Ironman Mk.9 WIP

SirWulfgaar

New Member
Hey Guys, I'm hella new to the forum myself, but I've been a distant admirer for a long time now. I started to get into costuming and cosplay last year around this same time, and have done two previous builds. First being Commander Shepard, and the second being Uther Lightbringer. But this isn't the get to know you section so if you wanna see those, link is in my sig. Anyway! Mark 9 Ironman is my third build and it's my first build featuring micro controllers (Arduino specifically).
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This is a WIP so I have a decent start on the suit itself. Im mixing 5mm craft foam, 1/2" floor mats, and various electrical pieces (the mess in the top right used to be a roadside emergency flashlight). The thing that makes the mark 9 stand out is the legs, which are thicker, and designed to increase Tony's flight speeds to supersonic levels.Its actually the suit the gets just absolutely dusted by Pepper in the end of Iron Man 3.
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One of my favorite features of this suit is that I am utilizing several discount battery packs from the Carson's I work at, as they allow me to integrate recharge features into the gauntlets. The arc reactor is also rechargeable as the flashlight featured a power bank in the bottom, but that required a little soldering and rewiring. The repulsors are triggered by a small momentary witch embedded on the outside of my index finger knuckle so it is easily pressed with my thumb, and at the same time, easy on the power consumption.
The above video shows the arc reactor in action. I went with a small momentary switch that toggles on and off like the top of a pen. The suit fits well enough that by flexing my back and pressing my arms into my sides, I get a very Unibeam-esque effect when turning the light on.
Now this little **** took my about a span of three days to calibrate correctly, and it still is off by a few degrees. But what I did to get the motorized helmet was refine a few spans of Lego Technic pieces using a dremel sander and hot glue. Lots. of hot glue.
This last video shows the eventual circuit once I finish the faceplate. A reed switch in the ear pod will react to a small magnet embedded into the finger of my glove, and that operates in a binary switch, with the on off case calling different sets of functions in my arduino code. So thats about it for my first post. I know its very text and pic/video heavy but I wanted to try and lay everything out in one go. Shall keep you guys updated! Cheers mates.
 
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That's an interesting hinge design. Can't say I've seen it before
Its really a modification of what I gather is the gold standard for Ironman helmets. The servos are mounted to the base of the extension that travels down the mid face, and the secondary guide bars mount to the cheekbone area. I feel like using 5mm craft foam from hobby lobby really limits ones choices when it comes to precision machining a hinging face plate haha But in some ways its nice, the flex in the foam allows for the hinges to operate under less strain than if it were a solid resin. You can see in my video that the temples flex slightly on the opening run.
 
UPDATE:
We now have motion! And Lights! one of the leds in the right eye is delayed but I switched the signal pin over and it works fine now. I need to layer thin strips of 2mm foam to create a light barrier to keep the mouth from lighting with the eyes.
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First of all, praise be for rechargeable 5v battery banks. I plan on mounting this one in the rear of the helmet on the top of the foam guard I built for the arduino board here:
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I also want to manufacture a cover out of 5 mm white foam and thin velcro strips to keep my hair/sweat off the electronics.
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The reed switch that triggers the open/close function is mounted to the right ear (cause Im right handed), and I will have to engineer an ear cup to fit around it and still allow for me to trigger the unit via magnet. All that is left here is to do some organization of cabling, adding padding and trim, and then we move into full boar Bondo/KwikSeal.
 
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Update time gents, sorry for the lapse in anything important, but midterms for college seniors are rarely forgiving.
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Everything all lined up and getting ready for paint. I did three coats of basic rustoleum primer, and then three coats of rustoleum satin claret wine red. After that I went in with acrylics and painted the golds and silvers. Which brings us tooooo
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All the major colors lined up, Im really happy with how it looked at this point. The change from raw material to painted is just amazing. It really turns into the product you envisioned. Sadly, its right after this that tragedy struck... The original helmet had a servo die, and an led in the eye burn out. Unfortunately, the nature of the wiring I did prevented me from making any alterations, so a new helmet had to be whipped up from scratch.
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This is the new design, with a thinner ear cuff, and a modular wiring system so I can still detach all the components individually, in case of emergency. ;)
Here it is after painting just for an update:
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After many more days of painting, weathering, and adjusting straps/buckles, I did a first test fit. And boy, did I love it...
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The shades were a recent purchase, as I find it only fitting. I will be wearing the helmet at the convention but only sparingly, as I am rather terrified of the electronics breaking before the costume contest they are holding this year. All the more work it needs is gold paint in the finger joints, and some dark red dye for the under-suit. If i find the time, ill also add gold to the elbow and knees so it looks true to the reference.
 

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That's a wonderful piece of reference! I hadn't seen that one yet. I was using a lot of the hot toys figure reference like this one
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Not the best, since it features a lot of Gwyneth Paltrow and no back upper thigh shots, but fairly detailed
 
Absolutely beautiful and the electronics are awesome!
All in all how long did it take for you to complete this build?


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Thank you so much :) In total I have a running estimate of well over 80 hours.,, Many classes were skipped in order to make ends meet haha I started at the end of November 2016, and had to chip in an hour or two here and there as classwork eased up, not to mention working weekends at a department store.
 
Truthfully the spray coats were all Rust-Oleum (2X coverage) and then for the weathering and golds/silvers I went with Apple Barrel and FolkArt on some cheap brushes. Cause on a collegiate budget, 97 cents a bottle is hard to beat haha
 
Thank you so much :) In total I have a running estimate of well over 80 hours.,, Many classes were skipped in order to make ends meet haha I started at the end of November 2016, and had to chip in an hour or two here and there as classwork eased up, not to mention working weekends at a department store.

Can't believe you built this while at university! I remember I tried, and gave up practically straight away hahaha
 
Great first build!
... now go and use sintra for your next build. Will be far more strong and easyer to smooth like a baby butt!
Youve got the skills. You will love the material..
 
The convention went better than I could of hoped. I met tons of people who all loved making props as much as I do, and got to talk shop with a lot of the local makers. The girlfriend came along for her first con in her handmade suit, which of course, I think looks amazing on her. On top of everything, I was lucky enough to receive the first place prize for the comic costume contest, marking my first award ever for any of my hobbies. Now to build a stand to keep this armor on display until I call upon it again. Pics below, thanks for all your input and support guys!
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Great Job! Especially for a first attempt!
So what did you use for your arc reactor? I'm upgrading my first suit a Mark IV and need to improve the arc reactor.
 
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