WIP first Iron Man Mark III (plastic-coated) foam build: Getting a bit pic heavy

[Kurtis876]

Re: WIP first Iron Man Mark III foam build+knowledge share

You could use craft foam painted silver between the joints?

Or if you are really good with an airbrush you could paint the gears and stuff on the under suit? They do it all the time with the costume you buy. That should fool people from a distance, and people would never be able to tell in photos.

I don't know why people choose to leave it blank.

I do actually have some craft foam I meant to go back around the chest piece in particular, thanks for the reminderthumbsup:thumbsup

Well, a lot of people just want to have a kick ass costume and I get that. I just have a little extra time between now and halloween, so why not tweak it a bit, since it's come this far right? hahaa

 

[Kurtis876]

Re: WIP first Iron Man Mark III foam build+knowledge share

I have mark 3 envy.

hahaa dude, love the mark three son!

man without your work this thing wouldn't be a thing. thanks bossthumbsup

 

[Kurtis876]

Re: WIP first Iron Man Mark III foam build+knowledge share

UPDATES:

well, I went for the quick finish, I didn't really get to finish exactly as I wanted to for Halloween, but it works thumbsup:thumbsup

Here are some photos of the finishing up process... basically I had to do some pretty quick gloves that look better in person, and a makeshift arc reactor that looks pretty good actually. I also didn't get to do the little circular details that go around the joints, etc., not did I get to joint covers. But you know what? people really got a kick out of it, as did I it was actually wayyy more comfortable to wear than I expected.

So these pics will be accompanied by more text detailing them as I go. just wanted to get them posted all at once!

The arc reactor:
-I basically used two print outs of an arc reactor. I used a color copy (not even that great but it worked great!) and a black and white copy. Alone they looked like crap, but when I placed one on top of the other, put them behind a sheet of semi-opaque plastic, and put my tap light behind them, mannnn it looked awesome. The layers gave it a cool airy effect and nice lighting. Especially from at least 5 feet away haha

 

[docholiday78]

Re: WIP first Iron Man Mark III foam build+knowledge share

that is a super simple way man n looks amazing thanks for sharing that, now just need to get some color ink for my printer :lol :thumbsup

 

[Kurtis876]

Re: WIP first Iron Man Mark III foam build+knowledge share

The new helmet:

ok, now, a HUGE thanks to Finhead. He came through and got this out to me before Halloween. SO of course I had to paint, light, and magnetize it in a few days. Turned out excellent. What the pics don't show is that I came back on top of the paint with some black (mixed with a hint of off-white) to dirty it up a bit around the edges. I'll post some closeups with that. If you'd like to know more about painting, lighting, magnetizing, etc. let me know! I did it pretty simply!

 

[Kurtis876]

Re: WIP first Iron Man Mark III foam build+knowledge share

sorry forgot this one... so basically there are corresponding magnets on the faceplate, that line up to the ones on the inner upper helmet, to hold the faceplate up. You need some very strong magnets for this to be successful, but it eliminates most of the need for hinges.

 

[Kurtis876]

Re: WIP first Iron Man Mark III foam build+knowledge share

that is a super simple way man n looks amazing thanks for sharing that, now just need to get some color ink for my printer :lol :thumbsup

HAH yeah pretty last minute man but you know... it worked awesome! thanks bro

 

[Kurtis876]

Re: WIP first Iron Man Mark III foam build+knowledge share

These little buddies are awesome... $5 for a bag of battery powered SUPER BRIGHT LEDs with switches, I found them at Joann fabrics. SO I know the gloves look ridiculous on top, but trust me once they are worn they fit in pretty well.

Basically, I cut out a hole in the middle of the palms of some sweet red gloves I found at Kohls (in the women's section, I know, but they look very machine-like). I then put a thin 2mm piece of white foam on the inside, and hot glued and secured the small LEDs right behind the foam, so the light is dispersed well. dudes... this worked great!

you'll see the results coming up...

