Ironman Costume for 5yr old - LINKS on PAGE 1 - tips & important bits

[indiefilmgeek]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Foam back armor pics

Newest pics look great, i've been checking this thread every day for the chest piece, hehe. I would never have thought you could get such detail with foam, it's all starting to come together! How much is left to be done?

Legs, boots, gloves and under-armor detailing. Then some adjustments for fit and wiring connection. Should be done on time (mid-Oct).

 

[Ironboy101]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Foam back armor pics

amazing great man cant wait to see it finished light up the eyes of the helmet ;D

 

[indiefilmgeek]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Foam back armor pics

amazing great man cant wait to see it finished light up the eyes of the helmet ;D

Yeah, I'm hoping to actually get Mikey into the upper part of the suit this weekend and shoot some pics/video of him. I've taken both of the helmet with the eyes on, but I haven't put the whole upper torso together on Mikey yet. We'll, see how he feels this weekend.

 

[WhoKnows8701]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Foam back armor pics

Legs, boots, gloves and under-armor detailing. Then some adjustments for fit and wiring connection. Should be done on time (mid-Oct).

How much you looking at for total budget?

 

[Nonsonic]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Chest Armor painted!

Fantastic photos !

 

[indiefilmgeek]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Foam back armor pics

How much you looking at for total budget?

Wow... I'm not sure I should say in a public forum (as my wife might read this -- and kill me). :lol

I'm honestly not tracking it (probably subconsciously providing myself some level of deny-ability). It really has been a slow process for me with parts and materials coming along in the $10-$20 range over a long period. I'd imagine the materials will end up being in the few hundreds range and below a grand.

The most expensive single part of the costume has really be the paint. I tend to use several layers of plasti-dip per piece ($8/can), adhesive promoter ($8/can) and then the dupli-color auto paint ($8/can). I sometimes touch this up with a gloss for plastics, but even without that, we're talking a couple hundred dollars for just the paint job.

Also, as a disclaimer, I'm not just dropping $500-$700 on a 5 yr old's costume. A lot of the money I've devoted to this has been to provide me with a great excuse to experiment with these building materials. I've never worked with fiberglass, bondo, EVA foam, etc. So, in the long-term, I hope to use what I've learned from this experience to construct some really cool things I have had on my drawing board for a while now. :thumbsup

 

[familyman]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Chest Armor painted!

NICE!!!!!!!! man this is awesome work.

 

[jayjayn]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Foam back armor pics

Hey Jonthan. I actually haven't ordered the gloss stuff yet.

I did however decided to use a 2 part epoxy... coat pieces with that.. then a quick layer of plasti-dip... then Krylon Fushion Gloss... results are great.. gives a nice sheen, bends, flexes with no cracking.. and if I apply it carefully I can get the blackwash look from the plasti-dip beneath it.. just need to rub and buff for damage..

I have most of the right arm painted.. hopefully will post pics tonight if not tomorrow. I got a satin aluminum and satin gold type paint also.. the whole suit will be more satin than gloss. which is how the suit appears in the film anyways.

Interesting , what kind of epoxy are you using ? Doesn't epoxy harden the top layer of the foam and add a thickness to it? It must get really expensive to coat all the piece in epoxy?

 

[indiefilmgeek]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Foam back armor pics

Interesting , what kind of epoxy are you using ? Doesn't epoxy harden the top layer of the foam and add a thickness to it? It must get really expensive to coat all the piece in epoxy?

I actually only use Epoxy to strengthen areas (like bolt holes or highly stressed areas). Jordan's doing it a bit differently.

 

[jayjayn]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Chest Armor painted!

hopefully jordan can chime in and explain how he used the epoxy.. indie how long did it take to see the cracks? and how did it appear was it from just constant usage or from the weather? took me a while but i actually found a Latex based Gloss Spray that im gonna try out but i want to try to recreate your issues to see if it does work better.

 

[bak9799]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Chest Armor painted!

I just got done reading the entire thread, all I can say is WOW!!!!
The love that you show your kids, it's amazing! The build is one that makes me want to have a kid just so I can start project for them. I will be following to see how this turns out. Great Job!!!!!!

 

[Anders]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Chest Armor painted!

Wow this topic is amazing! you really did an amazing job !! as I want to create an Iron Man Mark V set I think I gonna use some of your good tips !!!

Nice job, want to see the final deal !

 

[E3thousand]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Chest Armor painted!

