Iron Man Mark 46 - 3D print

[myawn]

Hi all,

I'm just getting started on a 3D print of the Iron Man Mark 46 armor (Civil War). I'm using the Do3D files, although I have some other PDO files from an earlier build so it's possible I'll export those to OBJ format and mix-and-match a bit.

I got the idea for doing a half-suit version of this armor a couple of years ago ... I wanted to have the costume for Dragon Con, but I also wanted to be able to participate in the con (attending panels and such), so I was trying to figure out a way to make a costume where I could still sit down, move fairly freely, use the rest room, etc. I got the inspiration when I saw this leaked photo from the Avengers 3 set:



Based on that, I commissioned a set of "motion capture pants" from Amazon Mandy, and set about building the top half of the costume in foam. It was my first ever attempt at building in foam, I think it came out OK but I definitely wanted to upgrade things before wearing it again:



(The helmet was purchased, not foam ... I could never get the faceplate to fit the rest of the helmet properly with my foam build).

So, as I was researching ideas for the upgrade, I came across TKCC71's build on this forum, and decided I wanted to try that.

At this point, I've printed out all the helmet parts, and the neck is currently printing. I'm not at all sure what I'll be doing with the helmet ... hopefully fully motorized faceplate, eye lights, and anything else that can fit into the small space. I'll try to post regular progress updates here along with lots of questions.

 

[myawn]

Here are the helmet parts, as printed, before any sanding, filling, or painting.

 

[myawn]

I printed the neck piece in TPU (flexible filament). Several issues with this, I'm not sure if it will be usable or if I'll have to reprint in PLA (hard shell).

- A lot of 'stringing' and the supports did not detach cleanly from the armor. Will be trying to clean this up but not sure I'll get the finish I want.
- It's questionable whether this will take paint properly; a few people report they've been successful painting TPU but most advise dyeing instead.

I haven't quite decided yet where I'll cut it so I can put it on ... I'm thinking of a diagonal cut on the side of the neck, trying to follow one of the detail lines. There is no single contiguous line I can use to camouflage the cut but I can at least make if fairly unobtrusive.

 

[DrCyanide]

I've got to say, I was skeptical about the idea of half armor, half motion capture until I clicked your picture. It looks awesome! To me, it says "anything can be done with CGI these days, and even I can be the unreasonably skinny Iron Man," and at the same time the foam armor looks really, really good in that picture! I'm sure it has blemishes that are more noticeable up close, but if I can make a suit that looks half as good as yours does in that picture I'd be delighted.

I'm curious to find out if the TPU works out for you. I know for my design I'm going to need a lot of flexibility in the hands, which has me wondering if I should use flexible materials or if I should entirely redesign the standard palm piece. (I'm not going for a replica so much as a custom suit based on bits and pieces from various Iron Man 3 suits, so I have a little bit of wiggle room with stuff like that).

If it were me, I'd put the seam along the groove on the back of the neck. Not in the middle, but along one of the sides where it goes from being flat to slanting upwards.

 

[Mad Monkey]

What do the hands look like? I'm trying to find a good print for hands.

Thanks