Whats under your suit?

[Buzkhashi]

I've looked around this site for a while, and I haven't seen the answers to some pressing questions I have regarding a pep Ironman suit I have been working on.

Namely, how do *you* attach your suit to your body? What do you do for feet?

I have worn medieval style armor, which essentially hangs off your body, with the most weight on your shoulders. Straps directly from hard points on the armor to wrapping around your limbs...but I feel like Ironman, Master Chief, Robocop type rigs allow or even require, a little more room for support structure.

How do you keep yourself cool? Remove the suit? Open the helmet? Or do you use fans? Ive seen football pads with a water system in them that circulates cooling water. I run hot and am thinking about trying something like this out.

Going back to feet: my Ironman boots have a bottom surface (not just a covering over a boot) - I plan to fill the bottom of the boot toe and heel with some kind of rubber or polymer to approximate a shoe sole - has anyone tried something like this?

Thanks and be kind please, Ive lurked here for years but this is my first post!

 

[George]

I have been wondering the same regarding big suits that do not necessarily 'hug' the body posture and sort of 'free roam' around it.I understand the 'straps-and-buckle' principle to connect pieces,but that doesn't solve the 'free roam' issue.

The feet I would guess you either first treat the finished foam feet with Plasti-dip to strengthen them and yet retain the 'rubbery' quality before considering gluing a sole under it,or you make a boot cover that goes over a pair of sneakers.

 

[Buzkhashi]

Thats exactly what I am talking about, George. Imagine a Hulk-Buster, thats a tough strap and buckle situation. Maybe it would be all marionette strings inside!

I made a pair of IronMan feet that are fiberglass shell, and I was thinking of pouring something from these folks to form a surface strong enough to stand on, but flexible enough to take some impact and bend a little while stepping: http://www.reynoldsam.com/

They seem to have prop and makeup experience as well, so it wont turn into the social disaster I had when the plumbing guy in Home Depot kinda fell apart when i said I was looking for light saber hilt parts. Its been all "The Masqurade" since then! lol

 

[sturds]

This is a very good question that often gets left out during a costume build I have also wondered I know a lot of people will use straps to hold on "loose fit" costumes, or velcro for more form fitting armors, as for feet I was able to get away with making fiberglass boots for a suit that was very tight fitting over some sports shoes and I glued them in place over my shoes and just left the bottom open for the shoe sole, There was enough room for the shoes to flex a little inside the boot and walking was just a little bit weird had to take more "flat" steps to avoid breaking the boots. As far as heat, staying indoors and taking off pieces periodically is the best way. But for something such as the hulk buster IDK how people do those types of "massive" armors, some sort of strapping and probably a good bit of uncomfortable-ness added in.

 

[frank7467]

Good question I'm looking for a under suit now its hard to fid something just right not too thin not too thick it can get a bit hot after a few hours..

 

[evilchiken469]

Stealth had a great tutorial video on his youtube channel that was the last one still around last time I checked that went over iron man in specific. The 405th has a great many extensive tutorials for halo suits, that will explain specifically those suits to you very well. All the methods they talk about in those tutorials can generally be modified or applied to almost anything. As for the "free form costumes" I ran iinto some big issues with my FOC optimus prime costume mostly in the shoulders and i actually ended up using large bolts to attach them to the chest piece making it essentially just on huge piece. It isnt perfect by any means but it worked. xrobots is currently doing a hulkbuster build and his attachment methods are insanely creative and very effective I highly recommend checking those out.

 

[Buzkhashi]

I loved Stealth's videos about fiber Ironman but it seems they got taken down? In any case, I haven't been able to find them and sadly never saw the under-the-armor stuff.

I like the looks of something like this, especially if the armor is exposed or will be taken off at all:
http://www.csportsfashion.com/20101213/nike-dri-fit-pro-combat-mens-rib-football-shirt.html

Its a line from Nike called pro combat. It looks sleek and futuristic, plus I feel like the foam(?) coming off the clothes might make great mount points. A bit on the pricey side tho...

 

[fallimar]

I'm doing a Darunia suit using exactly the "hollow shell" kind of construction you're talking about. The main idea when doing anything oversized is to first figure out proportions so you can fit yourself inside the silhouette, then build the outer shell and attachment layer then bodge them together.
The actual positioning isn't that tricky, a lot of the time a foam shell will simply keep itself in shape so long as it's sat on the body properly with a few nice contact points. If it needs to be held up off the body vertically then a backpack frame with extensions will do the lifting and you can add extra struts for any saggy or wobbly points. So long as everything's held just enough not to be a problem you're ok. The main issues you have are with movement integration. If you've got a big beefy character with huge muscular arms or somesuch that you're sculpting from foam around your own arms, you'll want them to have as much movement as possible with as little restriction as possible, so you'll want your arm positioned on the inner edge with as little foam on the side closest to your body as possible. With some clever positioning of slits or overlapping on the foam parts, you can get really nice freedom of movement. It's all in the planning really. That and practice to see what works

So yeah. Outer shell, inner support, then join them up with as little bulk as possible.