Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Related"

[Boba Debt]

Hot Toys seems to have discontinued the House Party Protocol Hall of Armor bays.

I was going to get at least 22 of them when they went on sale but they never did.

Now it looks like I will have to either cast them from a light weight material or scratch build them.

This is what I am talking about :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-Toys-Ir...775?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e90d17447


I know the control panel in the back can be cast in standard resin and lights can be added to it but does anyone know of a way to cast the walls, floor and ceiling.


The special base that the figure is on is not needed since the figures come with a base that can be used.

I just need to figure out how to replicate the look of the styrofoam part

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

I would use gardening foam to carve the foam-looking bits and just cast that to however many I need.

 

[Boba Debt]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

I don't know what Gardening foam is and I'm not getting what you mean.

Are you saying to carve this foam into the final product or crave the foam to create a mold?

I don't want it to look like foam, it had a concrete look in the movie and that's what I would like to replicate.

 

[CB2001]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

Gardening/floral foam looks like this:

Basically, it's used for floral arrangements and plants, light weight and can absorb water. Many users use it for making shapes, much easier to cut and shape with knives, and also easy to sand. And they come in pre-made shapes such as blocks, circles and cones. You're likely to find it in the hobby section at Walmart or the flower section at a hobby store like Michaels and Hobby Lobby.

Here's a tutorial of someone making a prop using floral foam:

And some examples:

http://arizzel.deviantart.com/art/Cosplay-with-Floral-Foam-Tutorial-376522305

http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/4735140-portal-cosplay-props

Including one from an RPF user (PrimoOptimoso): http://www.therpf.com/f9/steampunk-portal-gun-123293/

 

[Boba Debt]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

I don't think I could get the level of fine detail that I need from that

 

[EvilMatt666]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

You should be able to create a prototype from wood or perhaps carved from a firmer foam than the florist stuff suggested? Maybe moulding the finished project with rigid expanding foam? It's fairly durable from what I have read/watched.

 

[Boba Debt]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

I can buy one of the Bays and use it for the molding process.

It's not supposed to have a floor nor a ceiling so I intend to cut those off. I'm also going to remove the plastic electronics so all should have is a C shaped tube to replicate

 

[Pro Mod]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

Personally I'd buy the one on eBay for reference and use it as a template to build my own version.

It's quite straightforward to replicate as basically it's an open fronted box with a curved interior.
I'd use standard thickness of material such as foamed PVC or Mdf for the walls and styrene sheet for the curved panel and outer cladding.
If you don't have the resources to cut material for 22 units then I'd consider getting a supplier to cut the blank pieces for you to assemble.
Plastics supply companies (TAP Plastics for example) generally offer a cut to size service for a small additional fee.

If the curved wall was styrene about 1mm thick then it could be simply pushed into position and it would naturally take up the curve. You would then add the detail pieces later.

I've done a quick sketch of the way I would breakdown the parts for production.







The other option would be to build one master set of parts and then cast them.
At 440mm tall that's a lot of rubber and resin and the opportunities for warping would be quite high.

I would definitely not use Garden Foam as it’s too soft and far too difficult to finish for this type of project.

Hope it goes well whatever you decide to do.
Phil

 

[pandatrooper]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

This would be pretty easy to build out of Sintra. Use a piece of thin styrene for the curved part.

 

[Boba Debt]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

The biggest issue is the hole in the back of the unit that the control panel sits in.

The sides of the hole are cut parallel to the centerline of the unit



This is an important detail that will be very difficult to replicate with cutting tools

 

[Contec]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

3d printing maybe?

 

[TazMan2000]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

Well, I might have to see this thing close up to seel all the undercuts...but how about removing what you don't want to cast, fill in the holes and gaps, then cast the whole thing? Sure, it might be a very large mold and each casting will take up a significant about of resin, but it definitely would seem like the easier way.

TazMan2000

 

[Boba Debt]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

Well, I might have to see this thing close up to seel all the undercuts...but how about removing what you don't want to cast, fill in the holes and gaps, then cast the whole thing? Sure, it might be a very large mold and each casting will take up a significant about of resin, but it definitely would seem like the easier way.

