Iron Man MkIV: Foam costume in 8 weeks for a 13yr old... Can I do it?

R

Ruglud

New Member
Did a quick showcase of this in my Foam Stormtrooper build over on the Star Wars board, but here's the rest.


This costume is for my 13 year old son, and is for a fancy dress party being held in just over 8 weeks. So, I have this to make now as well as finishing my Stormtrooper (for the same party...).

I printed the templates (Mk IV templates from robo3687 / JFCustoms & Sharkhead7854 helmet) at 90% which seems to fit him quite well... As with my stormtrooper, this is mainly made from 6.5mm exercise mats from Decathlon. For finer detail, I've used 1.5mm craft foam. For the soles on the boots I used 10mm eva foam floor mats - as mentioned above, all stuck together with hot melt glue...

I made the helmet last weekend, so this weekend I moved on to the the boots, body brace and chest. Have run out of glue sticks now though, so no more progress until I get some more (ordered and due to arrive mid / end of the week...)


Pieces completed so far:
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Boots:
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Chest:
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Body brace rear detail:
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Helmet:
P1000758_zpsuvardkiq.png

P1000759_zpsydocluzf.png


Will post updates once I get more glue sticks (may also need to order some more exercise mats !
 
Some more progress this weekend;

First up, I learnt that not all glue sticks are created equally... Purchased a job lot on ebay, but a touch too thin for my glue gun (Bostik hobby type) and it's a bit of work getting them to go through initially... I guess you get what you pay for really...

Back armour - used the thicker 12mm foam for the collar part as it gave more shape and structure to this piece
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Codpiece...
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Hands/gloves - Using a pair of fingerless cycling gloves underneath which give some additional padding and shape. These are made from the thin craft foam and currently just stuck together with double sided sticky tape- I will go back though and properly glue once I'm happy with them
P1000765_zps1vrbk2py.jpg


I've also bought a cheap (£1.00) torch - the type that straps to your forehead, and put some filters and an Arc Reactor pattern behind the lense - you can see it alongside the hands...

For the hand repulsors, I've bought two LED bike lights (again, £1.00 for the pair) and will rework them to fit the space - they have two settings, constant on and flash, so gives my son a choice of lighting effects with them..
 
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I have done this also a few years back for my son, he was 5 years old. I think I did it in about 8 to 10 weeks. I did not pain it though, I used eva yellow and red eva foam.2015-02-15 12.39.09.jpg
 
Hah, that's awesome bitbull

Some updates from a days work...

Shoulder bells
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Abs and torso added to the codpiece. Abs are made from 1mm craft foam and I'll probably use velcro to attach one side to make it easier to put them on - need to get my son to test fit them in the morning...
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Great work so far :thumbsup will this be a father-son project where you both wear a suit to a comic con?
If so,what will yours be?
 
George said:
Great work so far :thumbsup will this be a father-son project where you both wear a suit to a comic con?
If so,what will yours be?
Click to expand...

It's for a family party in April with a Disney fancy dress theme... I'm going to be going as a Stormtrooper which I'm also working on, although have focused on Iron Man for the time being as it's a more involved project...
 
Full suit layed out (dodgy photos though :( )
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Close-ups...


Legs
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Arms
P1000776_zps3zh1jcns.jpg

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Next stage is to trim up some of the pieces to get them fitting nicely (mainly the legs which are a little long at the moment), then sort out some straps and joints for fixing the legs and arms. After, it's paint time - going to seal with PVA then use automotive spray cans to get the classic red & gold


Asides from that, I need to finish the gloves, arc reactor, hand repulsors and work out a neck seal - possibly just make this from red fabric and draw on the armour pieces with a sharpie...


Feel like I'm ahead of schedule at the moment, so feeling quite satisfied with progress :) ...
 
Thanks bitbull :thumbsup

Got some 20mm plastic binding posts (chicago screws) from eBay and got to work on the knee and elbow joints. Also hinged the shoes (but forgot to take pics of these...). Also used 0.75mm plasticard to strengthen the foam and stop it from tearing under stress...

20mm plastic binding screws
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Knee joints
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Elbow joints
P1000789_zpshm2d1n8p.jpg

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Tomorrow will move on to working out the straps and webbing required to actually wear the armour and then we're getting ever closer to painting :)
 
Awesome.Don't forget a zentai suit/morph for underneath,or you would want to add 'inner-knee/elbow' pieces in the gaps.
 
Quick update - been working on the repulsor gloves again... Soldered 4 blue LEDs together and used an old Christmas decoration switch to power these up - will run the wires into the forearms and have some male / female connectors for ease of removal.... Fingers are WIP, i'm using an old glove with a cardboard former to size this up - will try it out shortly though on my boys hand - make final adjustments, then glue together...

P1000794_zpshkcqr27k.jpg

P1000793_zps1wqyzlho.jpg


Lights on...
P1000795_zpsyvxxcpdl.jpg
 
It's a really cheap pair of fingerless cycling gloves bought from a UK Poundland store - they have some padding on the palms that help to shape the outer gloves nicely on my lads small hands... They have a mesh / I'll get some photos of them and post here. Sill need to figure what to do under the finger armour though :wacko
 
Struggled to get time in on the build, but I did spend a few hours this weekend laying down a first layer of paint. Went for the cheapest option and used Rust-Oleum Universal All Surface Cardinal Red Gloss using foam brushes - looking a little patchy in places, but that will even out with a second coat (possibly 3rd needed as well...) Gold yet to be done (obviously), will be using Rust-Oleum Gold Painters Touch.

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Still need to paint the helmet and finish the gloves... Clock is ticking...
 
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