Ironman Costume for 5yr old - LINKS on PAGE 1 - tips & important bits

Thanks Ironmaided, GeraldBarnacle & Pipersaurus!!!

sachin rooney said:

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Sir, i m jus goinna start doin one? & i gt no xperiences in doin these things!!! Will i b able to get the thing done succussfully?? & in helmet makin process... U first made th helmet as a whole & then cut it into 3 to move the visor uh?

Yes! I'd HIGHLY recommend building, shaping and sanding the FULL helmet before cutting it apart. Especially, if this is your first build of this type.

I'd also encourage you to post your progress -- you'll get great feedback, questions answered and just a lot of encouragement from this community!

FWBulldog said:

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It's so satisfying to see your kids enjoying something you made for them. Nice job!

I did a Master Chief costume for my boy, and he absolutely loved to tell people "My DAD made it!". Makes it worth all the late nights and expense.

Yep. I didn't say a word as they trick-or-treated. My 10yr old daughter was like the town crier. She just kept telling everyone we saw: "my DAD made that suit... out of paper!"

...technically true for some parts, but I wasn't going to correct her.

@indiefilmgeek When you began painting the costume, did you apply adhesive promoter over the paint before applying the clear gloss or did you apply the clear gloss directly over the paint?

I apologize if my question has already been asked, but a search didn't find any results.

P.S. I just updated the first page with links to some of the important bits (including paint, foam supplies, tutorials, connection points, etc).

Hopefully that helps you find some of the more 'usable' info.

Thank you very much for your extremely informative reply!

awesome work here man, more kids need dad's like you for sure!

Honestly, you have inspired me and my goal is to make at least two suits or armor for my boys, if time allows perhaps a pink version for my little girl. Just need to work on scaling everything down. At least they have the build for the armor unlike myself. :-)

Dean

Thats just simply...CUTE! props for you for having patience and dedication to pull that off. You motivate me! great work sir!

Thanks, Davence, Indigogyre and SimplyMe! It was a LOT of fun and I'm looking forward to Halloween 2012. I've heard my 10 yr old daughter might want to be Edward Scissorhands. That should be a fun build!

I'm actually starting a build like this for my three year old for Halloween and stumbled upon your thread looking for information on proportions and scaling (I did a pep wrist scaled to length and it wouldn't even fit). This is really useful information for me doing a child's build and I just have to say if mine comes anywhere near as good as yours I'll be a happy man!

Just for kicks, here's last year's all-aluminum Mk I

indiefilmgeek said:

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My final method of paint was:

A. 2-3 coats Plasti-Dip. Sometimes more than that depending on how much I wanted to disguise my mistakes. Just remember to put on lots of thin layers rather than over-do any one layer.



B. 2-3 coats of Dupli-Color Adhesive Promoter. Read the direction. This brand suggested only 3-5 minutes between coats and then follow with the auto paint IMMEDIATELY.



C. 2-3 coats of Desired Color (Dupli-Color Dark Cherry Metallic auto paint for the RED, Dupli-Color Sunburst Gold for the GOLD) It will LOOK dull, but we'll fix that with the next coat.



E. 1 quick coat of Rustoleum Clear Gloss Spray Paint for Plastic (should make sure humidity is not high or it will 'fog' and not be clear)



D. Blackwash with dark water based paint (thinned). This makes the edges 'pop' and gives the suit more clarity when worn.



F. Small amounts of Silver Rub-n-Buff (to emulate paint chipping)

**Just for reference, that wrist pieces is fiberglass painted with auto primer and the Metallic Dark Cherry paint. The forearm piece is EVA foam painted in the above method. To be honest, in the end I couldn't even tell the foam from the hardened pieces... which I guess is the goal, right?


If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. I only got through this project because of the folks on this forum helping me out -- So, I want to do the same if I can!

Keep building!

How many cans of posti dip do you think it would take to do a adult size suit?

Incinorator, that MKI is impressive! I haven't played with sheet metal, so I totally envy your skills!

madrick said:

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How many cans of posti dip do you think it would take to do a adult size suit?

Holy cow-- I have no idea! I guess you could count one spray for every 2 parts maybe... It really totally depends on how much your using it for sealing versus smoothing. The more coats the smoother the seams look... but that takes much more plasti-dip.

Honestly, if I build another suit I'd be trying XRobot's method of plastic coating the armor you wanted hardened. You should totally check this out!

Coooll!

Wow .. .. lucky kid .... Amazing Dad ...gratz

Thanks so much for your thread indie,i have used it to help my build SO MUCH. I just wanted to know how you did your blackwash? Thanks

A lot of dedication and luv for your kid. Lucky kid and one hell of a amazing dad.

madrick said:

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Thanks so much for your thread indie,i have used it to help my build SO MUCH. I just wanted to know how you did your blackwash? Thanks

Traditional 'blackwashing' is normally used in small models and it is the process of taking black oil-based paint and thinning it. That thinned black paint is then bushed over the chrome grill of a model car (for example) and what you will find is that the oil-based black paint settles/sticks into the deepest crevices in a very realistic-looking effect. The excess is often just wiped off with a paper towel.

On objects as big as our costume pieces, this doesn't necessarily work the same way, so I actually just take straight (non-diluted) black paint and just use a frayed brush and dab a bit of paint along all the edges/ridges and other spots where dirt would naturally build up. You can then wipe away excess prior to the paint drying. If you let the paint dry a bit too much, you can always dab a bit of thinner on a paper towel or cloth and use that to wipe-back the black paint so it fades into the corners.

Here is a video tutorial I found showing the same type of system I used for Mikey's build. Stiilus Otaku's Blackwash Basics - YouTube

Hope it helps you out. Your Mark 6 is looking KILLER!

Love that Mk 1! And of course the new one is looking awesome.

awesome work

Your final paint is awesome!! But it goes a b c e d f... Is it in order or in order by the letter.. And do you use adhesive promoter before your clear coat?

itsArchieboy said:

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Your final paint is awesome!! But it goes a b c e d f... Is it in order or in order by the letter.. And do you use adhesive promoter before your clear coat?

Oh, my.... I just noticed that! Wow... hope that didn't mess anyone up!

It's now fixed!

indiefilmgeek said:

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Oh, my.... I just noticed that! Wow... hope that didn't mess anyone up!

It's now fixed!

I was wondering, which color plasti dip do you recommend and are there different color adhesion promoters? Or is it just clear? Because your black cap on yours is throwing me off..