(Comic Con and Iron Man III Mk VIII pics pg 5) Stealth Iron Man w/ automated helmet

[FONT=Verdana]Hey guys. I figured I'd start a thread to log my progress on my Iron Man suit. This is my first project like this, so I thought I'd try and log everything so anyone who's getting started can have a single point of reference. I will be updating these posts as I progress. I will also reference all the advice I have received from people I have PM. Thanks all to those who have helped me so far!

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[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]Pep Files:
- Sharkmark VI Helmet
- Robo Mark VI
http://www.therpf.com/f24/robo3687s-...ge-73-a-88147/

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[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]Material list

-Duct tape (For duct tape dummy)
Walmart

-Scissors
Walmart

-Craft Robo/ Silhouette SD (I bought some replacement blades also)
Graphtec / Silhouette SD Craft Cutter (formerly CraftROBO)

-110 lbs cardstock
Amazon.com: Wausau Exact Index Cardstock, 92 Brightness, 110 lb, 8.5 x 11 Inches, White, 250 Sheets (48508): Office Products

-Lo temp hot glue gun + glue sticks
Walmart

-Safety goggles/splash goggles
Amazon.com: Pyramex G204 Indirect Vent Chemical Splash Goggles: Home Improvement

-Respirator + dust cartridges + organic vapor cartridges
Amazon.com: Anti-Dust Paint Respirator Mask Industrial Gas Chemical: Home Improvement
Amazon.com: Box of 6 - Anti-Organic Vapors Replacement Cartridges for Neiko Respirator: Home Improvement
Amazon.com: Anti-Dust Replacement Cartridges for Neiko Tools Respirator - Pack of 6: Home Improvement

-Disposable brushes (pack of 36)
Pack of 36 2" Industrial Grade Chip Brushes

-Plastic cups (to mix resin)
Walmart

-Foil (To lay out on table or where ever I dry pieces so nothing sticks)
Walmart

-Epoxamite 101
EpoxAmite® 100 Laminating Epoxy Product Information | Smooth-On

-Digital scale (I think I'll buy the pumps next time, instead of the scale)
Amazon.com: EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale, Silver: Kitchen & Dining

- 8.7oz Fiberglass Cloth Tape
http://www.uscomposites.com/cloth.html

-Spray adhesive
Amazon.com: 3M 77 Super Multipurpose Adhesive Aerosol, Clear 24 Oz. Aerosol Can: Office Products

-Cones and a baseball tee (to dry pieces)

-Dremel
Amazon.com: Dremel 7700-1/15 MultiPro 7.2-Volt Cordless Rotary Tool Kit: Power & Hand Tools

-Body filler
Amazon.com: Fibreglass Evercoat 112 Rage Gold Premium Lightweight Body Filler - Gallon: Home Improvement

-Spot putty - Bondo spot putty works just fine, but it seems like Dolphin Glaze might be a bit better since it's self leveling (recommendation from fingaz)
R & E Paint Supply. UPOL 0714, Dolphin Glaze, Spot Putty

-Spreaders (I personally like the metal spreaders more than the plastic)
4 Piece Body Filler Applicator Set

-Mixing board
Mixing Board
R & E Paint Supply. CS 100, Clean Sheets, Auto Body, Mixing Palette

-Soft sanders sanding blocks (These are GREAT) + adhesive sandpaper 60, 120, 220, 400 grit sand paper (Thinking I should have went with 80 to 180 then 220, then wet sand 400)
Automotive 5" Soft Sanders 6 Pack
Super-Flex Sandpaper

-Filler primer
I just picked up Rust-oleom filler primer from Walmart. I've read you should use the same brand paint as the primer you use though.

-Wire brush (to clean sandpaper, tip from projectearth7)
1-3/8" x 7" Steel Detail Brush

-Heat gun (to help correct warped parts after fiberglassing and to bend foam)
Professional Heat Gun with Digital Temperature Settings

-Needle files (for detailing pieces)
Amazon.com: Xacto X73610 Needle File Set: Home Improvement

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-Electronics (LEDs, Microcontroller, Wire, Solder, pcb boards, etc)
-Molding and casting supplies (Rebound 25, Plastipaste, Modeling clay, Smooth cast, etc)
-Foam and foam supplies (Probably the same stuff Graphic Jordan and indiefilmgeek recommend... foam, plasidip, adhesion promoter, gloss finish)
-Paints and gloss finish
-Sintra (for some detailing, and other stuff)
-Buckles
-Backpack strapping/webbing
-Elastic
-Velcro
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Build tips that I've picked up from other members, or other members have provided me.

Cutting pieces (specifically faceplate)
- Credit to projecteart7 and aron42486 who provided me these tips through PM
- Tools include
o Dremel diamond cutting disc http://www.amazon.com/Dremel-545D-54.../dp/B00004UDI9
o Engraving cutter for curves http://www.toolbarn.com/dremel-113.html
o Coping saw for smaller/careful more controlled cuts http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/...OPING_SAW.html
o Use epoxy putty (apoxie sculpt) to repair damaged edges

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Sanding Tips (Lots of people to credit... indiefilmgeek, fingaz, surrealstudios, projectearth7, blackdynamo, dericrw... etc etc etc)

1) Apply filler
2) Apply matte black dust coat (basically you spray your piece lightly with black paint as a guide coat when you sand... while your sanding, you'll know where your low spots are... great tip from fingaz threat)
3) 40-60 grit sanding
4) Repeat 1-3 until shape is appropriate

5) Dust coat
6) 120-180 grit sanding
7) Filler Primer
8) Spot filler
9) Dust coat
10) 220 grit sanding
11) Reprime
12) Light Dust coat
13) 400 wet sand
14) Light sand 600 grit if you want

