Agent 3.x: (update 3) THE HIVE!!!
This one has been a long time in the coming! I had intended to have this little prop finished well before now, but some approaches weren’t working out as hypothesized and, well, life happens and things slowed down a bit. Anyway, let’s get into the build!
WARNING: This is gonna be a long one, so brace yourself!
The night of the Ubisoft Conference, I was able to start going over the footage of the reveal trailer and seeing the developers do a live-play of the demo, I paid close attention to those that had the Hive equipped. Plus, having some hands-on time the following night in the Ubisoft Lounge with the demo, I was able to get a somewhat better look at the item. Thus, the design process started, in which while sketching I was thinking of what objects and items I had around my place that I could use or that could be easily bought.
The basic body of the build was a simple plastic Glad container. It was literally the first item that came into my mind that had something similar in shape. The next part that I had to figure out was the top section and thinking about what would have that dome shape without being spherical. It took a bit, but I thought of a tap-light, as it was the right shape AND would allow me to put in play a light-up feature :cool
The parts that would attach the handle to the tap-light were a mix of a couple different PVC pipe fittings.
Some of the details, like the base and the details that would later be added to the top (which was done by affixing the tap-light directly on the Glad container lid affixed with E6000 adhesive) were made of EVA foam, with some 2mm craft foam for the trip around the lid. For the “rivet” details, they were simple indentations made using the end of a pencil with the eraser taken out. To allow easy access to the batteries to change them out as needed, I simply cut a hole through the Glad lid after it was attached (in the end, I ended up cutting away almost the whole area so that I could use more E6000 along the inside seams to make the bond more solid between the lid and the bottom of the tap-light).
The small nubs that went all around the body were a bit of interpretation, as there’s yet to be a completely clear view of them. To me, the sprung to mind the ends of NERF darts right away, so that’s what I ran with (there are 36 of the lil’ mofo’s on the body)! While perhaps not game-accurate due to the orange tips, I sort of liked the detail as it felt very fitting with the color scheme of the franchise; plus, they look badass under a blacklight.
The tips were taped off with regular ol’ masking tape, then a nice layer of Plastidip was sprayed over the outside and inside of the body.
The two pieces were starting to come together quite nicely!
The most challenging part would have to have been the handle. NOTHING had the right shape. Friend and fellow Division cosplayer DB Dave and I were talking about it (he too has been working on a Hive, but with a totally different approach) and he had a great idea for a small handle that I was considering going with, but I really wanted to keep the triangular shape. I tried a few things, which led to a few failed purchases, and in the end decided to craft the handle out of EVA. This was also my first attempt at “sculpting” EVA and let me tell you…those of you who can do this and get smooth surfaces and small detailing, you’re all my friggin’ heroes!
The handle was given the same Plastidip treatment then affixed into the PVC pipe fitting with some E6000. More of the adhesive was used to fill in small gap that would show the light; this was my first time doing this and, when doing a second unit, I’ll probably opt to use something like a clear silicone as it may be easier to control and come out a bit smother of a surface without smearing along the top of the tap-light…but some sanding helped get rid of some of the mistake as well as give a little character to the unit. While the E6000 was curing I taped off the area and the portion done in craft foam and went over the tap-light dome with some simple gray primer; this was purposeful, as it would break up the colors and add a different texture to the overall piece.
Once everything was dried, things got a light weathering/dry-brushing to bring out some of the surface details and break the pieces up, and I went over the “ring” at the base of the handle with some transparent orange acrylic paint. Fairly pleased with the results, considering this is still the prototype and I’m working out the build as I go along.
And here we have the final prototype!!!
But even better, we have here the first-ever photo of the prototype with the light-up feature active!
Big thank you to all in the Division and cosplay communities that I’ve been interacting with for all the support and encouragement. With this piece now done, I’m ready to move on to the next little project for the Agent 3.x cosplay as well as start working on the second build of a Hive (this prototype I intend to send to the awesome developers and community managers at Massive Entertainment).
Hope you all enjoyed the build breakdown! Can’t wait to see what other Agents come up with, and I just know once we get a good look at the in-game model we’ll have some accurate and amazing 3D files to start playing with. Next update soon as I can manage!