Iron Man Mark VI Foam Build!

[AlexPrime]

I know, I know. I think everyone has some form of an Iron Man costume on here. It seems to be a bit of a staple costume, but I have always wanted to take my shot at it. I've been lurking around the forums for a good few years now, and I finally have something I feel proud enough to post up!

This is my first time working with foam, which is... difficult, to say the least. Easier than Pep, and I've done that quite a few times, but a lot harder than it looks. Mainly because I am a maniac with a hot glue gun and all my seams are absolutely hideous. I am also a 5'5 woman with an hourglass shape, and fitting the armor is difficult. 22 Scale was too small, 23 scale was too big, 22.5 scale is sort of right but not really. It's kind of a nightmare, but I'm adding or cutting down what I need to. I have to have the entire project complete by May 14th, so I'm on a deadline, and I don't have time to make four of the same thing to try to fit it. SO, instead, I'm just working with what I've made. The thighs were too small so I tried to discreetly add some foam in the back to expand it. The biceps were far too big, so I took them in a bit. Is it accurate? Probably not, but I am really pressed for time.

I'm trying to look into how to smooth the seams out. Some say acrylic caulk, other say gaffers tape, more say to use a heatgun (My foam has a lot of imperfections, though, and I don't want to open them too horribly much. Anyone have any tips for that, or ways you have tried that you liked? Due to recommendations on here, I am saving the helmet for last, and I will be contact-cementing that to try to make the best seams I can. Due to weather, that's about the only part of the costume I'm willing to sit outside in the freezing cold for a few hours to work on and avoid the fumes.

So far, I've completed the shoulders, biceps, forearms. one shin, and one thigh. Still a fair bit to go but I was working my way towards the larger, more center parts and practicing with the limb, where flaws will be less noticeable.



The above biceps don't match (one is 22 scale, the other is 23 scale, and both are either too big or to small. If I have time at the end, I'll redo them both), and I also need to make the shoulders a bit bigger, I think. Overall, though, I'm pleased it at least looks like it should, if only a bit.

And, for kicks, my quick attempt at a Tony Stark. I'm making this for a convention and plan to mostly walk around with the faceplate of the helmet up.



More updates coming soon! I hope to have the other leg finished this week!

 

[creative stress]

Your off to a great start hope you complete your build and keep updating! keep going

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Ikras]

Don't let the iron man volume put you off. Yeah there's a lot on here but, personally, I've encountered few in real life beyond myself and there are that many variations as well that it's unlikely you'll be in exactly the same model if you do bump into anyone. Anyway, if you ask me it all comes down to build what you want and it's all looking good so far I'd say

In terms of slight alterations for size I wouldn't worry too much. I added a stripe to the back of my thigh pieces for size as well and it really isn't obvious in the end I would say. It's hard to work with things like that when I found that making a very rough mock-up of the templates just in paper first was a help for sizing. Doesn't need to be perfect but it gives you an idea of the overall size you'll be working with. Just remember to take into account your foam thickness.

I would say that from the photos, your seams don't look too bad. To improve them there are some options. Where the glue has come out I've seen people talk about using scissors to trim it off. Never tried that one myself but I've seen people who are very happy with the results. Personally I've used a heat gun to give it a quick blast and try and remove it that way. Enough heat to make the glue soft enough to remove but not enough to open the joint up.There are various options I've seen to try and avoid it entirely in the first place and I think that it's JFCustom who has a good list of tips on that, things like making initial contact at the front of your seam and having the glue more smoothed out across the join. Definitely worth a look if you haven't already.

For filling gaps I've always stuck with the acrylic decorators caulk, exact brands vary where you are but as long as it's paintable you're good. Evil Ted has some good videos showing what he does to make the seams as unnoticeable as he can. Granted he uses contact cement but the rest of it is equally applicable. The caulk can be used to fill up those imperfections you were talking about as well.

Bit of an information dump but I hope that some of it's of use. Looking forward to seeing further progress.