Try out softsanders as your sanding blocks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO78jhVF6Xc)

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Useful reference videos:

- Stealth's "TheHeroTutorials:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheHeroTutorials

- I also found xXBocephusXx channel useful. He has a 1-8 video series on building armor using pep. He also has some molding and casting videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/xXBocephusXx

- I didn't want to spend all my time trying to cut out pep's so I purchased a Silhouette SD (Craft Robo) cutter. Highly recommend it. Here's info on how to set and configure:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/...ROBO-guide-FAQ

- Bondo tips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saqFkCP4Bgg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJWEBlm95d8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJNP7ZfV7Xw

I prefer mixing body filler this way though...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScDT4h554fE

Also, I found this video useful:
http://youtu.be/eygKDon4z7M

This was my first experience with pep/resin/body filler/sanding etc so you could say I'm a total noob. Not very artistic either. Stealth's tutorials were an extremely useful starting point.

TheHeroTutorials's Channel - YouTube

I also found xXBocephusXx channel useful. He has a 1-8 video series on building armor using pep. He also has some molding and casting videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/xXBocephusXx

I didn't want to spend all my time trying to cut out pep's so I purchased a Silhouette SD (Craft Robo) cutter. Highly recommend it. Here's info on how to set and configure:
Complete Pepakura Viewer for CraftROBO guide/FAQ

So for my first piece, I decided to avoid the helmet as I wanted to experience hardships and mistakes with another piece. I started with the cod which, in hindsight, was not too bad of a piece to pep. I didn't do too great of a job though, which I discovered during the body filler stage. Anyways, here are pictures after the piece was pepped, resined with Epoxamite 101 (see Stealth's video on his youtube site), and fiberglassed in the inside with the fiberglass tape I referenced in the materials post.

Cod Front


Cod Back


Being my first piece, I'm pretty sure I rushed it which lead to sloppy fiberglass being layed down. I definitely would like to re-do this piece.

Having a big but, the cod did not slip on me. Keep in mind, I have a 29.5 waist and a slim build but I guess my quads are a little too bulky. I did not rebuild it with the hope that I could just cut the cod in half and reattach it. Thanks to TMP for answering my questions about his 2 piece cod.

My first experience with body filler was with the elbow piece and the wrist piece. I wanted to do it on smaller pieces to get the hang of it. Wow, what a pain. I recommend check out the West Coast Customs tech tips videos for those of you who are learning to use body filler. I found them useful.

West Coast Customs - Mixing Body Filler - YouTube

West Coast Customs - Spreading Body Filler - YouTube

West Coast Customs - Sanding Body Filler - YouTube

I prefer mixing body filler this way though...
How To Mix Body Filler - YouTube

Also, I found this video useful:
DIY - Collision Repair Technology - (How To Use Body Filler) *BONDO* - YouTube

So basically I did a few rounds of body filler and sanding on the wrist piece, then spot putty, then wet sand. Process went like this:

1) Apply filler
2) Apply matte black dust coat (basically you spray your piece lightly with black paint as a guide coat when you sand... while your sanding, you'll know where your low spots are... great tip from fingaz threat)
3) 40-60 grit sanding
4) Repeat 1-3 until shape is appropriate

5) Dust coat
6) 120-180 grit sanding
7) Filler Primer
8) Spot filler
9) Dust coat
10) 220 grit sanding
11) Reprime
12) Light Dust coat
13) 400 wet sand
14) Light sand 600 grit if you want

Thanks to all who answered my questions about this process and all those other great threads out there (indiefilmgeek, fingaz, surrealstudios, projectearth7, blackdynamo, dericrw)... I know I'm leaving out a few threads cause I'm having a memory lapse) I think I stated this earlier, but I use the mouse sander to sand down the thick filler, but a majority of the sanding I do is by hand with softsanders. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. All the different pieces help you get into different grooves and such so I suggest that people check it out and give it a try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO78jhVF6Xc


Some pics:

Wrist with body filler


Elbow and wrist - Note elbow is far from done... I just primed it for giggles


So after all that, wrist piece was detailed with needle files and sandpaper.

Here's some photos of my experience with body filler on the cod.

I was pretty stupid and put too much body filler on the first application. Note: Take your time and mix small batches of body filler and hit the big sections first. Hit the small details later on. When I did the 2nd and 3rd layers of body filler, it took me maybe 3 or 4 small batches to get the entire piece.



This is after 3 coats of body filler, then sanding with 120, then spraying with filler primer to check for imperfections. Sooooo bad.



Applying spot putty.... everywhere.... Maybe another thin coat of body filler would have been better. Also, I unfortunately sanded down the front piece of the cod too far which left a crack on one of the joints. I thought I could fix it up with body filler or spot putty, but I didn't do too great of a job with that. The flexibility of the area keeps re-cracking that part.



Example of a dust coast prior to sanding:


After 2 rounds of spot putty and repriming, I sanded the piece with 220 and primed one more time. I detailed the piece with needle files and sandpaper after, then cut the cod in half with a dremel to make a 2 piece cod. I cut the top part of the cod (also known as the lowest ab separation) in a zig zag pattern to match the detail lines of the ab section.







Now I have to clean up the edges with some sandpaper, then create some type of overlap for the joining sections so the cod doesn't move around too much.

It's not the nicest piece, but overall, I learned a lot from making this piece. Most important... always take your time.

yea, some of those are incredible, but my first would look like crap. lolllllllll Like I said, I do think the foam is a great option for some, But personally, I got a Mac for starters so I dont have a clue where I would get the blue prints printed cuz all the tutorial footage Ive seen with the Pepekura stuff is done on a PC. Thats first... then I feel like my foam cutting skills would end up looking like a summer camp arts and crafts project in the end. hahaha. What do ya think a good foam suit would go for around here?