MTV News Intern and guest Multiplayer blogger Billie Edington is back to update us on her quest to make the perfect Master Chief Halloween costume. It all started last week and continues now…
Well I’ve got to start this blog by thanking everyone who responded to my “Halo” costume inquiry with a myriad of colorful suggestions.
I’ve already looked into a few and unfortunately body paint is a no-go—although I am curious why Kotaku readers in particular seemed so keen on this one? Were I going for the Cortana look, it’d be more of a consideration, but apparently it’s been done.
And while offers have been made to donate or lend professional armor, it seems at this point the spirit of the blog means I’ve got to figure out a way to build the costume myself.
Step 1: Design
Instead of trying to piece together Master Chief using “Halo” game stills, I simplified the shape by looking at this version. This allowed me to visualize the suit as nine distinct items::
1. Helmet
2. Chest/Back Piece
3. Shoulders
4. Forearms
5. Gloves
6. Pelvis
7. Thighs
8. Front Legs
9. Back Legs
Step 2: Shopping
My biggest concern was the helmet because it’s the hardest to make. So Stephen was kind enough to let me have his Special Edition Halo DVD cover, which is a replica of Master Chief’s helmet. I’m planning on removing the inner core, which appears to be attached by screws, but I’ve got to figure out a way to be able to see out of it. I imagine that’s pretty important.
I then started doing basic armor searches and ended up on paintball supply sites. I ordered a chest piece and forearm gear from them.
The smaller pieces reminded me of athletic gear, so I got everything from elbow pads to catcher’s leg guards as a base.
I’m anticipating that these pieces will only serve as a base and I’ll have to form the true shape of the armor by building on top of them. I’m planning on hitting up a Home Depot for spray paint and other materials to help in the assembly. Suggestions about what materials to work with—foam, cardboard, etc.—would be greatly appreciated.
Hopefully we can get some video up soon to show the construction process. Granted, this probably won’t be pretty, since I’m making it up as I go, but I’m thinking I can at least give this guy a run for his money.
October 15th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Very, very nice. Looks like the R&D phase is coming along quite well. Let me know if you need help with the helmet -we could find some of that one-way mirror material and shape it to the opening.
October 15th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Billie Edington is a total HOTTIE!!! Sorry, I don’t have any constructive suggestions.
October 15th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Glad to see you got a good start with the helmet. I figured that would have been the hardest part! -dv
October 16th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
I’d suggest the fun foam sheets they sell at the craft stores. There’s a tutorial online somewhere, I can’t find it now, but you can make some pretty extreme shapes pretty easily.
I built a clonetrooper costume last year for my 3 yr old - Crazy I know. Sadly he was afraid to wear it.
A picture of it is below- the only hard part was the helmet which it looks like you’ve already got taken care of.
[URL=http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2532254550031903331JdxnYn][IMG]http://thumb11.webshots.net/t/10/11/2/54/55/2532254550031903331JdxnYn_th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
October 17th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Get some Sintra PVC foam board. Go to a plastics/craft store. You can soften it with hair dryer and make into the shape you want. Would be helpful if you had a mold to use to form the Sintra. That will be the hard part.
Best of luck.
S
October 17th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
You may be able to get one of these paintball lenses in amber/gold and fit it into the master chief helmet so you can see. Or find the acompanying green paintball mask:
http://www.actionvillage.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=48tpN9WShfJpnZKEhACpn99bnQOVw9VMDNk=?ProductID=C5SsFAY7JckAAAD4yfnju4BD
http://www.actionvillage.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/BrowseCatalog-Start;sid=48tpN9WShfJpnZKEhACpn99bnQOVw9VMDNk=?CategoryName=paintball-goggles-and-accessories-goggle-accessories
October 17th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Sintra is tricky to get and it takes far more than a hair dryer to get it to melt. I’d suggest cardboard with fiberglass over it, or perhaps foam insulation from Home depot or Lowes with a coat of paint and then Fiberglass. Cosplay.com has a lot on this, actually.
October 17th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
You could make the basic layout with the help of the MasterChief Papercraft:
http://405th.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1648
October 17th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
You could also make it easier for yourself and print the parts out as shown in this tutorial below (see link)
http://405th.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1648
They also have models for the pistol from Halo.
Hope I could help!
October 31st, 2007 at 8:11 pm
billies cuuuuuute!
December 14th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
A little off topic, but Billie Edington is drop dead gorgeous! All my base are belonging to her.
(for those of you who caught that, bravo *clapping*)
On topic, I made a helmet out of foam board last week. Created a clay mold from the special edition helm and fitted the foam board to it. Now all thats left is the painting and finding off-orange plastic.
Billie, if you read this my email is [REDACTED], if you have some free time on a sat. maybe we could get lunch or something?
You know, to discuss ideas for the costume -_-;;
Everyone else, no hate mail, I thought it was worth a shot
December 14th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Sorry, Mikamoto, but we block e-mail addresses in our comments section. Editorial policy.
-Stephen Totilo
Editor, MTV Multiplayer
December 14th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Oh, terribly sorry about that, won’t happen again.
A myspace profile then perhaps? :/
January 8th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
yo im puttin one together to its gonna be like one of those full suits on ebay good luck onn ur prodgect(sorry if i spell anythin wong i frigin tiereddd
February 15th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Man i really need to get some money together and make my own. That would be really awsome.
February 20th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
My friends and I are on a budget, and we are trying to make spartan suits.
Two of them are guys, so we are making the traditional Masterchief costume, and using theirs as a model to form mine (an alteration of theirs in a girl-form.) We need some easy way to make the armor (none of us are very artistic, and we need it done by October.
Any suggestions?
I would appreciate it dearly
February 29th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I was wondering if you could send me directions to unscrew the inner core.
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:59 am
hey great idea withe base of your armour u should use bondo its body filler you mix it up and put it on your base the way u want it to look when its dry you can sand it smooth i think you should paint it green
for the helmet go on googlle and search pepakura master cheif download a file you can print out the contents cut out the peices and paste it on cardstock or bristol board then follow the given instructs and fold and glue when its dry u should get a master cheif body peice then u can fiber glass it with resin search a tut on how to fiberglass master chef helmet (pepakura is a paper model of the thing you want you can do the same with weapons) i suggest using it for the helmet for the visor just go to a motorcycle store and ask for a visor its prrefferably tinted i hope i helped you can make a hole costume using this process
June 13th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
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