Iron Man Mark IV Stand-in design for ASOE project: Torso build 26 gauge steel

Lots of photo updates: Iron Man Mark IV in metal (26 gauge steel)

Progress on the customized shoulder harnesses has been very slow and strenuous, but well worth it in the end... I've learned a little more about the different versions of 26 gauge steel (I'll get to this later in the post) and I've made some progress in the padding and preparation for wearing it comfortably. Unfortunately, it looks like I have a lot more work before I can actually strap it on - I've got to figure out a way to modify the original exoskeleton I made (pictured below) so that it articulates the way I want when bending over.

Below you can see the left harness coming together. I widened the raised section (away from the neck) and put a steeper arc in it, which required a little creativity...
In most of these pictures, I had the raised section attached to the shoulder strap with a strong little magnet - this one didn't work that great.
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Here's that exoskeleton I was talking about. It's made of very light and very sturdy aluminum. I molded it to my actual spine curvature and rib cage - fits like a glove... I may go into this more later on but you can see some of it here:
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Now it's getting exciting... this took me two whole nights to complete
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I can't stop looking at this thing. Oh, by the way - it looks wide because of the way I have it padded; I have a layer of thin flimsy plastic underneath a layer of foam that bends around my body. This plastic is very brittle, though, and will be replaced with something more rubbery soon.
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I left the plastic out of the shoulder padding and went with two layers of foam instead - I'm probably going to replace all the plastic, now that I think of it.
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Galvanized / Zinc Plated Steel - Weather Test: Week 1

You may have read about the potential for rusting... well, here's my follow up:

three different versions of 26 gauge steel (for some reason it's different when you buy different sizes, even though it's labeled the same?). Anyway, the one on the top is really flimsy stuff, the middle is just about right for cutting/shaping, the bottom is probably indestructible. Not really, but it's tough to cut and nearly impossible to bend - I used it only for the spine and for the connections that take a lot of stress during movement (namely, the shoulders). Oh, and I live in east TN, it was raining when I put them out and we've had rain/snow/ since.
20131204_163808.jpg
 
Nice, you lined the Inside with Foam, so it's more comfortable, and you don't have to worry about cutting yourself.

Smart thinking.

But c'mon man, PUT IT ON! Takes some Pics.

Gotta see HOW it looks in action... or even better, Make a VIDEO.
 
ok ok.... I threw it over my shoulders real quick and had my wife snap a pic with the phone. I was holding it by the shoulder harnesses.
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oh, these are without the exoskeleton underneath...

I looked at the pic, saw how unnatural it looked due to the plastic liner pushing the sides out, and decided to run a strap through the sides so I could hold it tight with one hand and hold the shoulder harness with the other to shows the fit a little better (I didn't realize I was holding it a little low on my back).
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for some reason that angle makes it look like I don't have a left arm past the elbow... I didn't do this one-handed.

I will get more pics up as I make progress... I've already talked my "assistant" into full out photo session in a week or so.
 
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Now here's an awesome metal suit that's making good progress, sir I salute you I'm still struggling with paper and foam builds. I think the exposed screw head look, especially because they're so neat, looks awesome it's like a Mark 1/Steampunk take on the Mark IV ! Keep it up mate it's looking a million bucks !!
 
This is all sorts of cool, you could be the American Ned Kelly ( historical Australian outlaw who evaded police in a homemade steel suit of armor ) in an Iron Man suit. I didn't read all the replies I was too busy with the photos so I'll just ask anyway. What's it like as far as weight and wearability ?
 
Updates? You should be done by now (as quickly as you progressed the torso), I believe..
Disappointment alert... I ran out of "project funds" around the time of my last post, but work is starting to pick back up so I'm finally getting back to progressing the suit. I'll have some pics to post soon.
 
This is all sorts of cool, you could be the American Ned Kelly ( historical Australian outlaw who evaded police in a homemade steel suit of armor ) in an Iron Man suit. I didn't read all the replies I was too busy with the photos so I'll just ask anyway. What's it like as far as weight and wearability ?
haha... I looked that up, he looked more like the a night from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Way ahead of his time, he was... good stuff. The suit is very light. The back weighs about 5lbs or so, hard to tell but I'll get a scale soon and post updates. As for wearability... it's quite comfortable, I'm impressed at how ergonomic the pep files turned out to be. I'm having to re-work the abs and ribs so they articulate and allow for bending over and such... all the time off has given me time to work some of this stuff out.
 
I found some metal scraps and screws when I cleaned up my work room and was able to piece together the other shoulder harness (not enough screws to secure it yet...

