Iron Man Suit for a 2-1/2 year old

[Whit]

My son wants to be Iron Man for Halloween, but I am not sure how to go about doing that.

I have already made his Arc Reactor from IM2, but that is as far as I have gotten.

http://www.therpf.com/f9/triangle-arc-reactor-iron-man-2-a-93478/

Anyone have any suggestions? I have never worked with Pepakura nor do I have the free software...I have a Mac at home and don't think they have a version for Macs.

I also want to do this semi-inexpensively, as I am already spending enough money on my Thor costume. I may have to bite the bullet and just buy him a costume, but I hate to do that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[erictank]

My son wants to be Iron Man for Halloween, but I am not sure how to go about doing that.

I have already made his Arc Reactor from IM2, but that is as far as I have gotten.

http://www.therpf.com/f9/triangle-arc-reactor-iron-man-2-a-93478/

Anyone have any suggestions? I have never worked with Pepakura nor do I have the free software...I have a Mac at home and don't think they have a version for Macs.

I also want to do this semi-inexpensively, as I am already spending enough money on my Thor costume. I may have to bite the bullet and just buy him a costume, but I hate to do that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

That arc reactor rocks, Whit!

Re: the armor - well, for my 13-year old stepdaughter (who's heading into her teenaged growth spurt - no fiberglass armor for her! :lol), I will be using fun foam and/or closed-cell-foam mats (like camping mats) to build her armor. I'll pep a full-on helmet, since her head won't be changing size THAT much, but the armor, I want something cheaper and more flexible so she can wear it for more than just a few months and I won't be crying when she does outgrow the thing. There are a few threads on here by people building closed-cell foam suits - BrotherFoster is one, he's done a good-looking Mark 1 suit and is working on a Mk 3, IIRC, which looks spectacular so far. I need to get working on them, really, since she was the first one in the family to ask for Iron Man armor, and her IM and my Iron Monger are going to be the leads for our family group costume - my wife wants a suit too, but has said that she's willing to wait on hers, if I can't finish three suits by next DragonCon. If I don't get started soon, I won't be able to finish TWO suits!:$ End digression.

Anyways, that's what I'd be looking at, in your position - your son will be much more comfortable in a softer costume anyways. I can't imagine a 2 1/2 year old being willing to put up with the discomfort that adult costumers are willing to endure for accuracy's sake, and he'll be just as happy with something that resembles the suit anyways. If you're willing to work on it yourself, do it in fun foam, otherwise I'd just go ahead and buy the mass-market one for him.

 

[Whit]

Eric,

Thanks for the advice. I have seen some of the other RPFers using that closed-cell foam. Sounds like a good idea, though I am not sure If I am going to be able to get something done in time for this Halloween. I may have to settle for a store bought or just dress him up as Tony Stark and use the arc I made.

One thing I was thinking of doing is creating at least one of the exoskeleton arm pieces from the first movie. My son knows Tony Stark becomes Iron Man, so I thought I might dress my son up as Tony Stark in the process of becoming Iron Man.

The only problem would be that I would either need to change the front part of the arc with the original arc design or just leave it for now and not worry about the movie accuracy. I know he doesn't really care, he just likes Iron Man. He loves wearing the arc around. Right now I just have a magnet holding it on from the inside of his shirt, but I need a stronger magnet, because it's prone to falling down if he moves a lot.......he tends to move a lot.

Thanks again, and I will have to post pics whenever I figure out what all I'm going to do.

 

[pr3dato8]

If it is simply for halloween I would advise you to use carboard to cut it in right shpaes and bend it so the pieces would have a general shape of the iron man suit. Its easy, you dont have to accurate and overall look will be nice (if you then paint the cardboard and harden it a bit).

i by no means saying that you should by a box and put it on your child

 

[Whit]

If it is simply for halloween I would advise you to use carboard to cut it in right shpaes and bend it so the pieces would have a general shape of the iron man suit. Its easy, you dont have to accurate and overall look will be nice (if you then paint the cardboard and harden it a bit).

i by no means saying that you should by a box and put it on your child

Thanks for the advice. I think I am planning on getting him a red sweatsuit with a hood and applying felt to it to simulate the armor. Depending on my time though, I may just buy him something. Halloween is drawing near and I don't know if I will have the time to make it.

May still try it out after Halloween though. Then he could wear it out and about when he wanted....that is until he outgrows it. =)