Quick Update (2 shoulder pieces)

Here's a quick update for all of you.

Currently have both shoulder pieces shaped and sanded with the acrylic boxes just held in with pressure at the moment. The second piece went a lot better than the first, so the first is going to get mutilated for the damaged side.

Below are a couple pics of the pieces and also the pieces on me for reference.

Shoulder pieces

Spent the better portion of today working on version 1 of Garrus's shoulder armor and I'm really happy with the results. Lots of sanding, lots of rotary tooling, and lots of heat forming, but it ends up paying off pretty well. Pictures below:

LOOK WHO'S BACK! (With progress!)

It's been a while, but I am OFFICIALLY QUALIFIED AS A NUKE ENGINEER!

That being said, I've started to work on Garrus some more. And let me say, I am LOVING the way this EVA foam works. I started shaping out one of the shoulder pieces and have it rough cut at the moment. Took measurements, used a heat gun to round it, and a rotary tool to tool it down. It's looking pretty sweet.

Also, while I was studying, the blue acrylic sheets came in, so I went ahead and popped those bad boys into the bicep pieces to get a feel for how it'll look in the end. They're not secured in yet so I can paint with ease.

Pictures below!

Here's the bicep plates all shaped up and lookin' good. There's cardboard behind the acrylic holding it in place at the moment so it won't get all scratched up.

Shoulder and bicep plates, heat gun in the background. Friend left a Mtn Dew bottle over, so I used it to help shape the bicep plates since I don't drink it anymore.

Just really loving working with this EVA foam. Only have a very rough cut of the base piece for the shoulder armor so far, but you can get the idea.

That's it for now! Look forward to some more (and more frequent) updates!

Disappearing for a bit

Well, looks like my board exam to become a qualified nuclear engineer is on Oct. 19th. So for the next 3 weeks I will be spending all of my free time studying. I might work on something here and there just to keep me sane, but we'll pick up again after the 19th.

Til then, see you!

Quick Update

Ordered some blue acrylic sheets for the parts which will be getting lights. They should be here Wednesday.

Also, I shaped out the other bicep piece and cleaned them both up. Lots of sanding... but I'm really digging working with this material.

(I need an actual camera or some non-crappy lighting)

The first steps

So, I've gone through and ordered all of the stuff that I need for making the lifecast and sculpting the Garrus head. Today I decided to hit up Harbor Freight and get some new tools.

EVA foam was on sale today, so I picked up a bunch, pretty sure the people thought I was a bit nuts.... ANYWAYS!

YOU AND ME GARRUS ARMOR! 4 STOCK, NO ITEMS, MY WORKSHOP!

Decided the best place to start was with one of the easier parts. So, BICEP PLATES! I measured everything out scaling the armor to my size and cut out the rough plates with a heated knife. Also cut out the sections which will get blue acrylic for the lights. After cutting out the shapes, a rotary tool was used to bevel the edges that needed it, and smooth the ones that didn't. Then a sequence of 250 and 400 grit sandpaper to really smooth it all out. For the right plate, there's a golden eagle, but instead of just painting it on, I decided to use foamies to create a more detailed, raised look. Thinking further, I decided to add a bit MORE detail by using some of the scrap left from the plates to make the symbol, glued it on, and then rotary tooled it down to correct shape and gave it the same sandpaper treatment. Here's what I got accomplished today:

Still a LONG way to go. Needs to be cleaned up, the acrylic needs to be added, needs to be heated and rounded to hold form, the bands that go around the rest of the arm, and the LED circuit which I will probably tool a nook for in the back.

But anyways, THE FIRST STEPS HAVE BEEN TAKEN!

The Journey Begins

Been stuck in Cranberry, PA for the past 2 weeks for job training with nothing to do, so I've decided to finally start a blog for the things that I make. This blog will record the adventure that will be my Garrus Vakarian build from Mass Effect 2 as well as all my other projects.

Hopefully you'll follow along on this crazy armor making journey!

Have already started working on the logistics of the project and breaking apart some of the pieces into individual units:

First thing to do when I get home: Make a lifecast of my head and neck so I can start sculpting the mask, and build small scale vacuum former.

'Til next time!