Harmonic_Distortion
Well-Known Member
I’ve always been a fan of the Silver Centurion Iron Man armor designed and drawn by Bob Layton...mostly because I really started collecting comics with the West Coast Avengers. I recently found my stash (almost complete including annuals to boot!) and I’m still in love. It was a great mix of realism (with the way the armor was segmented and detailed) and impressionism (the heavy black shadows and bright reflections).
So I had to do this costume. I started the movie Iron Man pep that my bestest buddy in the whole world Bruno finished and perfected, but that left me thinking...hey! I need to do a suit of armor myself. It also didn’t hurt that DJ had done her really cool chest armor and cuffs back when I started thinking of doing this. Inspirational.
Anyway,
The Shin armor
A buddy of mine dropped 2 huge sheets of ½" microcell foam off at my house when he bailed on a project he was doing. And at first I thought I’d figure out the pattern and make it out of that. Problem was I couldnt get the pattern looking as good as I wanted ...and the attachment at the seams sucked. So instead I went for Clone Trooper greaves!
I figured they had a really good shape and very close to the comic reference:
So I bought a pair...contact cemented them together and re-assessed. There was a groove on the back and a seam both on front and back...that all had to bebondoed. As anyone who’s done it can tell you...bondo sucks.
Eventually I got them smoothed...primered...sanded with 100, 200, 320, 600 grit sandpaper...and they were baby smooth. And painted. Looking back, I should have used a better primer than Rustoleum (which sucks for paint so I don’t know why I thought they’d have a decent primer - it cracks even when applied lightly and on a lightly sanded surface!).
In the comics, all the armor pieces look very thick. I think (artist) went this way for two reasons: 1) difference from the older suits and 2) this was the first armor where the parts were able to work independently of the entire suit...so you could fire repulsors just with gloves or fly just in boots)
I cheated on this part! I cut a band of the foam and wrapped it around the top to give the illusion of thickness:
I sealed it with Rosco Flexibond and painted them again. If I turn them backward I can slip my feet in and push them all the way through so I don’t even need a seam. I was contemplating cutting one and using magnets, but I realized I don’t have to do that.
The Boots
I’d been thinking about this one for a long time. I wanted the illusion of the bendable armor to look just like the comic, but have some depth to it...not just a flat black line. I had some old riding boots laying around so I cut up 6mm foamies and went to town.
Superglue ‘em on, then coat twice with Flexibond and paint.
I was going for a segmented comic meets semi-real look and I'm happy with the result.
The Helmet
A buddy of mine, Aaron, over on the SCF, messaged me over facebook about a cool classic Iron Man helmet a long time ago.
I cut the ear dohickies off and extended the bottom of the mask down using
chipboard and hotglue. Then I did a layer of foamies in pieces for a thick layer and then wondeflex just to be weird. The idea was to see if I could sand the wonderflex and just paint it...but as you can tell, it was waaaay too uneven. So back to bondoing...
Then sanding and primering...
and painting...
The Bracers
Cut the shape out of styrene and heat-formed it. Then I added the foam band again to simulate thickness. Primered and painted.
Bodysuit
Your typical silver spandex bodysuit from China. I cheated on the
muscles...bought a pair of sculpted latex arms from someone on the boards. I’m working on building them myself
Brief Bits
You know the drill. Cut out of mini-cell, seal and paint. Velcro where needed.
Torso
CostumeArmour.com had a great Roman officer’s breastplate that I used as a base in front and back.
Constructing and making the shoulder flares was no easy task, I tell you. Getting it all to stay on they way I wanted too some engineering.
I layered 2mm foamies in segments over the top and then a layer of cardboard, then foamies underneath. Hotglue and silicone glue held it all on. Sealed and painted.
The final product...
I’m really happy with it...and I hope y'all like it too
So I had to do this costume. I started the movie Iron Man pep that my bestest buddy in the whole world Bruno finished and perfected, but that left me thinking...hey! I need to do a suit of armor myself. It also didn’t hurt that DJ had done her really cool chest armor and cuffs back when I started thinking of doing this. Inspirational.
Anyway,
The Shin armor
A buddy of mine dropped 2 huge sheets of ½" microcell foam off at my house when he bailed on a project he was doing. And at first I thought I’d figure out the pattern and make it out of that. Problem was I couldnt get the pattern looking as good as I wanted ...and the attachment at the seams sucked. So instead I went for Clone Trooper greaves!
I figured they had a really good shape and very close to the comic reference:
So I bought a pair...contact cemented them together and re-assessed. There was a groove on the back and a seam both on front and back...that all had to bebondoed. As anyone who’s done it can tell you...bondo sucks.
Eventually I got them smoothed...primered...sanded with 100, 200, 320, 600 grit sandpaper...and they were baby smooth. And painted. Looking back, I should have used a better primer than Rustoleum (which sucks for paint so I don’t know why I thought they’d have a decent primer - it cracks even when applied lightly and on a lightly sanded surface!).
In the comics, all the armor pieces look very thick. I think (artist) went this way for two reasons: 1) difference from the older suits and 2) this was the first armor where the parts were able to work independently of the entire suit...so you could fire repulsors just with gloves or fly just in boots)
I cheated on this part! I cut a band of the foam and wrapped it around the top to give the illusion of thickness:
I sealed it with Rosco Flexibond and painted them again. If I turn them backward I can slip my feet in and push them all the way through so I don’t even need a seam. I was contemplating cutting one and using magnets, but I realized I don’t have to do that.
The Boots
I’d been thinking about this one for a long time. I wanted the illusion of the bendable armor to look just like the comic, but have some depth to it...not just a flat black line. I had some old riding boots laying around so I cut up 6mm foamies and went to town.
Superglue ‘em on, then coat twice with Flexibond and paint.
I was going for a segmented comic meets semi-real look and I'm happy with the result.
The Helmet
A buddy of mine, Aaron, over on the SCF, messaged me over facebook about a cool classic Iron Man helmet a long time ago.
I cut the ear dohickies off and extended the bottom of the mask down using
chipboard and hotglue. Then I did a layer of foamies in pieces for a thick layer and then wondeflex just to be weird. The idea was to see if I could sand the wonderflex and just paint it...but as you can tell, it was waaaay too uneven. So back to bondoing...
Then sanding and primering...
and painting...
The Bracers
Cut the shape out of styrene and heat-formed it. Then I added the foam band again to simulate thickness. Primered and painted.
Bodysuit
Your typical silver spandex bodysuit from China. I cheated on the
muscles...bought a pair of sculpted latex arms from someone on the boards. I’m working on building them myself
Brief Bits
You know the drill. Cut out of mini-cell, seal and paint. Velcro where needed.
Torso
CostumeArmour.com had a great Roman officer’s breastplate that I used as a base in front and back.
Constructing and making the shoulder flares was no easy task, I tell you. Getting it all to stay on they way I wanted too some engineering.
I layered 2mm foamies in segments over the top and then a layer of cardboard, then foamies underneath. Hotglue and silicone glue held it all on. Sealed and painted.
The final product...
I’m really happy with it...and I hope y'all like it too
