Mark VI Pepakura Iron Man Build

[TryChick]

Congrats on your work!

Thanks Zabana, folks like you, Darkside, and Honus sharing their knowledge and pep files are what make our builds possible.

 

[TryChick]

School is out for winter break so now that Discrete Math is done, I've had some time to work on IM stuff...Yeah!
Wired up 2 rechargeable battery packs to go inside the helmet (both with 3 AAs) connected in series to give me 7.2v for the servo. Never made battery packs before and soldering batteries made me a bit nervous. However, I followed some on line tuts and looked hard at Honus's Instructables page http://www.instructables.com/id/Animatronic-Iron-Man-Mk-III-suit/ and I came through it OK. The night before, I put the batteries in a couple of flashlights and left them for hours until the flashlights were dark in order to drain the AAs, then scuffed the contacts and soldered, using minimal heat. Packs seem to be charging right now. Not sure why my voltmeter showed 3.4 on both packs even though they were drained before I created them. Also not sure if I'll actually use them as I realized they are a PITA to disconnect--I can't separate them by hand, so I've had to use a pair of pliers :unsure . Also, I'm using JST connectors with 2 pins and my charger has a 3 pin connector to plug the battery into, so I had to make an adapter in order to charge them.

I cut an Adafruit 1/4 perma proto in half as I didn't need the whole thing and this will make the footprint in the helmet smaller. I was able to get everything I needed onto that 1/8 board. (I love those things, you can solder and desolder if you make mistakes and they hold up pretty well) since the holes are actually through plated. I actually used right angle headers on the XBees and Pro Minis, then used a set of stacking headers and soldered the 4 wires that needed to be connected between the two onto the headers. This way I can easily remove the XBee if I want to use it somewhere else. I did a prelim test with some batteries, but they weren't fully juiced, so the lights were working in the helmet, but the servo was struggling to lift the lid. Looks like it is wired up the way it needs to be. I'll shrink wrap the Pro Minis and XBees together with some foam glued between them to prevent a short, then probably use some "Dual Lock" velcro to fasten the batteries and electronics in with hot glue keeping the wiring in place. Will post a video once I've gotten everything installed. The 3rd pic shows the set up I'm planning on installing in the right thigh. I'll put the RFID tag in my right glove so I can inconspicuously operate the helmet with a hand swipe. The last pic shows the electronics that will be installed in the helmet.

 

[TryChick]

I remade my hip pods as I was afraid the paint would flake off if they flexed. The "base" of the pods are repurposed from the metal parts of some exterior light fixtures we replaced. When I saw the shape and size, hip pods immediately came to mind, so I held on to them for future use. They're metal and will provide more strength for attaching to the thigh. I didn't spend as much time on the prep and the surface isn't as smooth as I'd like it, but they're good enough for now. I used MDF clipboard material like I did for my ear pods. Magnets keep the top (outside) piece on. I wanted to be able to remove that piece so I can connect straps to help keep the legs up and aligned. An aluminum strip will attach the pod to the leg, maybe with a couple of short screws, maybe fiberglassed in. Still thinking about that. You need more than one connection point for the legs I've realized, otherwise they tend to rotate. Anyone have input on how they keep their legs up and oriented correctly?

 

[TryChick]

The other thing I did today was rework the joints connecting one of the thighs to the shin in order to give me more room in that spot. The legs were really uncomfortable around the knee when I walked, so I replaced the Apoxie Sculpt pivot points I made. I created connectors for the thigh and shin using aluminum strips that I fiberglassed to the thigh. Comparing the original to the new joints, you can see the strips are much thinner than originals. I drilled holes in the strips , then laid some glass on the inside, laid down the strip, clamped it in place and fiberglassed a couple of layers over that. If it doesn't stay in place I guess I'll have to run a couple of short screws through the aluminum. This seems to work fine and it does give me more room.

