Commander Shepard Steel Reinforced Uniform - Mass Effect 3

Hi All,

This is my second year making an "epic" Halloween costume. I started work on September 21st 2012 and finished on October 30th. 

I based my costume on a uniform from popular video game Mass Effect. It specifically reflects Commander Shepard's non-combat uniform used by default in the opening mission of Mass Effect 3.

That said, I had a few design goals this year which predominantly focused on functionality and robustness. This lead me to select steel reinforced heavy denim, for the armour, finished with a leather-like laminate fabric. 

The uniform is 7 pieces: Boots, Pants, Under-shirt, Dress Shirt, Lower-Body Armour, Upper-Body Armour, and Belt.
Out of all this, only the Boots are store bought along with under-shirt (a t-shirt) which I altered to make the Turtle-neck. 

For my tutorial, Step 1 contains a step-by-step tutorial on how to create a fabric-sheet metal armour construction. This was my secrete ingredient for this project. If you continue to steps 2 - 8, I give a quick overview for each piece of my uniform.

I hope you can find this information useful in your future construction endeavours!

Best Regards

-Vik

Step 1:

Step 2: Boots

Boots
Material: All Man-Made Materials
Colour: Black
Special Features: Store-bought
Steel Plating: NA
Skills Req: internet shopping

Step 3: Under Shirt

Under Shirt
Material: cotton t-shirt + nit cotton turtle-neck
Colour: black
Special Features: t-shirt was bought and altered to remove stock neck finishing. Turtle-neck is a three layers construction with an elastic running through. Two buttons that attach to the Dress Shirt collar to keep it standing and rigid.
Steel Plating: NA
Skills Req: sewing

Step 4: Dress Pants

Dress Pants
Material: light denim + cotton bias
Colour: Blueish
Special Features: Waist elastic. Zipper. Foot loops.
Steel Plating: NA
Skills Req: sewing

Step 5: Dress Shirt

Dress Shirt
Material: light denim + cotton bias + interfacing (5%)
Colour: Blueish
Special Features: Button straps on sleeves to hold when rolled up. Plastic reinforced collar for rigidity. 
Steel Plating: NA
Skills Req: sewing

Step 6: Lower-Body Armour

Lower-Body Armour
Material: Heavy denim + Leather-Laminate + Steel
Colour: blueish and black
Special Features: 4 extruding pockets. Steel plates under lower pockets.
Steel Plating: 20%
Skills Req: sewing, sheet metal work

Step 7: Upper-Body Armour

Upper-Body Armour
Material: Heavy denim + Leather-Laminate + Steel
Colour: blueish and black and yellow emblem
Special Features: 100% steel plated. 2nd layer of steel plates over chest.heart area (see tutorial in "Step 1 - Slide 19"). Armour divided into thirds to allow bending. 
Steel Plating: 100% + 15% over chest.
Skills Req: sewing, sheet metal work

Step 8: Belt

Belt
Material: Heavy denim + Leather-Laminate + Steel
Colour: blueish and black
Special Features: Steel plates supporting central clips
Steel Plating: 20%
Skills Req: sewing, sheet metal work