Fallout NCR Veteran Ranger Cosplay

I posted this on another forum, but why not here as well?

This is based off a popular build done by Kommissar.

So without further ado:


This is the goal:







I started out with freshly cut foam in the general shapes that I wanted.





I used a Dremel to sand down the edges, then a palm sander to smooth them out a bit more. I also cut the top piece in half to reflect the body armor better.





Same as before, but I added in the collar piece that was previously forgotten.





Next up I wanted to shape the foam, and looking around I noticed a lot of people using heat guns. However I lacked a heat gun, so I grabbed the next best thing. A hair dryer! It worked to great effect, however... I ended up burning out the hair dryer and replacing it with a new one. I think the old one was on its last legs since the new one has had no problems.














The whole thing so far, minus the collar piece





At this point I noticed that my original mid section was not proportionally correct since I had cut it out of the same piece as the bottom five pieces. Since those pieces weren't laid right together in the final build, this meant my current mid-section was too short. I tried changing it slightly to no avail, so I had to build a new one which is seen here.


Behind it is the craft foam the entire thing will be glued onto.





Turns out my collar piece wasn't to proportion as well, so here's the new one.





After that I glued everything down, I started adding straps and buckles so it could fit around me.








Not visible from here, but I actually cut out part of the two tops pieces so that they would stop digging into my neck as they curved around me.





Next up, I'm going to cut the straps that cross over my back and add buckles onto them so the entire get up is easier to get into. After that I'm adding battle damage and initial painting.


As for the mask for the build, I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to go about making it. Kommissar used a pep for scale and then built it from styrene plastic, however this method may be eat up more time than I'm willing to give so we'll see about that.

 

... I, just may do that.

Anyone else have any ideas on how I could ponify this costume?

Also, to those who are doubting their skills. Don't. This is my first build, and I'm basically copying someone else's build step by step. All you really need is the tools, materials, time, and the dedication to do it. If you want to cosplay, find something you think is simple and give it a try. You just may surprise yourself!

@EsyRx I may sell this type of costume after I figure out the first build completely.

 

Thank yall for the compliments. Sheesh it's been forever since I've updated. However, I have been working on this. Also thanks to an electrician friend I have some cool ideas for the helmet once it gets further along in its development. I won't spoil it now, but just know it is going to be awesome. Anyways, onto the cosplay.

Added some battle damage onto the vest as promised. I used a soldering iron to create all of it. Originally I had much thinner lines on the claw marks, but after examining some real life damage I expanded them a bit. I'm also worried the bullet ricochets won't look too impressive once the final coating is on. However I think they will do.







Next up was the priming coat for the vest, I again followed in Kommissar's footsteps and used plastidip. I'm almost tempted to leave it this color since the black looks pretty good on it. However I'm going for broke on this cosplay to make it look as realistic as possible so I'll just have to suppress that urge.



Then I set the armor aside for a moment because I have had too many ideas for the mask flying around my head to leave it sitting for too long. I actually made three of these things before I finally settled on the third one looking good enough. This is what it looked like when I started working on the third one.



and this mask was taken just before I cut it up to make other pieces out of it.



It was a pain getting this next mask together, and I'm still tweaking it here and there. I'm not happy with the middle piece just between the eyes. I'm thinking of making them one piece as seen in this picture. http://www.existentialgamer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/fallout-new-vegas.jpg (zoom in real close and you will see it is flat)





Next up, I'll probably tear that middle piece out and replace it with one whole piece. Also, I'm going to adjust the front section of the mask so that it is detachable. This will make it much easier while at convention where I want to sit down and eat something.

Sorry folks, I know I'm moving slow but the summer is coming up and i'm psyched to really get moving on this project since College is out.

Also, I will be following Kommissar's build for the most part up until I start getting into some nice techy stuff for the mask. I will also add variations to the tank that is on the back and to the coat.

 

Had today off, so I did get some work done. However I had to backtrack and go back through some of the work multiple times. Regardless, here are the results of todays work.

Took some time to grind down a computer fan so that it would be more easily put in place for later on.



Shortly after that, I pulled the mask in half to add in a latch so that the mouth piece could be moved out of the way in case I ever wanted to eat while at con.









