Never Wake a Sleeping Giant...

I got off my ass this last weekend and decided I needed to either call it or get back to it... and I have come way too far to quit now, so I went out there and pulled some pieces down off the shelf and got to work. Fear has played a big part in hindering my completion of this project, and it always comes around to bite me in the ass. I was afraid to try the Bondo/Rondo and it caused a lot of my pieces to warp, so I had to throw some away and will have to start them over. I was afraid to cut the pieces in order to try them out, but this weekend I decided it was now or never. I got the Chest/Back piece,

got my Dremel, said a little prayer, crossed my fingers, and started cutting....

I Cut into it for about 2 minute and realized it was really hard to hold a Dremel with your fingers crossed... so I uncrossed them and continued cutting. I got 3 of the 4 cuts done and was just starting on my 4th cut when the Dremel's battery died..... So being as how I have a lot of stuff to do, I plugged it in to charge and decided to go shave since I have been too lazy to do so.

(...some time later)

I got back outside and started cutting again. I was really nervous once I finished the cuts, but I picked up the back and put it on... it fit! So I picked up the chest plate and put it on... I need to drop some LBs... but it fit!

And of course, I had to put on the helmet for the pic...

I am so freaking stoked right now...

I spent some more time Rondo'ing the left boot and the right forearm pieces afterward until I needed to get to work on some other stuff. I plan to next Bondo the outer part of the whole right are and then cut them up and try them on... Better cross them fingers again!

sigh...

So I was making some good headway on the Spartan Laser... getting on here, posting updates and all that jazz... and the other day I got home from work and open the door to find it sitting right where I left it (out of the way).... and a box on a shelf up above it had randomly fallen and smashed the sh*t out of it........

........I'm not working on a laser anymore...

Wait.... What?

Well, I did it… I finished… a few hours worth of work on the suit, that is… ;)

I work up Saturday morning after a late night Friday night to realize my kids were at Oma and Opas, my wife was going to brunch with the girls, and I had nothing to do. So I got my @$$ up and got to work. I got out to the garage and started cleaning up because it was a major crap hole and I have no clear working space. After that, I got my tools and needed items and realized a very important thing… DON’T SCREW ON THE FIBERGLASS RESIN CAP WHEN THERE IS RESIN ALL OVER THE THREADS!!!! Lol! I spent probably ten minutes trying to open the damn resin bottle before if finally gave loose and the cap came off. So, I cleaned up the table, got my mask on, got my gloves on, lined up all my tools, picked up the Bondo to start mixing

and all of a sudden... “riiiing”….. My dad was on his way to my house with the boys. Lmao. So I hurried through and slush poured one batch of Rondo before they arrived.

I tried as best I could to get some "action shots" of the slush casting. In the background is the Left Shin I will be remaking because it got HORRIBLY warped... =(

Note, don’t rush things because then they will more than likely dry poorly and crooked and you will spend even more time with sanding and shaping…

Okay, so the boys got home and I went in to play with and watch them. But eventually they had nap time. Back to work. Went out into the Garage while they were both sleeping and got a few more rounds of pouring in! I decided to go for the second thigh piece, and the three pieces of the left boot. They all still have a little more work to be done, as it is quite a lengthy process when there are so many steps and just one of me (That’s me begging anyone local to come help… =P)

I also started working on my Spartan Laser since it is apparently SOOO much easier for me to work on the paper crafting inside the house than it is for me to make it out to the garage and finish the rest of my massive project I already have going on… But I made some pretty good headway on that over the weekend as well.

As with a lot of my pieces, I have noticed a lack of stability in some parts of the unit while piecing together. I decided not to give it a chance and used my creative genius to make some pillars on the interior of the model to help hold it up so it stops collapsing in on itself... (Shot A: As it was, Shot B: after I added the stabilizers to it... you may have to look closely to see them, they are just pieces of reinforced paper going from side to side)

And here is where I got to by last night (I tried to show the 3D models image in the background to give you an idea of the size and the look of this item)

There are a few things I am doing differently on this piece than I have on all the others... but more to come on that (hopefully) later!

All in all, it was a pretty good weekend for getting some stuff done. I have come to unfortunate terms with the fact that I will not have this ready in time for this Halloween, which really bums me out, but there is nothing that can be fixed by complaining, so I will carry on and move forward the best I can! 

No pic, but....

So I did make it out and get some sanding done... not a lot, but I made it out there. I didn't take any pics because there hasn't been a significant change in how anything looks to even bother... =(

On another note, I did come to terns with the fact that it is much easier at this point to work on things inside my house, so I decided to go ahead and get started on my Spartan Laser last night! I got the pieces all printed out and started trying to sort through then and get started. I decided to build from the butt of the gun up, so I got a little bit of it done last night and will post pics soon! =)

If anyone is still actually following me, thanks! I appreciate you taking the time to keep up with me on this build.

Time to put up or shut up...