TazMan2000

That is what I am thinking.

The top and bottom will be removed since they are not screen accurate. So you will basically have the C shaped wall section.

I'm guessing you would have to use some kind of flexible resin so you could spread the cast part some to get the center core out????

 

[TazMan2000]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

The RTV should be flexible, I don't think the resin should be. But I would definitely use mold-release.

TazMan2000

 

[Boba Debt]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

The resin would have to give to be able to get the center core out. The walls have a C shape not a U shape

 

[Jedi Dade]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

If I were going to tackle this I'd 3D print a set of master parts and then cast them up. Scratch building it is of course an option too. While you were at it you could redo the top and bottom to be screen accurate to your taste...

It does not look too complicated to mold though... once you have the pieces make a bunch more should not be too bad. At 17" tall it will take a good amount of resin so it might get expensive... but not to difficult.

Jedi Dade

 

[TazMan2000]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

The resin would have to give to be able to get the center core out. The walls have a C shape not a U shape

That would pose a problem with a regular mold. You could try a multi-piece mold.

TazMan2000

 

[Boba Debt]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

If I were going to tackle this I'd 3D print a set of master parts and then cast them up. Scratch building it is of course an option too. While you were at it you could redo the top and bottom to be screen accurate to your taste...

It does not look too complicated to mold though... once you have the pieces make a bunch more should not be too bad. At 17" tall it will take a good amount of resin so it might get expensive... but not to difficult.

Jedi Dade

Well, I need at least 24 of these and at over $100 each I think they could be cast or scratch built for less


The top and bottom are just a continuous concrete looking floor, all I really need to cast are the C shaped center wall section and the back power panel unit which I want to do seperatly so I can add LEDS to it


If this works out someone could make some money offering these because a lot of people hate the original Styrofoam version Hot Toys put out

That would pose a problem with a regular mold. You could try a multi-piece mold.

TazMan2000

I sort of figured it would have to be a 2 part mold

I'm wondering if the center core could be made around a removable section of tubing such as PVC Pipe. In other words, if the interior diameter is about 9", could you use a 6" piece of PVC pipe as a center core and pour the silicone around it to create the inside mold of the unit.

If it could be done in a way that the pvc pipe could be removed after casting this would allow you to collapse the silicone "sleeve" away from the interior to remove it.

It would also save on silicone

 

[Jedi Dade]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

If the back is simple then it could be a simple pour mold. Lay the item on the back and pour the silicone over the detailed parts... let dry. Flip the mold over remove the part(s) and pour resin in from the back. Do you have any pictures of the rear of this piece? if its a simple flat back then this should be pretty simple to mold and cast. Obviously if you wanted the LED's you'd need to drill holes and mount them.

Also looking at reference pics (from a google search), the details of this do not really look like what I saw in reference. is this a new version or something? Maybe what I was looking at was ironman 2?

Do you have one of these to take pictures of?

Came across this... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-Toys-Ir...8&pid=100005&rk=3&rkt=6&sd=301120883406&rt=nc

This seems to be more what it looks like. This has a ton of undercuts along the back wall... and would be hard to cast as one big piece. It would need to be taken apart.

Also we're into recaster territory here. but replicating in 3D printing to make your own masters should be a doable thing. I'm not sure that casting it painting it and putting it all together I'd sell it for much less then its going for on ebay... its going to take a lot of resin (either of these versions)

If you wanted to scratch something close neither of these look super complicated to get something reasonable... For the one you showed - some large diameter PVC piping cut up and detailed with something to make the floor and ceiling with. for the second link I just posted its essentially a box with greeblies in it... the clear bits on the side would be a pain... maybe make plans and get them cut in acrylic... that might be cool. Good luck with it.

Jedi Dade

 

[Boba Debt]

Re: Can This Item be Replicated via the Casting Method "Iron Man Hall of Armor Relate

I don't have one to photograph yet but you can find them on ebay if you do a search for HOT TOYS HALL HOUSE PARTY

These have been discontinued so I won't feel too guilty about making my own.