keep the thighs hiked up in place. Again, it was a rush job, but I settled on a couple of elastic straps to go up and over my shoulders:

If I'd had time I would've used something heavier than the peel-and-stick velcro to hold the straps into the legs, but that's the best I could do with the time I gave myself.

In hindsight, the thigh straps need to be intigrated into the midsection of the undersuit like a garter belt and then the undersuit needs suspender straps to hold up the diaper and thighs.

I'm also planning on rearranging my straps so that the diaper buckles in front and then the codpiece just hangs over the buckle.

Building the undersuit was just a simple series of steps:

Step one: figure out where the pieces need to go:

Step two: glue them to the underarmor with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive. Be sure to press them down firmly:

Step three: tape everything to hold it in place while the glue sets and spray the white logos with black Plasti-Dip rubberizing paint:

Step four: because there's no adhesive in the world that will be able to contend with the different flexabilities of these pieces, stitch all the way around the edges of each piece with a heavy-duty upholstery sewing machine. My machine gave out just after I'd finished stitching across the horizontal edges of each of the detail patches, so I had to settle for safety pins to keep the vertical edges in place.

Lessons learned: My idea of making the midsection work like a garter belt is looking better and better. I will remake the undersuit and the entire waist section will just be a sleeve that will pull on and fit like a corset with shoulder straps to keep it pulled up.

Detailing and installing the visor was also just a series of easy steps:

Step one: Use a template to mark the location of the ridges:

Step two: Smile for the camera:

Step three: Grind out the lines with a Dremel:

Step four: Wedge into place and caulk around the edges with oil-based clay:

Step five: Mix an ounce and a half of casting resin and pour around the edges of the visor from inside:

Step six: Once the resin has cured (about an hour), clean away the clay and touch up the paint if needed:

Step seven: Smile for the camera:

Up next: suiting up.

FINALLY!

 

[thorssoli]

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

With the marathon of exhaustion I've been going through the past few days and the on and off snail's-pace progress I've been making on this project, I will say I was more than a bit elated to finally be putting the damned thing on. Unfortunately, there's no way I could do it without at least one other person to help snap and strap things in place. Here's how it goes...

Step one: put on the lower half of everything so that the thigh straps go up over the shoulders:

Step two: put on the top half of the undersuit:

Step three: strap on the diaper, backplate, and abplate, making sure everything is lined up:

Step four: slip on the arm parts, gloves, and hood, then buckle the chest in place:

Step five: don helmet, grab a weapon, and look menacing:

Step six: pwnage test:

Now I've had a chance to test out the whole rig and I've got a lot of ideas for improvements. I also need to get to work on a blue suit.

First up: finding an easier way to go to the bathroom while in costume:

Comments/criticisms welcome as always.