TMP Iron Man CONTEST! Winning price: Iron Man helmet.

[southreplicas]

I am glad to participate in this project.
I think to do the following:
On one side the mirror at a 45 degree. On the oher side
it will be made in a solid acrilic wide sheet cut with the eye desing. The lights will be inside. When you bright the solid transluscent acrilic from one side, the light comes from where it is carved.
It is the same technique used in lots of "EXIT" signs.
I hope you understand my idea.
I will make a sample to show you.
Regards.

Martin

All are welcome to join this contest. I want to se the variouse options people bring. Several minds work better than one.


Looking forward to se your're contributions.

 

[655321]

Hi Martin - what you're describing is called a light pipe, typically a polycarbonate tube, periscope, or other irregular shape that carries light from an LED mounted on a circuit board to the outer shell of the product - very common in consumer electonics enclosures.

That's one way to do this. Another is using an EL light sheet. Here's a project one RPF member applied this technology to:

http://www.ketzer.com/MF_making10.html

Not sure about the power requirements, so you may want to contact him or his source. Here are another couple of sources:

http://www.elwirecheap.com/

http://www.electroluminescence-inc.com/

BTW, TMP - awesome sculpt - can't wait to see you finish it! :thumbsup

- Prisoner 655321

 

[deathscythe]

Is that stuff transparent though? It doesn't seem like it could be. Or it seems like it would be just as bright on both sides, making it too bright for the wearer to really 'wear'...

I have an idea that I think might work.

 

[TMP]

Is that stuff transparent though? It doesn't seem like it could be. Or it seems like it would be just as bright on both sides, making it too bright for the wearer to really 'wear'...

I have an idea that I think might work.

Thank you all for the nice coment. I got allot of proposals and they are all some type of different aproach. :thumbsup

From what i heard it is not possible to se trough the EL sheet. One of th requirements is to se throug the eyes.

Looking forward to se variouse aproaches.

 

[655321]

I forgot to mention that light sheets are not transparent, but an opaque backing would prevent blinding the wearer, and pin-holes in the black-painted recessed portion of the eye slot could enable the wearer to see, albiet with limitations. I'm also sure it's possible to locate the fake illuminated eyes just outside or partially overlapping the wearer's eyes without sacrificing accuracy or proportions.

I can't recall which helmet I've seen that used the pin-hole solutions, but it may have been the Cylon, THX-1138 patrolman, or some other vintage costume where the wearer's eyes could not be visible. Does anyone know?

- Prisoner 655321

 

[TK-4140]

Hey all,

the pin hole solution was used on the original Cylon helmets that´s true but that would not work on the Ironman helmet if you would use the EL- sheets. I have tested myself in the last weeks with EL-sheets and they are perfect if you have to bring light into anything but they are not usable for the Ironman helmet because there is no way see true.

Here is an example for something were I only needed to bring light into:

But as I said before not to use on the helmet sorry. So we have devenetly to find another way to get the eyes lighted up.

Greetings Guido

 

[xeno]

I think you best bet is SMD Leds, these are tiny but give lots of light, add these to a surface inbetween holes you can look trough.

http://led.linear1.org/surface-mount-leds/

 

[itsalive]

If you could figure a way to print a repeating pattern like this in a reflective material (like that used in reflective tape) onto a set of sunglasses or uv protective lens. It might be the solution. The repeating micro dot pattern lets user see out, since there is microspaces between each dot, and the dots are reflective enough to absorb and refract the blue led light so they make the lens appear to be completely blue. Dont know how you could go about doing it...

 

[Betamin]

You know the window graphics that you see on vehicles that are screened and have a bunch of small holes in them, that allow you to see out but not in? Perhaps light sheet could be punched out with small holes in it with a small open center punch to allow you to see through it since it'd be so close to the eyes. Perhaps with the back blacked out so you're not blinded by it inside. I've never used EL, so I'm not sure if you could punch holes in it and have it still work though.... just an idea I thought I'd toss out.....

 

[Ti-el_terall]

Hmm, Iv got a few ideas, but it seems there might be a bit of a problem with making the whole eye "glow" while still having the ability to see thru.

It might work if you cut out some lexan, then take 8 micro LEDs, wire them in parallel with resistor in series, put one light on each side and three on top and bottom. Im going to have to wire this up and see it how it looks first.

Another viable option would be el wire, maybe flex it all around the edge of the eye? Ill have to think about this and come up with a solution, or at least an idea someone else could use.

 

[TMP]

thumbsup Wow.. this is so fun to se. People brainstorming ideas.

And so many variaties.

The main issue to solve is to have good visibility and still get the eyes to glow. It seams this where it the bottleneck is.

Keep on worknig thouse ideas out. But i need to se an sample in order to se this work.

 

[fettster]

Ok , here is the way im doing mine!

6mm el tape cut and shaped to the shape of the light. the black "housing" seen just behind the eye socket is made of 3mm tinted acrylicyou cust out the same light shape in the acyrlic, set the light tape behind itand install.

the el tape doesnt blind the wearer as it only shines one way and there is plenty of room for you to see over and under the tape through the tinted acrylic.

here is a quick test shot, this is just a strip of tape, its not cut to size or shaped but its clear to see that you can see over and under it.

thumbsup Wow.. this is so fun to se. People brainstorming ideas.

And so many variaties.

The main issue to solve is to have good visibility and still get the eyes to glow. It seams this where it the bottleneck is.

Keep on worknig thouse ideas out. But i need to se an sample in order to se this work.

 

[punisher]

looks good but the entire eye is not lighted

 

[allosaur176]

that looks damn good, but looks like the light bounces back towards your face

 

[fettster]

looks good but the entire eye is not lighted

"here is a quick test shot, this is just a strip of tape, its not cut to size or shaped but its clear to see that you can see over and under it."

the bach lighing is from the rest of the tape hidden inside the helmet

 

[Jiminydog]

post moved to more appropriate spot, please ignore...

 

[eaviii]

looks good but the entire eye is not lighted

What about some inexpensive mirrored lenses behind it lipping over and out above and below?

Doc

 

[Fizbin]

IIRC, the mask for the SPAWN movie had real glowing eyes... not sure how they did it or if the actor could see at all through them, but it might be a place to start.

 

[punisher]

"here is a quick test shot, this is just a strip of tape, its not cut to size or shaped but its clear to see that you can see over and under it."

the bach lighing is from the rest of the tape hidden inside the helmet

"but its clear to see that you can see over and under it."
well if you cut it to the size of the eyes*covering up the entire eye hole, how can the second part of your sentence be true? I wasnt talking about the length of the strip but the face that it does not cover up the eye holes length wise up and down not side to side. not to bash your idea, I like it alot, I promise. Im just very curious how can you still see through it since this is the first time I have ever seen and heard of this illuminated tape.Technology...WOW
-Scott

 

[Lan-Ed-Tul]

never heard of EL tape?

they used it in some of the first sabers that MR produced.