You're so crafty...and incredibly talented, Kommissar, and I can't wait to see the finished armor. Don't rush though. It's always the attention to detail, isn't it?

This is looking absolutely fabulous. I know that is pretty much what everyone has been saying, but great attention to detail and I can't wait to see the finished product!

Haha, thanks for the kind words guys,
i'm pushing to try and get some of the electronics worked out for the 7th.
the electronics i need for the eyes will set me back around 30 bucks though, so it being xmas and all, that may have to wait.

got abit of a cold as well, so i've been slowing down.
as well as doing crack filling and making sure the seems between pieces seem seemless :lol
starting work on the main extension on the helmet.

[IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kaikaiAA/Vaultdwell/PA120617.jpg[/IMG]

this is a shot much later in the progress, where i had extended the ear set on the right, and been adding alot of edges to places.
i would have posted afew more shots, but i was focusing on fighting my headache and doing the work, rather than photos at the time. so i plumb forgot.
[IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kaikaiAA/Vaultdwell/PA120618.jpg[/IMG]

i drilled a hole in the headset for the ariel, but decided i didn't like the location, filled it with bondo, sanded it down, once it's painted, you wont be able to tell.
but the new location for the ariel is much better.
it has two joints of rotation, so it can be positioned in any direction or angle within it's half sphere of movement.
mostly it will be upright or just slightly to the side.

[IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kaikaiAA/Vaultdwell/PA130621.jpg[/IMG]

you may notice the video cable running out of the headset, well it plugs into the cheek of the mask.
[IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kaikaiAA/Vaultdwell/PA120619.jpg[/IMG]
a few more details have been added to the mask here. including some scratches and the weird dent that is on the right hand side of most of the pictures.

[IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kaikaiAA/Vaultdwell/PA130620.jpg[/IMG]

the camera box has been trimmed and spruced up, it's just about ready for an LED.

[IMG]http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kaikaiAA/Vaultdwell/PA130622.jpg[/IMG]

i've yet to decide if i should have the entire camera box removable, with earth magnets, or just have the battery pack thread through a hole in the helmet, and keep the battery on the inside of the helm.
but for now, it slides into place, and unless i shake it around a bunch, the camera box wont fall out.
[IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kaikaiAA/Vaultdwell/PA130623.jpg[/IMG]

the headset fits pretty snug against the rest of the mask, if i add some black foam, after the paint job you wont be able to tell it's two separate pieces.

two shots, one with, one without flash, couldn't decide which to share, since ones alittle fuzzy.. so heres both.
oh, and that idea for the dent? worked out fine.
[IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kaikaiAA/Vaultdwell/PA130624.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kaikaiAA/Vaultdwell/PA130625.jpg[/IMG]

You gonna paint that?

Of course!
i'm still building it, i wont be painting it until i've gotten all the pieces finished.
if i paint them as i go, they can easily end up looking different (a different batch for a mix of paint could make a different color or shade) i want to keep the painting style uniform.
i'm almost done with the mask, and the helmet has only a few extra details left.
after that i'll be working upon the coat, and then the armor plates for the arms and back of the hands,
then i begin painting, and making the stencils for the armor and coat to spray on.
finally i'll build the belts

well, i've been working on a slightly different goal, i spent a few hours consulting a friend, and he's pointed me in the right direction of some LEDs,

so one trip to Radioshack later, i started work.

[img]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kaikaiAA/Vaultdwell/PA140629.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kaikaiAA/Vaultdwell/PA140630.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kaikaiAA/Vaultdwell/PA140635.jpg[/img]

the goal is one Red and one Blue.
the lenses will come later.

heres a quick video showing the switch and brightness, i had to rub the LEDs with a fine grain sanding sponge to give them a bit of diffusion, otherwise i had a head cam that could blind people at a moments notice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q7lj5DG4Ac

This is pure awesomeness! Can't wait to see the finished work.

Well, maybe because I live in Europe and I know there are state flags but I have absolute no idea what they all look like. ^_^

Except for one thanks to Fallout, I was wondering: why a bear? Is it because California has a large population of bears in the wild or does it mean something else?

Anyway good luck with your costume. Maybe someone can help you with the electronics. I'll be pleased to see the end result.

i'm a Brit too, i've just lived in cali for a few years. so i would not be the one to tell you. heh.

this.is.awesome.

I have lived in america for about 7 years so, I think its just a random animal they picked lol.

http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/flags/ca_flag.htm

Once again google and a wiki come to the rescue!

alright gents,

update time,
your combined efforts have broken my last photobucket account, i probably wont be reuploading the photos to a different account, but they will be back online after xmas, or thats what photobucket says.
i may upload a few choice shots for the benefit of those who ahve yet to see the work thus far, but that depends upon time, as most of it is spent building for my deadline, jan 7th.
after then, i'll be working on adding glowing eyes as well as other things.

first up, i've ordered a spandex hood to wear under the armor... i wish i had gotten the one that covers the eyes and not the mouth, instead i got a 3 hole one.
i may try and get a better one for the con i go to after Jan, as i'll have more income and more time.
i'll also need the hood for an ODST group i will be assisting with.


the helmet is done, so it needs some priming.
here is the prep shot.
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA180646.jpg[/IMG]

and the after shot.
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA180647.jpg[/IMG]

i had to hunt around for a good, soft flexible pipe for the gasmask, and could only find a stiff rubber one at an auto shop :/
i thought a heat gun could bully it into a good shape, but no luck...
what it did do was separate the two layers of rubber separated by a woven layer, which proved useful later.


[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA200650.jpg[/IMG]

i raided my junk box, and found a metal gas line, the ones that hold their shape when you bend them around...
well, if the pipe wont do what i tell it too, i'll shove something down it that will!

