Iron Man foam in Mexico - first time - materials found

[hokiemas]

Okay, I'm a total amateur and awful costume maker. Up to this point, my best effort was a nowhere near accurate Darth Vader with a voice changer helmet, vinyl place mat chest armor and shins, poorly homemade cape, junction box belt boxes, and outlet faceplate belt buckle. I work at an Elementary School, and the kids loved it, but let's just say, they're easy to impress. I would post a picture, but after lurking here for nearly a year and seeing all the awesomeness that is produced by the posters here, I might actually crash the board with the pitiful quality effort of my Vader.

Here's the thing, Halloween at my school is a big deal. I'm a vice principal, and while my Vader was horrendous, it set a surprisingly high standard for what I need to do next year. I've been searching for inspiration here, and I've decided that if I could pull off a foam Iron Man, paint it up real nice, and at least light the a cheaply put together Arc Reactor, the kids would go nuts. I do need some help though, and would appreciate any input. Here are my problems:

1. I'm in Mexico. Yes, Mexico. I know exactly where I'd go for EVA foam back home in Virginia, but I have no idea where to start here. Any ideas? We have Home Depot, but their selection of stuff is kind of hit and miss.

2. I'm a teacher in Mexico meaning that money is an issue. I can definitely over the long haul invest some money, but it would be little by little. that's why I'm hoping the 5 months between now and Halloween will be enough time.

3. I have no clue what I'm doing. I have the program to open the Pep files on my computer, so that's not an issue. I know I need to get card stock to print the templates on. I know I need a glue gun. Other than that, let's just say, I'll be spending a lot of time watching Stealth's tutorials.

4. Plastidip? First, no idea what it really is other than that people use it to seal the foam an avoid having pores in their final painted costume. No idea how to say it in Spanish. I've seen people using a mixture of white glue and water which seems much less hazardous to my health, so I may go that route. Costume doesn't need to be used more than once, but I would like it to hold up for a few hours on Halloween at school.

Anyway, that's it so far. My free time is not overly abundant, but I have a fair amount of it on weekends. Also, over the summer that will change. If anyone has any tips on how best to start, I'd appreciate it, especially on where to find the foam here. I bow to your awesomeness and hope that my costume comes out even 25% as good as some of the ones I've seen on here. I'll post pics as soon as I've made any meaningful progress. What I lack in talent, I make up for in persistence, so hopefully it will work out.

 

[propnoob74]

Re: Getting a start on a Halloween costume - Iron Man foam Mark?

Brother, I know the feeling, the best thing you can do is Mcguyver yourself a suit, If you can't find the EVA there, replace it with cardboard, and work in layers to do the details, you can work with the pep files; then you may be able to find some fiberglass mat and resin then go at it man, those kids would go crazy....just don't get mad and quit, keep at it and you will be rewarded...

 

[hokiemas]

Re: Getting a start on a Halloween costume - Iron Man foam Mark?

Brother, I know the feeling, the best thing you can do is Mcguyver yourself a suit, If you can't find the EVA there, replace it with cardboard, and work in layers to do the details, you can work with the pep files; then you may be able to find some fiberglass mat and resin then go at it man, those kids would go crazy....just don't get mad and quit, keep at it and you will be rewarded...

I'm fairly certain I can find EVA foam, I just don't know how much it's going to cost. I'm going to scout out Home Depot this weekend and see what I can find. Earning pesos is a pain, and things are usually more expensive here since they're imported. I was hoping someone had an inside source for EVA foam in Mexico. We'll see. I'd rather not mess with fiberglass since with my luck, I'd probably kill myself from vapor inhalation. We'll see how it goes. Layered cardboard is an option, but I'd much prefer to work with the foam since it doesn't seem to be too terribly difficult. I know, famous last words. Here's hoping it turns out semi-decent.

 

[hokiemas]

Re: Getting a start on a Halloween costume - Iron Man foam Mark?

Found Eva foam in a roll at one of the larger supermarkets here but it appears to be 1/8 inch which I'm assuming is too thin. I would think 1/4 would hold its shape better or maybe I'm wrong there. This stuff just seemed way to bendy to hold any kind of shape. If its the best I can find, could I double it up? Would I hot glue two pieces together once they were cut? Sorry for the seemingly dumb question. I'm assuming I'll be able to find 1/4 inch somewhere. The search continues!

 

[hokiemas]

Okay, did some supply hunting. Home Depot was a productive stop: new pair of scissors, hot glue gun, and glue sticks. I looked for foam, no dice. Only foam available was 1/2 inch or maybe a little thicker and really expensive. Next stop, department store. Only mats were 1/8 inch and even more expensive. Then to Office Max: card stock (or the closest thing I could find to it), a sharpie fine tip marker, exacto hobby knife, and a lot of replacement blades. From there, I searched numerous places all over Cuernavaca with no luck finding foam or plastidip. Made a desperation trip to Autozone. Jackpot. Anti-fatigue mats, 3/8 inch which is the closest to 1/4 inch I could find. Four 2 foot by 2 foot jigsaw squares for about 12 bucks.