 

[TryChick]

I got the hip pods attached to the thighs. I used hardware I already had that are kind of like Chicago screws. They are a bit different on the bottom as you can see in the second pic. The bottom is notched and they have a wider/flatter base than the Chicago screws. The interior threads are the same as the Chicago screws so I used the threaded male end to screw my stuff down. First I put some vaseline on the ends of some threaded extension pieces for the Chicago screws. The vaseline was against wall of the thighs so the epoxy wouldn't adhere and I'd be able to unscrew them after they were epoxied and glassed. The extensions helped me make sure the screw was in the hole of the metal strip and it was pushed down contacting the wall. I used 2 part epoxy to glue them down, and after the epoxy cured, I glassed them in because I didn't think just the epoxy would hold the screws. I also glassed in a similar screw to the back of the thigh so I can use it to connect the backs of the legs to the harness I sewed. This way I don't have to wear a belt to hold these heavy buggers up. The last 2 pics show assembled, the new hinge connecting the leg pieces and the cracked piece I discovered when I took the legs apart to redo the joints. Eeks. The fiberglass legs are so heavy, the straps I hot glued in to hold them up kept popping off. Thats's why I used the screws instead of just hot gluing straps with buckles in. Also, the aluminum strip will hold the hip pod in position instead of it flopping around.

 

[TryChick]

Reworked my ab articulation points. I had used elastic and hot glue, but when the elastic stretched, the elastic would separate from the fiberglass. This was the worst where the two sides attached to the back pieces, I guess because there was more movement there. I found some black cotton snap strips at a fabric store and left the strip in one piece to hot glue it to the tabs on the side of the abs and another on the tabs on the back of the abs. The cotton fiber in the strips I think will help keep it adhered to the fiberglass better than the elastic. Then I sewed one of the mating sides of the snap strip to one side of a piece of 3" wide elastic. I sewed as close to both sides of the snaps because was planning on cutting between the snaps on the cotton straps to allow the elastic to stretch between the snaps. Then I snapped that part onto the side of the abs and snapped the loose mating strip down on the side I needed to connect to. Next, I pinned that loose snap strip to the other side of the 3" wide elastic to make sure the positioning would be good. Unsnapped, then sewed that snap strip on as well as sewing on a 1" elastic strap with a buckle to attach to my harness and keep it up. The last thing I did was cut all the cotton strips between the snaps and between the abs so the abs can articulate.

The leading edge of the side abs I did something similar, but just used the snap strip and a 1" strip of elastic with a buckle on one end and a big snap on the other. The buckle will attach to the harness near the chest, and the snap will be connected inside the cod to keep it from riding up. I didn't use snaps to allow me to separate the pieces per say, I used them because I couldn't get just elastic strips to stay hot glued.

 

[TryChick]

I reworked my knee joint gap filler using leftover aluminum from our airplane build. The pieces articulate by being connected using jeans rivets. The whole thing is attached to the inside of the leg using elastic straps and heavy duty snaps (leather snaps from Tandy Leather). Three snaps are attached to the piece: two on the top to connect to the thigh and one on the bottom to connect to the shin. Elastic straps with snaps on both ends allow me to snap the piece in place and disconnect if needed. One done, one to go. Here's a link to a video of the first one in action https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1kdBJaMxQU

 

[TryChick]

Seems I'm on a roll. My electronics are now mounted in the thigh. This is the Arduino Pro Mini (3.3v) the XBee wireless, the RFID reader, and a battery pack with 3 rechargeable AAAs. The Pro Mini and XBee are mounted in the small Altoids tin which is secured with some heavy duty 3M velcro call Dual Lock. I lined the tin with electrical tape to prevent a short since there are pins exposed on both the top and bottom of the electronics. The electronics are nice and snug so they won't be banging around. For the RFID reader which needs to be up against the wall of the thigh to allow the signal to pass through, I used some ProPoxy 20 to make a nest of sorts and secured it in the nest with a thin double-sided Velcro brand Reusable Ties (for corralling cords) tie. I covered the RFID reader with saran wrap, rolled the ProPoxy into a tube and formed it around the reader, then pressed the ProPoxy and the reader to the inside of the leg. After the ProPoxy cured, I removed the saran wrap covered RFID reader and hot glued the velcro down. I decided on using the ProPoxy because that RFID reader needs to stay in one spot so I know exactly where to swipe with my glove to open and close my helmet. I just did a test and the reader performs awesomely even through the fiberglass of the thigh and the glove (the RFID tag is in the right thumb). We are a go and I got some serious goosebumps! I'll tack down the wires with dabs of hot glue when I'm sure I'm done working on the legs.

