Halo: Reach Spartan Updated, Halloween 2011, Chest, Knives, and Lights

Around the September following Comic Con, I felt prepped for the upcoming Halloween. And then V4 of the torso was released. Welp. Considering the one I already had may have been ever so slightly too small to math the rest of me and lacking small details here and there, it was already time for an update.

Here you can see some of the differences between the two chest pieces, notably the detail on the ribs and the ridges between where the armor would snap together.





To read on the rest of the modifications I made, you'll have to keep reading.


And then a new shoulder was released. So I made that too. This is a side by side of the two models to show the difference:



This specific shoulder piece actually has a knife on it in the game (a kukri). Using a jigsaw I cut out layers of the shoulder sheath, glued each layer together, and ground down the edges with a dremel to be angled like a real knife. Since I didn't have access to a lathe, I had to compromise and make the hilt using bondo and fiberglass and use that to cement in the wooden blade.

The sheath was bolted onto the shoulder piece using four bolts and a ton of washers to help even out the curved surface.

Of course I couldn't call it quits there, the pelvis was still too big, so I crafted up a smaller one and made sure it was too small rather than too big and this time it was perfect.

Before, my boots were made with some EVA foam, but it overall felt lacking considering it was put over the top of some cheap Vans. This time using the same method of cardstock and resin, I made boots that completely covered my shoes to keep it comfortable and sturdy. For the most part it worked, although the nuts holding it together would frequently come loose.

If I'm already throwing in all the bells and whistles, I may as well put some lights in it too. Rather than try to find some plastic and make a complicated system of wiring together the lights, I used hot glue to diffuse the LEDs and taped the batteries to the inside of each piece and it worked just fine. At this point I was learning: form follows function.



The finished suit:

Touring it around campus on Halloween, I suited up my friend in my first real endeavor, the ODST suit. One full year between both costumes being finished and the improvements I've made in skill are apparent.



And a final shot of this compare to Mk I:

Bonus shot of me riding around in my friend's Jeep. If Spartans really existed, they would be so uncomfortable trying to cram into a seat meant for a normal person.