Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - NEW SUIT DONE Pics on p.17

[thorssoli]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

Powertrip, you can stop waving your hand around like that. I've already considered and rejected the idea of doing the Terran Marine years ago. I'm still trying to talk myself out of making a dinosaur though...


In the meantime, I've been in and out of the shop lately but mostly out for the last couple of weeks while the girlfriend was home from school. Now that she's flown back to far far away, I've finally had a chance to get into the shop and get back to work. For the Space Wolf suit, I'm making the vents on the powerpack into stylized wolf heads. I started by roughing out the shape in 2" insulation foam:


I guess it's not very wolf-looking, so I had to add a few more bits:


Still no good? Here's what it looked like after a bit of time with the file and the sander:


In order to stiffen up the surface, I went ahead and coated it with urethane resin:


Tomorrow I'll be doing some quick grinding to smooth out the lumps of resin in a few places, then it'll be time to add a layer of clay and start smoothing and detailing the whole thing. Then I'll mold it and cast a pair to fit onto the backpack.

Stay tuned...

 

[mikkonator]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

Space Wolves FTW! Awesome work.

 

[Daveitus]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

Grr. I would pay for a chainsword of yours. They look perfect (except mayhap add the revving handle or whatever it's called).
Or wait... I mean..you could make one and send it to me as a gift for me and my girlfriend...and for some reason money will mysteriously appear in your PayPal. >.> because I could never make one. I just wanna hang it on my wall.
This copyright stuff is annoying when they could make the replicas themselves because so many people would buy them.

But all your creations are fantastic. I love that heavy bolter a lot!

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

Apologies for the lack of updates. Up until the last few days I've either been out of town or tinkering with the cleaning and polishing stages that make it look like nothing's actually happening. The biggest part of that was tuning up the chest to prep it for molding in fiberglass. In order to make a fiberglass mold that won't lock onto the part, the original (aka the "plug") needs to be as smooth and shiny as possible:


Once I was done buffing it out, I handed it off to a friend of mine who works with glass professionally. While I'm able to lay up the glass myself, he's got all sorts of specialized tools and experience that make it a lot easier. He's making a three-part mold, starting with the top:


After building the parting wall, the plug gets sprayed with a release agent and then coated with gelcoat:


Once the gelcoat sets up, it gets layered over with fiberglass:


Then the edges are trimmed and the next parting lines are built up:

The round begs around the edges will become registration keys to keep the mold pieces properly aligned.

After coating the next area to be molded with more release agent, the same gelcoat and fiberglass layup is done:


That's where the new chest mold stands right now. He tells me he should have the first pull out of the mold sometime next week.

In the meantime, I've finished up the sculpts for the hands:




Today I was able to get a print coat on them:


I should be able to get the mold built up over the next few days. Hopefully I'll have a couple of castings in the coming week as well.

Since the new suit will be a Space Wolf, I've sourced fabric to make a wolf pelt to hang off his back:


If you're in the market for faux fur, there's no better place than Mendel's in San Francisco:


On the subject of wolf parts, I picked up an Alaskan grey wolf skull replica:

This will end up mounted to the belt buckle area. It took a lot to talk myself out of getting the Direwolf skull HERE. It's just a tad too big.

I've also been collecting replicas of Grizzly bear claws and canine teeth. They look about big enough to pass for Fenrisian wolf bits:


The next big thing I need to work on will be the wolf's head version of the jetpack vents:


Stay tuned...

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

Four days and not one comment? Odd.

Today I pulled out all of the forms necessary to pull the rest of the suit parts:


Then I had a friend help me crank out a bunch of pieces:


A bunch:


I also added more thickness to the new hand molds:


And prepped a pair of helmets for paint:


Much to do in the days ahead. Stay tuned...

 

[Alric]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

The new works look great as ever

Whats the advantage of a fiberglass mold over the vac form, does it not give your more mold lines to clean ?

How many suits are you up to now 8/9 and where do you store them all as they must take up alot of space.

I think there were about 100 chapters originally so three down and 97 to go

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

This suit will be the 7th one I've made. There's the first three Dark Angels, Captain Titus, the "old school" Dark Angel in the colors of the original rulebook, the Dark Angel Sergeant (aka "Big Sexy") and now this one. I keep Big Sexy stacked in a corner of a friend's basement so nothing will damage him. The others live with friends who've helped me build them.

The original rulebook mentioned 1,000 chapters with 1,000 marines each. So I suppose I've got quite a lot of work left...

The molded fiberglass pieces will be stronger without adding much (if any) additional weight. There will be mold lines to clean, yes, but I won't have to bond three pieces together and then have to dress up the seams. It's better this way.

