Recycled Budget Iron Man *Hyper Combo Finish*

Rancorite

Member
Hello, I'm a long time lurker and have finally decided to make an account :rolleyes
I'm currently working on a budget iron man costume for this Halloween which is mostly recycled plastic bits from food containers and plastic sterilite tubs. This is my very first shot at making a costume like this and im kinda winging it using some of the cool info ive found on this site. Im strickly a noob at this stuff & I don't own any power tools just a old box cutter and some scissors are all i have to work with hehehe. My material list thus far;

2 18 gal sterilite tubs (they where like $5/each and come with lids so i get more plastic than say using trash bins.
2 cotton candy containers, these are my fore arms.
2 1 gallon tall bottles (mine used to contain glycerin and are made of the same stuff as milk jugs just thicker and smoother). These are the biceps.
1 small round plastic tub, like the kind you get peanut butter in. I'm using these for the top of the hands/ wrists.
The gloves are some cheap ones i got at walmart i hot glued small pieces of the leftover tub plastic to make the armor effect (i saw that one on the rpf b4 and looked good and within my skill level :lol) They make finger movement very easy and when painted even with cheap red spray paint already have a metallic hue to them.

The armor itself is flat pieces from the sides of the tubs i made a "harness" which is the chest piece (reminds me of the harness used by he-man maybe?) That i hot glued in some parts and are velcroed in others. This makes it easier to put on and off and makes it less stiff so i can move in it. Note nothing on the chest has been painted and i had a red tub and a gray one which is why it looks weird for far.

Shoulder bells is a folgers container cut in half and velcroed to my under suit (which is a red hoodie) Im making a better pair out of 1 gal milk jugs and will post that if it comes out good.

For the helmet I'm using the avengers mission mask toy and making the other half out of left over vinyl flooring. Sounds stupid but so far it works its nice and strong yet flexible, very easy to glue together with just regular super glue. This way i get a somewhat accurate helmet with light up eyes again given my limited budget / tools/ skill set.

The arc reactor is a 50 led round flashlight, i did the trick where i put a printout of an arc reactor between the leds and the plastic housing so was very easy to get a somewhat cool look out of it w/o much work.

Haven't gotten around to doing any lower body parts, at this point I've run out of plastic tubs material but i have several pieces of corrugated plastic i picked up from the street after the elections and might use that for the legs and feet.

Keeping in mind im not going for a "movie accurate" look or anything like that,(though i was using a model of the mark 7 as reference which is included in this post) just a reasonable iron man on the cheap i guess. Any tips suggestions ect are more than welcome.
 

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Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

I feel like you'd have an easier time using foam with pepakura rather than trying to freestyle everything - it allows for a lot more detail and doesn't cost much more.
 
Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

I feel like you'd have an easier time using foam with pepakura rather than trying to freestyle everything - it allows for a lot more detail and doesn't cost much more.

Pep seems like a lot more work to me. Sure the results are amazing but, putting together the paper then doing the fiberglass, then doing bondo, sanding ect seem like much more work than im willing to do at this stage. I was considering going the foam route but that would still require me to buy extra materials instead of using the stuff i already had laying around. Even the helmet was a "gag" gift my mother in law got me for xmas since she knows i like Ironman :lol.
Im gonna continue this route for now, and once i get more confidence / and muny, will try to go for something fancier just to see if i can. Ty for your input though.:)
 
Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

I feel like you'd have an easier time using foam with pepakura rather than trying to freestyle everything - it allows for a lot more detail and doesn't cost much more.

That goes without saying. I think it is pretty awesome and a pretty good use of found items.

Pep and foam is harder technically but there is a general method that everyone follows when going that route. IMHO for the most part, there is really nothing original or creative about doing it that way.

Don't get me wrong, pep/foam pep/fiberglass etc. creates a beautiful end product and takes a lot of hard work but outside of cosmetic differences here and there, it is the same thing over and over again. I am pick from any of the first fifty pages of the costume forum and find one.

This will probably be the only recycled Iron Man that is build this way with these items. I say it is brilliant in its simplicity and it is one of a kind. Some will probably disagree with me but I am entitled to my opinion too.
 
Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

That goes without saying. I think it is pretty awesome and a pretty good use of found items.

Pep and foam is harder technically but there is a general method that everyone follows when going that route. IMHO for the most part, there is really nothing original or creative about doing it that way.