 

[Yrien]

That's going to be so amazing - I can't wait to see video of it in action!

 

[budinsky]

What did you use to paint your suit? I assume spray paint in can form is a bad way to do it so I was thinking of investing in a air brush system.

 

[TryChick]

So the sides of the ab pieces weren't staying together really well with the back using elastic and snaps, so I scrapped the snaps and went with a strip of aluminum to connect the back part of the abs to the cod, then used a couple more strips to connect the sides to the back. There are some gaps between the pieces, but I did that intentionally to allow some movement and help prevent scraping too much. I have my harness on to keep the front part of the abs up, and a couple of buckles keep the top of the sides pulled in. The back and sides probably could be worn without any straps as the alum is sturdy enough to keep it all up. I drilled my holes in the alum where I wanted the connections and epoxied Brad Hole T-Nuts to correspond with the holes in the aluminum strips, then glassed the nuts in and used screws from all the misc Chicago Screws I had. I love these T-nuts because the base is so wide and flat, it's easy to epoxy them down and then glass them. The Chicago screws aren't flat on the bottom so it's harder to glue them in.

I also glassed together each side and the back to have 3 solid pieces and the abs still articulate, but I can barely bend over anyway so I'm not sure I'd do it like that again and may end up glassing those front pieces all together as well to make it slimmer.

What did you use to paint your suit? I assume spray paint in can form is a bad way to do it so I was thinking of investing in a air brush system.

Here are the paints I used and I love them, HOWEVER, if I was going to to this again, I would try to find a more popular hue of red paint so I could use an existing shade of red shiny "patent leather" vinyl covered fabric instead of having to paint over some with red vinyl paint to get a closer match with the suit paint. I'm planning on using the vinyl to cover the thigh and butt gaps and get my boots covered a bit more so you can't see my socks. I'm using specifically patent leather vinyl because it has no texture.

 

[TryChick]

Pic of my glove electronics. I used silicone insulated stranded wire for more flexibility than PVC insulated wire. The cords are corralled with black mesh sleeving so the 4 wires would be kept together but still remain flexible and not so visible if it gets exposed in suit gaps since the mesh is black.. I used male and female USB shells to make a plug at the glove, a male and female USB shell to create a connecting wire with to span the distance between my micro controller and the glove, and mounted a female USB connector to my protoboard to clean up all the wiring going to the board.

However, sometimes the repulsor lights don't come on and I'm wondering if I might have left the leads inside the USB shells a bit too long and they are getting pushed together enough to make some of them touch occasionally, causing a short. The lights on both are only working intermittently, though the repulsor blast is sounding when it is supposed to. Lights work, then I unplug and when I plug in again they don't work, then they do again...Weird. I'm scratching my head as to why both repulsor lights are are having issues but the sound is fine.

 

[Honus]

Awesome- looks like you're really close to getting finished! Sent you a PM about your wiring troubles. Are you familiar with Deutsch connectors? Did I tell you about this already?

They make awesome little locking connectors in a bazillion different sizes. They're commonly used in aerospace and motorsport applications. I couldn't believe how cheap some of them were compared to garden variety molex connectors.

http://www.deutschconnector.com/products/deutsch_connectors/deutsch_dt_series_connectors/

ProwireUSA also sells those connectors. If I had to do it all over again I would definitely have gone that route and probably used Tefzel wire for all of my wiring harnesses since these suits take such a beating.

