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

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

GREAT PLACE TO BUY CLOSED CELL FOAM SHEETS:

Just a quick plug for Caroline's ebay store - Wandy Foam. I try to pass on info related to either products or services that have been helpful during my Ironman Build.

GraphicJordan pointed me to Wandy Foam, which sells a variety of EVA Closed-Cell foam via ebay. It was a GREAT referral, as Caroline has been wonderful to deal with!

I have tried some of the craft foam (3mm) that Hobby Lobby stocks, and I found their foam less flexible (and even a hair thinner) than Wandy Foam's 3mm product. It also didn't seem to cut as cleanly. I've now purchased foam from Wandy Foam twice and they have responded very quickly to all of my emails and are VERY fast shippers.

All the foam I've used for final pieces on Mikey's armor came from here, so I definitely recommend them. :thumbsup

Product links:

4mm Craft Foam (package of FIVE 12"x18" sheets) = $6.00 (5/19/11)

3mm Craft Foam (package of FIVE 12"x18" sheets) = $5.00 (5/19/11)

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

This is great stuff. I was trying to talk my daughter into something cool like this but she wants to be a rainbow fairy for Halloween. WTF is a rainbow fairy?

Maybe if she sees how cool this is I can convince her otherwise.

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

Brien said:

This is great stuff. I was trying to talk my daughter into something cool like this but she wants to be a rainbow fairy for Halloween. WTF is a rainbow fairy? Maybe if she sees how cool this is I can convince her otherwise.

Click to expand...

lol

I've been pretty lucky with my daughter. She wanted to be a Ghostbuster two years ago, so I got to scratch build her proton pack.


Back Pack - showing the detailing


Back Pack - showing the LED lighting on pack and wand


Test Fit of equipment and the jumpsuit my mother made for her. We added Patches, elbow pads and weathered the whole thing before Halloween.

But since then, I haven't had as much luck talking her into something cool for me to build.

My goal is still to get her excited about something like the Anime armor from Bubblegum Crisis!... but not this year. I'll have my hands full with this project thru Oct. :confused

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

SET BACKS:

What a depressing week. My idea to foam build Mikey's Ironman arms was thwarted by the fiberglass resin test I did, and the plasti dip coated arm pieces I tested might be more flexible, but I didn't measure the pieces in reference to the heavier/velcro banded gloves I'm using (which makes the scale too small anyway). They also don't match the hardened armor paint color perfectly... which is ok for the neck seal (for example) but not for large sections like his arms and legs... And speaking of the neck seal - I installed rare earth magnets for the closer, but when I did the final test fit the whole thing was too tight.

ugh... It's like a perfect storm of bad results from the work this week - and that's always hard to take. Wasted time and wasted materials. :unsure


RECOVERY PLANS:

1. I plan to test one more hardening agent on the forearm pieces I have constructed already in 3mm closed-cell foam. I bought some basic 60-minute hardening epoxy - Ace Hardware store brand. I'm going to try this as a coating on the outside of the forearm pieces to see if that might work to 'harden' the foam pieces enough to paint it with the Dark Cherry Metallic auto paint the helmet and cod pieces are painted with. IF this works, I might be able to return to foam building the legs and arms. :thumbsup

2. I've scaled up the arm pieces a bit and I'm half-way through building the Right arm in card-stock pep. Yes, this will be my FIFTH time building some of the pieces (and 10th or 12th time on the wrist pieces). My thought process is to be ready in case the epoxy doesn't give me a hard enough foam piece. Which means it back to paper pep, fiberglass, bondo and lots of sanding. :cry

3. I plan to do some surgery to the neck seal. I think I'll take some of the height off of it, so it's a bit more comfy to wear. I'll also probably take out the recessed sections on the sides and replace it with black elastic. I don't think this piece will be very visible anyway, so taking out a small design section and replacing it with something as dark as the wide band elastic, shouldn't even be noticeable when the whole suit is assembled. However, the two areas of elastic should give Mikey a lot more comfort when he's wearing it.

4. And finally, I'm going to try to get to bed before 2am this week. I think one of the reasons I'm getting depressed when things aren't working out is that I'm dead tired. Surprise, Surprise. :rolleyes

Anyway... Thanks for checking in on the thread and I hope you all are having a more productive weekend than I am! :thumbsup

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

I'm just wondering man. Why aren't you building the entire suit out of foam? Instead of worrying about strengthening the foam pieces and such
He'll grow out of it really fast and it's just for halloween right?

plus it will be easier for him to move in it.