Don't get me wrong, pep/foam pep/fiberglass etc. creates a beautiful end product and takes a lot of hard work but outside of cosmetic differences here and there, it is the same thing over and over again. I am pick from any of the first fifty pages of the costume forum and find one.

This will probably be the only recycled Iron Man that is build this way with these items. I say it is brilliant in its simplicity and it is one of a kind. Some will probably disagree with me but I am entitled to my opinion too.


Gee thanks :cool

The recycled plastic idea is born of necessity as i just don't have any income to dedicate to a costume plus as you say its going to be my own kinda, i don't expect anyone else to follow this kind of build. (as an aside i also got the idea from another website where a mom made her son a ironman costume out of water bottles which i though was really crafty. There was also the dad that made the little robocop outfit out of Juice bottles and then got to meet Peter Weller).

Last but not least what you see is just the shell, Im gonna make more details and hopefully by the end its gonna look a lot better. I'm planing to take an old mp3 player and inbed it into one of the gauntlets under a spring loaded door and hide a set of those small personal speakers in the shoulder missile pods like this https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...=X&ei=zgYoUeq8NpCI9QTvrICwDg&ved=0CIIBEPMCMAA, that way i can make sound effects for the repulsors or just play AC/DC and Black Sabbath for some atmosphere. Then gotta figure out a way to make the eyes stay perma-lit since as they are in the toy mask they turn off after a few secs.
 
Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

smallish update

Got the thighs done with some blue platic tub material and a lot of hot glue, also made a belt for the abs that velcroes in the back, next challenge is to make the feet that im making with leftover corrugated plastic and scraps from the tubs i've used so far. Also made the cod piece from a milk galon jug, and some thin EVA foam, but it looks too much like a thong at this point :)sick) so no pics of that included.
 
Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

Looking good brotha. Keep on keeping on...

I shall XD

Aaaand on that note here's some more small progress pics (I've had the flu twice now since i started this thing so haven't really gotten much done)

Included I've made a neck piece out of thin foamies thereby breaking my self imposed rule of not purchasing stuff to make this, but they were like 0.88 each sheet and i got 2 of them so far at the craft store. I also got the thigh pieces almost ready for paint, and a test fitting with the neck and the cod piece. As per a previous post the cod piece looks like a set of old grandma undies by themselves so i chose to present them as what they look like worn.

Next step is still the shin / boots and i'm at an impasse i have no idea how to go proceed. So far I have tried several things and nothing i'm happy with. Strongly considering getting more foamies and trying to pep them, then use glue/ cloth as hardening agents. If anyone has any other suggestions please share. :unsure
 

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Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

Love the neck piece! Impressive job, given the materials. Keep it up, can't wait to see more!
 
Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

Love the neck piece! Impressive job, given the materials. Keep it up, can't wait to see more!

Thanks :)

SO here's another update, the legs are complete-ish?

This part caused me no end of trouble and it still came out pretty terrible, but I refuse to fiddle with it anymore, I just don't have the skill/ tools / mats & budget to make anything better and im OK w that. I ended up using black elastic pieces to hold the back and front of the shin, and velcro to close and open and make it easier to put on, I can also sit wearing these so that's a plus for their awfulness.

Still on the to do list is making shoes, im gonna just use some old ones and glue plastic around them, finish tweaking the helmet and add some back details then I'll see what else i can think of B4 i start to paint. Im kinda burned out on the whole thing esp since its looking worse than i thought it would but at least I've learned some things and that's never a bad thing eh?
 

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Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man - Shoes update

Next up; SHOES

Took scrap plastic leftovers from the chest and leg parts, covered the front and the heel of an old pair of shoes, hot glued it and glued water bottle caps to the little nubs on the sides, did a quick test paint only one coat and no clear yet. Looks better than i hoped! (which ain't saying much). The blue and grey tubs took well to the paint so that's even better. I'm shooting to be done before June 29th and see if I can make my first CON. Stay Tuned...
P.S. disregard my tiniest peanut in the background who was all excited about daddy's IM shoes.
 

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Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

This looks like it's going excellently! This seems just like the sort of thing I'd do. I don't like spending money, you see. :p So yes, I'm really liking the fact that you're making this so cheaply, 'cause I like to see how people do it. How much money have you spent so far?

