Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [Completed!]

[Sylgian]

Costume is complete as of October 2013. I can now begin the thread with some pictures of the finished build! Keep reading for all the juicy details though








I'm back! It's been a while since my last project. I am glad to say I finnally found my next build. I have decided to build myself a Warhammer 40k Space Marine


Inspiration hit me the other day and I have been obsessing ever since. I've been scouring the internet for advice and resources. I found some FANTASTIC builds. Two in particular stood out and I will be using them as guides for my own build. I am building in EVA foam and am going BIG. Around 7 feet tall big.

My guides will be the two following builds:
Henrik Pilerud's fanmade Blood Angel Space Marine

---and---
Hasenbrau's Ultramarine

Both are fantastic. Updates incoming. I will keep you posted!

 

[Sylgian]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

My first shipment of EVA foam has been ordered and is on the way. It was a good chunk of change so I am financially committed now, lol. I budgeted for about $2000 and I will be actively keeping track of expenditures this time around. I'll let you exactly how bad I blow the budget.

I'm starting at the bottom and working my way up. That means boots first. Since the foam isn't here, and I am not naturally 7 feet tall. I will be building stilts to boost my height.

I have been actively working on the proper scale to use for my pep templates and I have decided on 935. Its big, heres the footptint.

Heres the plan for the stilts. They will primarily 3/4" PVC.

I took some time tonight and designed and began 3D printing some brackets for the PVC pipes. (the wife got me a 3D printer for Christmas. LOVE her, and also love finding uses for it :love)

These little brackets will hold my vertical stilt posts to the base. Why dont they make these? Oh well, PRINT EM.


There are a few more items I need from the hardware store before my stilts can come together. More progress tomorrow.

 

[Darth Serberus]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

This is going to be an epic build!
Who's a lucky boy getting a 3d printer? I'm dead jealous! Lol
I'm subscribing!!

 

[DarkJester]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

looking forward to seeing this come together, jealous of your 3d printer, but excited to see another of the space marine coming to life

 

[Sylgian]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

Given I have little to do other than optimize pep patterns for foam or build stilts... today I built stilts. Most of them anyhow.

I rethought my design based on some prototypes my friend and I built the other day. Below is the version 2. Scratch that, Mark II,. That sounds cooler. Thank you Iron Man.

After a fun trip to the hardware store, and Harbor Freight. I had a pile of crap, a plan and a blown daily budget thanks to the tool store.

Print and cut out template for the foot

MEASURE STUFF. Then cut and start assembling some PVC.

Test fitting it up as I go.

And BOOM. Stilts. Mostly done. Still need a base for my shoe, but you get the idea.

I took 1" off the outside edge of the footprint. My logic is that more wood equals more weight. The footprint is plenty wide and stable as I have it. I will fill the gaps with a ring or two of extra foam when I make the boot.

 

[Sylgian]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

Made a little progress today. My first order of foam is on its way. I was trying to find EVA foam, but ended up going with this Cross-Linked Polyethylene instead.

From what I gather its very similar to EVA and sold under the brand name minicel around here. Correct me if I'm wrong. I believe xrobots used something like this in his iron man build. Just in case I only ordered $100 worth. If it fails me I wont be breaking the bank.

On the construction front. Here is my stilt progress!

Cut out the foot pads

Secure the with conduit clamps and bolts

Look like stilts

duct taped them to my feet to test.

I will need further tests with the leg strap in place around my calf. They are functional, but I think I'd feel better with them secured to my calf in addition to the foot strap. They were seriously wonky on grass, given the uneven terrain. Kind of scary even.

 

[msleeper]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

I am super excited to see this build progress, but please don't break your ankle or something with those stilts!

 

[MrBackpack]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

could I buy some of those brackets for my own Space Marine build?

 

[Sylgian]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

I am super excited to see this build progress, but please don't break your ankle or something with those stilts!

After last nights testing I think I will be making tweaks and building a Mark III version of the stilts. These will have the same material directly under my heel, but will flex directly under my toes. I think it will offer much better mobility and hopefully better stability on uneven ground.

I am sketching designs right now. Hopefully I can work on that tonight.

could I buy some of those brackets for my own Space Marine build?

It is possible, but they take a ridiculously long time to print with 100% infill (12+ hours). The material is cheap, but the time is very valuable to me. If I were to sell them I fear I would have to price them unreasonably high considering how long they would occupy my printer.

I wager you could find hardware solutions that would work equally well for considerably less.

