Mark VI Pepakura Iron Man Build

So I lurked on the forum for a month or two before joining and was amazed at all the creativity and ingenuity I saw from folks on the RPF. I was inspired to start my own Iron Man build when my teenager said she wanted to be Iron Man after attending the Chicago Comic Con this year and loving all the costumes. Hadn't even heard of Pepakura until we asked what the Halo Costumes were made of and the reply we got was fiberglass and paper...Got home and googled it and found info on how to build using Pepakura on this forum. Didn't really appreciate what a huge undertaking it was until I got started and am now fully immersed. Doing a fiberglass Sharkmark VI Helmet so I can motorize it for her, and doing the remainder of the suit in foam for a quick and less expensive build.

Doing everything in fiberglass now...

I found a TOC helpful when searching other threads so I added one:

PAGE 1.
Fiberglass Helmet (1.0 scale)

PAGE 2.
Eyes, Hinge design

PAGE 4.
Servo mount
new hinges

PAGE 5.
Foam cod
chest
biceps
forearms
abs
shoulder bells
spine
shins
hip pod

PAGE 6.
Leg assembly
Boots & boot connections
Paint tests on foam
Gloves
Pepped Gloves & Fingers

PAGE 7.
Foam suit completed and suited up

****This is where I started redoing the suit in fiberglass****

Codpiece (ended up being too small)
Chest
Back
Forearms
Biceps
Installing repulser lights in the foam gloves
Hip pods
Abs
Bigger cod

PAGE 8.
Boot (Zabana)
Neck Brace
Hand Plate
Boot Covers
Glassing of the legs
Shoulder Bells & connections (done as 2 pieces so they will articulate)
Cod separation and reconnection

PAGE 9.
New Helmet (.90 scale)
Spine
Gloves & Fingers (Zabana)
Hand Plate Connections
*VIDEO LINK: hand plate articulation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY60QUA1w1Q
Finger connections
Hip Pods (done with plastic containers, a clipboard and expanding foam)
Ab connections with elastic, snaps and buckles

PAGE 10.
Bondo work on assembled legs
New Chest/Back (24.4 scale…these ended up being too big :cry)
Neck Seal
Legs assembled with Chicago Screws, washers and magnets
*VIDEO LINK: connections https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dY7JickM6c&list=PLjnxhotbeEgTZSetIpDJaPlaJ604-4YWnideo
*VIDEO LINK: legs while being worn linkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDOQ2cuUEsU
*VIDEO LINK: potential material for filling gaps between cod and thighs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IggHXLzk0SM
Reworked abs (too big to fit inside chest/back which was what prompted me to do a new chest and back originally)

PAGE 11.
Shoulder bells completed
Neck Brace (shows how the two pieces are connected)
Boot bolts
Bondo work on arms
Bondo work on original chest and back
Arms painted
Connections on neck seal
*VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZNzwQ10fas&list=PLjnxhotbeEgTZSetIpDJaPlaJ604-4YWn
Reposting of glove/finger pics with info on how they fit pepped vs glassed (to help w/sizing)
*VIDEO LINK: finger articulation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsxdGK58NMM
Reaccomplished helmet in .95 scale (don’t think .90 will fit but will continue working on it)
Size comparison of all three helmets
Start of bondo work on .9 scale helmet
Glassing of .95 scale helmet
Chest and back painted
Fingers attached to gloves
*VIDEO LINK: connected fingers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec7HTXWfovI

PAGE 12
.95 Helmet separated and bondoed
Chest repainted and black lines detailed in with paint pen
.95 helmet on to show sizing...still too big
Chest/Back/Neck Brace clear coated
Detailed black lines in grooves on cod and shoulder bells with paint pen
.925 Scale Helmet pepped/glassed/bondoed/separated
Comparison pics of all 4 size helmets

PAGE 13
Suiting Up
Connecting Shoulder Bells
Arc Reactor
Gap Fillers
Glove Lighting
Shoulder Bell Bolt Details

Re: Iron Man Build

So, after all my Bondo-ing and sanding, but before I attempted to separate the pieces, I decided the helmet was a bit warped inwards on the sides. It seemed to flex inwards a bit at the seam that runs from front to back and along the back side of the helmet. I figured I'd try to fix it before I went any further. If the Bondo cracked, it should be fairly easy to repair. I heated up the inside of the helmet with my hair dryer and wedged a couple of pieces of wood inside that I had precut using dimensions from the pepakura model. The wood pushed the sides out a bit near that seam, holding the helmet in shape until the fiberglass/resin cooled off and re-hardened. Voila! Thank goodness the adjustment was minor enough and the Bondo didn't crack.

Re: Iron Man Build

Very Very Very nice build there , hope to see more of it! Keep it up!

Re: Iron Man Build

Thanks for the encouragement. I believe my husband thinks I'm now obsessed with this and is regretting the weekend our family went to Comic Con since being there and seeing all the costumes everyone made is what piqued my daughter's interest in doing a build (or rather ME doing the build for her...).

