(Yet another) Iron Man build (UK)

SimonK

New Member
Hi, been a bit of a lurker, absorbing information and ogling at the many excellent builds on here. Thought I'd made enough progress to share what I've done so far.

I came to the forum after looking at making a Boba Fett helmet, but tbh, Irom Man is more interesting to me.

My first ever Pep was Sharkmarks excellently detailed one, and I mad a few mistakes. Firstly, as it was my first attempt I thought I'd do the faceplate first to see how it went. Unfortunately when I made the helmet the pieces didn't match up for some reason, and it was a bit tight on my ears.
6929280386_127df82a29.jpg
[/url] IMG_0196 by Simon_Knight73, on Flickr[/IMG]

So unfortunately this went in the bin...

I had a bit of a brain fart, and thought the next time I'f use cardboard so that I could layer it where I needed details like the helmet seam. I tried resizing it but got that wrong too, way too big and it was just plain wrong...

Funniest of all was when I taped some of the shut lines together and looked head on, it wasn't Iron Man, it was Iron Hitler:

IMG_0203 by Simon_Knight73, on Flickr

So that went in the bin too.
 
So that was what went wrong, but what went right?

I started a third helmet, this time using the Sharkbeetle Dunghead pep files. My reasoning being I could put the details in later using my trusty dremel and plasti-card.

This went much better, and instead of making it in separate parts I glued faceplate to helmet before I resined it all.

6929278566_00c9b4713d.jpg
[/url] IMG_0220 by Simon_Knight73, on Flickr[/IMG]

A tip for UK builders (or anyone really I guess). Don't waste your money on fibreglass kits from Halfords or similar. Seek out boat repair kits from fleabay or CFS. The matting is much better, and the resin is far superior. And you get more for your money. From a fleabay seller I got a kit which included 5kg resin, catalyst, shredded mat, tissue, gloves measuring cups and syringe for a very reasonable price compared with the stuff from auto factors. And it is easier to work with too, the resin wets the glass mat much better.

I didn't take any pics in the resin / fibreglass stage, but pressed ahead with the filler. Here we have the helmet after I made the first few skims and a load of sanding. Still need to do the jaw and finish the rear section.

7075354393_0788aa3246.jpg
[/url] IMG_0239 by Simon_Knight73, on Flickr[/IMG]

I also seperated the faceplate at this point, once the shut lines we pretty much evened out.

7075395719_9ac2b67275.jpg
[/url] IMG_0241 by Simon_Knight73, on Flickr[/IMG]

Getting there. I'll add the lower lip detail in plasticard and the grooves in teh helmet using a dremel / razor saw / much gnashing of teeth.

7075354885_71711a8ea9.jpg
[/url] IMG_0242 by Simon_Knight73, on Flickr[/IMG]

I've also pepped the chest and neck, I need to work on my pep skills, some folds are a bit uneven...

7075353413_2e71cfa7e1.jpg
[/url] IMG_0219 by Simon_Knight73, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
Wahey, it's good to see another UK based IM builder. Welcome to the clan

Your build is coming along nicely. Before you know it you'll be a master at cutting, sticking, glueing, glassing, filling, sanding, painting, more filling and sanding.... :D Keep at it man.

I second the not buying your glassing supplies from motorworld/halfords. I use CFS for this too.
 
It's certainly a new learning experience for me. I never thought I'd be doing "research" into glueing foam, or coating paper with resin. All good fun though and it keeps me relatively out of trouble.

Made some progress, need to take some more pic's but the back has ben pep'd and fibreglassed, as has the lower neck seal. The plan is to use foam for the upper part for the neck so it's more comfortable.

I wasn't happy with the shape of the "ribs" on the chest so I remade them seperately in card. Once I've shaped the chest some more I'll align it all with the back and reglass the ribs to the chest.

As I said I should take more pics, but probably wont be until monday when I'm back on nights...
 
Keep it up, Im a noob to the forums my self. I have all my pieces pepped and Im in the middle of resin. A lot of work but as you already know, way worth it.
 
Awesome, love seeing new Iron Man builds. Can't wait to see more of the suit put together!

Chest looks good, just try to make sure it's not too uneven before applying the resin, the rest I'm sure you'll be able to clean up in the filler stage.
 
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