Subscribed!
 
Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

I'm really liking the fact that you're making this so cheaply, 'cause I like to see how people do it. How much money have you spent so far?

Huh...let me think.

3x sterilite tubs (i had 2 already and have bought a 3rd since i started) 5.00 each = $15.00

2x packs of high temp hotglue $7.82 (each was 7.82 but got em at 50% off)

2x red foamie sheets .88 ea = $1.76

3x tap lights at the dollar store 1.00 = $3.00

1 pack of velcro, = $3.00

so $30.58 so far, $20.58 out of pocket since i already had 2 of the tubs. All the other pieces are milk jugs and other kind of food containers that i'd been saving up thinking about making this costume over the last 2 years.

The helmet was a gift but I've seen em online for like 10 - 15 on clearance and the back was just left over flooring so again nothing i bought just for this purpose. The gloves are old winter ones (i used to live in RI, but now im FL so i don't need em really), and the shoes are some really old ones that i have held onto just to see if i could fix them into costume shoes. I just added white plastic covers to the eyes on the helmet leaving a slit (ty to Stealth & his videos for that one). And also a look at what the scrap plastic looks like :p
 

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Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

Update w test fitting. Also including;

- the shoulder bells made of 1gal milk jugs,
- painted part of the chest since was annoying to my OCD that it was grey,
- made fingers for the gloves, left the tips w no cover since i want to be able to have dexterity in them.

Left out the thigh parts since i haven't set up a way for them to stay in place (most likely velcro them to the under-suit) But hey its coming together right? Again suggestions comments ect. more than welcome and have a good day!

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Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

Looking awesome i am inspired !!! Really interested in how the helmet turns out i might have to do the same...have you thougt abot making the eyes smaller
 
Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

Looking awesome i am inspired !!! Really interested in how the helmet turns out i might have to do the same...have you thougt abot making the eyes smaller

I have, they are kinda largish but I'm not really wanting to tinker with it and ruin the helmet since its already acceptable (to me at least :D) One thing I thought of was to take the white plastic cover and give it an outline with sharpie or something giving it an "edge" (think like eyeliner) to make the white part seem smaller and thus make the eye look smaller. I also test painted a piece of the flooring i used on the helm and to my dismay found the surface i thought was smooth actually has little dimples (it was a mock wood grain) that come out to play when it's colored red. So I'm annoyed but don't feel like redoing the thing so i guess for now I'll make do. Other changes I'm thinking is gluing some sort of black cloth to the mouth area on the inside to cover the "teeth" gap the toy has. I don't want to block it altogether since I like the fact i can breathe thru it and minimize fogging the lenses. Anyhoo thanks for looking! ^_^

P.S if you do decide to mod a mission mask let me know, that would be cool to see someone else's thought process.
 
Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

That's pretty cool man I like it

Thanks, knowing others appreciate my kooky little build is a huge motivation to finish =)

Here's another small update, some pieces painted with the cheapest walmart red paint i could find hehehe. The forearms look like tall red cups now LOL. Also attached the tops to the gloves, and glued some "details" into the back of the chestpiece. It didn't come out particularly great, but im running out of useful pieces of plastic and i figure the front counts more anyways. I can say that I'm pleased with my progress and the looks of the thing thus far and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Rancorite OUT.


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Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

Helmet finished and painted, I actually went ahead and redid the whole back since the dimples on the vinyl flooring bothered me too much, so i used plastic shampoo bottles instead. Much smoother and I'm way happier with it. Again not any kind of accurate but heck it looks like an Ironman Bucket to the untrained eye so for me its muy Bueno.

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Re: Recycled Budget Iron Man

Hoi RPF, so some updates!

I'm almost done maybe 90ish %, This is a test fitting again with a black undersuit but i'm getting a red one later on. Im gonna blackwash some of the lines on the suit make some detail lines in sharpie and color the back jets silver ect so there's still stuff to do but for now its close to where i wanted to be. I had a lot issues w paint where i painted some pieces and when i went to give it a second coat next day the paint wrinkled horribly, ruining the finish on the shoes, the bicep pieces and the thighs. It still looks ok at a distance but its really annoying : /. I made the gloves with the technique JFcustom posted on his foam thread (i think its someone else's tip but he linked it), so no progress pics on that. Thanks for reading!

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