Iron man MK40. [SHOTGUN/HYPERVELOCITY] polycarbonate build

[antigravitycake]

So this is my first ever thread. Hi! I decided a while ago im going to build the mk40 from iron man 3. Ive already made a tester helmet without movie accurate colours. The whole suit is going to be made with 1mm polycarbonate bonded with hot glue. The helmet turned out fantastic to say the least.
There are a few reasons i chose the shotgun suit

• The shape i.e most surfaces bend in one direction making it auitable for plastic
• It looks awesome and i was able to get my hands on the pdos.
• Simple angles and curves,well, simpler than thw other suits.

Why polycarbonate?
Well after trying paper/card/foam and fiberglass. I testsd polycarbonate and its far superior for detail in my opinion. Its flexible, bonds extremely well with hot glue, near indestructable and slightly flexible.
Some of the seams need bodyfiller but its usually a tiny amount.

So im starting a completely fresh suit. The files are scaled, now im just waiting for some cash to get started.

 

[antigravitycake]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

the first tester helmet. I need to get movie accurate paints. Heres that the suit will hopefully look like.

 

[Raigal]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

now that... is a sick looking helmet :thumbsup

 

[antigravitycake]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

just a short update. After playing around in PS with a concept of the suit ive decided on a non movie paint job. It will be mich easier finding these colours. Ive also found the perfect scale after messing for an hour with photoshop, pep designer and tape measures.

All files i found in another thread and were created by gaiatron. All credit for the pep files go to him.

 

[IronManiac]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

Please post more about your technique with the polycarbonate. I'm interested to see the construction process and your work-in-progress pics.

Helmet looks great! Keep it up!

 

[kuvonn]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

Wow!! That helmet looks astounding... I would also love to hear more about the technique! Fantastic job!

 

[antigravitycake]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

Thanks for the positive feedback. I may eventually do an in depth guide for lexan builds if theres any demand for it in the future

 

[antigravitycake]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3


a quick update. I found a pep file with all the parts aligned!!! Ive set it at a height 2cm taller than me to compensate for heels and helmet size.

I DID NOT make these files. I only unfolded them my own way. All credit goes to BSD.

 

[antigravitycake]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

quick update. im doing a rough build out of left over foam whilst i wait for the cash to buy the polycarbonate. i figure it will be a good way to keep busy. pics soon.

 

[antigravitycake]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

pep designer running, templates scaled and printed. its all go. because i want a smooth finish rather than bodyfilling and sanding all the time i round out the jagged edges first, then cut. because this makes curves innacurate i take the main piece/most asthetic piece first, and work my way outwards with the other pieces.

if i smooth one edge, the edge that attaches to it on the next piece will have to be cut taking into account the piece im attaching it to. lots of eyeballing. but hey, im a perfectionist. a lot of this can be fixed later. heres a picture of an old helmet i felt like posting.

 

[antigravitycake]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

a bit of progress. started with the booster on the back and work my way around as its the most aesthetic part of the suit.

 

[omarbou1]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

great progress !!
btw AWESOME helmet !!

 

[antigravitycake]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

roughly messing with some colour schemes. any suggestions? ive got a long while before i decide. thinking of an eye colour too..

 

[TDB]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

I love the red-one !

 

[halopepakura]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

White one reminds me of the arctic armor

 

[ironmaided]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

how about the colorscheme of the mark 23 extreme-heat suit a.k.a. shades?

:lol

but i like the red one

 

[antigravitycake]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

ran out of glue sticks. used a whole pack (10) on this booster and spine. so i decided to bodyfill the gap i posted earlier.
I HATE using bodyfiller with a passion. just from the past experiences with pepakura. sand fill sand fill sand fill trash. hopefully ill only be using it on the seams and gaps and concave bends. like with the helmets cheeks.

 

[antigravitycake]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

quick update. with paper and card these fine indents and seams are a nightmare. but with polycarbonate you just cut the seam with scissors and stick a plate underneath then cut out ant glue leak.

 

[antigravitycake]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

Bit of the chest.
Rule 1 of polycarb. Biggest panels first.
Rule 2. Sand EVERYTHIIIIIIIIING!!!!!

 

[Herrminator13]

Re: the polycarbonate shotgun/hypervelocity suit from iron man 3

These pieces look fantastic!! I completely agree with you that polycarbonate just looks extremely superior to the foam. Sorry I have a bunch of questions for ya if you don't mind.

1)Where do you get your polycarb from?
2)Do you handle it similarly to the foam building? By that I mean do you heat it to make the bends a little easier or is it just so thin that when you glue them together they just take the correct shape?
3)How do you prefer to cut it? I've delt with polycarb in the past and its NOT super fun to get nice crisp lines, especially curves.
4)In your eyes what are the main draw backs in using polycarb compared to something like foam?

Sorry again for all the questions, I'm going to be starting my own Mark 42 build here real soon and I'm trying to get everything lined up so I can jump in with confidence, so any help you can give me would be super appreciated!!