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

Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

I believe Thorssoli is in the Naval Reserve and has been sent or about to be sent to Afghanistan so it may be a while before there are much updates.
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

I believe Thorssoli is in the Naval Reserve and has been sent or about to be sent to Afghanistan so it may be a while before there are much updates.

Yep, I'm in Kabul, Afghanistan right now assigned to the staff of COMISAF. I've been tinkering a bit with some electronics parts for this project, but I don't exactly have a lot of free time and space to get things done here.

I have been messing around with a couple of other things, but most of my time is spent trying to plan and facilitate reconstruction efforts here while not stepping in anything deadly.

If you're really bored and you'd like to see pictures or read tidbits about my time over here, I'm keeping a blog at http://protagonist4hire.blogspot.com with all sorts of random stuff in there. Be warned, I don't tend to be politically correct in there.

Back on topic, rest assured that I will be rushing to make up for lost time on the HALO armor and posting like crazy in the thread here. I could be done with Durkadurkastan as early as June, but the exact date is a bit uncertain.

Thanks for looking though.
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

If you ever run into a COL. Walker over there, let me know!
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

Thorssoli

I want to thank you for your service and the job you are doing
Be safe and God Bless.

Andrew
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

I've found a bit of spare time here and there and got a hold of some cardstock to make more pepakura armor parts.

To start with, I've gone ahead and made a HALO3 Mk5 helmet like Caboose's in Reconstruction:
smallermk5bukket1.jpg


Then I bought a faceshield through Amazon.com and tried it on again. It'll need a lot of smoothing and shaping, but I've done about all I can while I'm here:
COMPARISON1.jpg


Then I decided this thread needed more butt:
HaloButt.jpg


Not really. Instead, I just got to a stopping point on my HALO3 Mk5 helmet build and decided to crank out a space diaper in my size.
HaloCrotch.jpg


I made the pep model with all of the support stiffeners in place, coated the inside of the piece with urethane casting resin to make it stiffer, cut the supports out, and then cut the whole thing into four pieces (front, back, and both hip boxes). The plan now is to add a bit of length to either end of the front and back pieces so that I can make the size of the final piece a bit more adjustable. Once again I'll have a part that's sized perfectly for me, but can be easily modified to fit someone slightly larger or smaller.

Before anyone asks, I'm 5'7" tall and I have about a 30" waist. The ACU pants I'm wearing in the photos are size "medium-regular" and fit a bit loose. The t-shirt is a medium. That should give you some idea of how to scale the pep to fit yourself.

Also, when I started pouring the resin to reinforce this piece I'd meant to make it red. I didn't add quite enough pigment, so it came out light red. I decided that since I'm going to paint all of my prototypes light red before molding from now on, I might as well roll with it.

Since I'm still able to find time now and then to build pep stuff, I should be able to get a few more sizes of armor parts knocked out while I'm here. Then I can mail them home and all I'll have to do is sand, prime, bondo, sand, add details, prime, sand, prime, sand, paint, mold, de-mold, and cast them.

Once that's done all I'll have to do with the space diaper is fit the dongle...

So at least I'm still finding ways to get a few things done even though I'm living out of a 20' shipping container.
bleepbloopthor.png
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

I've found a bit of spare time here and there and got a hold of some cardstock to make more pepakura armor parts.

To start with, I've gone ahead and made a HALO3 Mk5 helmet like Caboose's in Reconstruction:
smallermk5bukket1.jpg


Then I bought a faceshield through Amazon.com and tried it on again. It'll need a lot of smoothing and shaping, but I've done about all I can while I'm here:
COMPARISON1.jpg


Then I decided this thread needed more butt:
HaloButt.jpg


Not really. Instead, I just got to a stopping point on my HALO3 Mk5 helmet build and decided to crank out a space diaper in my size.
HaloCrotch.jpg


I made the pep model with all of the support stiffeners in place, coated the inside of the piece with urethane casting resin to make it stiffer, cut the supports out, and then cut the whole thing into four pieces (front, back, and both hip boxes). The plan now is to add a bit of length to either end of the front and back pieces so that I can make the size of the final piece a bit more adjustable. Once again I'll have a part that's sized perfectly for me, but can be easily modified to fit someone slightly larger or smaller.

Before anyone asks, I'm 5'7" tall and I have about a 30" waist. The ACU pants I'm wearing in the photos are size "medium-regular" and fit a bit loose. The t-shirt is a medium. That should give you some idea of how to scale the pep to fit yourself.

Also, when I started pouring the resin to reinforce this piece I'd meant to make it red. I didn't add quite enough pigment, so it came out light red. I decided that since I'm going to paint all of my prototypes light red before molding from now on, I might as well roll with it.

Since I'm still able to find time now and then to build pep stuff, I should be able to get a few more sizes of armor parts knocked out while I'm here. Then I can mail them home and all I'll have to do is sand, prime, bondo, sand, add details, prime, sand, prime, sand, paint, mold, de-mold, and cast them.

Once that's done all I'll have to do with the space diaper is fit the dongle...

