Iron Man VI - 2011 - Success Story
This was my first attempt at Pepakura, my first time working with EVA foam, and my first obsession of 2011. I was inspired, like many, by Stealth's Iron Man tutorial videos. A big thanks to Stealth and Robo3687 for the pepakura files.
I started this build on 10/16/2011 and completed it 10 minutes before we left or the big halloween street party last night 10/29/2011. It was non-stop 14-16hr work days rarely eating and doing little else. I estimate it took about 200 hours including; cutting, assembly, prep, paint, and electrical bits. About 20hours of it ~10% was research and ordering products.
The total cost has not been tallied and maybe I wont complete that task for fear of it being quite expensive. I will estimate it at $1K+. This includes EVA foam, Xacto products, paint, paint, paint, mod podge, EL Film and drivers, voice box, amp, wireless mic, etc etc. The paint was the killer at 14 cans of red (not all used), 4 cans of gold, 9 cans of primer, 5 cans of mod podge aerosol, 6 cans of clear. Yes $300-400 in paint. I used a 4 step process [ mod podge to seal the EVA foam, Primer, Color coat, clear ]. I should have just sourced the correct color and sprayed it since I have the skill and hardware to spray. This would have saved 50% of the painting cost. The killer was spending about $100 / day on this and that from velcro, mounting hardware, and lots of tools and stuff I did not actually need, or that came in a 10 pack and I needed 1.
Helmet; I went a bit crazy and decided to have a computer controlled helmet, so I grabbed a microchip PIC16F819 and threw together a PCB with all the needed hardware to control a stepper motor, EL lighting control, Voice box control (just ON/OFF of a voice changer). Its a lot to cram in the helmet and I think I should have spent the time on other details. The hinge system I used was a copy of some images from this forum I think (gold helmet with red hinge pictorial). Driving a servo requires a PWM signal with a duty cycle from 1-2mS, so a micro-controller was necessary and allowed easy control of the EL strip, voice, and servo; i.e. the EL would turn off with the helmet open. Full disclosure; the servo system cable / pulley failed and honestly was not working well just before departing for the show, so the face was manual after all that work
. I wrote the software in C and compiled using the PICC C compiler and Microchip IDE (for those with pocket protectors). *I am not interested in selling these modules, software or anything else for that matter.
The finished product looked pretty good, I give it 80%. Better painting, more reinforcements, a few more weeks of detail work; airbrush detail, more small EVA parts, etc, and it would have been 95%.
The response from everyone was positive. I was a rock star. The street party had 5K people and my girl and I could not walk more than 10 feet without someone stopping us for a pic. It took 30min to make it to the first drink tent. I posed for no less than 200 pics! It was crazy, almost annoying. I got many comments about it being the "best" costume, but I am sure they tell all the guys that
General Comments:
PAINT:
Red = Duplicolor BGM0509 aka Dark Cherry Metallic (tends to crack, wish it was more flexible)
Gold = Duplicolor BFM0351 aka Sunburst Gold
Source: Ordered from Napa, picked up in store.
Clear = Rustoleum Automotive Clear : Source = Walmart
Primer : I used Duplicolor dark grey (primer color affects top coat color, so if you want a deep red, use a darker primer). I got it at a local autoparts store, just call areound and ask if they carry duplicoolor primer.
LIGHTING:
EL Panel for Chest, strips for eye, and strip for hand. Glowhut had a good selection+service, but you can get this stuff on ebay or anywhere.
EVA Foam:
6mm (9x12") Red or Black : Source : JoAnns or ConsumerCrafts.com. Stick with Foamies brand, the tag is not a sticker so it just rips off. The Michaels 6mm foam has a sticker on each side of the foam that will not easily come off.
3mm sheets (11x17") red+black for neck, abs, strapping and support.
2mm multicolor sheet pack from WalMart for misc stuff
MOD PODGE:
Walmart has it in jar or spray
XACTO PRODUCTS:
2x packs of 15 blades (change blades often)
2x xacto knifes
45 degree xacto cutter (michaels)
JoAnns or Michaels
MISC:
-Voice changer (a must) from Amazon (get the one with 10+ voices), it was like $10
-Glue Gun: Get TWO!! One large and one small and I used 60 large glue sticks (multi-temp). Buy a nice glue gun, one with an on-off switch. You need two guns so you can have one that can reach small places and/or excrete small amounts of glue.
-Clear cover for the triangle : Ace hardware, had to buy a 6ft x 4ft sheet for a 6" triangle
-Erector set for the parts to make the hinges, money well spent. package up the remaining parts and regift
I paid like $18. If you try and buy this stuff at lowes or home depot in the screw isle it would be $100+
I have attached images of the $200 Iron Man costume (Deluxe Iron Man Rental Quality) costume which was a plastic helmet + front plate and a jiant one piece pajama. A joke for $200 IMO. I returned it. I also made an Iron Man motorcycle helmet for riding, its cool, has lights. I basically copied a youtubers helmet (copy = flattery)
Once again a big thanks to Stealth!
