First update in quite a while, but I finished the suit barely in time for Halloween!!!!! I didn't update after the arms were finished so I'll go back in time and post about the torso and the other parts I made afterwards.
The torso ended up taking significantly more time than I anticipated, but I think it was one of the best constructed parts of the suit so the time was worth it. I started with the front chest then did the back chest. The abs actually only took me 2 days to make and I decided to directly connect the upper torso with the lower torso because they fit together so nicely. I used the templates for the side and back parts of the abs, but the front area was too complicated for the amount of time I had (lots of ridges and valleys) so I made a much simpler design that was just one piece at the front with a few details carved in.
These photos were taken before any sanding so the edges look a lot sharper:
With the abs connected to the torso:
Test fit of torso and helmet:
The pictures of the helmet I posted before were taken before sanding it. It took quite a lot of passes with the Dremel to get the top edges all spherical. The Dremel did leave some visible grove lines on the edges though, so I found some tile adhesive in my basement and I applied that into the grooves. It dried very hard and I used regular old 120 grit sandpaper to sand that smooth. After that, I filled in some smaller gaps in the edges with kwik-seal, which I then dry sanded with 600 grit. The final sanding pass was with wet sanding at 600 grit. The most difficult edge on the helmet to get rid of was the seam line running down the middle of the faceplate. This one I did a few passes with kwik-seal and sandpaper. I left the seam lines on both sides of the faceplate (starting at the edge of the eyes and going to the bottom of the faceplate) more visible since they were supposed to be seen on the final product.
These pictures are of the helmet once all the sanding was finished except for the seam line down the middle of the faceplate:
After the torso was complete the only pieces I had left to complete were the neckpiece, the redesigned shoulder pads, and the gloves. I also modified the hip section of the codpiece so that it didn't stick outwards so much
The neckpiece was made out of 2mm EVA foam for increased flexibility. I made a slit down the back of the neck where I put a piece of velcro so I could put it on easily.
For the shoulder pads, I strayed a bit from the design and added white borders to the 2 holes on each pad (I thought it added a good contrast in colour with the black base).
I ended up running out of time to make proper gloves so I got gray gloves from Walmart and glued on hand plates and repulsor circles. When I come back to this suit, the first thing I'll do is make real segmented gloves (I was thinking about making the fingertips from heat shaped styrene).
By this time all of the parts were constructed and sanded so it was time for sealing and painting. I ended up going with Mod Podge Matte for sealing because I was short on time and it was the cheapest and most commonly used sealant available to me. This did result in some cracking/wrinkling after wearing the suit on Halloween, but it was pretty minimal. My parents helped a lot with the sealing and painting (there was no way I could finish it all on my own on time). We put on 2-4 coats depending on the piece (ones that needed to stay more flexible got fewer coats). The sealing took 2 days with drying (I was making some of the last parts as my parents sealed). The torso was so big that I ended up creating a harness for it and hung it up from a chandelier in my living room (this allowed us to coat the entire torso at once instead of coating it in sections).
Parts drying on a drying rack I made over the bathtub with the shower curtain rod and some clothes pins/hangers:
We put on the white paint first, so I masked off all the black areas with tape. Masking took a significant amount of time that I didn't have, so when it came to painting black, we freehanded which actually turned out as neat as areas we had masked. In total the black and white areas got a minimum of 2 coats, more on the areas that had pen/sharpie marks on the foam. Then I painted the gold sections, which took 4-5 coats to get the proper metallic shine. Lastly, silver paint went on the thrusters/vents. I ran out of time for weathering, but that's something I'll do later. There were red details on the helmet which I drew on with a red sharpie.
After all the painting was done, it was time for strapping the armour. I bolted on screws for a hinge from the shoes to the shin (this allowed the shins to move around). The knee pads were fixed onto the shins and then elastic was used to connect the knee pads to the thighs. For all of the connections that used elastic, my mom sewed fabric onto the ends of the elastic straps since stretchy materials won't stick with hot glue. The shoulder pads, biceps, forearms, and torso were all connected together with more elastic (its a pretty big setup but there are fewer individual parts to keep track of and it all fits in the trunk of the car). I thought about connecting the thighs to the codpiece but the connection would be awkward so I decided against it. The front torso friction fits with the front of the codpiece and there is an overlap area at the back of the 2 pieces so I put velcro there. That way I can put the 2 pieces on separately but then join the velcro so they stay in place. The neckpiece goes up through the torso and the base of the neck locks into place with the torso's neck ring. There is a small gap from the back of the helmet to the neckpiece, but I didn't have time to cover it up and my hair colour is black so it isn't too noticeable. I wear all black clothes under the suit anyways so the few gaps look flush with the rest of the suit.
Anyways that's enough description
I took the suit to the mall in the afternoon of Halloween and everybody loved it there. They all wanted pictures with me hahaha.
The neon dinosaur in the background was a costume I designed for my sister.
There was a costume competition at school and I won it in a landslide haha, all the other kids at school were stunned. Though there was a no masks rule, none of the teachers stopped me, one of them actually gave me permission to wear the helmet.
The school costume competition finalists:
It was probably my last year going trick or treating (not sure if 15 year olds are allowed to trick or treat
). However, I wore an older costume instead of the suit when I trick or treated because it isn't easy going up and down stairs, especially in the dark. I wonder what the reactions would have been if I had trick or treated in the suit though hahaha. I was thinking about going to my grade 9 graduation next June wearing the suit, it would be pretty funny!
In the meantime, I will be taking a break from this suit until winter break. That's when I plan on adding all of the things I ran out of time to add for Halloween. That way it will be completely ready for the Calgary Comic-Con cosplay contest in April (if only I had been 2 years younger I could have entered in the age 12 and under category
).
Additions and modifications left to complete for comic-con:
-add hexagon pattern to all black areas (only got to do it on the shoes this time)
-make real gloves
-add lighting to arc reactor, repulsors, faceplate, and jets/thrusters
-make faceplate hinge
-add black/silver/gold detail pieces and weathering
-add a clear varnish to the entire suit
-add a smoke machine to the jets?!?
I'll update again when I start working on this again. If anybody wants any more info on the parts/processes, feel free to ask (I know I learned a lot from these forums and others' builds, so thanks for all the help!).