So at least I'm still finding ways to get a few things done even though I'm living out of a 20' shipping container.
bleepbloopthor.png
Nice work troop! stay safe, don't get a cardstock cut while deployed.
Looks good and bet it feels good to make it.
Let us know if you need a care package hehe
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

I've been watching this thread for so long, and I'm really glad you're still plodding along with it like the proverbial trooper. Love your work.

Bow chicka wow wow.
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

It's been a month now since I've posted any progress. I'd apologize, but I've had a few other things going on in the meantime. Either way, the bulk of my new developments have just been pep parts:
3370486460_21287e3a32_o.jpg


I've been making a bit of progress during my free time, but the real fun is when I have to explain to the other folks on the base what it is that I'm doing.
3369698063_ae39467b79_o.jpg


In fact, while I was painting today the base Sergeant Major wandered by a couple of times and asked all sorts of questions each time.

"Sir," says she, "does your issued body armor not work?"

"I don't know yet," says I, "but I do know that it doesn't cover everything..."

I decided to try the process a bit backward on the newest round of pep parts. Since the paint doesn't like to stick to the urethane resin very well, I'm priming and topcoating the parts before I pour the insides.
3370486466_063518101d_o.jpg


I'm sure I'll still have to do some touch-ups, but it all looks good in the meantime.
3370486474_9a933707aa_o.jpg


As I get the parts reinforced I'm going to have to start sending them home so I can do the final fairing and shaping and detailing when I get back. I realize that putting a finish color on these parts now is a bit of a waste of effort, but it'll look cooler in the meantime.

Stay tuned.
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

Awesome work, been following this thread like many for Months, keep up the great work! :thumbsup
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

Looks awesome, Thor!

Always cool to see your progress. :):thumbsup
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

Dude, that look phenominal, but aren't you going to get dust in the paint? Don't they have spray boothes in Afganistan?
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

Well if he does get dust in the paint it's going to do a heck of a lot to add to that nicely weathered look :D
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

Well I'm still not back in my workshop, but while I'm in a hotel on the East Coast, I figure there's no reason I can't make at least a little bit of progress on this project. Since the "my-size" torso armor will be a bit small for most of the group I'm going to be dressing, and the one I made in Afghanistan is definitely more of an XXL size, over the past few days I've been building another large size torso armor for folks who fit in between:
IMG_0615_4264.jpg


Here's the ab plate with the beginning of the fiberglass going in:
IMG_0617_4261.jpg


I've been sneaking out onto the roof of the hotel to do my 'glass work. Hopefully nobody notices and starts asking what I'm doing.

Here's the overly-gooped inside of the back:
IMG_0618_4262.jpg


If I were planning on wearing this piece, I'd be appalled at all of the extra weight in resin I've dumped into this part. If it were a boat, it'd be too heavy and brittle. Since I'm only trying to build it up enough to survive the trip back to California, I'm mostly just trying to use up all of the materials so I don't have to throw them away or drive them cross-country.

I've also gone ahead and written up an abbreviated history of the project in my blog. Check it out if you want, but if you've been following this thread there's nothing new in there.

More to come, stay tuned.
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

Not much of an update, but I haven't posted in a while, so here goes...

I've added the details to the front of the neck opening on the latest copy of the chest armor:
3613230861_b7ced5c3f0_o.jpg


Then I cut the two halves apart:
3614049814_5f6fe10488_o.jpg


Now the two halves nest together, which will make them easier to pack/store when we get started on the next leg of our trip:
3614049594_5be38224fd_o.jpg


Since I have a rattle can of primer handy, I went ahead and sprayed it. I peeled a bit of the paper off so that it would be easier for the bondo to stick to it once the paint dried:
3621478347_520f05e91d_o.jpg


Finally, I've noticed some flaws in the details in the big boxes on the back. I've decided to cut out these sections on either side and make replacements using plastic sheet stock:
3622295672_c75cddfdb8_o.jpg


I've also started working on a notching arrangement which will keep the front and back halves aligned and in place while the armor is being worn, but I'll have to post about that later after I've finalized the design.

Meanwhile, I've started on yet another unrelated project. This is a child-sized Fett helmet for my nephew:
3622294806_ba7cf61a77_o.jpg
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

Yay! This must be one of the longest journeys in achieving an exact Master Chief. No-one can doubt your commitment.
 
Re: HALO Master Chief Costume Progress Thread

Yay! This must be one of the longest journeys in achieving an exact Master Chief.

Actually, if it weren't for being mobilized and sent to Afghanistan I probably would've had this done in time for last Halloween. Per the original plan I expected to have 45+ days available to work in my shop between leaving my last seagoing job and 31 October 2008.

Stupid Taliban...

Also, the idea isn't to make an exact Master Chief so much as build all of the characters from Red vs. Blue to outfit a group of friends. That's the reason for all of the various sizes of armor parts I'm building. Not all of us are my size. In the end I won't be building one complete suit. I'll be building more like 11. Maybe 13 if we throw in a the Meta and Agent Washington from Reconstruction.
 
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