I have been following your tread ever since i found this forum. The armor looks amazing! I love the way the helmets eyes light up. I'm building a stormtrooper costume for my eleven year old brother out of foam. I had been using an adhesive called however the tube exploded. Twice. I think I may be kind of unlucky:unsure. Can hot glue hold elastic to foam sheets? Also the Velcro strips won't stick to the foam. They just come of when I try to separate the two peices. Any suggestions?

 

[familyman]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Chest Armor painted!

Hot glue will hold elastic yes, I used elastic and straps on my foam ironman build for the should bells. Basical don't just glue the elastic to the foam, but at the same time glue over the elastic aswell, that will hold it fine.

 

[indiefilmgeek]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Chest Armor painted!

Hot glue will hold elastic yes, I used elastic and straps on my foam ironman build for the should bells. Basically don't just glue the elastic to the foam, but at the same time glue over the elastic aswell, that will hold it fine.

Yep! I second this - and I also glue some re-enforcement across the top of the elastic.

If your foam is VERY slick, you might want to 'rough it up' a bit -- just scratch it, or sand it a bit to give the glue a good texture to hold on to. That's a good rule for just about ANY surface you're using hot glue on.

As for velco, I actually add hot glue to the adhesive backing as I glue it down. That seems to work pretty well.

 

[indiefilmgeek]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Chest Armor painted!

Sorry for the lack of updates, but my wife and I are working to prep for Dragon Con in Atlanta, this coming weekend. We are still not sure how much of the convention we can attend (Mikey just started his first full week of kindergarten this week, and yesterday was pretty rough for him).

We'll be playing this weekend by ear, but we have a place to stay for whatever days we're there... it will simply depend on how our little man is doing emotionally after this week of transition.

To help identify those of us attending D*Con, Delmustatar created an RPF member badge (and I've modified that template just a bit). So, this is what I'll be wearing while we're at the Con.

LARGE VERSION HERE for anyone interested in modifying it for their own use (sorry for the pixelization... I basically just moved stuff around rather than re-designing the badge).

I hope to see some of you at at D*Con in a couple days!!! If you see me, please, please introduce yourself - I'd love to put some faces with usernames! :thumbsup

 

[CoolDad]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Chest Armor painted!

Long time lurker here. Indie, you are my hero. Your build inspired a few months ago to build a Halo Spartan costume for my 10 year this year that I am still working on. Great work so far and you are an awesome dad.

 

[Wookieefoot]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Chest Armor painted!

I registered to say what a great job you are doing. I stumbled on your thread through various searches on the web trying to get my own suit done for Halloween of this year. This hobby is a huge undertaking to say the least. A labor of love if you will. Your an inspiration Indie, thanks for making this thread. Not only for your costume work but what your doing for your son is awesome. Keep it up!

Have fun at Dragon Con.

 

[indiefilmgeek]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Chest Armor painted!

Long time lurker here. Indie, you are my hero. Your build inspired a few months ago to build a Halo Spartan costume for my 10 year this year that I am still working on. Great work so far and you are an awesome dad.

:$...to be honest I've been a little overwhelmed by a few comments and PM's regarding builds inspired by my thread. I really only started this thread because SO many other builders had provided the same type of detailed project info for ME when I was hunting for a start. I still feel very honored to be able to give back to a forum that gave me so many resources and encouragement.

Finding a place to talk with other creative, inventive and collaborative people has been a TOTAL blessing for me and I'm just humbled to be a member of this unbelievably talented group of folks!

You'll have to post some pictures of your son's Spartan costume - I'd love to see it! :thumbsup

I registered to say what a great job you are doing. I stumbled on your thread through various searches on the web trying to get my own suit done for Halloween of this year. This hobby is a huge undertaking to say the least. A labor of love if you will. Your an inspiration Indie, thanks for making this thread. Not only for your costume work but what your doing for your son is awesome. Keep it up!

Have fun at Dragon Con.

Thanks for the kinds words! Feel free to drop me a line anytime you have any specific question regarding finishing up your suit. These costumes really do turn into labors of love, as you said. If there's anything I can do to help out, please let me know.

On Dragon Con...

My wife, Allison, and I are planning to leave LATE tonight for Atlanta. We're just able to catch Sat and Sun, but I'm sure we'll have a blast! I quickly painted up an RPF t-shirt Wednesday evening just so folks have NO excuse not to walk up to me and introduce themselves! :love

I'm also taking pictures for the RPF Facebook page, so if anyone sees THIS dork wondering around D*Con with his camera phone out, please pull me aside and I'll share a costume pic with our RPF Facebook friends!

 

[Graphic Jordan]

Re: WIP Ironman Costume for 5yr old - Chest Armor painted!

Wish I could be there!