The Martian Space Suit

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Just some material test and paint test. I warped a plastic plate in the oven trying to make the shoulder piece,. it went slightly wrong, but a small piece could be salvaged into an undersized version of the elbow piece. So I cut it out and painted it using the templates MoviesColin

I used some marker that wouldn't stick,. and acrylics that did stick. And i was going to use rivests before I read here about the security screws. The rivets cracked the plastic,. so allot of material lessons learned :)

armourplate.JPG

Together with the rest of my suit (just an arm) It kinda looks the part :)
 
Hey! That looks pretty cool! I'm glad my templates could help! I'm just about to try building some of the pads / armor myself this week.

Here was tonight's attempt at familiarizing myself with the foam material and some of the techniques. I think it will look good if I can make sure to get straight, even cuts down.

11903891_10207326431349429_6909649601623972849_n.jpg
 
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jontom said:
Pretty sure this is what they are using to wrap the Cool Shirt lines that exit the suit:

http://store.mp3car.com/collections/our-products/products/techflex-f6-platinum-gray-f6n0-50pg25
Click to expand...

I believe it is a grey nylon webbing as you can see a seam along it and it's thickness compared to the connectors.
the-martian-movie-matt-damonhjk.jpg

My only reason to think it's nylon specifically is the larger threads. My half assed ebay search have tought me that polyester webbing uses finer threads than nylon.

Edit:
It might be a velcro version of the TechFlex though.
 
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Hey there everyone! New to the site myself, but have been following this thread for about the last week or so. I noticed no one has kicked off much regarding the helmet assembly (save for the camcorders and latching mech) and was wondering if anyone had really dove into it yet. I found a site that sells clear acrylic vinyl globes (typ used for street lamps) which may be of use down the road (https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/clear-acrylic-globe-lamp-covers-with-opening/). On another note I was wondering if anyone here had more experience with pepakura as that could be used to break the chest piece down for resin-based applications.

EDIT: Just noticed a post by Jockey back on p.3 regarding the pep files - disregard my last
 
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I planned on uploading the templates I'm making / using to build it from foam, I don't know how well those can be transferred into pepakura.

I also have my 3D model version I started, but I'm not the greatest modeler so I don't think it would unwrap well to pepakura. I was mostly using it to learn the angles and geometry of the chest harness.

I also figured the helmet would be the hardest part, next to the neoprene seven types of fabric basic suit. I didn't really plan on making a helmet until my girlfriend shouts "YOU CAN'T GO TO MARS WITHOUT A HELMET??!"
 
Haha, I hear you there! I personally like to do a hard-cast exterior and have foam inserts for durability purposes (ive never had too much luck working with foam as a base in the past) so was just wondering. As far as the fabrics, I have a family member who works in a similar community so I will keep y'all posted on any results as they come my way.

On a side note - all the work in this thread is fantastic guys! (I don't think i said so earlier)
 
Well my plan was to use the foam and other materials to build the armor / padding and then mold them in silicone, so that I can cast the final pieces in either plastic resin or some type of flexible urethane plastic like some folks do with their Batman/Dark Knight armor.

I used to make replica Predator armor wayyy back in the day (2003 ish) by sculpting in clay, but I don't think I'm a good enough sculptor to make pieces that look machined like the ones on this suit.
 
"YOU CAN'T GO TO MARS WITHOUT A HELMET??!"

True. I'm thinking that even if I don't do a whole suit, which I can't. I may do a helmet build, I've done a few pep bucket builds, namely an ODST helmet, but through laziness, learning curve issues and not having the will they never were completed. This one, however, is one I coveted from the moment I saw it. And my love for The Martian is more than my love for HALO..... Also, my skill set has improved from the earlier helmet attempts.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
 
I'm interested in getting some 3D models since I don't have a clue on how to use those programs. I'm currently trying to assemble my very own 3D printer and will be doing a rough 3D print, clean it up and use that. I know of a 3D printing workshop I'm going to contact to have them refit the parts to my body before I print anything. The visor would have to be vacuum formed.

