Mark VI Pepakura Iron Man Build

[Helagak]

Re: Iron Man Build

do you actually mean plastidip? (what i did) or The epoxy resin like xrobots did?
plastidp wont make the outside hard. it stiffens it up some but no where near what the epoxy will do. my suit is still flexible and moving around and pulling velcro apart doesnt hurt the paint too bad. that being said, a foam suit will wear out. i have a few creases in my chest, arms and hand pieces from wearing it. and some spots around my neck and thighs, the top coat of paint wore off. but it looks cool cause i did a whole base coat of gold. so it looks kind of like damage. anyways, looks good. good luck!

 

[TryChick]

Re: Iron Man Build

Hmmm. I thought UKRobots said he used Plastidip...guess I misunderstood. Anyway, I'm still a ways away from sealing and painting, so will do more research. Sounds like your method of painting with gold, then going over with red and having the wear show through as gold paint worked pretty well for you. May try something similar.

 

[TryChick]

Re: Iron Man Build

Worked on the hip pods today. I know some folks use the shapeways website for these, but I thought I'd give it a try and see how they turned up. First attempt was pretty pathetic (first 2 pictures). Needed a sharper knife and thinner foam on the angled piece. I kind of modified the pep to make it work for me. I felt putting supporting extra foam pieces inside would make the thing a bit stronger too, so I did that. My second attempt worked the bugs out I think, and they turned out decent considering they're made out of foam

How have other folks attached these? Directly to the cod or to part of an extension to the thigh pieces. Looks like I need to make something to go between the foam thigh piece the cod. Will have to think about that.

 

[Stonebro]

Re: Iron Man Build

Wow what a truly inspirational project - and what an awesome mum I have to see the finished article - again WOW!

 

[Justover6]

Re: Iron Man Build

I like how you did the back. XD I just finished cutting out the pieces for the chest, back, shoulder, and abs. I know how to assemble everything but the back. The back has a ummm lot of weird folds can you give any tips before I start pasting. XD I just finished cutting this stuff today so it won't be for awhile.

 

[TryChick]

Re: Iron Man Build

I like how you did the back. XD I just finished cutting out the pieces for the chest, back, shoulder, and abs. I know how to assemble everything but the back. The back has a ummm lot of weird folds can you give any tips before I start pasting. XD I just finished cutting this stuff today so it won't be for awhile.

Just pay close attention to the pep on your computer and reference pictures frequently. Sometimes it's hard to tell where edges are supposed to go. I also tried to overlap edges to add structural integrity to the piece where possible. Use a sharp knife. You can tell when you need to change the blade because your cuts start looking rough. I have actually ended up using this technique: cut a piece and glue it, then cut the next and glue. It helped me see where I could "under" lap pieces. Another tip would be to make "registration marks" on the pieces to make sure your edges stay aligned. Sometimes when gluing and bending, the foam gets stretched or compressed, so you may have to push or pull and hold while the glue sets to get stuff aligned again. :3

 

[rex159]

Re: Iron Man Build

nice build

 

[TryChick]

Re: Iron Man Build

nice build

Thanks. Working on it a little at a time...Won't know what to do with myself once this is complete...:lol

 

[TryChick]

Re: Iron Man Build

One shin is now done and the thigh and shin are connected. Lots of pics to show how I did it. I used the thick interlocking foam mat for the round piece at the hinge. I burned a hole in the back side, cut a slit along one edge and one side, then slid my Chicago screw with a washer inside, and hot glued it so it would stay together. This way you can't see the hardware on the round part. Also I scored and drilled holes in the plastic reinforcement, like I'd seen in other builds. It helps the hot glue stick to the plastic. Video shows leg action.

The pink foamies are in there to cover sharp corners and hopefully reinforce so the plastic will stay on better...

Hmm. I think I attached the left shin to the right thigh... /

 

[TryChick]

Re: Iron Man Build

LEFT shin now attached to LEFT thigh...

 

[guitarakizta]

Re: Iron Man Build

Thanks! I'm getting more excited every day. Did brain surgery and eye surgery, separating the parts. Will fiberglass and resin the inside again so they have a second coat...Possibly a third coat in areas that will be stressed a lot.

wow your amazing. how can you make it like this :thumbsup can you give me some thips in applying body filler

 

[TryChick]

Re: Iron Man Build

wow your amazing. how can you make it like this :thumbsup can you give me some thips in applying body filler

Sure. Don't glop it on, do it in small sections and make sure you can still see your detail lines. Makes it easier to carve in more detail later. Make sure you don't skimp on the hardener for the filler. If you do, the filler will never set. Also, mix up small portions of the filler. Like a golf ball sized portion at a time. It will keep your waste down to a minimum. I wouldn't put filler on the teeth portion. You can do that after separation.

Take your time and make sure you wear a respirator. That stuff is NASTY! Good luck!

 

[TryChick]

Re: Iron Man Build

OK. Both legs are done and I worked on connecting the abs. I also built another cod piece, which turned out awesome--I am quite proud of it! I decided the first cod at a scale of 25 was too big even though I modified it a bit so it wasn't so long front to back. So I built one scaled to 21.45 which is what most of my other pieces are scaled to, but that was too small. So I tried one at 23. Just right, though I can no longer slide it on (bennie of having the big one...) so it has to be velcroed closed in the back. I did it like STEALTH showed in his video.