Those Adafruit perma-proto baords rule too. Love 'em!

 

[TryChick]

Awesome- looks like you're really close to getting finished! Sent you a PM about your wiring troubles. Are you familiar with Deutsch connectors? Did I tell you about this already?

They make awesome little locking connectors in a bazillion different sizes. They're commonly used in aerospace and motorsport applications. I couldn't believe how cheap some of them were compared to garden variety molex connectors.

http://www.deutschconnector.com/products/deutsch_connectors/deutsch_dt_series_connectors/

ProwireUSA also sells those connectors. If I had to do it all over again I would definitely have gone that route and probably used Tefzel wire for all of my wiring harnesses since these suits take such a beating.

Those Adafruit perma-proto baords rule too. Love 'em!

Yeah. The perma-protos can really take a beating. I've soldered and desoldered them more than once and they hold up really well. I've used some and cut them just a bit smaller too to fit inside the helmet. Even the 1/4 size were too big to fit in the chin. I got a new solder sucker from them too that I love. It has a silicone tip so you can really get a good seal around the hole to clear it: https://www.adafruit.com/products/1597. Those connectors look like they'd be great for cable-cable connections. Looks like they have them in a number of wire configurations (2,3,4,6,8, & 12 wires). They come in smaller wire gauge sizes too: http://www.deutschconnector.com/products/deutsch_connectors/deutsch_dtm_series_connectors/

Link to video of the gauntlets working https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0_sfEGdifs.

 

[TryChick]

So Honus, how did you guys stick everything onto the back of Greg's suit? Hot glue? I don't have as much as you did. Just the speaker, photo board, sound board and the 2 batteries per gauntlet set up.

 

[Honus]

That video is great! If you think those solder suckers are cool just wait until you try a hot air rework station- they are the cat's pajamas.

I think we secured the boards and batteries using heavy duty double sided foam tape.

 

[TryChick]

Electronics are all mounted in the back of the suit. I used some Actobotics parts to allow me to screw down the protoboard just tightly enough to keep it in place tucked behind the back part of the neck brace, but also be able to swing it out to access the power plugs. A bit of velcro keeps it from swinging out. Hot glued the speakers inside the shoulder bells and pro-epoxied and hot glued the 9V battery holders down. Used foam to make pockets for the 3AAA battery holders which power the ProMini and the Soundboard/speakers.

Up next. Thigh and butt gaps.

 

[TryChick]

So the hot glue holding the snaps on which connect the back of knee gap covers kept coming off, so I ended up drilling 2 holes in each aluminum articulated cover which corresponded with the hinge screws holding the shin and thigh together and just attached it there. I removed the elastic straps for the top of the cover, but do still have the bottom one in place. I may or may not need to keep it. I'm happy with the way they are attached now.

I used more garage door weather seal vinyl to make a flap to cover the top of the arch on my foot for the area which isn't covered by the Zabana boot. I used the side with raised line detailing to give some visual interest, and also redid the bottom front shin flap I'd made to help cover the front of my ankle.

For the back of butt gap right below the copiece, I added the same stuff, also putting the detail lines on the outside. I'm not sure if I will extend the flap a bit more or not.

I'm currently I'm working on the butt and thigh gaps using the same stuff and think I have this worked out.

In order to get the color the same as the rest of the suit, but using paint that won't crack, I sprayed red vinyl paint on the vinyl, then immediately did a light coat of the Infernal Red Metallic Duplicator paint on top because the vinyl paint is way too bright on it's own. The duplicolor kind of fuses in with the vinyl paint and I get no cracking on it.

 

[TryChick]

Butt and thigh gaps are done.
I also made my neck seal smaller. It was too long front to back, so I removed an inch on both sides and glassed it back together. Still have a little bondo work to do. I am going to shorten it a bit as well I think. The top layer interferes with me moving my head back and forth.

 

[Yrien]

Your painting method on the garage door vinyl definitely worked - in the thumbnails I thought it was part of the armour! This is turning out absolutely beautiful.