 

[drknotter]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

I'm sure you've already checked him out, but in case you haven't, user thorssoli did a build of a Warhammer 40K Space Marine here. I realize that you'll be going a different route by doing a foam build, but there might still be some useful stuff in there.

Looking forward to your build!

 

[msleeper]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

Yeah speaking of thorssoli's build, have you considered using drywall stilts Sylgian? I'd have to re-read his thread but I think that's what he used. I can understand being budget conscience but if safety is a factor you may not want to try and reinvent the wheel.

 

[Benedictus]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

Wow! To make a suit of Space Marine Armor is a childhood dream and wish you the best on the build! I look forward to your further posts!

 

[MrBackpack]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

It is possible, but they take a ridiculously long time to print with 100% infill (12+ hours). The material is cheap, but the time is very valuable to me. If I were to sell them I fear I would have to price them unreasonably high considering how long they would occupy my printer.

I wager you could find hardware solutions that would work equally well for considerably less.

ah, that I understand.

To the hardware store!

 

[Sylgian]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

I'm sure you've already checked him out, but in case you haven't, user thorssoli did a build of a Warhammer 40K Space Marine here. I realize that you'll be going a different route by doing a foam build, but there might still be some useful stuff in there.

Looking forward to your build!

SUPER inspired by him. I know of the build, but didn't reference it only because the medium he used was different. He's amazing.

Yeah speaking of thorssoli's build, have you considered using drywall stilts Sylgian? I'd have to re-read his thread but I think that's what he used. I can understand being budget conscience but if safety is a factor you may not want to try and reinvent the wheel.

Very True. I did consider proper drywall stilts, but decided against it for a few reasons. Cost was certainly one reason. My PVC contraptions cost me around $40. The real deal stilts were around $75 and some shipping.

Secondly, the cheaper stilts I found were a minimum of 18" tall. My math says I should need around a 10" stilt for the scale I am using. I left mine tall for now, around 12" just in case.

And lastly, I just cant help but want to put something together :$



On a related note. I tested a Mark III stilt this afternoon. It involved a flexible foam base on the bottom of the stilt directly below the front half of my foot. Sadly, I did not find it beneficial. I will be keeping the Mark II, but experimenting was fun.

The left drawing is what I attempted.

During this testing I found that adding strapping around my calves helped quite a bit. I no longer felt I was in mortal peril when the stilts were fastened to both my foot and calf.

 

[Sylgian]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

Based on my rough math, I took a moment and made a quick size diagram. The man is ~6' tall. The final Space Marine should be ~7'. The proportion of the model is a bit off. But this should be pretty close to accurate regarding height.

 

[MrBackpack]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

do you plan on having fully articulated hands?

 

[Sylgian]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

do you plan on having fully articulated hands?

I'm still not entirely sure. In my mind I have three options. First, just wear some hockey gloves and let the arms look a bit short. Second, Non articulated hands that are attached to the forearm section, so the arms are the correct length. And third, I could assemble a hand that could have articulated fingers, operated from the forearm section.

With the aid of some 3D printing, the 3rd option is possible. But it would certainly be time consuming.

As of now, whats most likely to happen is option 2. Possibly morph that into an option 3 afterword. The articulated fingers would be a project unto themselves, so I don't want to tackle that along side the suit.

 

[r1racing]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

hi!
I am making my own armor, .. and I think its not a good idea startings with the stilts... you dont know how high you must go in order to keep your knees on place until you make almost the full armor..
I started on chest, then arms, then cod, then legs... and I am working right now on foots, and NOW I see I need a 20cm stilts to make it look ok..
by the way, its a very good work, of course... Please , keep updated..
regards!

 

[Sylgian]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

hi!
I am making my own armor, .. and I think its not a good idea startings with the stilts... you dont know how high you must go in order to keep your knees on place until you make almost the full armor..
I started on chest, then arms, then cod, then legs... and I am working right now on foots, and NOW I see I need a 20cm stilts to make it look ok..
by the way, its a very good work, of course... Please , keep updated..
regards!

I totally agree with you. But luckily I had the same thought. My stilts are not cemented together yet, and I made them intentionally tall. Because they aren't yet cemented, I can still pop them apart and adjust the height as needed. They stand at 12" as they are.

I am just antsy waiting for my foam so I jumped the gun on the stilts. Any excuse to build stuff is a good one.

Dont mind the duct tape. I'll be working on the rigging this weekend.

 

[CJGrimm]

Re: Sylgian's 40K Space Marine [WIP]

Articulated hands don't have to be complicated. Here is a fairly simple one. How To Make Your Own Gigantic Steampunk Mechanical Hand