randomflyingpigeons

Response (2 of 2)
On an additional note to my other resonse, I would love to bounce some ideas around with you.

The reason I am so interested in the Kig-Yar shield is because while we have never seen a spartan in halo using one, seeing as they are "spartans" it would only make since to come across one with a shield. Plus, it would be freaking awesome to run around with a shield and an energy sword.

So I do plan on having a shield with my spartan build, but seeing as I consider you to be the expert on them, I would really like your opinion on the matter. Do you think that a spartan (I am 6'1", so I should be around 6'5" or so fully armored up) by comparison to a Jackal, would also use a 36" shield? I mean, that is actually the size of shield spartans used historically, so I think it would make sense, but by size comparison, I would like to make things look accurate in terms of scale, which I think you would totally understand how I feel in those regards.

Also, although you have walked a mile in a Jackal's shoes (and stilts ) and as such you might be disturbed by the following idea, what would your opinion be on having a severed forearm of a jackal still attached to the shield? You could probably have the bone of the forearm sticking out to be used as a handle. I mean, perhaps that is the only way for a spartan to successfully use a jackals shield, idk. It would add extra weight and complexity when building it, but on the other hand, it could make people shut up when they try to hassle you saying that it is impossible for a spartan to use a point defense gauntlet.
Otherwise, I think I would just leave it as just the shield without a severed arm attached to it, which I kinda like the idea of better, and since Spartans were probably much larger than jackals, although it was wrist-mounted on a jackal, the wrist band could just be the right size for a spartan to just use as a handle.

Any thoughts you can share would be appreciated!

(Response 1 of 2)
Awesome, you responded really quickly! I wasn't sure when you would see that message.

I apologize for being the king of really long messages, so as you read this, please feel free to take your time in responding.

While I am sad I won't see you as a Hunter, I totally understand in regards to your Hunter costume build. I've been on a 3 or 4 year hiatus due to my engineering classes; I never even managed to start a build in the first place. Now that I have been graduated for a year, I thought it was time to pick up a lot of the projects and ideas I needed to set aside in order to do good in school.
Stay with it, life will get easier, school is rough!!!

No worries on the lack of information, it is my fault for asking for it at a time long past when the details would have been easily remembered; but it is nice to know that it cost roughly $40!
I really wish you knew what the material was though :/. If you moved your arm around fast would it wobble or anything? If you still have it around, can you measure the thickness of it?
I ask this because I could possibly find another route to take in creating it with a sheet of plastic rather than buying a convex one outright, but it would be nice to know the material and thickness yours was, because yours does look pretty solid and I think I remember you saying that it was pretty lightweight, though I'm not sure how much you said it weighed.
But yeah, from what I've seen in terms of looking at those mirrors, I've noticed that they are either glass, plexiglass, or acrylic, I just don't have any experience at all with acrylic, I honestly just thought it was a type of paint lol.

In the past, I've bought a 36" circular piece of 1/4" High Density Polyethylene for a shield (it was not convex in shape) for boffer fighting (full contact with foam-padded weapons, similar in looks to LARP but not similar in functionality or playstyle) and damn it is heavy haha. In hindsight, I think I remember someone telling me that I should have gone with 3/8" and just to reinforce it in certain places with extra plastic.
When I bought the plastic core for the shield, I had to buy a massive sheet of the polyethylene. I think it was 4-ft by 10-ft or something crazy like that (maybe 4'x8'), and I additionally had to pay for them to cut a disk of it out in a circle. I think the plastic alone cost me $100, but that shield is actually meant to take a pounding and come back for more. On the plus side, I still have all the leftover plastic to make more shields from.

But anyways, I would prefer to not be carrying around something that is in excess of 5-lbs all day like that shield I mentioned above. Don't get me wrong though, I do look completely badass at renn-faires haha.

It really sucks that you are no longer in contact with your dad, I don't know what happened, and whatever happened I'm sorry that it did. Hopefully you two will be able to be a family again. I'm cheering for you and I wish you the best!

Q: I've seen 2 types of convex security mirrors, there are some that are in the form of domes (kinda like a bubble shield in Halo 3 lol) and then there are ones which are a lot more shallow but still convex. Would I be correct in assuming that you used the more shallow security mirror's plastic rather than a full dome?

Q: I asked earlier if you could measure the shield if you still had it, and excuse me if I am out of line in asking this, but if you do still have it, would you be willing to sell it? I know that you don't ever do the same build twice, but I don't know what your opinion is on keeping things you've worked hard on. Personally, I would totally have everything on display like Iron Man's hall of armors or like the glass display cases Batman has in the batcave, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. I'm not sure how much I could commit to buying it without seeing it in person first and feeling how sturdy it is or anything, but I am a curious individual nonetheless.

Oh, and fyi, you were RFPnoodle on the forums, in case that's what you couldn't remember.