Biggest disappointment of the day: can't find plastidip anywhere. I'm not giving up yet, especially since it's one of the last things I'm going to need, and I can get started without it. I may have to use the Elmers diluted with water strategy, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

I need one more thing before I start. Going to head out and pick up a cheap 1/8 inch EVA foam rolled mat since the oh so wise Stealth has said that thinner foam will work better for the helmet. I guess I should take this chance to thank Stealth and Robo3687 for the templates and models. You guys have given me the motivation to give this a shot. You are both AWESOME!!!!!

I've decided to try the helmet first since if I can't get that looking right, the armor won't do much good. I know I should be paper pepping it, but I think that fiberglass resin would be out of my range of ability. I have a feeling it's going to be tough, but I should be able to get at least 3 tries or so out of the rolled foam mat, so hopefully I won't get to terribly frustrated. I'll post pics as soon as I have something reasonably presentable or horribly awful to show. Thanks again.

 

[j0wE]

Good luck on your build man. Some workds of advise. Buy a LOT of blades. the foam dulls the blades out in like 5 cuts, I mean you can still cut but it wont be like slicing butter anymore. Don't give up so easily most of us have made 2 or 3 chests or shins etc. It just takes practice. Look for all the protips on here like JFcustom's or STEALTHS videos on youtube, wondersquid has some good visuals also.

Te deseo suerte(Good Luck)

 

[TAZNITBR]

Brother, i live in Brasil and i found EVA in a leather shop around here in my city that is a small place. I found 3mm, 5mm and 8mm. I did almost all my MKIII with 50 bucks (EVA only) and still have material. I think you can search in that kind of shop.
If you don´t find plasti-dip use PVA glue diluted in 30% water. 3 a 5 layers will resolve your problem.
Begin with an easy piece like forearms, elbow, handplates until you have ability to make a bigger and complex piece.
Another important and vital thing is the scale. You have to compare your measurements with the previous pep scale and rescale it if necessary.
Read the forum threads and see the youtube vídeos specially the Stealth ones to understand how to begin with the right feet.
GL!

 

[hokiemas]

Good luck on your build man. Some workds of advise. Buy a LOT of blades. the foam dulls the blades out in like 5 cuts, I mean you can still cut but it wont be like slicing butter anymore. Don't give up so easily most of us have made 2 or 3 chests or shins etc. It just takes practice. Look for all the protips on here like JFcustom's or STEALTHS videos on youtube, wondersquid has some good visuals also.

Te deseo suerte(Good Luck)

You weren't kidding about the blades. I have enough, but man, cutting more than one piece is tough. I took TAZNITBR's advice and started with a forearm. I've got all the pieces of the template cut out, but I'm having a serious issue with the angles. I watched Stealth's tutorials on youtube, and he made it look so easy to cut the angles with a pair of scissors. I pretty much ruined the pieces I cut, so I'm back to tracing them out and trying again. I know it will take some practice to get the hang of this, so I'll keep trying. I know they make a knife specifically to cut angles like this, but I've got no idea where to get it here. I'm originally from Virginia, so the lack of availability of stuff here in Mexico is frustrating.

 

[Wheatley]

You weren't kidding about the blades. I have enough, but man, cutting more than one piece is tough. I took TAZNITBR's advice and started with a forearm. I've got all the pieces of the template cut out, but I'm having a serious issue with the angles. I watched Stealth's tutorials on youtube, and he made it look so easy to cut the angles with a pair of scissors. I pretty much ruined the pieces I cut, so I'm back to tracing them out and trying again. I know it will take some practice to get the hang of this, so I'll keep trying. I know they make a knife specifically to cut angles like this, but I've got no idea where to get it here. I'm originally from Virginia, so the lack of availability of stuff here in Mexico is frustrating.

Just curious, are you in the DF or another large city?

 

[hokiemas]

Cuernavaca. Medium sized city with the most frustratingly stocked stores known to man.

 

[Wheatley]

Cuernavaca. Medium sized city with the most frustratingly stocked stores known to man.

Ah yes, unfortunatley I know it well. The only chance you would have would be a bus/drive to the DF but I'm not sure that it would be cost effective for you to pick up some foam. There's whole quarters of the historical center dedicated to crafts and materials, I could be more specific if you think its worth it.

 

[hokiemas]

Ah yes, unfortunatley I know it well. The only chance you would have would be a bus/drive to the DF but I'm not sure that it would be cost effective for you to pick up some foam. There's whole quarters of the historical center dedicated to crafts and materials, I could be more specific if you think its worth it.