As seen in the above pictures I tried to make a custom method of hitching the mask back together. However that didn't work out. So I tore those pieces out and decided to with a different route. Turns out, magnets work well for what I'm trying to do.



I took the front piece back out though, turns out trying to work on it while it is in the mask isn't such a good idea. Also according to my reference pictures I had missed some details on the nose piece which I went back to fix.



This goes on the nose piece I just took off. However, look at it right now I may have to go back and rebuild the whole thing again using some kind of piping as well.





Also, I managed to get the tubing for the side of the mask put together. It's not just for cosmetics though, there is a hose leading to the water source from a camel back. Gotta keep hydrated while at conventions.



I also got something in the mail today that I wasn't expecting till much later. I'm kinda excited about it. A cookie to the person who guesses what it is correctly.

 

Will the eyes light up? I don't think that will make it into the final design. If only I had some LEDS, then perhaps I would. But I just can't find any.



Just kinda... ignore that picture, miss-clicked.

(YES)

- - Auto Merge - -

Got more work done today. The mask is actually coming together now and I'm starting to be pleased with the results.

First off, this is where the hose shown previously will connect into the mask. I'll have a bite that I can use to pull water through. It's just a hex nut that I found at Ace Hardware that was hotglued into place.



Then I start work on the housing for the fan, which is the filter for the mask.

Starting materials:


First layer:


Second layer and front piece:




The back piece with the fan's cord sticking out.


Sadly this next picture skips a few steps. I had done some work on the nose piece. I had cut the three partial circles I had in half so they weren't standing as tall. Then I took the mesh from the front of a speaker and spread it across the nose piece. Then I glued the pieces down onto it. Finally I took a hex nut and glued it into the middle. The hex nut looks a little too big to me, however I've gotten positive feedback thus far from my peers so it can stay for now. I also filled the hex nut with some bondo so that it looked like there was a bolt in it, and also to give the feel of grime and dirt that has been built up over time.





Next up, I added a layer of bondo onto the many cracks that were abundant on the mask where two separate pieces met up. I still need to grind them down once they dry up but the overall result may warrant me leaving it like that to help represent some more wear and tear. I'm kinda torn, what do y'all think?







Also one other thing that has been bothering me is how I'm going to cover up this.



I was thinking of some craft foam, however I'm not sure if it can take the paint treatment that will go on later. Any thoughts?

Next up, I need to drill some holes for wires that will be going into the mask. One on the left and another on the right. (Notice there is already a hole that I put in the wrong spot on the left side. Already patched that with bondo) Also, if the helmet I ordered gets here soon I will start working on that as well as the camera box.

 

It is pretty fun building this. I may have to make more cosplays after this because I never realized how much fun it is. There isn't really any set guide to building cosplays either. So as I'm building this I can tweak things just as I want them, and some of the things I'm not only thinking of but doing just blows my mind at times. The electronics work alone is something I never dreamed of doing but I'm already setting it up and getting it working.

Also I should have another update soonish.

 

I am hooking the display up to a Raspberry pi. Will make a cool heads up display when combined with the Pi's camera board. As for the shade of the lens, I haven't run into the green ones before, so likely red. If I do go the NLR style though it may end up dark blue.

 

The design aspect I've decied on is dark blue lens *any help on finding some lens or material for said lens would be greatly appreciated*, and yep there will be LEDs behind them. Also, I've played through Honest Hearts, which is why I was surprised I hadn't run into the mask. I'll have to play through it again. Also sorry for the lack of updates, however I've been remaking the mask so that it looks much cleaner than the old one. On the old one, I fiberglassed it and made the mistake of doing the outside as well as the inside. It looks just terrible, so I took the opportunity to fix a lot of the problems I had with the old mask and use a lot of the things I have learned. I'll have a picture up by the end of the day of my current progress. - - Auto Merge - - As promised here are the pictures. This is the previous mask I was working on, which I had made many many mistakes on and decided to abandon all together

This is the mask I'm working on now.

If you notice, there are less pieces to this mask. I've been using fire to bend the styrene to my desired shape.

I've also been remaking the helmet pieces since they had many of the same flaws.

Thoughts? Does this look better than what I was working on, or should I shift gears a tad?