[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA200651.jpg[/IMG]
so that worked out REALLY well, other than the extra weight, which is adding up now..
i found a few extra interesting bits of junk, the red part being from the tip of an old chinese spring airsoft i butchered.

cut it down, attached it to a piece of PVC pipe, and used the separated rubber layers as an anchor to slip part of the red airsoft gun's nozzle inbetween them.
i then used one of the plumbing screw tightening clasps to keep it all in place.. i had set it aside as something that looked good for the whole "post apoc punk" look of jury rigged armor.. didn't expect it to be so useful as well as appropriate!!

[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA200655.jpg[/IMG]


with all the internal details set for the mask, i decided to start the fiberglassing. i was very concerned with some advice i had gotten from some members of forums about styrene melting under the effect of fiberglass resin,
i tried a tester and it seemed to work out, so i went for it, and i guess the styrene was thick enough that it was not an issue, which was a big relief.

so heres the inside of the mask.
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA200656.jpg[/IMG]

layed out ready for fiberglass

[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA200657.jpg[/IMG]

learned this lesson the hard way..
don't make big batches of resin.
i used 4 fluid ounces of the stuff in a plastic cup and barely got through an 8th of the cup of resin before it set solid around my paintbrush..
after that, i started working with 1/2 to a full fluid ounce per resin "batch"

[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA200658.jpg[/IMG]

batch 2

[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA200659.jpg[/IMG]

i forget how many, but it was about 3 or 4 batches before i was happy to leave it alone.

once it set, well.. it went from being fragile to me now being reasonably confidant i could drop it on the tile kitchen from my face height and not break the actual mask.. when beforehand the zippkicked superglue was about as fragile as glass.
in-fact i would be willing to bet a drop and punt of this thing across my yard would not do much damage, it had a certain amount of flex to it before, and now it's remarkably rigid, in-fact a little too much now, as i didn't realize i relied upon some flex for it to fit inside the helmet.. oh well, my strengthening method worked a little too well! live and learn.
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA200660.jpg[/IMG]

after this blurry shot, i got to work trimming the excess and spiky bits, i need to do abit more sanding, but that's fine. it will also be lined with foam, so long as i dont have needle sharp pieces in my face, it will be fine for my goal.
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA200661.jpg[/IMG]

now, i wanted to add a few external details, so i heated up the tip of a pen, and got to work adding rivet/bolt holes in accurate locations to the high res pictures.
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA210671.jpg[/IMG]

Now with what done, i went back to my armor vest,
one of the best parts of armor i find is making the scratches and paint chippings.
firstly i get some watered down liquid latex, and paint in all the areas i want to STAY metal.
sort of line inverted painted, i paint over what i want to keep, and leave the rest
i usually make my scratches bigger than i want, so i can thin them and distress the edges more. plus it's easier to take away than add when it comes to the next few steps.
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA180649.jpg[/IMG]

after dried i painted the whole suit roughly with a good base grey acrylic, and took a gum square (you can get these for a few bucks at most serious art stores) to the obviously shinyer areas (the places where i had painted the latex, as the finish on the latex will be often different to the finish on other surfaces, even with the same paint.
the latex will rub, peel or stick to the gum square pretty easy, and so long as your gentle with the square, you wont mess up the paint around it by adding wrinkles to the foam.
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA220672.jpg[/IMG]
i wasn't very careful about full coverage with the grey, as you can see. but that was quite intentional, and adds to the worn look.
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA220673.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA220674.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA220675.jpg[/IMG]


i'm leaving the pectorals of the armor untouched for now, as i need to add my stencils to them.
i also discovered the circular logo that goes on the left (viewer right) chest, it's the same as the design on the armor plate on the back of the hand. a circle with a clenched fist.
after that, rust, and dirt!!

can't edit my post so.

working on the stencils for the armor and coat.
http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA220677.jpg

Kommissar, you're da man! I mean, this is really cool, you talented man

I can't see the photos you've uploaded to photobucket!

yes, i mentioned that so many people have looked at them, that my bandwidth has been exceeded for the month.

but i have second account right now.
i may just go pro after xmas.

these links work fine however, and they are the best to see too!

some nice updates, i suspect this will be a crowd pleaser.

first up, the coat is going well, i've been doing something similar to a flat felled seam (for those unaware, look at the seam along the length of your denims, its a very strong, hard looking rugged seam that will really help your pants tough out their existence)
and trying to keep as much of it accurate to the CGI trailer as possible.
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA240682.jpg[/IMG]

after discovering over the course of this, that airbrushes are the devil, and the most delicate and finicky pieces of equipment i've ever used, (i was almost considering animal sacrifice at one point in time)
the stencil work has been coming along well.
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA230679.jpg[/IMG]

so well i finished the armor... mostly

well.. it looks good, but theres something missing... it doesn't look.. worn enough.
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA230680.jpg[/IMG]

much better! don't you think? i'm not done with it yet, but it's going well, if a little cartoony still.
[IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/KommissarKai/NCR/PA230681.jpg[/IMG]

it looks a little....shiny, for lack of a better word, is there a way you can maybe sand it or something (doesn't do this sort of thing and knows nothing about it) to give it a dirtier look, older I suppose? other than tht great work, very impressed so far

This is VERY impressive. Please tell me your gonna be at the 2011 Comic Con so I can take pictures with you. ^.^

I live in California, our original name, when we revolted against the Mexicans and before we joined the US, we were an independent nation known as the Bear Flag Republic. Nobody messes with a bear.

impressive, reaaaallllly impressive! you should show us a pic with all of the product on, so i can see how awesome it is so far

Wow, just WOW!

This is really shaping out to be something VERY impressive.
Once the final project is done, you need to force obsidian to mass produce them.

You could make a lot of money off of this.

Thats amazing keep up the good work!

This just keeps getting better and better