Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/FCBD - Finished Pics pg. 3

[Psicorp7]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

Are you using hot glue or another type of adhesive? Very clean and impressive work! I'm even more impressed that it's a speed build!

Thanks! I use mostly hot glue with a bit of gel superglue for the really tight spaces.

How tall are you and do you know what the "scale by" sizing was that you used for your chest/abs? I have not started a new thread for it yet. was planning to get it started once I get the chest done. Figure it would be better to give everyone something to actually look at rather than just a few shoulder caps lol. I'm hoping to have mine finished for the movie premier so I am going to pretty tight on time since I just started mine a couple days ago. fingers crossed!

Ant

I changed the scale of the abs by +15%. I am 6 ft. tall and about 215 lbs. so I am a bit larger than the default. I increased the chest by +25% and If I did it over I would do +15% and just add the material under the arms for "breathing room". Yeah, I know what you mean about pictures! I waited a bit on mine as well. If you are shooting for the premiere as well, you have your work cut out for you! Good Luck!

Speaking of pictures, here is a quick test with one forearm. I think I will do a flexible vs. hard joint to make it easier to take apart and allow more movement. More on that later!

 

[EndGame94]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

Superb build! Looking forward to seeing the finished suit.

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

Superb build! Looking forward to seeing the finished suit.

Thanks a bunch! I can't wait to get to paint and weathering!

I finished both the forearms and today worked on modding the mannequin to fit me and suit a little better. I removed the metal attachment and cut a piece of wood as a spacer. I then attached the wood to the arm and the metal attachment to the wood. This makes the shoulders wider and allows more room for the armor on the arms. This will make it easier to add the strapping for the biceps and forearms.



The more I look at the shoulders, the more I think I might have to rebuild them at a smaller scale. I will know more when the arms and chest are all strapped together.

 

[GBNolen]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

So clean! Looks great!

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

So clean! Looks great!

Thanks! You should see how messy the inside is!


Onto the strapping! Most people gloss over this or don't post about it so I thought I will try and document this process as best I can.

For this build I wanted minimal joints with more flexibility so I decided to use a combo of nylon webbing and magnetic snaps. These are the same snaps that can be used to close bags and purses. They snap together nicely and allow the rotation needed to make a good joint. This way I can flex the joint and take the armor apart for transport. This is a test piece to allow you to see the method better.



This is the strapping hot glued to the forearm and the snaps installed on the bicep. The prongs are pushed through slits in the foam and then hot glued in place. I then put another layer of foam with slits cut halfway though the foam to cover the remainder of the prongs.



This is the finished joint! It works quite well and is super easy. It also makes the travel footprint much smaller.



I will use this same setup for the knee joint as well. I think I will try and kick out the neck next!

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

I attached the shoulders and the straps for the arms over the last couple days. I used the same method as the arm joints for the shoulders. The magnetic snaps are glued to the shoulder bell and the plate is attached to nylon straps that are fed through the foam and glued on the back side.



The arms are attached with a simple parachute buckle and I use double straps on the top to keep them from sliding around and always moving back to center.



Here is how everything sits right now. If I have time I will rebuild the shoulder bells smaller but for now I want to finish the rest before revisiting them.



That's it for now! More to come!

 

[RiotJavelinDX]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

Pretty smart thinking with the snaps, I'll have to remember that.

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

It has been a busy few days around the house with not alot of Iron Man progress. But I did manage to get a few things done. I finished the neck and used the same magnetic snaps as I used on the arms. I know there are more details in the pep file but this fits me quite nice and I don't want to bulk it up too much.



The last couple days I have also been consolidating the paper templates for the thighs to make them quicker to cut out and assemble. Hopefully I can start building them today.

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

One thigh done. There is some really interesting geometry going on in the thigh. It took me a while to figure it out but the next one will go faster.

 

[markseven]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

I really like where this is going! I really like the idea of using those purse magnets. I'd use them for sure if I want joints.