I find it difficult just moving in my plastic suit and I'm an adult.

anyway keep up the awesome work.
hope everything gets sorted out.

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

STEALTH said:

I'm just wondering man. Why aren't you building the entire suit out of foam? Instead of worrying about strengthening the foam pieces and such. He'll grow out of it really fast and it's just for halloween right?

Click to expand...

Oh, yeah. As soon as I saw foam builds I moved that direction for all the reasons you mentioned. The issue is, the helmet and cod pieces are painted in a pretty metallic paint I love. Matching it in a vinyl/fabric paint is impossible and I don't think the auto paint will work on the foam...

However... that might be the easiest solution of the all - test paint a foam piece that's been plasti-dipped with the auto paint and see if it holds up long enough to make this work for Oct events. As you mention, it doesn't have to last for a decade... just one month.

I've now added this to my tests for tomorrow.

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

BlackDynamo1 had some good results color matching plastic and foam parts.

I think you should pm him directly. His abs matched his torso really nicely.

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

STEALTH said:

BlackDynamo1 had some good results color matching plastic and foam parts. I think you should pm him directly. His abs matched his torso really nicely.

Click to expand...

Good idea. PM sent.

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

Two coats of Auto paint over plasti dip coated 3mm EVA closed-cell foam test:

As expected, the auto paint matches the other hardened pieces GREAT (even on this rough test piece); however, the big test will be when I try to hinge this piece to the elbow. I still think the rubbing and torque will tear up the auto-paint - which doesn't have any give to it.

An example of the color check is below, as well as a simple flex test of the area near where the hinge to the elbow will be connected.






Epoxy coating over 3mm EVA closed-cell foam test:

Just mixed this up and painted it on the elbow piece as a test. It went on surprisingly easy! But I bought the type that sets-up over 60 minutes so had more than 30 seconds to paint it on... so I'll have results later.



Stay tuned...

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

indiefilmgeek said:

Stay tuned...

Click to expand...

The Epoxy test went very well. It definitely hardened the outer surface of the foam piece; however, the piece DOES retains some overall flexibility (which is a good thing for wearability).

I painted a coat of epoxy on the inside of the piece last night, but we had some severe thunderstorms last night and that blew lots of rain up under my car port (which is my Tennessee Red-neck Stark Enterprises R&D Lab). It messed up the curing of the epoxy, so tonight I'll need to go back, clean off the sloppy inner surface and then apply a new coat of epoxy to the inside surfaces.

When that's done I'll try to post some video of me handling a couple of these last material tests so you can see how they react to being moved around and flexed.

I think my plan at this point will be to use a combination of all build types for Mikey's arms. Some of the pieces will be done the traditional pep/fiberglass/bondo method and some will be done in foam (with some of these rubberized and some of them hardened with epoxy).

Updated Plan:
Wrist = Paper pep/fiberglass/bondo*
Forearm = 3mm foam build, plasti dip and vinyl paint*
Elbow = 3mm foam build and epoxy coating*
Elbow Connection Piece = Solid plastic cut to size*
Bicep = 3mm foam build, plasti dip and vinyl paint*
Shoulder = (probably) paper pep/fiberglass/bondo*
* all pieces will be finished up with the same Dark Cherry Metallic auto paint.


I think this will allow the connections between all the pieces to remain solid, while allowing the full assembly to keep some flexibility (which should help make it more wearable for Mikey).

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

So, I finished a little video showing how well the epoxy hardened the 3mm EVA foam. YOUTUBE VIDEO

I also did some work constructing the first bicep piece in foam (got about half-way through). I have the perfect scale for the wrist piece now (that paper pep is done and ready for fiberglassing. It's the forearm has been a pain in the arse. The unit is either slightly big or slightly small, but I think after building all of these, I've finally figured out the scale I'll be doing the final foam forearm piece at - so that's good news. :confused

Here's one pic for the day... just showing all the test fit forearm pieces I've completely build in different materials, as well as the physical model of the arm I pepped, and the bicep work I finished tonight.



Now it's off to bed... at least it's just a bit after midnight! :thumbsup

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

Nice. Like the video too. Wouldn't have thought about that. I may have to give foam a go sometime. Seems all the rage lately. Haha

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

TK171 said:

Nice. Like the video too. Wouldn't have thought about that. I may have to give foam a go sometime. Seems all the rage lately. Haha

Click to expand...

