WIP: War Machine HD armor for Halloween 2012 !

[Kormier]

Hi everybody

I've been lurking around this forum for about a month now and now that I'm almost done with the work on my GB proton pack I have decided that my next project would be the Warmachine full armor using the HD pep files that I found on this thread by Zabana:
http://www.therpf.com/f24/war-machine-high-def-pepakura-team-up-113492/

This will be my first attempt at making an armor from scratch. I consider myself pretty handy (I do lots of woodworking and painting as hobbies) and I was looking for something challenging, so I think that I found thte challenge that I was looking for. This project should also keep me busy through the cold Canadian winter (I have a small workshop in my basement)

So here's my first progress pic: started with the bucket.

Three lessons I have learned so far:
1- cutting all of your pep parts up-front creates a huge puzzle nightmare. It would be better to cut them out as you need them and use pepakura software as a reference to know on what sheet is the piece you need, etc... I'm probably spending more time searching for the pieces I need than gluing the whole thing together.

2- cutting paper and creating small paper bits has the potential to really irritate the wife... so better try to keep the work area clean and outside of the living room...

3- Dogs think that your project is a toy and will chew it to shreds if you don't put it out of reach...

I'll post regular updates here.


cheers!

 

[Shades]

Have fun with the jaw. It was a BEAST. Good luck!

 

[Dancin_Fool]

Hi everybody

1- cutting all of your pep parts up-front creates a huge puzzle nightmare. It would be better to cut them out as you need them and use pepakura software as a reference to know on what sheet is the piece you need, etc... I'm probably spending more time searching for the pieces I need than gluing the whole thing together.

cheers!

What I find to work for this one is to cut all the parts out but to write down with a pen on each one what page it came from, that way when you're using pep as a reference it's a lot easier to find the piece you're looking for. It speeds things up a lot.

 

[jnsbanman]

hey Kormier, I am doing a Mark VI for halloween next year... I'm hoping a year will be enough time given it will be hard to do some "outdoor" work with these crappy Canadian winters rapidly approaching.

 

[Kormier]

hey Kormier, I am doing a Mark VI for halloween next year... I'm hoping a year will be enough time given it will be hard to do some "outdoor" work with these crappy Canadian winters rapidly approaching.

My thoughts exactly !!
At least I have a basement workshop and I can also heat my garage... but somehow I don't think that doing fiberglassing in a closed garage is a good idea... I might try smooth-on resin instead of fibreglass so that I can do it indoor.

 

[Kormier]

What I find to work for this one is to cut all the parts out but to write down with a pen on each one what page it came from, that way when you're using pep as a reference it's a lot easier to find the piece you're looking for. It speeds things up a lot.

That is a great tip ! Thanks!

 

[EyeofSauron]

as with every war machine build, im following this

 

[Kormier]

Have fun with the jaw. It was a BEAST. Good luck!

I'm keeping it for last... =)

 

[Zabana]

I´m pretty happy to see someone doing that War Machine!!!

Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[Kormier]

I had to temporarily stop this project to build a last minute proton pack for someone for a Halloween party last Friday. Good thing I had everything on hand (except for a sound board... so he didn't get any sound but was still happy with the pack).

I'll probably resume the work on my lid this week.

Only 1 year to go until Halloween:lol

 

[Kormier]

Hello peeps! Well since this was a long week-end and that I managed to get rid of my "honey-do" list I finally had some time yesterday to work on my WM. After about 8 hours of work I was able to complete the torso piece. I probably spent well over 15 hours overall on this piece alone (I know, I"m slow...). I'm still trying to decide if I will go ahead with the resin or if I'll build the entire suit first and then resin all later. I might just start on the shoulders.

 

[bamboodia]

Nice pep work man. I'd say 15 hours to make the torso is about the right amount of time, it proves you're taking care and not rushing things. Keep up the good work.

Only six and a half months to halloween now though

 

[Zabana]

Hello peeps! Well since this was a long week-end and that I managed to get rid of my "honey-do" list I finally had some time yesterday to work on my WM. After about 8 hours of work I was able to complete the torso piece. I probably spent well over 15 hours overall on this piece alone (I know, I"m slow...). I'm still trying to decide if I will go ahead with the resin or if I'll build the entire suit first and then resin all later. I might just start on the shoulders.

Hey that´s a pretty clean job

 

[Kormier]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad to hear that 15 hours is about right for this piece (although my wife keeps reminding me of how many other "useful" things I could have accomplished with that time :rolleyes... but she did admit that it looks cool... She likes to bug me, in a good way, about my hobbies).
I'm a stickler for details and there was no point in doing the HD version if I was not going to take the time to make it as clean as possible.

 

[sgtski]

Clean pep work will make the bondo job a lot easier.

 

[GrayFoxFlavio]

Good jobs!

 

[Kormier]

I decided to tackle the shoulders.

Got one done yesterday. Working on the second one at the moment.

That piece on top was tricky, especially to glue some of the "inside" pieces.

I'll be changing my strategy for the second one. Learning from mistakes.

 

[bamboodia]

I decided to tackle the shoulders.

Got one done yesterday. Working on the second one at the moment.

That piece on top was tricky, especially to glue some of the "inside" pieces.

I'll be changing my strategy for the second one. Learning from mistakes.

That's the spirit! Shoulder on my man!

Haha, get it? Shoulder on....? Soldier on!?! :confused

I find it's easiest to build the pieces in sections and then glue those bigger parts together, especially when you have those fiddly bits that you mentioned.

 

[Kormier]

Haha. Yes... Shoulder on! Started working on the other one tonight while watching Game of Throne.

 

[bamboodia]

Haha. Yes... Shoulder on! Started working on the other one tonight while watching Game of Throne.

Hoorah for House Stark!