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MisterFreeman
Guest
Greetings to both Cosplay.com and Halflife2.net!
Hello there!
This is both my first post on Cosplay.com and Halflife2.net simultaneously. The reason I am doing this is because I believe I could benefit from posting the same thing on both communities hear both voices regarding my quest to become Gordon Freeman. I will be consulting Cosplay.com regarding design issues, how-tos, suggestions, and material ideas for the "Hazardous Environment Suit Mark V". I will be asking Halflife2.net for specifics about the suit, such as materials it is actually made out of, accurate and high-resolution images of the suit and Gordon himself, and for them to assess the accuracy of the suit I build as I give updates. If they say something needs to be changed or tweaked, I will do it.
An Introduction:
Here is a comparison of myself next to an official image of Gordon Freeman. Please excuse the crude webcam shot, as I have seemed to misplace the power supply to my digital camera. In any case, there is quite some resemblance, and I've been told this since before I even knew who Gordon Freeman was. My nose is a bit different, and I am currently dieting to achieve the more ?scrawny? look Gordon has. I've lost over 25 pounds since that photo was taken about a month ago. With the right haircut and goatee trimmings, I can look much more like him, and here is an example, right after a full day at the E for All expo, where I was recognized by quite a few individuals.
Enough of the chit-chat already:
Alright, here's where I'd like the communities' help. I can just begin working on a suit, and seeing how it turns out by ComicCon, but if I have people experienced in these fields, the process could become a lot less painful if I had some help. Here's a list of questions I have for each community:
Cosplay.com:
Fist off, here is the official in-game model of the H.E.V. Suit and two other pictures of Gordon Freeman for refrence.
- 1.Looking at the mail-like armor on the suit, is there any type of fabric which can mimic this effect? I know I have this grey-mesh-like fabric on my backpack which is quite similar to what I want, but if anyone could point me to something I could find at a fabric-store/online, that would be fantastic!
- 2.I was planning on making the bigger, solid armor pieces out of styrofoam, then surrounding the styrofoam with fiberglass molding, like what people use to add modifications to their cars and such. I was wondering if anyone else out there had any different ideas on how to go about this. I had heard of a method involving bending cardboard and coating it with something to make it harden, but I'd be too worried that it would break easily or bend causing permanent creases in the design.
- 3.The gloves will need to be custom made, or modifications will be made to existing gloves, but frankly, I hate wearing gloves that are too thick. Is there such a thing as a very thin glove material that you don't really feel and it's almost as if you were using your hands normally?
- 4.I plan on wearing this all 4 days of the San Diego ComicCon, so it will need to be sturdy enough to last the convention while still being mobile enough to walk around in with too much difficulty. Keeping that in mind, I'm open to anything you guys might have for me.
Halflife2.net:
- 1.Alright guys, as you can see from the reference post for Cosplay.com, I only have so many low-resolution pictures of the H.E.V. Suit. Is there any type of concept art or designs given to the artist who produced these images? And if you have any higher-resolution images of anything I post here, that would be most appreciated, epically anything showing the rear of the suit.
- 2.Using Garry's Mod, I can easily get a good look at the in-game suit, but I don't believe this is enough. Would it be possible for someone to lay out the textures as they are mapped over the mesh object and provide a basic break-down of the polygons, or a wireframe version, of the H.E.V. Suit, or would this violate some kind of rule on the forums?
- 3.Does anyone know Gordon Freeman's approximate weight and height? I'd like to know this so I can attempt to achieve a proportional weight according to my height, which is 6 ft, or 1.83m.
- 4.If I do happen to get the suit done with remaining time before the convention, I would like to add some on board sound functionality, but I would require the raw files from the Half-Life 2 data, such as ?Minor Fracture Detected.? ?Morphine Administered.? depending on which button I press. Or would requesting such a thing also violate some forum rule? I have no intentions of illegal activity here, I am merely curious to see if people here can help me in any way they can in a legitimate way.
- 5.Is there anything I should know specifically about the H.E.V. Suit, like it's actual materials and such? I know Doctor Kleiner begins to speak about the suit's features, but is hurried by Barney or Alex, I can't remember who, haha. So any specific information about the suit would be most helpful.
A Thank You:
First, I would like to thank both of these communities for their dedication in both their respects. I consider you both the top-notch sites of your fields, and am really looking forward to listening to your comments, advice, suggestions, and critiques. It's such an honor to be working with you and it will be quite an honor if I even meet some of you at the 2008 San Diego ComicCon. Here's to the next 90 days! ~Cheers!
~MisterFreeman
Aka: Biggestsonicfan
Note: All major updates for this project will be cross-posted between the two sites.
