Iron Man Mark VI - Plastic Coated

[Andy W]

Is the foam still flexible after the plastic coat?

 

[Haysey]

man you inspired me to plastic coat the iron patriot suit im working on. always wanted a way to make my foam stuff more durable and last longer this seems like it would do it thank you

I'm glad , seriously do though, it is really good stuff, in the picture of the abs it looks a bit messy pre-primed but thats just where some parts of the piece I accidentally applied different amounts. Once sanded it's all smooth and a great texture!

Is the foam still flexible after the plastic coat?

To an extent, yes, it's not nearly as flexible as the original foam but it is flexible enough and has a great feel to it; feels more like an actual suit!

 

[Luxastra]

I'm really glad to see your success thus far in the plastic coating. I am doing my first build right now and had read others mention this as a possibility but seen very little of the process.

I was considering urethane plastic from smooth-on (65-D) for the 15 min demold time.

Smooth-Cast® 45D & 60D/61D/65D Product Information | Smooth-On

however having seen this I might switch if I can find a US distributor.

 

[P4r4dox86]

Out of curiosity, what is the pot life of the product you're using?

 

[Just Playing]

That looks really good.

I was also inspired by Stealth and after seeing what Xrobots was doing for finishing foam I dicided to go that way.

Life's busy and so far I have one arm and the chest completed in foam. I want to have the entire suit done before I seal it with plastic.

Now that I'm 40 and have a spare tire haning around my waist, I'm concerned about the scale of all the pieces Im building.

I like how your finishing...keep going, I like seeing all the builds.

 

[Haysey]

Thanks for all the replies guys! Does inspire me to carry on!

I'm really glad to see your success thus far in the plastic coating. I am doing my first build right now and had read others mention this as a possibility but seen very little of the process.

I was considering urethane plastic from smooth-on (65-D) for the 15 min demold time.

Smooth-Cast® 45D & 60D/61D/65D Product Information | Smooth-On

however having seen this I might switch if I can find a US distributor.

Thank you very much! This is my first build and I, like you hadn't seen much of this before, obviously I had seen XRobots demo piece on a tiny piece of foam but never on a large scale so that is why I thought I would document my progress to help others (or warn if it turned out badly :lol).

I was going to go with what you linked there but I found the stuff I linked above and due to the price difference and the fact they seemed to do the same job I went with this one. It is really good stuff and I do recommend it if you can find a US distributor.

Out of curiosity, what is the pot life of the product you're using?

7-8 minutes. I find this is enough to coat my pieces, I just can't do a lot at once obviously but i find having a break between pieces is always good!

That looks really good.

I was also inspired by Stealth and after seeing what Xrobots was doing for finishing foam I dicided to go that way.

Life's busy and so far I have one arm and the chest completed in foam. I want to have the entire suit done before I seal it with plastic.

Now that I'm 40 and have a spare tire haning around my waist, I'm concerned about the scale of all the pieces Im building.

I like how your finishing...keep going, I like seeing all the builds.

I was inspired by those two as well and decided to go with foam after watching their videos and seeing XRobots video on plastic coating. I would have waited until I had done the whole suit but I am extremely impatient so seeing as I have the whole upper body done in foam now I thought it is a good chance to test out the plastic coating. Unfortunately I don't know much about scaling the pieces but from what I have heard from reading around is that making rough test pieces is useful to check size, (maybe using cardstock to not waste your foam?). Do plough on though when you have the time, you won't regret it!

 

[XRobots]

Good to see someone else trying this coating method. Looking forward to seeing some more pieces.

 

[P4r4dox86]

Thanks for that. Much better than the 2-3 mins that I got using the 65D. I used it to coat my Cap America helmet, and the result was really good, but due to the short pot life it's not really that useful for large pieces unfortunately.

 

[Haysey]

Good to see someone else trying this coating method. Looking forward to seeing some more pieces.

Thanks a lot man! Means a lot coming from you!

Thanks for that. Much better than the 2-3 mins that I got using the 65D. I used it to coat my Cap America helmet, and the result was really good, but due to the short pot life it's not really that useful for large pieces unfortunately.

No problem, if you do decide to go with the one I use, be sure to get the slow hardening one, it costs no extra money and thats the one that I use and has a 7-8 min pot life.

 

[Haysey]

I have been extremely busy with work this week so haven't had too much time to work on the suit, however I have decided that rather than coating every piece all at once which requires a big gap of free time in my day, I am going to do one piece at a time which I think is more sensible.

I coated the chest piece 2 more time (3 in total) and will post pictures later.

However what I really wanted to say in this post is that I had a trip to Halfords (UK Automotive Store) and found this for only £24.99:

I think it serves pretty much the same purpose as a Dremel but honestly it is amazing, I highly recommend getting one if you go down the plastic coating route! It is so useful for those areas that are just too hard to get at with sand paper / sanding blocks!

