Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build (NEW UPDATE 11/12)

[iMan]

Hey guys!

I am finally getting around to starting my own build. I have been on this site a lot over the past month or so researching, reading and learning from numerous people such as DocHoliday78, STEALTH, Dynofiend, Graphic Jordon and many others. :thumbsup I am active duty U.S. Air Force stationed in Japan so some parts were hard to come by. I was going to order foam off the internet but then eventually stumbled upon some puzzle-type mats for children at my local 100 Yen shop (Pic below). They are on the thicker side and are probably 10mm. All the other supplies were somewhat easy to obtain.

A big thank you to STEALTH and Robo3687 for their Mark IV files modded for foam. They were a big help! I am in no rush to finish this suit, I won't need it before this Haloween so I am taking my time and making sure it comes out the best it can since this is my first time building anything like this. I don't even think I will be wearing the suit since I want one to be on display in my man-cave but who knows, I might just don it eventually.

I am planning on using Xrobots method of plastic sealing it once I am done but I am seriously considering using thin aluminum on top of the foam instead so we'll see. After this I plan on making a War Machine one to go right next to this one.

Enough with the intro, on to some pics... What do you guys think? The chest was the first piece I did so it's a little rough but I am improving. I might re-do it. So far I have made the chest and the left shoulder. The right shoulder is almost done and I can tell I am already improving since I did the left one.

*How do I flip the 3D image in Pepakura? So like when I finish the left side of a part and I want to work on the right side, I can look at the right view of that part.

**Once I figure out Imgur and how to link them, I will post my pics like that from now on.

 

[Drack]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

First off nice start to your suit
You can't flip the 3D images unfortunately just the 2D. You have to flip it in your mind but once you have one side done its easy enough to do it the other way around.

Looking forward to seeing your progress,
Tom.

 

[iMan]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

First off nice start to your suit
You can't flip the 3D images unfortunately just the 2D. You have to flip it in your mind but once you have one side done its easy enough to do it the other way around.

Looking forward to seeing your progress,
Tom.

Thanks for the kind words.

Your suit is also an inspiration for me. It is so nice and clean. Good stuff there.

I figured since I couldn't find a button for it. It would just make life easier. Oh well, finishing up the right shoulder now and will post pics when I am done.

 

[tamplain]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Sup, fellow AF builder living Germany, so I can empathize with the vagaries of finding building materials locally.

 

[iMan]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Sup, fellow AF builder living Germany, so I can empathize with the vagaries of finding building materials locally.

I do envy the people in the U.S. who always post about driving to Home Depot and grabbing all their supplies lol. I wish that was the case here. Do you have a build thread?

 

[iMan]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Small update. I finished the right shoulder and boy does this one looks a lot nicer than the left one lol! It feels good to know that I am getting better after doing only three parts. Next up is the back. I already cut out all the templates and will be tracing them to the foam tonight and getting underway on that.

 

[tamplain]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

I do envy the people in the U.S. who always post about driving to Home Depot and grabbing all their supplies lol. I wish that was the case here. Do you have a build thread?

Here's my build.

http://www.therpf.com/f24/tmnt-shredder-halloween-wip-162572/

 

[iMan]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Here's my build.

http://www.therpf.com/f24/tmnt-shredder-halloween-wip-162572/

Just saw it and left a comment. PM with your details about where you're stationed. You know, OPSEC....

 

[mactonto]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Keep up the good work

See my build
http://www.therpf.com/f24/first-build-mark-vi-my-5-year-161023/

 

[yojay]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Good stuff. I hear ya about getting better as you go. I'm currently building a Mark VII from Darkside's foam templates. I was the same as you. I started with the shoulder bells and I hated them (plus I sized them wrong). I went ahead and painted them using different methods (PVA vs plasti-dip) and some different kinds of primers. Learned A LOT about what NOT to do, how many coats to use, how long to wait for things to dry, etc...

Now I find my pre-foam-trace prep work takes as much time (if not more) than the the tracing, cutting and gluing. Really studying the files and interpreting what the final shape is "supposed" to be has combined and simplified a lot of the cuts. Plus, identifying great places to make backside cuts gives a more seamless surface. I back cut as much as possible now and bend the pieces with heat.

It took me a few tries to realize these files make a great sizing template and guide, but they sure aren't a kit with instructions (for foam at least). Lots of fun and rewarding though.

My angled Xacto cutter was a game changer as well. Perfect 45 degree cuts now.

Keep it up. I like the builds with crazy color foams.

 

[iMan]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Good stuff. I hear ya about getting better as you go. I'm currently building a Mark VII from Darkside's foam templates. I was the same as you. I started with the shoulder bells and I hated them (plus I sized them wrong). I went ahead and painted them using different methods (PVA vs plasti-dip) and some different kinds of primers. Learned A LOT about what NOT to do, how many coats to use, how long to wait for things to dry, etc...