 

[iconsunlimited]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

Would you possibly share the source where you buy your plastic sheets to pull? I read your blog often and note that you find some good prices like your silicone supplier you shared on there. Thanks

 

[Amish Trooper]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

My goal would be to have a ABS Spacemarine but I'll have to settle for my foam. Which arrives next month. I'm going the Black Templar route possibly a Deathwatch version...

 

[Alric]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

Did you ever get your head scanned and printed ?

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

Would you possibly share the source where you buy your plastic sheets to pull? I read your blog often and note that you find some good prices like your silicone supplier you shared on there. Thanks

I go to a local shop called TAP Plastics in Santa Rosa, their website is www.tapplastics.com and they've got branches all over California. It may not be the cheapest option there is, but I like the fact that I can just walk in and get exactly what I need right away.

My goal would be to have a ABS Spacemarine but I'll have to settle for my foam. Which arrives next month. I'm going the Black Templar route possibly a Deathwatch version...

Be sure to post a thread with lots of pictures. There needs to be more Warhammer stuff walking around.

Did you ever get your head scanned and printed ?

I did get my head scanned. It was while I was working on the blue robot costume for the Gage movie (www.facebook.com/GagetheRobotMovie). Unfortunately, I haven't gotten the actual file yet and the guy who owned the laser scanner hasn't had time to polish it up and send it to me. Any minute now...

Back on the subject of the Space Wolf, the fiberglass mold for the chest is finished! Here's a pic of the master after the mold was separated:


Here's the other two pieces of the mold:


And the separation between the top piece and the back piece:


I should have the first pull out of that mold within the next few days.

While that's been going on, I've gotten back to work making the pile of formed plastic parts into recognizable pieces of armor. I've started with the pelvis:


All of the seams are solvent welded together with a wide backing piece to keep everything aligned and strengthen the joint where the pieces butt together. In order to hold the pieces together while the solvent flashes off, I tape the seams and clamp everything together with rare-earth magnets:


After a few hours worth of work, I had the pelvis, the thighs, and one knee assembled and mostly trimmed out:


I'm still occasionally surprised by how big these beasts are:


I also went out and found the just-right color of grey with a slight tinge of blue. It's called "Slate Blue" by Rustoleum. Here's one of the helmets:


I think it'll work. When it dries it'll have a satin sheen instead of the glossy wet paint look it has going on right now:


Stay tuned...

 

[DarkJester]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

as usual your work is crazy good bro, not really a fan of the pups but im anxious to see what you turn out on this project, everytime i see you working i'm reminded of the joker in batman 1 "where does he get those wonderful toys?"

 

[LArifleMAN]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

Amazing work! I need one of those swords haha.

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

Progress continues. Today I spent some quality time on the lower legs:

Or rather, in the lower legs...

So as soon as I slap together a pair of boots, I'll have everything from the waist down done:


I also got a solid start on the pack:


Sculpting a few of the more interesting details now. Stay tuned...

 

[Xtremenoob]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

How heavy is the whole suit, minus the helmet and stilts? I'm guessing the weight of the helmet.

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

I have no idea how much it weighs. It's not the weight that's the problem though, it's the awkwardness.

Today my fiberglass guy sent me a few more pics. Here's the beginning of the back being laid up:


In this shot you can see the chest part laid up in the mold as well:


Here's the outside of the mold:


And finally, here's the first piece out of the mold:




I'm nearly finished with the sculpt for the wolf-shaped pack vent:


And today I made progress on mothermolds for the new hand sculpts:


Just before I called it a day, the new fiberglass chest showed up:


I'm amazed at how lightweight it is:


Tomorrow will be a busy day:


Stay tuned...

 

[Nessy]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

Great work as always! I especially like the helmet behind the wolf pack vent. Looks like a Zombie Iron Man helmet with pieces clawed apart.

 

[Alric]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

That is very light or a very strong pinky
There does not look to be alot of work needs on the seems either, so it will soon be time for you to pick which chapeter the next one will be

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

Great work as always! I especially like the helmet behind the wolf pack vent. Looks like a Zombie Iron Man helmet with pieces clawed apart.

That was the sculpt for my Godkiller helmet. You can see the first casting on the right in this pic:

Now that it's been molded and cast, I've been harvesting the sculpt for clay.

That is very light or a very strong pinky

Can it be both?

There does not look to be alot of work needs on the seems either, so it will soon be time for you to pick which chapeter the next one will be

I think it might be a bit before I make another Space Marine. First I've got this other project I've started:


That one is going to consume much of my next three months, but I'm still going to knock out this Space Wolf first.

Stay tuned...

 

[Nessy]

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor - Finished Suit Pics on p.17

Now that it's been molded and cast, I've been harvesting the sculpt for clay.

I thought as much. I still like the idea of Zombie Iron Man. Not sure how the zombies would catch him, but an interesting mental image regardless.