I'm also re-working the forearm rocket launcher... I hope to "tighten up" the action with a sturdier hinge system and a metal brake to keep the barrels locked in place when "engaged." There it is at the bottom with the pod cover off.
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And now it gets exciting... I've decided on a way to get the shoulder rockets to engage/disengage in true "Iron Man" fashion. I know it doesn't look like much yet, but those marks are where the armor will be removed to allow the concealed pods to lift up. The motors and hardware easily fit inside the raised portion that I made nearly twice as wide as the pep files called for.
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Here's a closer look at the forearm... The right forearm is going to be a Mark VII replica, can't wait.
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Barrels up
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Barrels down
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inside...
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it's obviously still in the prototype phase, but when I'm done it'll hopefully fire semi-auto "rockets." I want to put close to 20 rockets total in final suit... and maybe some other goodies too.
 

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yea.. Nice missile launcher

also, you said something about a Patent. Not to burst your bubble, but if it's releated to Arc Reactor Tech, or any kind of "Overunity", then it'll be a wasted effort. The gov. doesnt want to sell something to the People, that requires them to STOP buying things.

Case in point: Cars. Cars need GAS.
TVs: need Electricity.
Food: foods have Short shelf life, so people buy MORE
Clothes: Cheap fabrics tear easily, making you Buy More

Consume, Consume, Consume. That's how the Rich keep getting RICHER. See what i'm saying?

sorry to say, That's just the way it is...
 
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yea.. Nice missile launcher

also, you said something about a Patent. Not to burst your bubble, but if it's releated to Arc Reactor Tech, or any kind of "Overunity", then it'll be a wasted effort. The gov. doesnt want to sell something to the People, that requires them to STOP buying things.

Case in point: Cars. Cars need GAS.
TVs: need Electricity.
Food: foods have Short shelf life, so people buy MORE
Clothes: Cheap fabrics tear easily, making you Buy More

Consume, Consume, Consume. That's how the Rich keep getting RICHER. See what i'm saying?

sorry to say, That's just the way it is...

I totally agree... there's definitely a barrier there. I wish I could come up with something that ground-breaking, lol... my stuff is super simple, probably silly. All it does is make use of wasted energy around the house... barely enough to trickle charge batteries at this point. You know how light bulbs put off light but they also put off heat? Wasted energy right? It uses the same concept but in a different way. I'll post an update later this Spring, once I fill out an application... but seriously, it's nothing special.
 
Lots of photo updates: Iron Man Mark IV in metal (26 gauge steel)

Progress on the customized shoulder harnesses has been very slow and strenuous, but well worth it in the end... I've learned a little more about the different versions of 26 gauge steel (I'll get to this later in the post) and I've made some progress in the padding and preparation for wearing it comfortably. Unfortunately, it looks like I have a lot more work before I can actually strap it on - I've got to figure out a way to modify the original exoskeleton I made (pictured below) so that it articulates the way I want when bending over.

Below you can see the left harness coming together. I widened the raised section (away from the neck) and put a steeper arc in it, which required a little creativity...
In most of these pictures, I had the raised section attached to the shoulder strap with a strong little magnet - this one didn't work that great.
View attachment 261583View attachment 261584View attachment 261585View attachment 261586View attachment 261587View attachment 261588

Here's that exoskeleton I was talking about. It's made of very light and very sturdy aluminum. I molded it to my actual spine curvature and rib cage - fits like a glove... I may go into this more later on but you can see some of it here:
View attachment 261589View attachment 261590View attachment 261591View attachment 261592View attachment 261593

Now it's getting exciting... this took me two whole nights to complete
View attachment 261594View attachment 261595View attachment 261596View attachment 261597

I can't stop looking at this thing. Oh, by the way - it looks wide because of the way I have it padded; I have a layer of thin flimsy plastic underneath a layer of foam that bends around my body. This plastic is very brittle, though, and will be replaced with something more rubbery soon.
View attachment 261598View attachment 261599

I left the plastic out of the shoulder padding and went with two layers of foam instead - I'm probably going to replace all the plastic, now that I think of it.
View attachment 261600

Galvanized / Zinc Plated Steel - Weather Test: Week 1

You may have read about the potential for rusting... well, here's my follow up:

three different versions of 26 gauge steel (for some reason it's different when you buy different sizes, even though it's labeled the same?). Anyway, the one on the top is really flimsy stuff, the middle is just about right for cutting/shaping, the bottom is probably indestructible. Not really, but it's tough to cut and nearly impossible to bend - I used it only for the spine and for the connections that take a lot of stress during movement (namely, the shoulders). Oh, and I live in east TN, it was raining when I put them out and we've had rain/snow/ since.
View attachment 261601

Oh I am definitely familiar with the steel on the bottom. I had a square foot of it in my metal shop at school. Stuff is heavy and ridiculously hard to bend, cut and eats up any cutting or grinding wheels. Took me 3 days to cut out and grind to shape a 2 inch circle out of it
 
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