I'm thinking, since my daughter is a teen, and she wants an Iron Man suit, that would actually make her an "Iron Maiden..." :lol

Re: Iron Man Build

I admire you for starting on the head first. I keep reading posts saying it is the hardest part of the build. I completed the body for my daughter and will start tackling the helmet shortly. Good luck on the build. I look forward to seeing your progress pics opcorn

Re: Iron Man Build

So, more sanding and bondo, then glazing putty and sanding and more bondo and more sanding and more glazing putty and more bondo... I had to build up a lip above the brow where the "tongue" will fit into it since the pep doesn't really have that feature. Looks like most of the other helmets incorporated that into the design...perhaps to give the tongue someplace to rest when it is closed??

Finally my first coat of primer. I'm excited. It looks pretty good...not perfect, but not bad for my first attempt. I'm waiting to tackle the teeth AFTER I separate the faceplate. I really have no idea how some of you guys detailed the teeth while the helmet was whole. :confused

Re: Iron Man Build

Welcome to the very small club of "My First Pep Attempt Didn't Turn Out Bad At All!"

Looks real nice... Keep it up!

Re: Iron Man Build

This looks fantastic! You should feel great for getting such a great result on the first try, I've seen some disasters, and I haven't even been here that long. :thumbsup

Re: Iron Man Build

Thanks! I'm getting more excited every day. Did brain surgery and eye surgery, separating the parts. Will fiberglass and resin the inside again so they have a second coat...Possibly a third coat in areas that will be stressed a lot.

Re: Iron Man Build

Wow, first time? That's amazing!

I'm also just as impressed in seeing somone spell 'voila' properly (instead of 'wala'), and 'piqued'!

Triple impressive!

Re: Iron Man Build

Note to self...and others starting a fiberglass build...do NOT sand your resined/fiberglassed helmet while wearing shorts, I don't care HOW hot it is...That is all...

Re: Iron Man Build

well your daughter would be iron man, she is female lol
Fe-iron
male- man

Re: Iron Man Build

awesome well done

Re: Iron Man Build

Thanks for the encouragement folks. Still at it. I put on a second coat of fiberglass and resin on the inside and am still doing bondo and sanding. Sure glad I have a respirator! Adding a lip to connect the bottom portion, and a lip on the tongue that will help hold the face plate in place. Thanks pRoJectEarth7 for your great ideas and pictures!

Anyone have a link for the rare earth magnets they used?

Curious as to why most of the other builds have the circular portions under the ears removed on the bottom piece? I left my straight, so I was just wondering.

Re: Iron Man Build

They sell the rare earth magnets at Harbor freight Tools if you have one close by. They're about 1/8" thick by 1/4" diameter disc shape....come in packs of 10 I think. They're more than adequate...VERY strong. That's what I'll be using, and heck, they're only two or three bucks.

Cutting around the earpiece is done because usually the ears are glued or epoxied on before people start cutting.

Maybe I can help you with the teeth build. It's quicker and easier to redo the teeth than try to straighten the lines.
I ended up doing my teeth and earpieces with hardboard instead of paper. If you're not familiar with hardboard, it is basically the same thing as MDF, only it comes in thinner 1/8" thick sheets. You can get small pieces of hardboard via clipboards bought at Walmart or the dollar store. One clipboard was enough for me to do both ears, both teeth sections, and I still had some left over. For the teeth I did the gaps/spacing in between by scoring the hardboard with a dremel and cutting wheel, then cleaned up the lines with a needle file. No need to Bondo either...just prime and paint them. Still have to chamfer the edge of the earpieces with a router, but you get the idea.



Better pic of the earpieces.

Re: Iron Man Build

Wow, Ms. Chick. Your first???? I'm truly inspired. You can see this is only my 2nd post, but I've been scouring these forums for quite awhile. At least enough to garner enough confidence to attempt an IM helmet build. I got sharkman/dubean pep files (thank you!!) and am in the process of hot gluing it all together. I'm a bit stuck with the eyes and I expect to get stuck on the teeth as well. I'm using small needlenose pliers, tweezers, tooth picks, etc. but jeez - the eye that I did last night took forever and looks like crap. I know most people end up cutting the eye detail out, but from what I gather so far, you need those pieces to put the top and bottom of the faceplate together. If you have any tips for working with those itty bitty pieces would be awesome!!

BoochieBoy - love the idea of the earpiece and teeth out of hardboard! Been dreading trying to sand/sculpt in that groove around the ear.

Cheers.

Re: Iron Man Build

Amazing! You have really worked hard and fast on this, are you going to do the whole suit?? Are you going to mold/cast it?

I never seem to have enough time to work on my build, but it's ready for molding/casting (thinking I'll do it on the weekend), and at your rate, you will probably be at the same stage I am by then. If you are molding/casting it, we should skype together to help each other out while making the molds as I will be so lost (first time build!)

Re: Iron Man Build

Nice teeth and ears. Did you glue a couple of pieces of the MDF together then and used a router bit for the groove? I'm having a tough time getting the slanted part of the ears nice and even all around. A router would take care of that too I guess. So how are you attaching the teeth and the ear pieces? Fiberglass and resin?

Re: Iron Man Build

I would use a 2 part epoxy to attach those parts. It will bond well with all your working matierials, and cure faster.

Re: Iron Man Build

The eyes on the one I hot glued had more glue than any other part of the helmet put together! What a mess they were, but since I knew I was cutting them out at the end, I didn't worry about it too much. The second one I pepped for my daughter with gel superglue, I built 3 times and still wasn't happy with it and I had layer upon layer of glue and smeared ink on my fingers and nails afterwards. Don't get too bent about getting them perfect