 

[Kurtis876]

Re: WIP first Iron Man Mark III foam build+knowledge share

the shoes: I primed and plastic painted a pair of reeboks with this great "universal" red plastic spray I bought at Lowes... I believe it's rustoleum. It's gloss, so no clearcoat required. The foam overlay JF custom's Dancin Fool edits. very simple. Again I didn't have time to do the outer accents and circular pieces. Still worked fine. The foam is plastidipped and hit with some Duplicolor and clear coat.

 

[Kurtis876]

Re: WIP first Iron Man Mark III foam build+knowledge share

Annnd a quick test suit up...

 

[Kurtis876]

Re: WIP first Iron Man Mark III foam build+knowledge share

I basically bought some compression gear, cardinal red, from Eastbay.com as my undersuit. if you'd like the details let me know. I found these (I think "champion" brand) athletic shorts at target that have a very metallic, ribbed look that fit well and filled in some negative space around the crotchal region and the buttocks.

it's not apparent in the above pics, but when I finally suited up I had to safety pin the shorts to the undersuit, to prevent bunching up and slippage.

the thighs are fastened to elastic strips that run into the inner hips on the cod. They are fastened by heavy duty velcro patches. This allowed them to stay in place all night, without sliding down my legs. fresh.

 

[Kurtis876]

Re: WIP first Iron Man Mark III foam build+knowledge share

ANNND here is the final product!! some great party pics from Hallows' eve. the only thing that really bugs me is the lack of the circular details and actual joint covers. However, I probably had the best costume in town, not to toot my own horn thumbsupthumbsup

(the flash always makes it look crappy hahaha)

 

[mizuno hadouken]

Re: WIP first Iron Man Mark III (plastic-coated) foam build: GETTIN PIC HEAVY SORRY

Nice work as always man

 

[Kurtis876]

Nice work as always man

Thanks man!

 

[ldemetrio]

Re: WIP first Iron Man foam build+knowledge share

Muito bom!!

here she is, My first (pretty much) complete suit up. Sorry for the slight blur, my father isn't used to smartphones. The legs also look bigger in real life, This shot seems to have that weird angle you see in red carpet shoots that give people big heads and tiny ankles. fresh.

thumbsupthumbsup:thumbsup

EDIT: just realized my inspiration for this pose... Dancing Fool's Mark iii render! hahaa
(hope it's ok for me to repost this pic DF! Let me know if you see this)

 

[billymaya]

nice work dude im thinking of going down the plastic coating on my next ironman build with my very first suit i put pva coats on x 5 then auto primer and then plastikote spray paint which u can get easily over here in the uk ive used the suit now for a year visiting several carnivals wearing it it hasnt held up to bad but where some of the parts rub against each other you do get wear spots and i had lots od annoying hair line cracks appear, so i was wondering how did your suit hold up at the party did any cracks appear during the night or any wear and tear in general? your fiinish is awsome you have done a great job and you should be very proud well done

 

[Kurtis876]

nice work dude im thinking of going down the plastic coating on my next ironman build with my very first suit i put pva coats on x 5 then auto primer and then plastikote spray paint which u can get easily over here in the uk ive used the suit now for a year visiting several carnivals wearing it it hasnt held up to bad but where some of the parts rub against each other you do get wear spots and i had lots od annoying hair line cracks appear, so i was wondering how did your suit hold up at the party did any cracks appear during the night or any wear and tear in general? your fiinish is awsome you have done a great job and you should be very proud well done

Whew! Hey buddy thank you! Throw in a few commas and periods next time haha jk overall it held up great, no real cracking. The problem I had was the rubbing, like on the inner biceps and other parts you can imagine, the paint did rub off a little... But nothing extreme.

I feel that if I had taken my time and really was sure to cover the suit optimally in pva (and plastic), I wouldn't have had nearly as much rubbing. On the other hand, I'm not sure you can avoid it completely. I would say take your time and be sure you do each step as thoroughly as possible. Good luck! Looking forward to seeing it!

 

[billymaya]

cheers for the reply mate sorry about the non use of full stops lol interesting stuff much apprechiated

 

[Lucky7]

As everyone else has said, great build!

In particular, I really like the grooves on the shins and codpiece. They're really well defined! How did you do those, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Peejfro]

Really nice man ! super clean im in awe!