If you want to purchase one, you can get them at:
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_157303_langId_-1_categoryId_165557

 

[drakobus]

I've got one of those they are amazing the engraving attachments come in very handy for detailed areas

 

[7sinzz]

Nice find of a UK plastic distributor. Shame I already bought 7kg of 65-d. I'll be watching this thread to see how you get on with it. Do you have any more update pictures?

 

[drakobus]

There's a good one down south they do everything mbfg.co.UK I've bought a lot from them also do fiberglass and silicone

 

[Haysey]

I've got one of those they are amazing the engraving attachments come in very handy for detailed areas

Nice! This might sound stupid, but which are the engraving attachments? :lol I have only used the sanding drums so far and one of the thin metal ones that had a slightly rough end to it that I used for detailing and it has made it worth buying but would be nice to know which ones are meant for engraving .

Nice find of a UK plastic distributor. Shame I already bought 7kg of 65-d. I'll be watching this thread to see how you get on with it. Do you have any more update pictures?

That's a shame, oh well 65-d also looks very good! Thank you! Why yes i do ...

I have since coated the ab section once more and sanded / primed:

Additionally, I have coated the chest piece a total of 3 times in the plastic resin and sanded it and then primed it and achieved this:

However the priming appears to reveal imperfections I missed before and so I am going to sand plastic coat / sand some of the areas that need it and then prime the chest piece again. I have a spare can of white primer around that I am not using for anything so from now on I am going to do a thin coat of white primer to reveal any imperfections then I will plastic coat / sand the bad areas and prime with my better quality grey plastic primer .

 

[7sinzz]

I noticed imperfections during plastic coating too. I find plastic very tough to sand. I have been using filler over the top of the plastic on the chest piece and fibreglass to strengthen the inside. Early days for this yet but here's a picture to give you an idea if you choose to try it:
Plastic:

Then fibreglassed and early filler days:

Still needs a lot of work of course. Worth thinking about for the chest though.

I'm using upol fantastic.

Edit:
I also just noticed the Rotary tool you bought from Halfords. Be very careful with that one, it's a great piece of kit but mine died quite quickly. Since the Halfords one, I have quite stupidly bought another cheap one off eBay. Never learn hey.

 

[Mr Pheer]

I'm having a problem finding this plastazote foam here in Las Vegas. I managed to find some 1/2" EVA floor mats at Harbor Freight, but this isnt anything I really want to build with. Next, I found a camping mat at Walmart for $7, its blue foam and rolls up, says it is 100% Polyolefin. Seems to the closest thing I can find here to Plastazote. Do you think this will work? I've been to several differerent stores and this seems to be the closest I can find.

Right now I have it laying flat on my office floor with a few book holding it flat, so I can train it to not roll up on itself again. I really hope this is the same stuff, I'd like to get started.

 

[7sinzz]

I'm having a problem finding this plastazote foam here in Las Vegas. I managed to find some 1/2" EVA floor mats at Harbor Freight, but this isnt anything I really want to build with. Next, I found a camping mat at Walmart for $7, its blue foam and rolls up, says it is 100% Polyolefin. Seems to the closest thing I can find here to Plastazote. Do you think this will work? I've been to several differerent stores and this seems to be the closest I can find.

Right now I have it laying flat on my office floor with a few book holding it flat, so I can train it to not roll up on itself again. I really hope this is the same stuff, I'd like to get started.

If its any use to you, I use 8mm camping mats.

 

[drakobus]

Same here 8mm roll mats they're ace and coat really well with plastic also the engraving tools are the little metal ones also the pink bits if you have them. And your build amazing I'm currently doing mk7 the same way Mr pheer have a look at my build its roll mats with plastic

 

[Mr Pheer]

If its any use to you, I use 8mm camping mats.

Same here 8mm roll mats they're ace and coat really well with plastic also the engraving tools are the little metal ones also the pink bits if you have them. And your build amazing I'm currently doing mk7 the same way Mr pheer have a look at my build its roll mats with plastic

Looks like the camping mat that I have measures 3/8" thick, or .375" which equals 9.52mm - may as well call it 10mm

I guess I'll use it and see how it goes. If it doesnt work, I'll only be out a little time and $7 so no big deal.

I have several sheets of 6mm depron in the garage, I use that for building r/c jet parts. It is light and strong, very smooth, sands well, and can be formed with heat. It's only $9 a sheet but the price isnt the problem, the problem is getting it. Since it does not roll up (way too stiff) the shipping on it comes out to be more than the cost of the foam, so I'm only able to get some at certain r/c jet events if I get there before the other builders & pilots dont buy it all first.

I have 6 sheets of depron left... I may risk one on a helmet build to see how it goes.

 

[Daborg]

Excellent work man! I'll have to come back and reference your work when I'm ready to coat mine!