Protoman! (making the armor real)

[The Ronin]

Re: Protoman! (Starting on a real uniform)

So I finally got around to soldering the red LEDs to the power source and switch.


Protoman red LED light test by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Video of it working

Protoman red LED light test

 

[Alpha Proto]

Re: Protoman! (Starting on a real uniform)

Very nice upgrades!

 

[tauriice]

Re: Protoman! (Starting on a real uniform)

That helmet is amazing. Can't wait to see all of the upgrades.

 

[The Ronin]

Re: Protoman! (Lets light it up!)

So I finished wiring up the yellow inner LEDs. Here's a vid of them working

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnUwZ02iX-s&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[Drack]

Re: Protoman! (Lets light it up!)

I don't even know the game but this is looking awesome man

 

[The Ronin]

Re: Protoman! (Lets light it up!)

I don't even know the game but this is looking awesome man

You've never played the Megaman series? You poor soul. :confused

I've found that I really like soldering stuff together. It used to intimidate me a bit, but it's not really bad at all. I started setting up the ear lights. I was originally thinking 6 LEDs per side, but the board and the hotspotting just made it more practical to go with 8 per side. I still need to get the resistors, so the only light you see is me holding a 3v battery to the ends of one LED.

Protoman ear cup lights. board test by RoninsArt, on Flickr

And slightly related to the costume build...

I've been working on a custom NES for my little sister, with the main feature being a lighted, etched window in the top of the case. I was wiring it up at the same time as the ears

Megaman NES etched window wiring and light test by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Megaman NES etched window closeup. by RoninsArt, on Flickr

 

[nixy]

Re: Protoman! (Lets light it up!)

This is just awesome!!

 

[The Ronin]

Re: Protoman! (Lets light it up!)

So my son decided that he want's to be Protoman this year, too. Thankfully the store that we bought his Megaman hat from also had the Protoman hat! He LOVES it. He was sitting with me, wearing the hat, and demanded that I put my helmet on. The result was pure gold.

Proto and Proto Jr. by RoninsArt, on Flickr



Also, I started skinning the parts with fiberglass so that I can paint them to match the helmet.

Protoman shin under glass by RoninsArt, on Flickr

 

[The Ronin]

Re: Protoman! (Lets light it up!)

I finally got my order of resistors in and wired up the ears!

Pretty clean wiring job if I do say so myself.

Untitled by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Making sure they actually work

Untitled by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Wired into the helmet, noticed one LED not working. Grrr. Turned out it was the solder holding the LED to the board was just too close and would allow the current to jump and bypass the LED. Only took a couple minutes to fix

Untitled by RoninsArt, on Flickr

So now I had to finish repairing the ear cups

Untitled by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Untitled by RoninsArt, on Flickr

I couldn't resist playing with the lights

Untitled by RoninsArt, on Flickr

I didn't want the batteries flopping around inside the helmet. A couple scrap foam bits work nicely.

Untitled by RoninsArt, on Flickr

And finally I attached the ears to the helmet!

Untitled by RoninsArt, on Flickr

I couldn't resist trying it on.

Untitled by RoninsArt, on Flickr

 

[The Ronin]

Re: Protoman! (Lets light it up!)

Edit: Double post.

 

[zodiac]

Re: Protoman! (Lets light it up!)

Looks really awesome, digging the upgrades! I had a similar idea to make a Meagaman helmet, even have a bag of bits and pieces but never started it, after seeing this I may have to get on that.

 

[The Ronin]

Re: Protoman! (Lets light it up!)

Looks really awesome, digging the upgrades! I had a similar idea to make a Meagaman helmet, even have a bag of bits and pieces but never started it, after seeing this I may have to get on that.

Do it! Megaman seems to get no love from the costume crowd.

 

[zodiac]

Re: Protoman! (Lets light it up!)

Do it! Megaman seems to get no love from the costume crowd.

I noticed that myself. I was going to do classic MM for my kid and I was going to do a foam armor MMX for me. Regardless of my plans, yours has blown me out of the water!

 

[The Ronin]

Re: Protoman! (Lets light it up!)

Wow, I just realized that I haven't updated this in a while. Got a ton done, and even showed it off last month!

I completely glassed the boots and made a few modifications that made them easier to walk in. I didn't go the full body filler route because I didn't have time before my convention, but I'm actually glad because I have some more improvements that I'm going to make before my next convention in February.

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr


The bulk of my work was on the Protobuster. I fully glassed the outside and smoothed it with body filler until it was the right shape.

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

For those of you that haven't played with body filler before, this tool is a godsend. You wait until the filler is rubbery, but not hard, and file it down like a cheese grater. It will take down the high spots and help shape things so fast. I wouldn't use it around detail spots though, as it will shave them off in a heartbeat.

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Shaping the barrel opening

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

And starting on the glazing putty (Thought I had more red than I really did)

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

I thought it looked pretty good in primer. I wasn't going to worry about the little imperfections here and there, as I planned on using them for damage spots anyway.

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Silver basecoat. Again not worrying about the little imperfections, becaust this is supposed to be a battle worn robot

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Now I needed a way to to install the barrels and switches, so an access panel was needed. The big holes are for screws. I wanted to keep the industrial look that the helmet has, so exposed screws are a good thing.

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

I busted out the airbrush and gave the barrels a little "heat coloration." The pic didn't really catch the color gradient as well as I would have liked though.

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Unfortunately I didn't have time to take any pics of the final paint and weathering before I assembled it, so here's some selfies wearing the Protobuster

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

And here's all the armor pieces together

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

And here it is at NDK! I stand about 6'7" in this costume :eek

Protoman (Photo by Claws and Stripes) by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Protoman vs Cpl. Giroro by RoninsArt, on Flickr

 

[Hanzo]

That's one TALL Proto-Man!!

 

[blitz1027]

Dude that is awesome.

 

[Alpha Proto]

Looks cool! Very good Protoman!

 

[nick daring]

This looks great! Congrats!

 

[Briciius]

i'm in love with your boots u_u

 

[The Ronin]

That's one TALL Proto-Man!!

LOL! Yeah, I'm 6'2", the boots add 2", and the helmet adds another 3

Dude that is awesome.

Looks cool! Very good Protoman!

This looks great! Congrats!

Thanks guys!

i'm in love with your boots u_u

I'm actually working on refining them again, because they beat the crap out of my knees, and they're nearly impossible to get in and out of after fiberglassing. The opening is just BARELY big enough to get around my calf muscle (My armor "dance" trying to get out of the things after walking around the con floor most of the day had my wife ROLLING) So I'm going to add another layer of fiberglass to reinforce the whole thing, open up the backs and rework the knees to make them much more comfortable to wear. In the process I'll

The plans for the boots

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Workin out the knee template

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Cutting guidelines

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

Knee covers cut and glued together (Yes, I know they look like boob armor)

Protoman! by RoninsArt, on Flickr

I haven't actually started stripping or cutting the boots yet, I want to try and get some more pics with my son as Megaman for Halloween. I know that I won't have the time to finish everything before then, so I'm not going to start just yet :lol