I won't have believed it would be this easy. I'm literally using a pair of scissor and an ink pen. I trace the pieces I cut up from the pep pages and then cut out with the scissors. I then glue them into place with hot glue. If pieces need to be at an angle, I've just been cutting the back corner edge off with the scissors (angled appropriately by eye).

It's been fun and if a whole section (like Mikey's arm armor) is done in this style, I can hardened some pieces (like the elbow and connector pieces) and leave the other pieces just rubberized and painted the same color. It should be more comfortable for Mikey and faster than all the sanding necessary for bondo. :love

P.S. The shoulder armor paint job on Nick's Vader costume looks great, by the way!

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

I finished up the first foam build of the Ironman bicep armor tonight.





Tomorrow I'll do a fitting and then make any adjustments before creating the opposite arm.

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

hehhe I love this Kids builds. The level of detail you're keeping in is astounding. Forgive me if its been addressed yet, but have you thought about the joints in between the major armor plates? Like the inside of the elbows, armpits and knee joints?

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

Cbstudios said:

hehhe I love this Kids builds. The level of detail you're keeping in is astounding. Forgive me if its been addressed yet, but have you thought about the joints in between the major armor plates? Like the inside of the elbows, armpits and knee joints?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words about the level of detail.

This is my first pep build. First time using fiberglass, bondo, epoxy, EVA foam, etc. So, although I've made LOTS of stuff before most of these methods and materials are new to me.

That partially explains my insistence on keeping this level of detail. I'm testing out SO many new things, I just want to prove to myself that (after Halloween 2011), I can use these to build an adult costume with a high level of detail.


As for the joint areas. I've purchased a long-sleeved leotard and full-leg stretch pants that Mikey will wear as 'under armor.' I purchased these in black, although wiser folks suggest red as a base color (I wish I had seen that hint earlier).

My plan is to use fabric paint and create armor detail that will match up with the armor pieces. Fabric paint is something I'm very familiar with (I used to paint on clothes and crap with those little bottles of craft fabric paint all the time. So, I'm comfortable that I've got enough skill to create believable paintings of armor detail for those spaces.

Here's a painting I did years ago on a section of 3'x4' material (all fabric paint)...


...and here is a quick costume I created several years ago for my daughter when she was just 5yr old. It's all just free-hand fabric paint on black spandex (much like what I intend to try on the sections between Mikey's armor pieces...



Hopefully, as I finish up the arm units, I can start a little test fabric paint detailing on these areas of the 'under armor' and then I'll post some pics!

Oh, and I've got some test fitting video and pictures to post here in a bit... stay tuned! :thumbsup

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

Wow man great suit, but that spawn painting is stunning! You can do a lot with just painting spandex and you clearly have experience to pull it off.

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

Two quick pics after a test fit of the arm armor with Mikey wearing his under armor and gloves. I'm very happy with the scale and the flexibility he has with these pieces... so, I'll be finishing them up as well as building his other arm armor based on this side.

Top side of his arm:


Backside of his arm:


Also, I HAD to share this cute-as-hell video of Mikey. After trying on arm armor for 30 minutes, he asked to play with the helmet for a while and he was looking WAY too cool not to video tape him.

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

On the arm armor... I had to cut a LOT of material out around the 'arm pit' area of the foam piece I built in order to get it to fit properly (based on the pep file by Robo and unfolded by NeonSentry). Some of that might be the fact that this is a half-scale build for a kid and not a full-grown adult. I just wondered if any of you building IM adult suits found it necessary to shave off a lot of material around this joint (or others)?

Thanks!

Re: WIP Halloween Ironman Costume for my 5yr old - lots of pics

indiefilmgeek said:

On the arm armor... I had to cut a LOT of material out around the 'arm pit' area of the foam piece I built in order to get it to fit properly (based on the pep file by Robo and unfolded by NeonSentry). Some of that might be the fact that this is a half-scale build for a kid and not a full-grown adult. I just wondered if any of you building IM adult suits found it necessary to shave off a lot of material around this joint (or others)?

Click to expand...

Here's a picture of the modified piece. A larger percentage of material had to come out in order for the bicep piece to fit and move right on Mikey. In the picture you can see the final piece (body or arm-pit side facing the camera) as well as the pep templates I was working off. The pep templates are all marked with the modifications so I can cut out the opposite arm to match this one. Notice how much of these pieces have cross-hashed areas on them (areas marked for removal).

It just seemed like a LOT of material removal was necessary... Anyone else need to modify their pep pieces to this degree??