Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Bigturc's bolts!

[Dancin_Fool]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - updated 6/16 with some lessons learned!

It looks great, I can definitely see your technique improving from the helmet to the shoulder! The 45 degree cuts make a big difference in getting a cleaner build.

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - updated 6/16 with some lessons learned!

Removed.

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - hand pepped!

I've been working pretty regularly on my armor, but don't have much to show for it, primarily because I have been working on my pep skills. Like Tony says, "Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk." so I jumped right in and have attempted Zabana's hand files three or four times, making various pieces while I work on sizing. I just completed a hand yesterday from start to finish and, unfortunately, it's too small. The good news is that I am confident that I can pep this pretty quickly now. It's not as good as some of the pep work I've seen on these, but I'm confident that I can use it as a base to glass/fill.

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Need opinions on size! Please comment!

Dancin_Fool and I have been talking size in his foam template thread, so I pepped up the forearm today from his paper templates using the same sizing technique. I'd like everyone's opinion on the sizing.

The first photo is with the tank missile housing and I am pointing to my elbow. The second photo is minus the tank missile housing. The red arrow points to my wrist where the forearm is resting right where my hand bends up. The gold arrow indicates where my elbow bends.

 

[Dancin_Fool]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Need opinions on size! Please comment!

That looks pretty good for size. If you build out the gold part that connects into the forearm it should end right at your elbow.

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Need opinions on size! Please comment!

Thanks DF, once again.

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Ready to throw in the towel, so frustrated. Advice?

So frustrated right now... I'm just not getting good pieces out. I've spent so much time reading (XRobots, Stealth, indiefilmgeek) and trying different builds and I can't get the hang of it. Here's my latest mess.

Two forearms. One done with 5MM floor matting (black) and one with 3MM craft foam (red).

I'm not happy with either one. My hot glue skills suck and the seams are extremely obvious. I tried to coat the black one with Plastidip and it did nothing to cover up how amateur the piece is. The red one isn't much better. The missile tank piece has a wide gap and because the foam sheets are smaller, I can't cut one large piece, so it doesn't hold it's shape.

I'm debating on moving to paper, but that takes so much time and I'm so discouraged at this point, I'm not sure I'm going to continue.

Any advice?

 

[Dancin_Fool]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Ready to throw in the towel, so frustrated. Advice?

Don't give up!

Have you been using a heat gun to heat the pieces of foam up first? It's a lot easier to get the thicker foam into the right shape if you hit the whole piece with the heat gun when you're wrapping the piece into a cylinder.

*EDIT*

Also if you're really having a hard time with the foam you could use the foam templates on cardboard to the same effect. Of course then you lose the flexibility of the foam.

 

[wondersquid]

Hey man, don't give up, I have been working with foam for more then 15 years and I don't know of any other material that is as versatile and fast for building costumes. I think what's really plaguing you is the learning curve. It took me almost 6 months just to master cutting. Have some patience, getting to the point of making suits in a week takes lots of practice first. I would recommend trying Barge contact cement for gluing, especially if you want those clean lines. Try a place called sav-mor leather in the US, you should be able to order some. Get some thinner too, it helps to mix a thinned down version of the glue. Once you go this route you will wonder how anyone can possibly use hot glue. If you have any questions just shout out, I'll keep checking back on your progress. Give foam another try, it has such awesome potential once you get the hang if it.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[Psicorp7]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Ready to throw in the towel, so frustrated. Advice?

If you have not checked out JFcustom and some of his files and tips they are really worth a look for working in foam for the first time. Simple files with fewer cuts and nice little diagrams of all hints and tricks

Check this thread http://www.therpf.com/f24/foam-speed-building-filesntricks-added-war-machine-148889/

Also, each of pieces you have tried are all the hardest to pull off (helmet, hands, boots, and arms.). I always suggest people start with the abs, then neck and brace, then the cod and the back and chest. With Iron Man it is best to start from the innermost piece and work outward for the best fit. Also these pieces are easier and mostly covered up so you can practice your cuts without having to throw a piece out and start over.

If you would like I can show you how I did the abs to make them super-simple. Good luck and never give up. I am months into a build and not very far. Patience is so important and so hard to come by!

 

[docholiday78]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Ready to throw in the towel, so frustrated. Advice?

So frustrated right now... I'm just not getting good pieces out. I've spent so much time reading (XRobots, Stealth, indiefilmgeek) and trying different builds and I can't get the hang of it. Here's my latest mess.

Two forearms. One done with 5MM floor matting (black) and one with 3MM craft foam (red).

I'm not happy with either one. My hot glue skills suck and the seams are extremely obvious. I tried to coat the black one with Plastidip and it did nothing to cover up how amateur the piece is. The red one isn't much better. The missile tank piece has a wide gap and because the foam sheets are smaller, I can't cut one large piece, so it doesn't hold it's shape.

I'm debating on moving to paper, but that takes so much time and I'm so discouraged at this point, I'm not sure I'm going to continue.

