Mostly Shepard Stuff This Weekend

We are still plugging away at the costumes and I thought I would give a brief update about the progress (short as it may be).

I was feeling a little rough on Saturday and managed to get a ton more of the Shepard armor done.

Below are some side by side comparison shots.  I have learned so much since the inception of this that the new costume is truly light years ahead of its predecessor.  I actually look at the old one and think that it isn't very good now.  Each shot below shows the old version and the new one side by side.  The new one is always on the left.  Subtle changes have been made to the design in order to make it closer to it's video game counterpart.  The chest was increased in size.  The neck was elongated and the back made smaller and lower.  The details on the neck are also smaller and more in line with the game.  The shoulders have much better lines, the upper shoulder portion has been streamlined and the main shoulder pad has been sized up.  The bicep pieces also have much better lines, thanks to Micah who introduced me to an attachment for the Dremel that allows me to make a straight line at a constant depth.  I also have one of the gauntlets mostly done, but it is drying right now and not ready for display.

Here are the pics:

In addition to more armor work, we fibreglassed the inside of the helmet today (it still needs a bit more).  It doesnt actually fit over my head anymore so some of the interior will need to be cut a bit.  The next steps are that we finish the fiberglass resin on the inside.  Paint the outside with resin (minus the fiberglass cloth), and fill in the gaps with bondo.  From there, I will spend many painful hours sanding it to get all the surfaces smooth and with the right curves.  Then we cut some bits out and add lights and details.  I will try to get photos of each stage so that you get the idea.

Anyway...here is a shot of Micah and I adding the fiberglass.  By that, I mean Micah doing the fiberglass and me holding the helmet (badly) and being overly concerned about the fumes.  Micah got a bit of resin on her arm and it didn't look like fun!  Chemicals can be dangerous, boys and girls!

What we end up with is a solid helmet

In case there is any doubt that this is now solid, I took a picture with a hobby air compressor precariously balanced on top of the helmet

finally for today...a couple of other fun shots:

Here you get an idea of the direction we are going in with the lights for Grunt (D. Bonck)

And finally....Alicia's head is made, looks better than mine, contains a full set of eyelashes (sorry dear), and has traveled to Micah's place so that work can begin on her prosthetic.

With that....I leave you in peace.  This week will be slow as I have lot's of work to do (the full time job), but we should be able to get some stuff done on the weekend.

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