Now I find my pre-foam-trace prep work takes as much time (if not more) than the the tracing, cutting and gluing. Really studying the files and interpreting what the final shape is "supposed" to be has combined and simplified a lot of the cuts. Plus, identifying great places to make backside cuts gives a more seamless surface. I back cut as much as possible now and bend the pieces with heat.

It took me a few tries to realize these files make a great sizing template and guide, but they sure aren't a kit with instructions (for foam at least). Lots of fun and rewarding though.

My angled Xacto cutter was a game changer as well. Perfect 45 degree cuts now.

Keep it up. I like the builds with crazy color foams.

I am still learning those little tips while cutting the foam. So do you cut the 45 degree angles where they are needed while cutting them out of the foam initially? I always do them after but I guess if I knew where the angles needed to be at while I'm cutting the templates out, I can do it then.

I have the Xacto Angle Foam cutter and that thing is crap to me. I think it's because A: I don't think I am using it right and B: My 10mm foam might be too thick because the blade doesn't even reach the bottom and cannot make the cut.

Any ideas or tips to help with the 45 degree angles?

 

[Dynofiend]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Hey man. Looks like you are off to a great start!

I made all my angle cuts with scissors. I found it easier to make the angles after I had cut out the pieces as I found it easier to picture how they joined. Just remember you can
Only do this with 'convex' parts. With concave parts you would have to cut the angle edge bigger to allow room for the angle cut. Hope that makes sense!

 

[Pilot]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Any ideas or tips to help with the 45 degree angles?

Here's something I shared last year, it may or may not be helpful to you:

http://www.therpf.com/f24/does-anyone-know-perfect-way-cut-45-a-107413/#post1546066

 

[iMan]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Hey man. Looks like you are off to a great start!

I made all my angle cuts with scissors. I found it easier to make the angles after I had cut out the pieces as I found it easier to picture how they joined. Just remember you can
Only do this with 'convex' parts. With concave parts you would have to cut the angle edge bigger to allow room for the angle cut. Hope that makes sense!

Thanks for the info but it does't make sense to me lol. I guess I will have to google "convex" now unless you have some pictures I can reference.

 

[iMan]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Here's something I shared last year, it may or may not be helpful to you:

http://www.therpf.com/f24/does-anyone-know-perfect-way-cut-45-a-107413/#post1546066

Thanks for the tip. I will have to give that a try. I know how to make the angles, it's just that I think my foam doesn't like it lol. My foam seems too hard to put a blade in at that angle and cut. I am using new Xacto blades too.

My foam is child's play mat puzzle pieces but it's very flexible and bendable so I don't see the problem. I will keep cutting away at it though.

 

[iMan]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Keep up the good work

See my build
http://www.therpf.com/f24/first-build-mark-vi-my-5-year-161023/

Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[yojay]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

I am still learning those little tips while cutting the foam. So do you cut the 45 degree angles where they are needed while cutting them out of the foam initially? I always do them after but I guess if I knew where the angles needed to be at while I'm cutting the templates out, I can do it then.

I have the Xacto Angle Foam cutter and that thing is crap to me. I think it's because A: I don't think I am using it right and B: My 10mm foam might be too thick because the blade doesn't even reach the bottom and cannot make the cut.

Any ideas or tips to help with the 45 degree angles?

Yes, I try to anticipate the angle cuts before I cut the foam at all and use my #5 Xacto knife for the vertical cuts and the 45 degree blade (8R) for the angles. It has been a win for me. Also saves blades because the sharpest blades make the best cuts. I'm also using 6mm foam. I got lucky and found some on day two and switched from the 10mm foam I started with.

I keep the pep file open on my PC and check the angles before I trace.

Here's an old xrobots video that covers some of it.

 

[Fatutch]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Very Very nice indeed keep it up!

 

[iMan]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Fatutch- Thanks. I appreciate it.

yojay- I am about to cut out all the foam pieces for the back section so I will give that a try. I know the back section has a lot of 90 degree angles in it so I will need good 45 degree cuts. I used a pair of scissors on a scrap piece to cut the 45 degree angle and it went well. Fingers crossed. I will post a pic of the back section once I am done with it.

 

[Dynofiend]

Re: Air Force Iron Man Mark IV Foam Build

Excuse the crude paint picture. But it illustrates what I meant :lol

The red lines represent the cuts you made when cutting out your piece of foam. If you were joining that piece to another, and making a 45 degree angle cut, as per the left hand side of the picture, then this is fine, as the angle cut takes away more material than you had already cut out. However, if you are making an angle cut to the piece as per the right hand side, you can see it has to 'add' more material than would already be there had you cut out the piece to the red line already.

Hope that makes more sense now!