Any advice?[/Quote/

What I do to correct my seams is I go over the seams with a soldering iron. It melt all the glue mess n u can hold the seams together flush. And if there still bad I'll lightly sand with dremel yo smooth out and I use Rondo n gaps fill right up. Just dont take this hobby to serious, I know I felt like you many times especially when piece wouldnt fit right, so what I do know is scratch build so it fits perfectly on me and if it no accurate who cares as long as it looks cool. Check out my thread I'll be posting an update later today showing my arm rondoed and paintd and its lookin pretty awesome but I didnt get to this point overnight. I have exactly 1 year with this hobby and yet to finsh one full armor but ruined oh so many trying new things to make it look better lol....peace

 

[mushroomhunter]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Ready to throw in the towel, so frustrated. Advice?

I think it's looking good pretty far! As far as the seams go, I'd do what docholiday mentioned. I also use the side of the hot gun metal tip to melt any excess glue that squirts from the seams.

 

[Dancin_Fool]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Ready to throw in the towel, so frustrated. Advice?

On a side note, that seam will be mostly hidden when you build the gauntlet cover things.

 

[Helagak]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Ready to throw in the towel, so frustrated. Advice?

Hey Charlie. I didn't start my build much before you. And I have felt the same way but I kept plugging away. I am about a week into my build and Ewry piece I build is looking better than the last! (check my thread, im especially proud of the back piece!) just keep trying. Deffinetly check out jfcustoms thread for some great foam tips and tricks! Try a chest piece next. It wasn't too tough to build. And it is a really rewarding piece to have when your done!
Don't expect perfection. That's not what foam building is all about. Just have fun and imagine how friggin cool its gonna be to walk Dow. The street as iron man!!

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Ready to throw in the towel, so frustrated. Advice?

Spent some time and joined/disjoined the arm pieces much like JFCustom does for his files, printed them out and redid the forearm. This worked a little better for me. I didn't have any glue mess, but the seams are still extremely obvious. I'm beginning to think this unavoidable, given the "roundness" of the Mark III. I can't compare notes with any other builds because everyone is making the Mark IV or higher out of foam, but the other suits are more square. I Plastidipped this forearm, but the seams don't seem to be disappearing any better. The red forearm in the picture I've Modge Podged and I'm going to pick up some 65D tomorrow and coat it and see how that turns out.

I'm probably not going to quit, because I'm stubborn as hell. But not having any results is wearing me out, especially since I spend a little of every day working on this.

Ultimately, the problem here is me... not the work. My friends are cheering me on and all I see is "meh". I'm a perfectionist, so things I do are held to a very high standard. On top of that I have little patience. Not a good combination. :lol

Anyway, thanks for the encouragement... I'm soldiering on.

 

[Helagak]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Ready to throw in the towel, so frustrated. Advice?

Good man!!
Question: are you using a heat gun to shape the foam prior to gluing it?
Also when gluing a piece that has stress on it, glue, (a little extra) then squeeze together and hold it FIRM for at least a minute or two until the glue is 100% cured. Good luck man! Can't wait to see more!

 

[Ruprekt]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Ready to throw in the towel, so frustrated. Advice?

It's important to take a look at what your trying to build. It's not like your trying something easy. This is complex stuff, and the learning curve has to be pretty steep. Sometimes to be successful you have to beat your head against the wall for a loooong time. Success will come though.

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Ready to throw in the towel, so frustrated. Advice?

Sorry, forgot to answer you guys. Yes I'm using a heat gun to form pieces.

 

[MorbidCharlie]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - Ready to throw in the towel, so frustrated. Advice?

FINALLY!

I sat down again tonight after taking a break from even thinking about the suit. Then I went in, cleared up my workspace, looked at everything I had out and played with Pepakura a bit more. I decided NOT to do full size cutouts so that the two halves of each piece was an exact mirror. I printed them out, took a look at how each piece went in and made some mental adjustments. It came out BEAUTIFULLY (to me anyway). BONUS: I got a handguard in as well. Nevermind the forearm on the bottom, it's just a color test.

The tank missile housing is PERFECTLY flush with the rest of the arm and most of the seams are tight. It's perfectly round and not warped. I goofed on the last piece I was putting on cry) which is the dark spot on the front. I put the wrist guard upside down, but was able to replace it without damaging anything else, save some discoloration from the glue. This was done with the 3MM craft foam and I am sold on it. After I EVAed another piece earlier today, it stiffened and will hold firm. As I said, I'm going to try XRobots 65D coating method, and if that works, I'm going to learn how to cast pieces so I don't have to remake them again. :lol

Most important, I think I've got my "style" in place. I just need to be more patient and work slower and I think I can get the rest of this done.

Thanks again for the words of encouragement and listening to me whine. :$

 

[Dancin_Fool]

Re: Foam Iron Man - Mark III - SUCCESS w/ the forearm!

That looks really really good. Well done! Do you have any higher res pictures? See just took a couple tries and now that you've got your technique down I bet you'll start flying through the pieces.