sticky situation with Iron Man...

Hi,

I've got a fancy dress party at the end of the month and am thinking of replicating Robert Downey Jr's look from comiccon so am looking to put together a foam forearm and hand i've got some of the simplified templates from some of you lovely folks but as I'm skint at the moment I can't buy a hot glue gun to stick it all together and after speaking to a few people don't seem to be able to borrow one.

Is there anything else i could use to stick the foam? epoxy glue, heavy duty super glue, duct tape and sheer willpower have all been considered but thought I'd check in with the people in the know first...

any help appreciated.

A good hot glue gun can be bought for like 7 bucks almost anywhere so that is still your best bet. If you don't mind me asking, why don't you have access to a hot glue gun?

I lost my job a few months ago so don't really have the spare cash to get one only for this purpose and the only people I know that will let me borrow one live 200 miles away. i've got an old camping mat that I'm gonna use so it's a proper budget build!

When I was at Joann Fabrics the other day, they had a two temp hot glue gun with like 20 glue sticks for like $10, grab a 40% off coupon (sometimes they even have 50% off) you're looking at 5-6 bucks out the door and have your glue gun and the glue.

JacobRyan said:

---

When I was at Joann Fabrics the other day, they had a two temp hot glue gun with like 20 glue sticks for like $10, grab a 40% off coupon (sometimes they even have 50% off) you're looking at 5-6 bucks out the door and have your glue gun and the glue.

unfortunatley I'm in England so can't do that... I know the wife has stashed some epoxy glue in the house somewhere so gonna have a look for that and give it a go, if that doensn't work I'll be off to Homebase to grab a glue gun, £8 with three glue sticks I've seen online so just means I'll have to make more things to get the most from the purchase!

this is my first foam based build (I've pep'd an Iron Man helmet earier this year) so it'll probably look like crap but if it's close then i'll be happy, I think once I get a job sorted then I can start properly on a suit but I'm a 'larger' fellow so would need to drop some weight before i can squeeze into a suit because noone wants to see a fat Iron Man!

If you're in the UK then Poundland sell them for £1:

that's brilliant... was just thinking of a trip there tomorrow for some office supplies for my wife so hopefully they'll have some... are they any good?

the important thing about glue guns is dont buy expensive ones, (like i did) cus they heat the glue so that it almost bubbles, i gotta constantly unplug mine not to get it so hot that i have to stand there for 5 mins waiting for it to cool!

i should have sticked with the cheap one indeed!

I've had really good luck using superglue to bind the pieces together. It's not as strong as hot glue, but you can go over the interior seams with the hot glue to reinforce them. I've done that with the majority of my suit and the seams are rock solid.

bignatedegg56 said:

---

that's brilliant... was just thinking of a trip there tomorrow for some office supplies for my wife so hopefully they'll have some... are they any good?

I've never actually opened the packet, but I expect you'll get what you pay for.

I've used UHU from poundland on the hand which seems to be working ok but the wrist and forearm are proving more tricky... probably doesn't help I'm using A5 sheets of 1or 2 mm thick craft foam either though (will have to see if poundland have anything in A4) but the camping mat is about 10mm so wasn't really doing the jobas I'd hoped and probably wouldn't go under my suit jacket either!

muchos gracias for all the assistance so far though guys.

Don't use superglue, i did superglue on my ironman shins and had to redo them the glue dries to quickly and doesn't melt the pieces together it just sticks them and if you bend it the glue will crack and come apart. at least that is what i have found.

familyman said:

---

Don't use superglue, i did superglue on my ironman shins and had to redo them the glue dries to quickly and doesn't melt the pieces together it just sticks them and if you bend it the glue will crack and come apart. at least that is what i have found.

that's king of the issue i'm having with the bigger bits, especially as the foam is so thin, I'm having to layer it and glue the layers together and as soon as i try to bend it 'pop' out it goes

gonna try and get some thicker foam for the arm, the thinner stuff is fine for the hand but need it to be sturdier for the arm... would anyone who's done it before be able to recommend the right kind of thickness? 3mm, 6mm?

Right, that's why I said to go over the seams on the interior of parts with hot glue. I like that the superglue binds the parts almost instantly, using just hot glue I had tons of ugly looking seams from the glue taking too long to cool.

I've used UHU on my foam builds. Should be able to get that in Poundland as well. It's probably a good idea to test it on the foam first to make sure it doesn't melt it. Last thing you want it a big sticky mess.

well... my local poundland don't have the glue gun, have some spray glue though which is supposedly designed to work with foamso gonna have to do a few tests tomorrow.

Why don't you just buy it on amazon or ebay?

BladeRunner said:

---

Why don't you just buy it on amazon or ebay?

the glue gun?

i made a ironman costume a few years ago with just glue gun sticks. i would put the tip of stick over the flame on the stove. LOL. But i got a gun now,lol

stang wars said:

---

i made a ironman costume a few years ago with just glue gun sticks. i would put the tip of stick over the flame on the stove. LOL. But i got a gun now,lol

now that's inventive!

bignatedegg56 said:

---

the glue gun?

Yeah, they have glue guns and glue sticks on amazon and ebay.

BladeRunner said:

---

Yeah, they have glue guns and glue sticks on amazon and ebay.

they're either too expensive, from hong kong so can't guarantee delivery in time or will take upto a week to be delivered and i want to get it done asap being my first attempt at foam i want it to look half decent and if i fudge it up i need time to correct it.

the spray glue seems to be working well but i seem to get it everywhere!

Why don't you just use card (as in brown corrugated) and rhino tape?. Once painted it' ll look very passable.

you'll have to excuse my ignorance... what's Rhino tape?
i assume it's like duct tape?