Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine Build Part 9: Taking to the Field

In case you're just now tuning in, here's the other parts of the Space Marine build:
Part 1: an Overview
Part 2: the Backpack  
Part 3: the Boots
Part 4: the Rubber Bits
Part 5: the Helmets
Part 6: the Hands  
Part 7: Badges and Trim 
Part 8: Guns 

But the absolute best part about any of these builds is seeing the response they get when they're out in public.  Here's a few pictures and videos of the Space Marines out and about.  

Their initial debut was in May at the 2012 Bay Area Maker Faire.  If you were there, they were hard to miss:






In addition to oodles and gobs of photos that people took, there were also a few video teams that interviewed me:





When the event began we had two suits all put together and walking around.  The third suit was assembled on location and was walking around by the middle of the second day.  

Everyone seems to have had a good time:


A short while later, my friend Matt wore one of them to Fanime, a local convention.  He got a lot of attention there.  It turns out these suits really stand out:

At about that same time, I did an interview with Make Magazine.  What started as a quick "let's take a look around your workshop" visit soon spread into a much bigger piece including the cover:


In addition to the cover, there was a four-page spread showing much of my costume portfolio.  Here's the whole image stitched together, courtesy of Make:
 
While that spread does a good job of providing a sense of scale for the Space Marines, it doesn't really showcase the details.  Fortunately, the good people at Make were kind enough to send me some of the pictures of each suit by itself.  Here they are:





You can see more about that issue of Make magazine at http://makezine.com/32.

While I really loved all three of those suits, I really felt I could do a better job of making one with more trim and embellishments.  So I knuckled down and built another one: 


My favorite part about this particular suit is the insanely heavy sculpt of the Crux Terminatus on the left shoulder:


I think the suit is pretty sexy:




Chicks dig it:


I'm sure there will be plenty more opportunities to get these guys out and about.  So expect more pics like this:

In case you're wondering, that guy's not at all short for a stormtrooper.
  

This web site is completely unofficial and in no way endorsed by Games Workshop Limited.

Adeptus Astartes, Games Workshop, Games Workshop logo, Space Marine, Space Marine chapters, Space Marine chapter logos, Ultramarines, Warhammer, Warhammer 40k Device, and all associated marks, names, races, race insignia, characters, vehicles, locations, units, illustrations and images from the Warhammer 40,000 universe are either ®, TM and/or © Copyright Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2012, variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world. Used without permission. No challenge to their status intended. All Rights Reserved to their respective owners.

Kali Costume Part 4: Wardrobe, Hair, and Make-Up

This is the fourth and final article describing the various parts of the Kali costume which I built for Hi-Rez Studios to promote their recently released game "SMITE."  In case you missed the other parts, you can read them here:

Part 1: Chest

Part 2: Arms

Part 3: Props

With those bits out of the way, I'm going to detail the making of the skirt, the armbands, the shoes, and the hairdo, as well as the thoroughly entertaining process of turning this girl:

Into this goddess:

If you want to see tons of additional pics as well as the step-by-step description, read on...

Recent UFO Sightings in the Workshop

I've been busy as hell getting things ready for the upcoming Hobby Expo on February 9th at the Petaluma Community Center.  With all of the goings-on, I haven't been writing as much as I'd like, but I still want to share some of what I've been up to.

First, I'm almost finished making a handful of STA-52 Light Assault Rifles from the Killzone series.  Here's the stack of raw castings:


That odd gap in the buttstock?  That's where the two-tier drum magazine goes:


While I'd originally intended to just make the rifle as a display piece, I'm starting to really like the look of the Helghan troops.  With that in mind, I'm at least making the helmet if not the whole outfit:


Speaking of helmets, I've started working on another Space Marine suit with more trim and badges than any of the other ones I've already built.  Here's the first part:




 
Here's the left shoulder nearly finished:


The right shoulder still has a long way to go:


While this suit will probably be armed with a bolt pistol and/or bolter, I've also decided it'd be really cool if I can make him a power sword and a combat knife.  Here's the forming bucks in progress:


Also on the 40k front, since I was never happy with my Imperial Guard costumes, I've put some time into making them a little more involved.  Here's some of the new parts added to the web gear:


Here's a few badges I've sculpted, molded, casted, and painted:


Since I never seem to be able to stop making HALO stuff, I'm still working on my Agent Maine costume.  Here's the right shoulder out of the mold before prep work was finished:


Here's the left shoulder and a couple of raw copies just in case:


On the backburner, I'm still making slow progress on my "all digital" Ironman costume build.  I'm making all of the pieces on my Objet 3D printer and my Carvewright CNC machine.  Here's the CNC'ed bicep almost smoothed out enough to mold:


It looks pretty good considering the way the pieces look when the come out of the machine.  For example, here's one-third of the chest:


Finally, I've made a lot of progress on my latest Combat Garden Gnome.  Behold...  the Bayonet Gnome:

He's still got a way's to go, but I'm happy with the sculpt so far.

 So that's the bulk of what I've got in progress right now (that I'm allowed to talk about).  Huge progress will unfold in the next couple of weeks, so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any updates.

Touring Rancho Obi-Wan

Yesterday I was invited to join friend Fon Davis of Fonco Creative for a tour of Rancho Obi Wan, Steve Sansweet's museum where he houses the world's largest collection of Star Wars memorabilia.  I'll admit that I was initially skeptical about going and looking at a barn full of old Star Wars toys.  It turns out I had no idea what I was in for.

Steve Sansweet worked as the Director of Content Management and Head of Fan Relations for Lucasfilm for decades and is a fiendishly dedicated collector of all things Star Wars.  He literally wrote the book on Star Wars collectibles.   

Seriously, several books.  Their titles include Star Wars: 1,000 Collectibles: Memorabilia and Stories from a Galaxy Far, Far Away, Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection, The Star Wars Vault: Thirty Years of Treasures from the Lucasfilm Archives, Star Wars - From Concept to Screen to Collectible, and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.

His museum, a densely-packed 9,000 square feet, is filled to the brim with everything I ever wanted as a kid plus a whole lot more I grew to covet after I started earning my own paychecks.  The collection includes vintage toys, screen-used props, tie-in merchandise, tribute artwork, and some amazing prop and model replicas.

Here's one of my favorite pieces, the smiling Vader:


There's a whole lot more, so if you'd like to see additional pictures, read on...

Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine Build Part 8: Guns Guns GUNS!!

It's been a while since I've written about this project.  If you're only just joining in and you'd like to see the other parts, here's the rest:
 Part 1: an Overview
Part 2: the Backpack
Part 3: the Boots
Part 4: the Rubber Bits
Part 5: the Helmets
Part 6: the Hands
Part 7: Badges and Trim

The next thing was to make the armament for these massive warrior gods:


For details on how they were built, read on...