 

[fyreant]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

ok so I am curious on one thing. The pep files already have all the parts split, but you are not splitting all your parts if they are level, just marking them with a pen as you mentioned to me earlier. What I am curious about is how are you sure what parts to cut and where? Are you tracing all the template files next to each as they would piece together and just not cutting them or are you going back into the pep files and re-connecting the pieces to yield larger parts to cut out, and then going back to add the detail later?

by the way, I have been going slow on mine. Got the chest done, but it doesn't look as good as yours!

Ant

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

I really like where this is going! I really like the idea of using those purse magnets. I'd use them for sure if I want joints.

Thanks! I am really happy with how well the magnets hold and swivel. I wish I had used it on my last build!

ok so I am curious on one thing. The pep files already have all the parts split, but you are not splitting all your parts if they are level, just marking them with a pen as you mentioned to me earlier. What I am curious about is how are you sure what parts to cut and where? Are you tracing all the template files next to each as they would piece together and just not cutting them or are you going back into the pep files and re-connecting the pieces to yield larger parts to cut out, and then going back to add the detail later?

by the way, I have been going slow on mine. Got the chest done, but it doesn't look as good as yours!

Ant

I first look through pep designer and see if I can join any pieces there and print them out as larger pieces. This is not an exact science due to some parts being curved. Sometimes I also print out multiple pieces and just fit them together and then tape them flat. The line between the pieces are still visible and I just push a pen through the paper at certain points and then "connect-the-dots" with the embossed lines. I put the leg together with about 5 large "flattened" pieces and then 10-12 smaller pieces that fit in between. Hope that helps!

Wait 'till you get to the back! Lots of pieces!

 

[fyreant]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

Thanks! I am really happy with how well the magnets hold and swivel. I wish I had used it on my last build!



I first look through pep designer and see if I can join any pieces there and print them out as larger pieces. This is not an exact science due to some parts being curved. Sometimes I also print out multiple pieces and just fit them together and then tape them flat. The line between the pieces are still visible and I just push a pen through the paper at certain points and then "connect-the-dots" with the embossed lines. I put the leg together with about 5 large "flattened" pieces and then 10-12 smaller pieces that fit in between. Hope that helps!

Wait 'till you get to the back! Lots of pieces!

I figured it was a combination of a few things. oh and funny you should mention the back.. I am working on trying to figure out the scaling for the back to print it out tonight. that's my next piece to make. the scaling on these really has me thrown off. I wish that they would have gone back and put the height of the person next to each link so you know what size it is. Its quite hard to tell what size each of the pdo's are going to be. some say 418.5 scale, some say 49.85. I wont have enough time to make the parts 2-3 times to get the scaling right. When I made my Mark 6, the scaling was simple as all the files were modeled the same size, and for a 6 foot person. so it was easy to change the scaling on that. But on these, not knowing if they are the 5'10" files or the 5'6" files is painful..

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

I figured it was a combination of a few things. oh and funny you should mention the back.. I am working on trying to figure out the scaling for the back to print it out tonight. that's my next piece to make. the scaling on these really has me thrown off. I wish that they would have gone back and put the height of the person next to each link so you know what size it is. Its quite hard to tell what size each of the pdo's are going to be. some say 418.5 scale, some say 49.85. I wont have enough time to make the parts 2-3 times to get the scaling right. When I made my Mark 6, the scaling was simple as all the files were modeled the same size, and for a 6 foot person. so it was easy to change the scaling on that. But on these, not knowing if they are the 5'10" files or the 5'6" files is painful..

Yeah, the swapping of scale factors is a bit messy in some of the downloads. The best I can tell you is to err a bit smaller than you think you need and then add extra under the arms were no one will see to make it fit. The Mark 43 has a really tiny breast and back plate compared to all the other marks. I know if I had the time I would go back and reduce mine by about 10% as I originally scaled it and the back up about 20% to get it to fit around me without adding any pieces. Of course if you want it to match perfectly with your chest then just use the same scale and hope for the best.

