Build Halo Armor

by indymogul

905K1.1K392

Intro: Build Halo Armor

This week on [http://www,indymogul.com/bfx Backyard FX] we show you how to make a futuristic set of space armor just like Master Chief wears in Halo 3.


STEP 1: Shopping List

- Ream of Heavyweight Card Stock
- 2 Aqua Resin Starter Kits
- 2 yds. Fiberglass Mat
- Nylon Straps and Buckles
- 4 ft. of Velcro
- A few feet of 1 in. Foam Padding
- Cheap Black Gloves
- Dark Colored Under clothes

STEP 2: Get Blueprints From These Sites

Step one is go to this link: http://www.indymogul.com/3RR and download the free Pepakura viewer. It lets view and print out the blue prints directly on to your cardstock. There is a ton of information and pepakura blue prints at 405th.com, and or just type in this shortcut http://www.indymogul.com/3RS to see my guide to get you started.

STEP 3: Cut and Fold

Now you can start the cutting, folding and gluing process. Its sort of like origami on a bigger scale.

STEP 4: Waterproof the Cardstock

Once you have a complete section of the armor folded and glued you need to waterproof the cardstock with a clear coat. THEN cover the inside and outside with some aqua resin. Aqua Resin is like polyurathen resin but way less toxic and less stupid about curing temperatures.

So one glazing coat of aqua resin on the inside of the carstock form and one on the outside.

Do these one at a time, each coat should take about an hour to cure.

STEP 5: Apply Fiberglass

Next you’ll need to add apply one or two layers of fiberglass for added reinforcement. These layers
go on the inside only and use fiberglass veil and some more of your aqua resin! This should take
at least 2 hours to cure.

STEP 6: Carve Out the Details

Now that your armor is sturdy you can get in there with a rotary tool and carve out some details. Some bondo or plumbers epoxy can help here but only if you have some extra cash.

STEP 7: Paint the Armor

Now we need to paint and distress the armor. My armor is 1 coats of primer, 1 of silver and 1 of flat black.

STEP 8: Straps and Padding

So the last steps are padding and strapping. Probably the most frustrating part of the build. Youll need to glue in padding and attach nylon straps until all the armor sits right on your body. That is the basics of building armor.

And for the helmet you can totally use this technique just add a cheap motorcycle visor and add some if your feeling crazy add some light!

STEP 9: Warnings and Common MIstakes

Also here are the 5 most common mistakes people make when building their first armor.

1) Not being patient. It can take as long as a year to build one suit
2)Don't fiberglass the outside of the armor, and when applying your veil use small chunks, not big ones.
3)Don't forget to scale the armor to your body. The real master chief you are not.
4)Don't forget the under armor. It can be as simple as dark colored long johns, or as expensive as fancy pressure suits.
5)Not reading the safety instructions. Dust masks and eye protection a must.

342 Comments

AceIsAwesome 3 years ago

I think that it should be for costumes but stay back your armed, really armed.

SeedyB1569 4 years ago

Both the links in step two appear to be broken, is there any alternative links that would work better?

BrittanyL41 5 years ago

I love this idea and such, but there is one small problem for me and it is this...I am allergic to fiberglass.

ky.morrison 6 years ago

how expensive is it and can a 10 year old make it.

Stop MotionM 6 years ago

sure! To buy from someone a full set, maybe 500$

TheParrot 12 years ago

Um, I know this is probably the wrong place, but I would love to apply these building techniques to some Mass Effect N7 armor, but I can't find any papercraft pepakura templates anywhere, and I've looked EVERYWHERE. I've seen plenty for helmets, but I would love it if there were some armor templates out there. I like the carbon-fiber appearance of the EVA foam armor, but I just don't like the idea of constructing an entire suit of armor out of it, even if it is ballistic foam.

I mean, some pieces would have to be constructed out of EVA foam for flexibility, especially the jointed spinal and abdominal pieces, but I think that resin armor would be so much more durable and better-looking than armor made entirely of EVA foam.

I do plan on getting into Halo, as yesterday I was struck with a very strong desire to play the games, which I do not have... and I would love to build my own set of Spartan armor as well as N7 armor.

Any help with N7 pepakura armor templates would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

-Parrot

Psiborg 7 years ago

www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=186674

Dinoman217 8 years ago

This is awesome! Just one question, where do you get aqua-resin from?

MatthewN32 8 years ago

you can get it at al local home depot, menards, or hardware store.

hope this helps.

MatthewN32 8 years ago

this looks like a great build, yeah it may take a while to make and the fiberglass is a tad itchy, but it looks pretty worthy of trying, Thanks!

Adithyaa Designs 12 years ago

pls tell me how hard is fiberglass mat because when i make it it will spoil the effect if it bends when its pressed. is is possible that it can be made with out the paper because i was thinking of making each piece separate. as in the forearm will have 2 pieces opposite each other. i was thinking of making this out multiple layers of ply wood laminated together into a curved piece so that it would stay together and curved. thanks :-)

jmanukonga 8 years ago

duude, making it out of ply would be one pain in the rear kind of job... I wouldn't take that up if I were you

Jandro 12 years ago

Can the pepakura file be converted to work in blender?

jmanukonga 8 years ago

that's a good question, it probably could, but at the same time, why would you want that? for easier editing or for animating?
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