Scratchbuilding for Halo Fans (not a plane, sorry)!

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
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Yes! 1:1 scale scratch building! I realize this isn’t exactly an aircraft, but since this is my usual haunt, please forgive my self-indulgence…

Halloween’s almost here, and to my utter surprise, my 15-1/2 year-old son (a Halo ace) still wants to trick-or-treat with his friends this year! So the other day, he’s in his room, with a cardboard FedEx box over his head (no surprise to me, since teenagers do weird things all the time). A little later, he comes in the office and asks if I could help him build a Master Chief helmet. And since the opportunities of ‘father-son’ projects are fading fast, I jumped at the prospect. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Where to begin? No plans were available on the web, that was the first place I checked.

I got as many reference photos as I could, and set to work. Step One was to order up a motorcycle helmet shield, this would be the anchor of the entire project. Everything that followed was planned around the shield. A few rough patterns translated to cardboard cutouts, glued in place, every piece improvised, based upon photos. I realize there are discrepancies from the original Master Chief helmet, some artistic liberties were taken, but these were largely done for the sake of expediency and ease of construction. I can’t tell you how many times I almost simply admitted defeat. But too late, I already said I could do it, so I had to deliver.

Constructing the visor…

After adding details…

Now the decoupage newspaper (remind you of elementary school?)…

Finished product…

It’s all but done. I just have to glue in the foam lining. This was an all-consuming project, a nightmare created of cardboard, poster board, wood glue, and insanity. And I realize it’s far from perfect, and somewhat reminiscent of a Mexican piñata. But once again I am a hero in the eyes of my teenage son, and who can put a price on that?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to building my life-size “Cortana” robot.

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…pretty crafty there, modelnerd…

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You son is going to be a hit in that. You will be making them for all his freinds

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That’s excellent, Mark. And the older they get, the harder it is to be their hero, so job well done there! At the end of the day, you can tell yourself proudly, “yeah, I still got it”.

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Never again! NOT in a MILLION years!!

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[:D]Scratchbuilding ingenuity…I love it!

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That’s cool. My son will want to check this out, he loves Halo. If he want me to build one, I’ll just order from you. LOL

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I REALLY wanna see that Cortana robot! [:-^]

Well done! It actually looks real err… authentic…umm lifelike…well you know what i mean[;)]

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Pretty sweet !!!

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That’s cool. And it’s great that you took that opportunity to do something with and for your son.

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mmmmmmmm cortana…

let your son know if he ever wants another shooter im on quite often, my gamer tag is what else…TheLastPriest. When im not building scale examples of fighting machines im fighting online battles as a fighting machine, and you would be hard pressed to come out on top in a slayer game against me.

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Hey, that is so cool. Are you taking orders? If you are, i would like five of them…[:-^]

Boomer…

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ahh… Cortana… Sexy, assertive and sassy, all rolled into one. Pity she’s only a hologram.

BTW, nice job on the helmet…my 15 y.o. nephew just had one store-bought for him by a father without your skills, but i’ll wager yours means a lot more to your boy.

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Cool! That is so great!

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So does anybody acctually play or am I just aging myself by asking?

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As an old man of 44, I do play every once in a while, and aside from “Descent” (an older Macintosh-based game), Halo is about the only vid game that can hold my attention longer than three minutes. I prefer to play against opponents, rather than campaign mode. The only trouble is, my son is all but untouchable and he mops the floor with me! He is deadly with the sniper rifle. But if I should find a Ghost, then I have half a chance. At least until he finds the rocket launcher! Then I am toast once again! To be kind to me, he usually plays with a handicap. But now in Halo 3, the handicap option is gone!

He had a “Live” account for a little while, but I had to pull that. Some of the other players are downright rude and abusive. We don’t need that in our house.

And thanks for the comments, everyone-

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I have got to agree about the rude and abusive opponents, I am a good sport about all but when I run into them they are generally sorry about opening their mouths because I have a sharp tounge and quick wit. In my circle if the younger generation wants to play halo on live we just take their mics away. It allows them to get the challenge of playing with skilled human opponents without exposing them to scum of society which halo unfortunatly really brings out

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I stopped online gaming b/c I got owned on every server I went to. I’ve heard horrible language on Teamspeak and Ventrilo etc. and just in what people type. I ran a server for a while on Call of Duty, and the funnest part as admin was kicking and banning all the rule abusers [:D] I miss that…

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I just like beating up on people who think gimmicks win games, I dont care if you have the sniper rifle or rocket launcher. That weapon doesnt make you invincible in fact it generally makes you easier to kill becuase you think you are such a tough guy. good solid strategy and smart play will beat gimmicks and super weapons any day of the week. now run into somebody with good solid strategy, smart play and a rocket launcher or sniper rifle. run away, throw grenades and regroup, you are in for an uphill battle

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Unless, like me, you could hack and get a full-auto Colt .45! People just stopped and looked at me when I did that…