Yeah, until I can get a handle on cutting my angles on the edges of the foam right, I'm not making the trek to DF to buy more foam. My attempt today was so horribly bad that I'm not totally confident it's ever going to be acceptable, but I will keep trying. If, and it's a big IF, this thing starts taking shape, I may go in search of my economical foam and Plastidip. Thanks for the tip though. Driving in Mexico City is an adventure worthy of Iron Man, so maybe.

 

[chamuco110]

Hi hokiemas, i can help you to find all the material you will need in mexico , please send me an e mail hectoralbertosoto@hotmail.com

i advise to you build your armor in 4mm foam , its cheaper and easy to assemble

look for the store named lumen , you will find the 4mm foam sheets and other usefull materials.

You can seal the foam with white glue , three coats will be fine. After that you can apply the plasti dip but is pretty expensive in mexico i recomend to you go to home depot and ask for paint with latex that is very cheap.

look for the hero tutorials they are very usefull also download the foam templates , you can find them in the forum

http://www.therpf.com/f24/robo3687-iron-man-mark-4-6-pepakura-128147/

print it in cardboard (opalina paper in mexico).

greetings

 

[hokiemas]

Hi hokiemas, i can help you to find all the material you will need in mexico , please send me an e mail hectoralbertosoto@hotmail.com

i advise to you build your armor in 4mm foam , its cheaper and easy to assemble

look for the store named lumen , you will find the 4mm foam sheets and other usefull materials.

You can seal the foam with white glue , three coats will be fine. After that you can apply the plasti dip but is pretty expensive in mexico i recomend to you go to home depot and ask for paint with latex that is very cheap.

look for the hero tutorials they are very usefull also download the foam templates , you can find them in the forum

http://www.therpf.com/f24/robo3687-iron-man-mark-4-6-pepakura-128147/

print it in cardboard (opalina paper in mexico).

greetings

Thanks for the tips. I picked up opalina paper at Office Max, but I thought the 4mm foam wouldn't hold it's shape well enough to work. It would definitely be much easier to work with (cutting, cutting angles, etc.), but I was afraid it would collapse since it was so thin. The anti-fatigue mats are 9mm I think which is about 3/8 of an inch. I was practicing cutting angles on some scrap foam last night (I know, I should have done that before cutting my actual costume pieces), and I think I'm getting better at it.

Thanks for the tip on Lumen. It doesn't look like they have any locations in Morelos, but they're are plenty in Mexico City. I'm just not that good at driving in DF. They sell 1/8 inch rolled EVA foam at Comercial Mexicana which is a little less than 4mm but it just looked so thin. I just can't imagine it would hold its shape, but if it can, it would certainly be much easier to work with.

Quick question, and I know the official language of the board is English, but this is only to facilitate my material hunt: how would you search for EVA foam in Spanish on Lumen's website. I don't know the word for EVA foam in Spanish, so I'm kind of stuck.

 

[chamuco110]

Hi hokiemas i think you can find EVA asking for it like this:
"piso para gimnasio"
"piso anti fatiga"
"foamy (for lumen website, but in the website doesnt appear the 4mm foam sheets , in the stores should be in existence.)

I dont think the 2mm foam will work because is too thin, it will be a waste of time. The 9 mm anti fatigue mats are a better option , i already work with this material and its great , below I let the phone from a provider of this material is in Aguascalientes they sold it per meter ( $180 per square meter) they can send it to you by mail.

Concepto Splash(provider) phone number 01-449-1452193. Ask for "piso para gimnasio".

If you want to work with this material i recommend to you to use a heat gun to shape the pieces before assemble them.

check out www.xrobots.com.uk , his work with foam is amazing

greetings

 

[TAZNITBR]

hokiemas, use the 9mm foam to make bigger pieces like chest, back, shin, calf and the 4/5 mm to elbow, neck, forearms, for example. My biceps are 5mm foam and stand very well the shape. You do not have to use the same foam in all pieces. Some pieces you have to cut 45 degrees to assemble. I used blades and dremel sometimes. If you use hot glue try to glue it inside. There is a thread in the forum that shows a tape way for make beautiful seems, i think it´s a Jowe´s tip.
GL!

 

[faille]

Don't know if they have it in your Home Depot, but I found Plasti-Dip in the spray paint section, and Fiberglass/Resin/Bondo in the glue section which was also by the paints. So if they have it where you live it might be in those areas. Good luck. And I would like to see that Vader

 

[chipjesus]

hi hokiemas i live in toluca and there is a fabric of eva foam, I bought some sheets 1.2 mts x 2.8 mst cost about $ 300 MN its called TECHNI FOAM, S.A. DE C.V.

 

[chamuco110]

hi hokiemas i live in toluca and there is a fabric of eva foam, I bought some sheets 1.2 mts x 2.8 mst cost about $ 300 MN its called TECHNI FOAM, S.A. DE C.V.

Hi chipjesus, the foam tha you boufht is 4mm ???

 

[chipjesus]

yes, there is a lot of measures or thick
regards