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

Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

Made a bit more progress fairing out some of the parts today:


I also started going over the trim on the chest to redefine part of it:


Stay tuned...
 
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Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

Today's progress was mostly just smoothing out the parts a bit more:


Other than that, there was a lot of screwing around:


In other news, I've been looking at the references a lot. Can someone tell me what these nunchuck-looking things are:
 
Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

Wargear for a Veteran Sergeant. Its not a weapon; usually attached the belt as honour markings, like purity seals. I'll see if I can find the specific name in the Codex.

Charlie
 
Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

When its finished be sure to disply it with the C&D letters as a offical confirmation of how close to the original it is :)

You should re-do the C&D letters in calligraphy style and use them as the scrolls they attach to the armor with the wax seals - that would be perfect!
 
Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

Thanks for the feedback on the scrolls. I don't think I'll be making them anytime soon.

Here's a shot of yesterday's progress:


It doesn't look like all that much, but fairing has continued.

Here we are screwing around with the parts:


We did finish one part. Behold, the toe:


Once the shape was right, I coated it in glossy blue high-heat paint. The gloss makes it easier to see any minor flaws in the surface. The toe is good to go. When the heel is ready, we'll be able to start pulling boots. The rest of the pieces are going to have to be cut apart in order to make them into forming bucks.

In other news, we'll have used up the fourth gallon of Bondo for this project today. I think we're also over three gallons of fiberglass resin.

Finally, someone had asked me what the whole thing weighs at this point. The chest came in at exactly eleven pounds last night. I have no idea on the whole thing. It doesn't really matter though, because the parts will be pulled in lightweight ABS plastic sheets. I'm guessing the whole costume will weigh less than 30 lbs all together.

Stay tuned...
 
Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

Now the arm parts are nearly done:


Smoothing out the kneepad too.


The thighs need a lot more work, but the shins, diaper, and boot should be done in a day or so.

Stay tuned...
 
Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

People often ask me how I'm able to get so many things done so quickly. Well in addition to getting frequent help from Lopez the Robot Whittler, I'm also not above exploiting child labor:


This is my nephew Trey who was getting in the way elsewhere on the property and so was banished to my workshop to "help uncle Shawn," which could have also been said as, "get in the way somewhere else."

Here he is modelling the chest armor:


It looks like there's still a slight hint of the facets from the original pep model that still need to be faired out. We also tried a quick test pull of the boot parts, but the forming bucks still need a bit more work. Stay tuned...
 
Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

I have a quick question...how are you converting the pep models (after finished of course) into formable bucks? Are you using expanding foam to fill the voids?
 
Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

I'm using sheets of cardstock to fill in and raise the edges, then reinforcing the hell out of it from the backside with fiberglass.

I've got a lot going on right now, but this project is still a going concern. Even though it looks mor like a pile in the corner:


Progress will continue tomorrow and through the weekend. We're so close...
 
Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

I've been focused on other projects for the past couple of days. While my hands were busy, I've had Lopez the Robot Whittler make me a plasma pistol:


Now I just need to clean it up and do all of the detailing, but it's a start. Given the way my other weapon builds have gone (linkage) I think it'll be okay.
 
Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

I'm using sheets of cardstock to fill in and raise the edges, then reinforcing the hell out of it from the backside with fiberglass.


Progress will continue tomorrow and through the weekend. We're so close...

Clever idea! That might work for my applications...
 
Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

Back to working on this project, I've split the boot in half and glassed it together to make a vacforming buck:


I've also finished smoothing out the forearm:


With all of the other craziness going on, I've been amazed at how completely these parts have spread around the room:


I've been trying instead to pile all of the parts up so as to minimize their footprint:


Meanwhile, I've smoothed out the last few problem areas on the back:


To prepare for cutting the chest apart for use as forming bucks, I went ahead and glassed over the neck and arm holes:


Now I just need to hack it apart and start making pulls on the forming table. The back half of the boot still needs a lot more work before I can use it for forming.

Stay tuned...
 
Very inspirational =]

I do have a question however, well many, but I'll leave it at one for now.

How do you cut up the large pieces? Bandsaw?
 
Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

How do you cut up the large pieces? Bandsaw?

When you get to parts of this size, it starts to get easier to move the saw than the part. I'll be using a jigsaw for the most part and a "tight spaces" hacksaw in a few places.

To make sure I'm making straight cuts I'm using a laser level to find a cutting line that will make the bottom of each section flat.
 
Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

I haven't posted many updates on this project lately because it was somewhat pushed aside while I was going through some Halloween insanity. The other day I decided it was time to bite the bullet and start cutting the chest armor into something that could be used as forming bucks for the vac table.

I used a laser level to describe the slicing plane I would use. First, I picked where I would cut the top off of the chest:


I had the chest armor sitting on top of a couple of buckets so I could rotate it around and keep the laser at the same level as I marked the line with a Sharpie. Then I set it on its back and marked a line where the front and back would be split:


Since there was no good angle to get both sides of the chest at the same time from the outside, I decided to just go ahead and scribe the line on the inside. It's not like there's a shortage of room to work in there:


With the lines all marked out, I passed it off to my friend Matt so I'd have someone other than myself to yell at if something went wrong. He made the cuts with my shiny new jigsaw:


The finished result was three smaller pieces that sit nice and level on the forming table. Unfortunately, I can only fit two at a time:


Now I just need to add about a 1/2" standoff at the bottom edge of each piece so everything will form correctly all the way out to the edges. That done, I'll need to close up the ends of the front and back, reinforce the whole arrangement with one or two more layers of glass, and then it'll be time to make some chest armor.

By the way, I decided it was important to start with cutting this out instead of one of the many easier parts so that I'll be able to get started sculpting the trim pieces for the chest.

Stay tuned...
 
Re: Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor

This is serious buisness Whoa Great job can wait to see the finished marine next is the Terminator with the cyclone launcher ! :p
 
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