Using Paper, Resin, and Fiberglass to be the Master Chief!

Be Master Chief for a day with your own handmade armor! Follow this tutorial to make fiberglass pieces, and you can be a Spartan II to pwn all your friends' costumes.

***********Work in progress. I have yet to finish the chest armor and all left arm/leg pieces.*************

This is my first Instructable, and my entry into the Instructables 2007 Halloween contest. Baseline cost is around 150 bucks for a full suit. Difficulty is moderate.

I've always wanted to make a stormtrooper's costume. But when I saw a homemade suit of Spartan armor straight out of a Halo deathmatch, I knew I just had to make my own. So I hit up google and found the amazing forums at 405th.com . This is a guide to folding paper pieces(pepakura), resining, fiberglassing, and finishing them for paint, along with simple suggestions to complete them. I won't be covering the details for every piece of a suit, I will use simple pieces like the bicep as an example.

Step 1 Tools, Supplies and Materials.

Obviously, if you're reading this instructable, you have a PC. Good to know, cause without one and a working printer you will go nowhere with this. The ground for this suit is printed paper, cut, folded and glued to produce 3D pieces. This is called Pepakura. I'll go over that in the next section but keep this in mind.

The one key part of this suit is Fiberglass and resin. lots of it. So far, I've used 5 quarts of resin, and 3 packs of fiberglass. That was enough to resin-coat all the pieces, and fiberglass the right arm, helmet, chest, crotch, and right leg. So I'm going to guesstimate on total quantity here(marked with * for unsure-ity). Note that this list includes only what you need for making the pieces. I'll get to other detail and accent pieces like the gold visor and such later in this instructable.

Tools:
Dremel with cutting disc and sanding bit
Hot-glue gun with plenty of sticks

9 quarts of Bondo resin*(two gallons and a quart=70 bucks)
5 packs of Bondo fiberglass cloth(25 dollars)
Bondo Body Filler(not pictured)
about 200 sheets of 110 lb. press cardstock(not pictured)
"Medium Grit" Sandpaper
Primer for sanding aid(not pictured)
Some type of rubber gloves(disposables)
Container for mixed resin(i use the lid from the quart can, and line it with aluminum foil so I can use it again)
Measuring paraphernalia(teaspoons, tablespoons, etc. make sure you'll never need em for food again)
Facemask or respirator for working with resin/fiberglass/sanding
Tape and super glue

Comments

[cochinosanchez]

If you're willing to spend a few extra bucks, what I would have added is to apply a layer of Bondo body filler to help get rid of the larger imperfections. Then I would have primed it and sanded it down.

[jgderuvo]

Jake, great instructable. However, I'm a tad fuzzy on the scale issue. Where did you get the scale of each part? Sure wish you used the helmet as an example instead of the bicep! Thanks.

[Jake Turner]

Quite simple. Check the reply to your comment on my orangeboard. :D but to summaraize: You get the scale of the current pepakura piece by going to "scale development up/down by specifying number", and noting the number in the bottom blank. Ok, so maybe to quote...

[HumbleSwordfish]

Hey Jake, I'm sort of clueless with this pepakura viewer mumbo-jumbo, and I don't even know if you'll answer this :b But where exactly do I find the "Scale development up/down by specifying number"? I can't seem to find it anywhere... I'm using the version 3.0.4 or something (the latest as of my posting date). Thanks mate!

[marshon]

I liked this one, so I used it to make a simpler version for a body painting

Space Girl

Hope you like it

[ghostrider2]

nerdgasm

[Jake Turner]

Nice!

[Automobilie]

And this is where you install an airsoft FAMAS into the body and sell it for $$.

[ghostrider2]

Im actually pretty sure the assault rifle from reach was loosely based off it.

[ghostrider2]

either that or loosely off an FS 2000

[kadidlehopper]

http://halocostuming.wikia.com/wiki/Pepakura_File_Index

THAT WERE YOU GET IT ALL
recon marine cove weps and marine weps every thing can be found here stop asking for gods sake

[ghostrider2]

I found everything for reach here:
http://www.4shared.com/dir/iLZI7Rb-/halo_reach_files.html#dir=90791823

it has weapons, character specific parts, and just about everything else

[halo fan 1#]

your right. THAT site awsome! not only do you get the best wepons you get the best armor and all types!!!!!!!

[matstermind]

would you happen to still have the files? the links are down

[dspartan]

what resin do you use? can i use aqua resin from michaeles?

[cowscankill]

Aqua resin might be one of the best choices, because it doesn't shrink when drying.

[WKD_Side]

Hey man i used 140 gsm card i'm worried that it will warp when i apply the resin. Do you think its a valid worry or am i being paranoid about destroying my hard work :P

[bojangles141]

ZOMG!!! his wide eyes make him look like he's thinking "oh my god he's naked!!!" lolololololol xD

[Jake Turner]

Dude, wtf are you talking about?

[jamwaffles]

Epic win!

If people complain it's blocky a) tell them it should be or b) say you only have Halo 1. Brilliant games, even better outfit - thanks for sharing!

[The Jamalam]

I've seen this method on youtube, using the same files etc. Did you use that?

[Feral_Messiah]

Great 'ible!

A trio of wuick questions:

How strong is the resin/fiberglass combination?

Can it withstand being bumped, scraped and hugged?

Is the final product water proof/water resistant?

Keep up the good work,
C.

[Cr4zy_Dud3_0n_F1r3]

Hello, I have a quick question :
Is it legal to sell armor you make?
I see people saying that they'll sell it on YouTube but I don't know...

Thanks in advance. :)

[Jake Turner]

Anything that you make can be sold, so long as you're not claiming it to be a copyrighted product that someone else makes/sells.

So, yeah, it's cool.

[bino]

how do you get the guns besides going to 405th

[nenrikii]

just copy and paste what i posted :)

[nenrikii]

http://halocostuming.wikia.com/wiki/Pepakura_File_Index#UNSC_Marine_Corps_armor

[RC-0720]

erm... going to the Halo pep wiki? It is a really good site, and free. everything that you need, covie armor, UNSC armor, weaponry, even a Warthog for pep!

[Landon Sullivan]

It is actually a Mongoose, I believe. Just saying.

[RC-0720]

nah. it is a warthog. the mongoose is just for ref pics for something... but you could be right... same general body structure...

[Landon Sullivan]

The Mongoose is basically a Warthog, it just is meant as more of a recon vehicle, and is made for speed. It is a Warthog structurally, it just doesn't have a mounted turret or a windshield.

[ghostrider2]

No, the mongoose is based off a modern racing 4 wheeler, like a polaris scrambler, while the warthog is more like a humvee.

[Landon Sullivan]

way to necropost.

By three years.

[RC-0720]

well, if you look at it from that perspective, yes.

[Landon Sullivan]

Nevermind... It is a Warthog.

[Jake Turner]

You don't.

[CosmicBrambleclaw]

Well theres a few other sites to get the guns, I myself downloaded from a major Pepakura place and got the armor and a few guns and theres like 5 or 6 if not more types of armor including the Hayabusa armor ^_^ I could give ya a link if ya want

[bclinton]

Definitely the one without the flash, the one with the flash gets rid of all of the shine and gloss and makes it look like poo.

[Achan20]

instead of marking the lines with a "V" just use a different colored pen. i used blue for the mountains and green for the valleys. it worked well for me. just thought id put my 2 cents in. lol

[ktalex]

so I use regular printing paper for this? computer paper.