As for the neoprene suit, I found a dry-suit repair shop here in Stockholm that I am planning on contacting when I have enough of an idea of how the suit looks. Still have no image of it's backside.

I'm going for screen accuracy but for those parts I can't find I'll have to improv and perhaps change them out when I figure out what parts are the real ones.
 
Hey @MoviesColin, i had an idea about making the armor pieces using EVA foam lasercut and rastered, any chance you can send me the files? am learning the lasercutter at work, and personal project time is encourages, particularly if it helps the understanding of the properties of a tool and its use.

I'm not doing a full build, however i can report back any progress for the group as a whole. I know EVA can be lasered..... it would be neat to see what the results are.
 
Andreas Persson said:
In addition to that I found and grabbed the last australian ebay listing of the CoolShirt and bought aditional extension tubing. The extention will be cut in half where one end will hang loose like on the suit and the other will be a quick connect for the backpack cooling system idea I got from what Adam Savage used in his 2001 incognito this year.

Edit:
I thought I'd do everyone a favor and share that idea.

View attachment 520478

https://youtu.be/hxRoK5LZa_A?t=1m54s
Click to expand...

I had that same idea. Its awesome to already have a coolshirt in the costume to use with it. I am also wondering if they had something like that in the real one while they worked, or if they were just taking constant breaks.
 
Considering the whole film was shot in only 72 days, I would assume they were hooking him up between takes and probably throwing him into an air conditioned trailer between setups.

Also, a thousand dollar watch?!
 
MoviesColin said:
Wanted to post these... Used photoshop and lots of images to try to make life-size templates of the armor pieces, excluding the chest/back and arm computer.

The shoulder and knee armor look to be riveted right onto the suit.
View attachment 519543
The honeycomb pattern on the photos is just to represent the inset, tiny honeycomb pattern on the costume armor. Maybe carbon fiber?
Click to expand...

Great job so far, way further than I had gotten. The shoulder is as far as I had gotten so far, and just on paper. Based off of the references I have been using the flag area needs to be way more rectangular. Looks to be approximately 1x1.5 ratio, I think my height measurement might be a bit off but the ratio is definitely there.
flag.PNG

Based off rough measurements of my shoulder and eyeing it right now, I would put the width closer to 6 inches (maybe wider with all that material under it) and height closer to 9 inches (15.25cm x 30cm).

Still trying to figure out that honeycomb too. Looks almost like a metal weave / mesh thing, but nothing so far. While it would be square, a woven metal fabric could work as a start.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah that watch is awesome and all, but have we even seen a hit of it yet? Is it something he has on for a few minutes at the end or something? Bit rich for my blood at least.
 
After printing off the templates and doing some resizing, the shoulder was the biggest problem. I think I settled on 6 or 7 inches wide and 7 or 8 inches tall. So it should be a little bigger.

Good eye on the rectangle ratio there, I'll have to tweak it.

Also to note, some of the shoulder pads seem to have red arrows on them while others don't. I think specifically Johanssen has the red arrow.
 
Mike J. said:
Yeah, patches are sometimes screenprinted instead of being embroidered. I don't know why. It may be a time or cost thing. The Colonial Marines patches were screenprinted. Conversely, patches from Europa Report were embroidered.
-MJ
Click to expand...

Sorry I'm a bit late on this, but:
In real spacesuits, the reason for printed patches is flammability. It was the practice of NASA after the Apollo 1 fire to reduce any flammable items in the spacecraft. This carried over to Shuttle. But since the shuttle and ISS are not pure oxygen environments (like Apollo) this is no longer a concern. So now even the spacewalk suits (EMU) have embroidered patches.
The movie people don't know why the difference most of the time, they just look a reference picture and pick one they like.
As for the Martian suits:
I was on set working with some of our suits for an additional scene and saw these suits. The suits bodies were all custom screen printed Neoprene material and the fit and finish is impeccable. The hardware was rougher than I would have expected but things on screen often look much better than they do in person.
 
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