Iron Man MK4 Plastic Coated Foam Build

Ive been a member here for a little while and thought its about time i stared posting.
I started a mk3 build some time ago from paper and fibreglass but gave up as it didnt go well.
Ive now started a foam build after seeing some of the excellent work on here. Ive been trying XRobots method of coating the foam with resin.
Ive not got many pictures of the foam of the first few parts.

I started with the chest, This is my third foam chest piece as the others didnt look quite right. I still need to add some pieces where the holes are. On my first chest i found the resin filled them uneven so decided to add them later. Will also add the grooves.




Done the back, only one attempt. The spine area is a little off on one side. Might remake and add more detail.




Shoulders
They have been filled and sanded a couple more times since these pictures.




Biceps
Again they have been filled and sanded since these pictures were taken.Still need to put the grooves in these, I did have them in the foam but they came out uneven once the resin was on so i filled them.

My previous helmet came out ok but was wrecked when i tried to get it out of the mould.
The mould didnt come out well either.
Ive decided to repair the master and make a new mould as i cant get the foam one right. Ive done two foam helmets and not happy with either.
Ive started filling it and spliced a new piece in the side that originally broke off.




Next to my latest foam helmet


Where i am now, held together with scrap foam pieces



Done a neck but is a lot too small so am now remaking

Wow, that is looking amazing!

That looks awesome! What type of Resin did you use? I'm talking about things like pot time, demould time,mpas etc.? Im unsure which type of Polyurethane Resin i should use (Smoothcast-65D is too expensive here in Germany) because the pieces like the chest are quite big and you have to brush it on very fast before it starts to harden? Also how much Resin did you use so far? I plan to buy 2kgs and see how far i get with that amount...

Thanks for the compliments.
The resin i used was Smoothcast 65d. Ive not really used a lot. I bought a 7kg kit. Ive got just under half left but have been moulding a lot of parts from another project so dont think i would have used a lot at all. 2kg should do a lot of the suit.
It does go off quick so i just mix up a small amount at a time and brush it on fast. With the chest i just about coated the hole thing before it went too thick to work. The back i done in sections.

Thanks for the info. I guess it's time to order some resin

That does look amazing for foam - glad the information was useful (I'm still yet to use the plastic coating method for any of my own pieces).

Here's the original link detailing the process for reference: http://www.therpf.com/f24/how-plasti...pieces-146539/

How...just how...

Looks Amazing. I have a question, did you loose a lot of detail before sanding?

Nice work...and great photos. Have you ever worked with WONDERFLEX?

Wow... if you hadn't told us it was foam, I never would've suspected. It's looking amazing, man!

Oh damn, this is exactly what I was planning to do, thanks to you now I know how sweet this looks ! Any advice for me ? Did you follow exactly Xrobot's instructions : several light coats of PVA than several light coats of Smooth-On ? I hope I have enough for at least half the suit with my 1kg kit of smooth on, this stuff is really pricey. It does look amazing though.

Great work looking solid!

I would have never guessed that was originally foam!

amazing i love the look of plastic covered foam its amazing. you should be very proud ill be following this build closely. featured your build on the iron man armour facebook page to hope you dont mind heres a link Iron man armour uk | Facebook

Hey. This is great. Xrobot linked me to this thread as I've been moaning that mine isnt going quite as well as I'd hoped.

How many coats of the 65d are you using?
Were your pictures taken after you had sanded?
Any tips for sanding and filling? What grit sand paper etc...?

Sorry for all the questions, Im feeling very sad for my helmet right now, its seen much better days.

XRobots said:

---

That does look amazing for foam - glad the information was useful (I'm still yet to use the plastic coating method for any of my own pieces).

Here's the original link detailing the process for reference: http://www.therpf.com/f24/how-plasti...pieces-146539/

Thanks, I would never have thought of coating foam if id not seen your thread. Very helpful videos too. Will be trying your Arc reactor design soon too.

