Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000 - Finally Complete!!!

[redbouche]

Like 50% of the RPF, I've decided that it's my turn to make an iron man helmet. It's got Arduino brains and a single hitec mini servo for the faceplate lift, and blue LED eyes. It is on the three hinge system that you can see in the video clip. Now that I've got the circuit working, i'm trying to decide on paint colors. Here are a few videos and pictures from the build so far.



I started by hot gluing flat head screws on the faceplate



Here is the servo holder I build out of a piece of PVC window frame. I eventually upgraded the arms on the servo to metal braces.



This is about as far as I've gotten so far.

And here is the full circuit working. I think it came out pretty well. Next is a trip to Hobby Lobby for some paint Paint suggestions are welcome.

 

[ironmaided]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

very nice :thumbsup i love how the led lights turn on when the faceplate goes down. . .

and thats a cute dog over there. . .

 

[corkster]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

Looking great.

 

[michaudtime]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

Looks great but got a question about the clicking. Any Ideas how your going to combat that? Mine was doing that before I ended up stripping the gears. wasn't sure if that was normal.

 

[redbouche]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

I bought a metal gear servo to combat that issue. Buzzing is not ideal, but it's not uncommon on digital servos. If it is buzzing in idle then you may have an issue, or if it's not making it all the way to position. But my servo buzzes unless it is completely relaxed, if there is any pressure at all. In my case I don't think there is anything to do about it. If you want to avoid the buzz and don't mind you faceplate not going all the way up, unplug the servo power when it is all the way at the top, and see how far it falls when you remove power. The servo should hold position fairly well, but the point that it falls to may be the highest point that it will go without the buzz. So you may just program with servo to only rise to that point. But I wouldn't worry about the buzz to much unless it is really straining. Does it stop when you manually hold the faceplate in position with your hand?

 

[Kevin Gossett]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

As far as paint goes, don't go to Hobby Lobby. The best paint you can get there would be Testor's, and it's a bit overpriced. Go to an auto parts store and get some Duplicolor Perfect Match. A bit more than the Testor's but the cans are also a little bigger too, and the quality of paint is much better. As far as color goes, depends on which mark you're doing... 3 or 4/6? The 4/6 is a brighter red whereas the 3 is a deeper, almost burgundy red.

 

[redbouche]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

Hmmmm...that kind of conflicts with what I've read elsewhere. It seems like folks like the duplicolor shades, but there have been alot of complaints about peeling paint even after weeks of letting it sit. So I'm a bit scared of it. I was think about testors ruby red flake, which I haven't heard as many complaints about, but is also not as commonly used, so maybe that is why. Do you have any insight into how to keep be duplicolor from peeling?

 

[redbouche]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

Oh, and I forgot to mention it is a mark III, so I'm looking for a deeper red. Thanks for the advice.

 

[JPH]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

I see Iron Dog in the making!

What is that grinding/crackling sound?

Maybe guides on the faceplate to make it land true. I am saying this as I marvel over what a great job you have done so far!

 

[Kevin Gossett]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

I've been using Duplicolor for years without any problems. As long as you prep properly you shouldn't have any issues

 

[Luke0312]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

Hmmmm...that kind of conflicts with what I've read elsewhere. It seems like folks like the duplicolor shades, but there have been alot of complaints about peeling paint even after weeks of letting it sit. So I'm a bit scared of it. I was think about testors ruby red flake, which I haven't heard as many complaints about, but is also not as commonly used, so maybe that is why. Do you have any insight into how to keep be duplicolor from peeling?

Surface prep.

Clean the parts using castrol super clean, purple power, or similar, then wash them with soap and water, then rinse. Make sure they are dry, lay down some primer, lightly sand, repeat as needed, lightly sand your last coat of primer, blow the dust off, use a tack rag, then paint.

 

[redbouche]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

Alright, I think you talked me into it. is there a particular type of primer I should go for? I've always had a lot of luck with krylon in the past. Do i need to get the duplicolor primer?

 

[Luke0312]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

Should also mention, I've put down some duplicolor lacquer, waited only 1 hour, put masking tape on top of it (cheap tape at that) and it still didn't peel when removing the tape.

 

[Luke0312]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

I like and use the krylon grey primer.

 

[redbouche]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

The helmet I bought is a projectearth and it came pre-primed with a grey primer of unknown origin. Do you think I can trust that, or should a re-prime with something else? Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[Luke0312]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

No need to strip the primer, I'm sure RJ sent a well cleaned up cast, just follow the surface prep mentioned above and give it one or two light coats of primer, light sand, blow dust, tack , and paint.

 

[redbouche]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

Great. Thanks so much for the help.

 

[redbouche]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

I've made some progress. Over the curse of my priming and sanding I managed to drop my faceplate on the concrete floor and as you can imagine I didn't end well. I used epoxy to patch all of the missing pieces, but it's not quite as good as new.



Here is a shot after I patched the cracks and primed



And here is a shot after paint. The Dupli-color looked AWFUL after the second coat, but after a lot of buffing it cleared up. Now I just have to put everything back together.

 

[redbouche]

Re: Motorized Iron Man Helmet Thread #1000

All finished. All things considered I think it turned out very well. Here is a video of the final product:

 

[Mean Joe]

Great job!!!