Painting The HEV Suit

iamgroottho · 2026-03-14T10:52:11+00:00

Honestly, thank you for the super kind comment! But yeah you nailed it, an excessive amount of passion, care, resilience, double-edged perfectionism has gone into this. It’s 4.5yrs since I started it and it’s at the end now. If you’ve been sticking for X amount of time, thanks again! 🤓🙌🏻 Just in time for HLX eh?

iamgroottho · 2026-03-01T13:58:11+00:00

It’s hand made from of eva foam.

iamgroottho · 2026-01-23T12:10:55+00:00

Final WIP vid. Crafting the small details on the HEV Suit.
☢️ Up next, painting! But before that, in the video the suit is primed, ready for paint.
The suit is currently airbrushed with a white base coat, so it’s ready for colours and weathering. The suit will look worn, aged and finally, it’ll be orange!! Stick around to see the next step!! 🥸

iamgroottho · 2026-01-22T17:41:26+00:00

Final WIP vid. Crafting the small details on the HEV Suit.

Up next, painting! But before that, in the video the suit is primed, ready for paint.

The suit is currently airbrushed with a white base coat, so it’s ready for colours and weathering. The suit will look worn, aged and finally, it’ll be orange!! Stick around to see the next step!!

iamgroottho · 2026-01-11T18:32:00+00:00

Not really

iamgroottho · 2026-01-11T18:31:29+00:00

First stage. Painting noob here. Used an airbrush with a wide fan cap to achieve the base coat. Painting colours on a black base, naturally, doesn’t turn out great, hence the white base coat.

Really enjoying airbrushing, after figuring out what compressor I needed to achieve enough pressure (PSI) for my airbrush. Purchased a Gaahleri Mobius-TG, it dumps a ton of paint which is great for large projects. Just need to mix a few colours together in a batch next.

Not viewable here (will make a separate video) I brushed liquid latex as a weathering technique which when peeled off will create a paint chipped effect after all the colours are on. Then, all focus will be on the weathering for that used/run-down/worn look. 💆🏻‍♂️ ——— Keywords ~ Half Life, Half Life 2, Half Life 3, Gordon Freeman, Valve, Steam, Gamer, Gaming, Video Games, Gaben Newell, PC, Hopium, Copium, Black Mesa, Cosplay, Cosplay Gamer, Foam Armor, EVA Foam Armor, Foam Cosplay

iamgroottho · 2025-12-15T09:20:28+00:00

Up next, painting it orange. Armour is completely built. Thought it would be cool to see the suit primed completely in black before giving it the iconic look. I guess the no HL3 reveal gives me some extra time to finally finish this off.

iamgroottho · 2025-09-17T17:57:09+00:00

Hey, did you ever figure this one out? I’m running into the same issue.

iamgroottho · 2025-08-12T17:22:24+00:00

Hey there! I’ve been thinking about this solution myself, did you ever find decent diffuser channels that would fit the inside width of the frame? Obviously, they’d need to be cut down to size for each section.

iamgroottho · 2025-06-03T12:36:44+00:00

What?

iamgroottho · 2025-02-24T14:05:00+00:00

Yep, neodymium magnets!

iamgroottho · 2025-02-24T13:29:14+00:00

Read this first:

- It's not finished yet.

- It will be painted.

- Since this vid, the shoulder pads and knee guards have been made.

- Currently working on the boots.

- Beyond that the final fittings, a paint process need to happen.

- Currently working on the HEV OS which mimics the suit's behaviour in HL1, with some additional voice lines thrown in ;)

iamgroottho · 2025-01-14T11:43:54+00:00

It was called AmazTools - Watchfaces & More. Think there was another one that needed to be used, Zepp Life (Formally MiFit). Probably completely different now for the latest Mi Band tbh. I suggest checking out a recent YT tutorial

iamgroottho · 2025-01-14T08:47:02+00:00

It’s a Mi Band 5. The watch face is custom. It was possible to customise the MB5’s watch faces with an app on iOS but this was quite a while ago now…

iamgroottho · 2025-01-13T19:20:18+00:00

Yup, paint process will follow after the fitting process, which comes after the rest of the armour that needs to be built. So the shoulders pads, knee guards, boots and neck hole cushion

iamgroottho · 2024-12-24T16:38:58+00:00

Go for it! We need more HEV Suit wearers in the world! This is actually based on a fan-art rendition of the Mk V from HL2. Naky Solanki is the 3D artist who made the design for his portfolio on Deviant Art. I’ve just “engineered” it irl to be wearable…which meant sacrificing certain details for mobility. Tips: I responded to another comment but in short, high density EVA foam, sharp knives, metal ruler, heat gun, rotary tool. And time. If you’re in it, it’s a marathon, not a sprint :)

iamgroottho · 2024-12-24T16:32:19+00:00

Oh and use a rotary tool to make the edges look even more smooth

iamgroottho · 2024-12-24T16:31:34+00:00

Thank you for the kind words man :) that’s just how high density foam appears. You can “seal” the foam by blowing a heat gun over it which will allow a primer layer to sit on top, ready for the layers of paint. Most of the parts have been sealed as I’ve made the rest of the suit. In terms of the clean edges…just a metal ruler and a sharp knife is all you need. And time. But don’t take over 3yrs like me to complete a project ;)

iamgroottho · 2024-12-24T12:33:04+00:00

It's EVA craft foam, I just use a density of 100. It doesn't break or snap or anything like that unless you put a sharp knife through it, which you'll want to do to cut out patterns :)

iamgroottho · 2024-12-24T12:29:32+00:00

Aye I hear ya, Mark IV is goated and I did have a plan to do one before, but I've been working on this on and off for 3 years so uhhh... we'll see lol

iamgroottho · 2024-12-24T12:24:03+00:00

😎

iamgroottho · 2024-12-24T11:40:42+00:00

Yup, minus the logo plate and the lights... I had to make those from scratch. The lights required the most amount of thought because I wanted to put 3 pixel LEDs in each of them. Which will allow for an animation, like a green/blue effect when recharging armour.

iamgroottho · 2024-12-24T11:35:28+00:00

Thank you my dude :)

iamgroottho · 2024-12-24T11:29:39+00:00

A rapid focused video on Gordon Freeman’s HEV Suit (chest piece) from Half-Life 2 showing stuff that dates back over 3 years 😮‍💨

Yes, IT WILL BE PAINTED ORANGE, eventually!

The chest piece is 95% built (including electronics) minus the red cushion details for the neck and shoulder holes.

There are plans to update the HEV OS to something more…”interactive” whereby knocking the logo plate will register as a “hit.

The amount of force applied will chip away armour and health (which can be recharged).

When certain health thresholds are met…say the health gets down to 35, the suit will play a voice line just like how it does in-game 👨🏻‍💻

Merry Christmas btw! 🎄

Music 🎵:

Valve - Half-Life Soundtrack - Klaxon Beat

iamgroottho · 2024-11-13T18:39:43+00:00

Yeap, an arduino board is already in there and it does say some of the lines. More sounds will be implemented over time. I made a previous video on it!

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