UnknownAvenger said:

---

Looks Amazing. I have a question, did you loose a lot of detail before sanding?

Not really, i had to watch the edges where the Smooth Cast would build up causing the edge to look a little rounded.

TKSteve said:

---

How...just how...

I found this a lot easier than paper pep and fibreglass, a lot less smelly too.

Thermoman said:

---

Nice work...and great photos. Have you ever worked with WONDERFLEX?

Thanks, no i hadnt heard of it, just had to google it

Moth said:

---

Wow... if you hadn't told us it was foam, I never would've suspected. It's looking amazing, man!

Thanks

teragon said:

---

Oh damn, this is exactly what I was planning to do, thanks to you now I know how sweet this looks ! Any advice for me ? Did you follow exactly Xrobot's instructions : several light coats of PVA than several light coats of Smooth-On ? I hope I have enough for at least half the suit with my 1kg kit of smooth on, this stuff is really pricey. It does look amazing though.

Thanks, yeah exactly as XRobots says in his guide. I used three coats of PVA. Probably 3-4 light coats of Smooth On. I mixed up very small amounts at a time. If it starts to go off dont be tempted to keep using it as it wont stick to the previous coat properly and wont give a very smooth finish

jamesrickards said:

---

Great work looking solid!

Thanks

bhodie said:

---

I would have never guessed that was originally foam!

Thanks,

firebapx said:

---

amazing i love the look of plastic covered foam its amazing. you should be very proud ill be following this build closely. featured your build on the iron man armour facebook page to hope you dont mind heres a link Iron man armour uk | Facebook

No i dont mind, I will take a look at that page later, Thanks

7sinzz said:

---

Hey. This is great. Xrobot linked me to this thread as I've been moaning that mine isnt going quite as well as I'd hoped.

How many coats of the 65d are you using?
Were your pictures taken after you had sanded?
Any tips for sanding and filling? What grit sand paper etc...?

Sorry for all the questions, Im feeling very sad for my helmet right now, its seen much better days.

Prob 3-4 coats. Ive been going by eye. When it looks covered i stop. The pieces never look totally smooth and white after drying though, you can still see foam in places.
I Put a very thin skim of filler/bondo over each piece, So thin its almost flat then sand and prime, then more filler, then primer.
Ive been using loads of primer, every time i prime it shows some more areas that need work.
I use 80 grit if theres a lot of filler to take down but usually 120g. i then go down to 240g after a couple of coats of primer to smooth any scratches.
The primer im using is a filler primer.
The helmet was a pain to get right. Im now using my old paper and fibreglass one. That took ages to get right.
I find all the pieces start to look a lot worse once you start with the plastic coating until a few coats of filler and sanding and a few coats of primer.
I did find some coats of smooth on peeled off form the previous layer like an onion skin.
What problems are you having with the helmet?

i dont want to disturb you, but there seems to be a sneaky dalek stalking you!

Thats my other large project. Hoping to get it finished soon. Will be my third and probably my last for a long while.

Thanks for the tips. I was hoping to avoid the filling/sanding/priming process after i turned my back on fibreglass builds. As for my own problems, a picture speaks a thousand words lol...

Yours looks pretty much how mine did after coating.
It really doesn't make as much mess as when glassing it. You use a lot less filler as well.

That is incredibly reassuring. Looks like I'm gonna have to treat myself to some body filler soon then. Is there a particular brand you would recommend? I used a few different types during my fibreglassing days and non really felt right for me.

Look for Evercoat.

7sinzz said:

---

That is incredibly reassuring. Looks like I'm gonna have to treat myself to some body filler soon then. Is there a particular brand you would recommend? I used a few different types during my fibreglassing days and non really felt right for me.

Ive been using U-pol Extra from Halfords. About £16 for large tub. This one Halfords | U-POL Extra Polyester Filler

Evercoat or upol? Pros and cons? What the viscosity like? Some fillers I've used have been tough as cold plasticine.