So I know that there is really no chance now of me having this guy done in time for Halloween this year... but I think that it is time I really get back to work here. I have been slacking too long and not making time for it and right now it is just a pile of space filler in my garage... So, tonight I will be working on the suit yet again, it is go time, time to put up or shut up, and I'm gonna give it hell! Anyone who wants to assist is more than welcome, especially if you have auto body experience ;)

".... we're waiting!"

Well, obviously it has been an EXTREMELY long time since I have posted any progress on this project... unfortunately the reason is because I haven't really made any. Life has happened and I have been extremely busy with other things and just haven't had the time to get out and work on it. (On the bright side I have dropped a bunch of weight!) The other night I went out and sanded down a lot of spots on the chest piece and hopefully will be done sanding and smoothing it out soon! In the mean time, I'm just trying to find any time I can so I can complete this thing! Looks like Halloween 2012 has turned into Halloween 2013... hopefully we can make it at that!

This Is Gonna Be Good...

All-in-all, I would say the weekend was a success. I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, but I did get done about what I expected to. There were four pieces I worked on this weekend, the first and main one of course being the helmet. Second I wanted to get some work on the chest and back. and then if I had time I wanted to get after a bi/tri/shoulder and a thigh. The helmet was coming along, but it still had some nasty cracks and nicks in it that were driving me bonkers. I did some reading online and found this amazing stuff called "Bondo Spot Putty". I have been using Bondo's body filler and resin for a while now, but never heard of the spot putty. Simply put, the spot putty works like Bondo, only it comes pre-mixed in a tube and is a gift from the gods... I had been trying to get info on using it over the primer because once the surface is primed and all the same color it is SO much easier to see the imperfections. So once I got that stuff the helmet came together much nicer.

It also looks pretty badass in that nice dark red color... after it dried I did a little light sanding and re-primed.

There are still a few minor spots that could use a fix up, but definitely looks 1000% better than before.

That was all Friday night, of which my good buddy James came over to once again assist me in my venture. after a quick lesson on Bondo application, he was off to work on the chest.

I didn't tell him until later that he would have been shot if he damaged it... you know, don't want an employee with bad work moral or anything ;)

After a couple hours of Bondo'ing, and a lot of talking, he left me with this.

I was really excited to see how good it looked. The front of the chest was a bit caved in on the left breast plate, and he got a good amount of even level out of it. From that point, we called it a night... and went inside and played Halo Reach for several hours...

Monday, I got back to it. I started back in on the torso in hopes of getting it done. I am sure that being an amateur I don't have all the proper tools and know how when it comes to Bondo and sanding (or at least I pray there is a better way out there) because about 7 hours of work later it looked like this:

and at that point my back was killing me! I also discovered that there are some downsides to working outside.

1) The sun is hot.

2) Hot sun equals hot driveway.

3) Bondo sets MUCH faster in the heat.

I might as well be holding a handful of quarters! (okay, so maybe its not that much... but I'm cheap!) However, I adapted to my surroundings (move into the shaded garage) and pressed on! I picked back up on Tuesday due to some other chores and things I needed to do around the house since I was off and all.

After a lot of Bondo and sanding and Bondo and sanding and Bondo and... where was I? Oh yeah, sanding! I got a good layer across the whole area.

There was another area that was caved in on the outside of the right shoulder blade. I slathered that up pretty good with Bond and did a little shaping and carving. Here it is before I sanded it down.

I also had to pour some more Rondo into the piece because as I was sanding I ran across a few week points in the front of the chest and one or two in the back. After that, I decided to go ahead and see out we looked in primer. 

I knew it wouldn't be perfect, but like I said earlier I can now see all the impurities in it and know where to use the spot putty at.

Throughout the day as I was waiting on things to dry, or realized I made too much Bondo, I worked on the Bi/Tri/Shoulder and the Right Thigh pieces. The arm piece is pretty straight forward, just some Bondo work:

The thigh however was a bit more involved. The edge was very thin, so I used a technique I have seen online (thanks Thorsson) where you use duct-tape to line the edge and do a roto pour so as to thicken up an edge.

I then realized that when I made these I didn't give them a good test on their size and as it turns out, now that they are hardened and more stable, I did and they are a tad bit too long! Oh the horror!!!! I tried not to panic, and instead got out the ol' Dremmel tool. I cut off about 1/3-1/2 an inch on the back of the knee because the problem I had was that I couldn't bend my knee enough to sit or squat... and as we all know, Master Chief has to be able to squat over his victims...

 I did do a little sanding to round it off, but didn't take an after shot.

I might trim a hair off the top of the front as well for a good hip crease, otherwise I think it will work great!

Finally, I was done for the day. Like I said, I do wish I had gotten more done, but for me, this was a lot of work to get done all at once and I am thankful I was able to get the time to do so! Here are some final shots of everything I worked on.

And here's a nice group shot to finish it off:

If you would like to see more come together and happen a lot faster (and you know you would) send me money! =P