Fetts $25 Iron Man - Mark V Suit Tutorial

You might be able to use the rubber exclusively with no plastic. I'm not sure, I've never worked with it.

I think that the hybrid method would work pretty nicely. The plastic and rivets would allow for ease of construction while the rubber would make an excellent skinning material that would hide all of the rivets giving you a perfectly smooth surface and help make the costume look even more screen accurate. It would also have the secondary benefit (depending on the costume) of adding a little extra bulk to the plastic so it doesn't look so thin.
 
That's just double the work when Robert made it with just the rubber and it turns out great in the end. I don't see the point really
 
Is just to make the armor with the rivets method but cover it up to hide those rivets at the end... Actually I think it could be done with something else, but I think in the end it could look cool, even if there will be more work involved.
 
This project was first and foremost about showing you what can be done with a riveted plastic trashcan.

There was a myth that some people didn't use this method already and this was also an experiment to test that claim.

At this point I'm going to have to call this method plausible. It certainly seems like you can build one of those plastic riveted Iron man suits out of a trashcan. It is a cheap, and usable source of plastic that holds up to being shaped with a heat gun and riveted. It's also light and soft so it doesn't cut your skin.

So, that said, in my opinion this myth is busted...if you'll forgive the reference.

I called plastic supplier after plastic supplier. Regional, National, and international trying to find High Impact Urethane in sheet form for my next build but it doesn't seem to exist in sheet form. You can buy polyurethane sheet, but polyurethane sheet is not the same as High Impact Urethane.

I see what you did there sir, props. MAD props. It's good to know I'm not alone in knowing my plastics and the smell of Bull. :)

I'm having to piece together a suit myself for an event two months away. I'd bounced everything from Sintra to HIPS to More or less something similar to this method before uncovering Pep builds. Given my deadline and a recent convo with a 501st Fett that lead me to this forum I'd like to extend a HUGE thanks. You've strengthened my resolve to complete the project in time, as well as given a LOT of excellent info, some of which had occurred to me but I was afraid to try myself till now.

I thank you, my fiance thanks you, my coworkers thank you, and most importantly my fingers and brain tired of relentless scaling work thank you.
 
Welcome to the RPF kidUltron! I'm pretty new here as well. I hope your project goes well. If there is anything I can do, just let me know.

Much obliged for the warm welcome. Actually I was curious after reading more through everything. I noticed you free-handed a Mk3 from Sintra, and was curious (given the experience you've had with both) if you think something like the re-purposed trashcan plastic would work just as well?
I've access to a plastic distributor who stores Sintra locally here (and at around $30 for a 4x8foot sheet).
In your opinion would a 4x8 sheet be sufficient for something like the suit, or would I still end up better off with the Trashcan method? Keeping in mind I'm a Sintra newb.
 
Sintra imo is great to work with, easy to cut and malleable with a heat gun.

I made these gauntlets from Sintra, first bending it into a round form and then sculpting the "details" out ;) You have to be a bit patient, use thick gloves for working with the heat gun, but other than that, it works quite well. Working in a well aired environment is important, too!

DCP01441.jpg
 
Sintra imo is great to work with, easy to cut and malleable with a heat gun.

I made these gauntlets from Sintra, first bending it into a round form and then sculpting the "details" out ;) You have to be a bit patient, use thick gloves for working with the heat gun, but other than that, it works quite well. Working in a well aired environment is important, too!

DCP01442.jpg
 
I wish it were so dude...Believe me, I don't know what you're using, but my forearms and elbows are now pretty much destroyed from cutting that thing! 3mm takes for ever if you need to make a precise anything.

Well then you must be doing it wrong :lol

Seriously, I transferred patterns onto sintra by putting a drawing onto the sheet and tracing that with a ball pen. The Sintra is soft enough thatthe ball pen leaves impressions in it.

I then use a simple carpet cutter knife with a straight blade. You of course have to do multiple cuts, not too much pressure, but if you cut four to five times you will go easily through the sintra. One go of course won´t work and will strain your muscles ;)

Since the surface of the sintra is more dense than the "core" you have to take in account in what direction you want to bend. Heating both sides will work the best.
 
Eheheh, yeah, that's exactly how you do it. But when you do multiple traces on a big surface and you have to cut A LOT of sintra, trust me...if you don't want to get old, you need to push quite a bit hard, otherwise, you'll still be cutting when your grandson gets married :D ahahhaha.

I've done 300 helmet, shins, gauntlets and the iron man helmet with sintra. Now, i've gotten myslef the 2mm and the 1mm...and NOW LIFE IS GOOD! HAHAHHA :D
 
This a great thread!!! I just stumbled on to it.:thumbsup I love using pop rivets. Now to hit wally world for a few trash cans.:love
 
...

I've done 300 helmet, shins, gauntlets and the iron man helmet with sintra. Now, i've gotten myslef the 2mm and the 1mm...and NOW LIFE IS GOOD! HAHAHHA :D

Ah yes, I have seen that. To be honest, for 1mm I´d go with polystyrene/polystyrol sheets, just because of the smoother surface. Not sure about pricing though, but even easier to work with when using a heat gun.

