Looking after your build
Care Guide
Everything here is built by hand, one piece at a time. Treated reasonably, it'll outlast the convention circuit. Here's what actually matters.
Every build applies to everything I make. Some builds only applies if your piece has that feature, skip it if it doesn't.
Start here
Unpack it somewhere clear and soft, a bed or a carpet, not a hard table edge. Keep the box and the padding until you're sure everything's right, it's the only thing that'll protect the piece if it ever needs to travel again.
If it's been somewhere cold, give it an hour to come up to room temperature before handling it properly. Cold plastic is more brittle than warm plastic.
Then look it over in good light. If anything shifted in transit, tell me straight away with photos, while the packaging is still around. That's much easier to sort out in the first few days than a month later.
Heat is the one that actually causes problems
This is the single most useful thing on this page. Standard builds are 3D-printed PLA/PLA+, and PLA softens well below the temperature a parked car reaches in summer.
A piece left on a back seat or in a boot on a hot day can sag out of shape, and once it's deformed it doesn't spring back. This is the most common way a good build gets ruined, and it's entirely avoidable.
- Never leave it in a parked car, especially not in direct sun
- Keep it out of direct sunlight for long stretches, even indoors behind glass
- Away from radiators, heaters, and hot-air vents
- Don't use a hairdryer or heat gun on it
If you're driving to a con, it travels in the footwell or the cabin with you, not the boot.
Cleaning
Dust with a soft dry brush or a microfibre cloth. For anything more than dust, a cloth barely damp with water, then dry it off.
The thing to protect is the paint and weathering, which is done by hand and isn't a factory finish. Solvents, alcohol wipes, kitchen sprays and magic-eraser type pads will all lift paint or dull the weathering, so keep them away from it.
- Soft and dry first, damp only if you need to
- No solvents, alcohol, or household cleaning sprays
- Never submerge any piece, and keep water away from anything with electronics in it
- Work gently around weathered edges, that's where the finish is thinnest
Storage and display
Somewhere cool, dry, out of direct sun, and where it isn't taking weight. Nothing stacked on top, and nothing resting against a thin or protruding part.
Helmets are happiest sitting on a shelf or a stand rather than face-down on the visor. Long weapons want support along their length instead of standing on one end for months. Armor pieces store flat or on a rack, not squashed into a tub.
For long storage, a cloth cover or an open box keeps dust off while still letting air move. Sealed plastic bins can trap moisture.
Visors
Visors are vacuum-formed with a reflective outer face and clear visibility from inside. That reflective surface is the part to look after, it scratches more easily than the painted shell.
- Clean with a dry microfibre cloth, the kind you'd use on glasses
- No paper towel or tissue, both are abrasive enough to leave fine scratches
- No glass cleaner, alcohol, or ammonia-based products
- Never set a helmet down on its visor
Some fogging from the inside during a warm day is normal, it's breath and body heat, not a fault. Let it air out afterwards rather than wiping it repeatedly.
Visors are not impact-rated in any material. See the safety note at the bottom of this page.
Wearing armor
Armor is custom-scaled to your measurements and built modular, with elastic straps and TPU flex zones at the high-movement areas. It's designed to be worn over the tactical base layer included with the set.
Get someone to help you the first few times. Working out the order pieces go on, and which straps to do up first, is much easier with a second pair of hands, and it's when most accidental knocks happen.
- Put the base layer on first, then work from the torso outwards
- Ease pieces into place rather than forcing them past a joint
- If something pinches or rubs, adjust the strap rather than pushing through it
- Check strap tension before a long day, straps settle and relax with wear
Sit down carefully in thigh and waist pieces, that's where most in-costume stress happens. If a strap loosens or a fixing works free over time, that's normal wear, and it's usually a quick fix, see repairs below.
Electronics and LEDs
LED work is hand-wired and tested before it ships, and runs on replaceable batteries so you're never stuck with a sealed unit.
- Switch it off when you're not using it
- Take the batteries out for long storage, leaking cells ruin a build from the inside
- Keep moisture away from it entirely, no damp cloths near the battery compartment
- Don't pull on the wiring when changing batteries
If the lights stop working, check the batteries and the switch first, that's the answer most of the time. Beyond that, don't start opening things up, message me and I'll talk you through it. As with any handmade electronic build, an issue can occasionally surface after delivery, and I'd rather help you diagnose it than have you take a soldered assembly apart.
Flexible parts
Some builds use TPU, a deliberately flexible material, at flex zones and other places that need to give rather than crack.
It behaves differently to the rigid printed parts. It's meant to bend, so don't be alarmed by that, but don't store it folded or compressed for months either, it can take a set. Let flexible parts sit in their natural shape when they're not being worn.
If your weapon arrived in parts
UNSC-style weapons built on a real firearm silhouette ship as finished parts for you to put together, because export screening won't clear them fully built. Nothing about the piece is unfinished, it's painted and weathered exactly as it would be otherwise, it just travels in sections.
They're designed from the start to come apart cleanly, so assembly is quick.
- Lay the parts out and dry-fit them before fixing anything
- Use the hardware supplied, it's sized for those parts
- Don't force a joint, if it doesn't seat easily, check the orientation
- Keep the packaging, it's the safest way to transport the piece again
If anything doesn't seem to fit the way you'd expect, stop and send me a photo before gluing or forcing it.
Raw kits
A raw kit is the printed version of a build, scaled to you, with supports removed, parts bonded where needed, and the correct hardware included. The finishing is deliberately left to you, so it arrives with a raw surface and visible layer lines.
From there it's sand, prime, paint. Work up through grits, prime to see what still needs attention, then paint. Take your time on the sanding, it's what decides how the final finish looks.
Everything above about heat, storage and handling applies to a raw kit too. And a raw kit can be upgraded to a fully finished commission later if you'd rather I took it the rest of the way.
Travel and conventions
Pack it the way it arrived. Padding around anything that sticks out, nothing loose in the box that can slide into a thin part, and no weight on top.
- In a car, it rides in the cabin with you, never a hot boot
- Flying, carry it on if the size lets you, checked bags get thrown
- At a con, give props a corner rather than leaning them where they'll get knocked
- Bring the basics for a quick fix, a little superglue and some tape have saved plenty of weekends
If you're travelling internationally with a prop weapon, check the rules for where you're going before you fly, they vary a lot by country.
Repairs
Things happen, especially at cons. Most small damage is fixable, and a clean break along a glue seam is usually the easiest of all.
I don't run a ship-it-back repair service, international shipping both ways doesn't make sense for most fixes. What I will do is walk you through it, including what glue to use and how to approach it, so you can sort it out yourself properly.
Before you start: take a photo, keep every piece including small fragments, and don't glue anything until you've dry-fitted it. A rushed repair is much harder to undo than a break.
When to just ask me
Message me rather than working it out alone if:
- Something arrived damaged, get in touch early with photos
- Electronics have stopped working and it isn't the batteries
- A part has broken and you're not sure how it goes back together
- You're not sure whether something is damage or just how it was made
- You want to change or add to a piece I built
There's no such thing as a question that's too small here. It's a hand-made piece and I'd much rather hear from you early than see a photo of a repair that's gone sideways.
Last updated 12 September 2026 · FAQ · How commissions work