Good Luck!

 

[markseven]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

Aren't u using helagak's files? As far a I can remember he released files for 5'10 person that's why I didn't have to scale mine

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

Aren't u using helagak's files? As far a I can remember he released files for 5'10 person that's why I didn't have to scale mine.

Yes, we are using those files but the "scale factor" is in several different amounts and for people larger or smaller than the default that can mean extra measuring and testing to make sure that the parts fit instead of just trusting that the default is really what it says it is. Since I am a hair over 6 foot tall and a 210lbs I have to scale up some of the parts but not all of them. Lots of fun!

- - - Updated - - -

New update! I finished the other thigh and I think I will move onto the shin and knee before strapping the whole leg and hip pods.

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

Ugh, it has been a slow build week. I was only able to get one shin done in the last couple of days. I kept getting pulled away and had to use the midnight hours to get any progress. I did a bit of simplifying to get it to turn out but I think the compromises are ok.



I figured I would also include some tips and tricks for making a clean foam build. The best advice is the same as most will give is use a sharp knife! I like the new Xacto Gold series blades. They do seem to hold an edge longer and can be sharped a couple of times before discarding them.



I, like everyone else, have glue that squishes out the front of the a seam. I use a side angle fingernail clipper to trim the extra glue off flush to the surface. It works great and leaves a very clean cut. It will get into very small spaces and won't accidentally cut into the foam like a blade. For inside corners I still use a blade to cut behind and under the extra glue since that will leave a 90 degree cut, but if you want a 45 degree cut the cutter works great for that too.



Hopefully I can finish up a whole leg with the knee this weekend and get the fitting and joint figured out so I can get the other leg finished next week!

 

[fyreant]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

Ugh, it has been a slow build week. I was only able to get one shin done in the last couple of days. I kept getting pulled away and had to use the midnight hours to get any progress. I did a bit of simplifying to get it to turn out but I think the compromises are ok.

View attachment 457199 View attachment 457198

I figured I would also include some tips and tricks for making a clean foam build. The best advice is the same as most will give is use a sharp knife! I like the new Xacto Gold series blades. They do seem to hold an edge longer and can be sharped a couple of times before discarding them.

View attachment 457201

I, like everyone else, have glue that squishes out the front of the a seam. I use a side angle fingernail clipper to trim the extra glue off flush to the surface. It works great and leaves a very clean cut. It will get into very small spaces and won't accidentally cut into the foam like a blade. For inside corners I still use a blade to cut behind and under the extra glue since that will leave a 90 degree cut, but if you want a 45 degree cut the cutter works great for that too.

View attachment 457204 View attachment 457203 View attachment 457200 View attachment 457202

Hopefully I can finish up a whole leg with the knee this weekend and get the fitting and joint figured out so I can get the other leg finished next week!

I've got to say the nail clipper idea is ingenious. As a matter fact I'm going to Walmart to get one of those right now. I will say that your build is one of the cleanest I've ever seen. On a side note I'm about 75% of the way done with my backpiece, once I finish that I'm going to start my build thread.

Ant

 

[Kevin Gossett]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

You can also place painters tape on the front of your pieces so glue won't seep out. Once it's dry, remove the tape and you have a perfectly clean seam

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Avengers: AOU - Iron Man Mark 43 - Speed build for Opening/Free Comic Book Day

You can also place painters tape on the front of your pieces so glue won't seep out. Once it's dry, remove the tape and you have a perfectly clean seam

Yeah, that method works great on long seams! I like to use clear packing tape so I can see the seam as I am lining it up.

In other news, the helmet has arrived!!!! This is a three piece cast by TheRocketeer. It is just a great cast with minimal clean-up. I eventually want to motorize the faceplate but for this first outing I with either use a simple hinge or magnets.