I also reworked the knee joints. I moved the part on the shin with the circle on it. It is now flush with the side instead of glued to the inside. I found with the piece glued to the inside, it made it uncomfortable for the sides of my knees and I could envision a lot of rubbing (and possible blisters) if I wore the suit for any length of time. There isn't a lot of extra room in this baby, so it will be pretty fitted.

The horizontal ab sections are connected with elastic strips that run the full length of the abs and extend enough to sew on some velcro to both the top and bottom. I discovered that hot glue doesn't work well when you glue the stiff part of the velcro to elastic strips--my velcro kept coming off, so I sewed the pieces on with my sewing machine. One side of the back portion of the abs is hot glued, the other is velcroed. Each section is velcroed to its corresponding section so I retain my flex ability, and the front portion of the abs at the top is attached to the chest piece with elastic and velcro so it stays up. The bottom elastic strips with velcro are attached to the cod in 4 places, and with a plastic buckle in the front and back to keep it down.

What do other folks do to cover the portions of their legs between the thigh and the cod? Add foam to the top of the thigh? Can't really tell.

On to the boots tomorrow...


Wow--How the heck did I get over 10,000 views! Awesome!

 

[zodiac]

Re: Iron Man Build

Suit looks awesome, these builds are always inspiring!

And I feel your pain on being an electronics noob, I'll be going home to take another crack at getting my LED's to light up properly in my Arc Reactor. :/

 

[TryChick]

Re: Iron Man Build

Thanks. I worked on the boots the last couple of days. Trying to get scaling right so my old running shoes would fit--gotta be comfortable if I am wearing the suit for hours at a time.... But the boot still needed be small enough to fit inside the shin pieces that are supposed to cover the top of the boot. I wanted them to be sturdy, so I started building one with the 1/2" foam scraps I had. In order to get my shoe in it, I had to scale it to 25! I mostly finished that boot, but scrapped it when I realized I would look like a Rescue Hero instead of Iron Man. Tried again using the foam mod of Zabana's boot with the 1/4" foam I'd been using for the rest of the build. I got the boot more to scale for the suit, but I thought it looked too plain and added some of the sole detail from Zabana's original file on the side using the thicker 1/2" foam. Not sure if i should keep the sole detail or not...?? I still have to hinge with binding posts. I may end up pepping Zabana's boot file and doing it in resin and fiberglass eventually, since the foam seems pretty flimsy and it has to be so big in order to get my shoe inside.

I also didn't like being able to see the top of my shoe, so I added a piece to cover that. I am planning on hot gluing the top to the running shoe and leaving my running shoe sole exposed.

 

[Murdoch]

Re: Iron Man Build

Hey now that's a sweet build...GM

 

[TryChick]

Re: Iron Man Build

Boots are assembled. Need to hot glue the boot to my shoe. Not sure if I want to leave the hardware exposed, or cover it with a circular foam piece or something else.

 

[TryChick]

Re: Iron Man Build

Since I'm getting close to completion on building the foam pieces of the costume, I went ahead and tried some of the methods I've seen for sealing the foam. I tried wood glue, Tacky Glue, and Crafter's Pick Ultimate glue since I happened to have all 3 at the house already. I diluted 1:1 with water and brushed on 3 coats of diluted glue. After they all dried, I bent the pieces to see how they would look after being abused when worn. The wood glue cracked and flaked off, the tacky glue stayed on but creased really badly, and the Crafter's Pick flexed and looked great after bending the foam back and forth. Plasti Dip was next. I picked up a can of brush on and a can of spray and did 3 coats of spray on a piece I built wrong and could still see all the little holes, so I got a bit heavy handed with the 4th coat. It doesn't look too smooth. Not sure if more light coats would have avoided this issue or not. But I was getting impatient because it didn't seem like I was seeing any changes to the texture after putting on 3 coats. And, I didn't like the way the brushed on plasti dip went on on my failed thigh piece. I had brush streaks and bristles on the foam. I sprayed the one I felt held up the best (Crafter's Pick) with two coats of Duplicolor adhesive promoter, then sprayed the piece with silver Duplicolor. Here are some pictures of my efforts... The picture of the Crafter's Pick coated foam looks weird because I didn't paint it on thin enough and there was a "puddle" of sorts that left a funny shape when it dried. I guess I just need to not brush on too much at a time...

 

[TryChick]

Re: Iron Man Build

Boots hinged up. Only things I glued were the large metal washers on the outsides of the boots. I used 60 grit sandpaper to rough up the back and glued it to the red foam with the E-6000 (Hot glue wasn't working at all...). I put the glue on and then clamped it. It takes hours to cure, but it really stuck together.

 

[TryChick]

Re: Iron Man Build

Gloves done. Just need to put the velcro on. My 12 yr old son is modeling them for me since be has the same size hand... Working on hand plates now. Not sure if I will hinge them in the middle or not...been trying diff ways, but getting frustrated...

Thanks to J0we for the easy glove files! Awesome...