I don´t have to mention fresh cutter blades, I guess :p

Still love your iron Man sintra helmet, but always thought that you could have gotten the curvature with heat forming as well to a wide extent, without having to heavily bondo and sand it.
 
Much obliged for the warm welcome. Actually I was curious after reading more through everything. I noticed you free-handed a Mk3 from Sintra, and was curious (given the experience you've had with both) if you think something like the re-purposed trashcan plastic would work just as well?
I've access to a plastic distributor who stores Sintra locally here (and at around $30 for a 4x8foot sheet).
In your opinion would a 4x8 sheet be sufficient for something like the suit, or would I still end up better off with the Trashcan method? Keeping in mind I'm a Sintra newb.

You'd need at least 2 4X8 sheets to do a MK III suit. You might be able to squeeze a MK V out of one 4X8 sheet. The Mk III has so many surfaces you'll blow through plastic. The Mk V legs and arms consist of (basically) a lot of rectangles. You can cut out the rectangles strategically to reduce wasted plastic. With the organic surfaces of the MK III, you have more wasted plastic, so it seems to take more. I'll do a test later to verify this for you.

With sintra you can be much more precise than the plastic from the trash can. With sintra you heat it, bend it, and hold it until it cools. It will stay in the position you held it while cooling. With the trashcan plastic it gives just a bit, so the position it cools in is almost where it will stay, but not exactly. It also is much softer than sintra. It works, but it's not as precise and I don't think you'd be able to put bondo over it like you can sintra.

So for "building" I'd use sintra,polystyrene,PVC, etc. If you just need a sheet pf plastic that needs to be slightly shaped but not hold a body filler, I'd use the trashcan plastic.

I've only worked with 3mm sintra and 6mm sintre (never again). I use a razor knife to cut the plastic and I refresh the blade very often.
I use multiple shallow cuts to cut the plastic.

Hope this helps.
 
Might I also recommend for this kind of plastic cutting, a hot knife. It is what I use and i cut my 2mm sintra last night in one pass. a very SLOW pass, but didn't have to keep scoring til I finally went thru. It is basically a soldering iron with and exacto knife tip. Very handy for this stuff. You have to keep it moving so you don't melt or warp the sintra, but otherwise you get a nice clean edge!
 
You'd need at least 2 4X8 sheets to do a MK III suit. You might be able to squeeze a MK V out of one 4X8 sheet. The Mk III has so many surfaces you'll blow through plastic. The Mk V legs and arms consist of (basically) a lot of rectangles. You can cut out the rectangles strategically to reduce wasted plastic. With the organic surfaces of the MK III, you have more wasted plastic, so it seems to take more. I'll do a test later to verify this for you.

With sintra you can be much more precise than the plastic from the trash can. With sintra you heat it, bend it, and hold it until it cools. It will stay in the position you held it while cooling. With the trashcan plastic it gives just a bit, so the position it cools in is almost where it will stay, but not exactly. It also is much softer than sintra. It works, but it's not as precise and I don't think you'd be able to put bondo over it like you can sintra.

So for "building" I'd use sintra,polystyrene,PVC, etc. If you just need a sheet pf plastic that needs to be slightly shaped but not hold a body filler, I'd use the trashcan plastic.

I've only worked with 3mm sintra and 6mm sintre (never again). I use a razor knife to cut the plastic and I refresh the blade very often.
I use multiple shallow cuts to cut the plastic.

Hope this helps.

Definitely helps.
I ask on the MkIII mostly because the design I have in mind is more or less going to be an amalgamation of several different versions and variations. IE: I like the shins off the MkIII but prefer the gauntlets of the Mk VI and am considering a chestplate between Mk IV and Mk VI with hints of Extremis (which is close to the Mk VI anyway) but combined with an ab-plate similar to the Mk V.
Short version, your work definitely is pointing me in a lot of very good directions, and I can't wait to see your final product.
 
my progress so far

Well I decided to cut 4 more ab sections that will now be for the spine and am in the process of cutting out the thighs. I need to wait till after friday to get some WEB straps for the back plates, but here is an update

PICT0135.jpg

PICT0134.jpg


This is looking VERY much like a skeleton right now, I am loving it.

Now the question is...... Do I paint it red and silver like the movie or make it my own and go red and gold?


Thank you Fett for this wonderful tutorial.
 
my progress so far

Well I decided to cut 4 more ab sections that will now be for the spine and am in the process of cutting out the thighs. I need to wait till after friday to get some WEB straps for the back plates, but here is an update

PICT0135.jpg

PICT0134.jpg


This is looking VERY much like a skeleton right now, I am loving it.

Now the question is...... Do I paint it red and silver like the movie or make it my own and go red and gold?


Thank you Fett for this wonderful tutorial.

For what it's worth, I say red and gold. That's just straight up badass.
 
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