War Machine, my first Pepakura project...

I'm starting the foam thighs tonight so I headed up to Wal Mart to get some xacto blades. While i was wandering around the newly rearranged store I found the floor mats, almost identical to what I've been buying from Home Depot BUT at WalMart you get 6 sheets of foam for $1.50 more than 4 sheets at Home Depot. Much better deal.

The mats at Wal Mart are found in the isle with the exercise equipment.

Looks like this...
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I think they still may be cheaper at Harbor Freight but that place isn't open in the middle of the night. ;)
 
Hi Gordon,
You rule!
I'm following your way, I've the same exercise mats ready to be cut! I just miss the x-acto blade (the one tht cuts 45 degree angles) as I cannot find it here.

Please keep this post updated, I cannot wait to see your progress!
 
How thick are those mats?? I got the ones from Harbor F. But they are .5 every ones says they use 6mm. 6mm would be .25 so, did I buy the wrong stuff or is it the right stuff and every one else is just daying the wrong size?
 
Wow, looks great! Good job, look forward to seeing the updates.

Thank you!

Ready for an update? here we go..

This is some of the process of the chest and back.

When the chest was pepped it was done as one piece instead of a font and back. I think this actually made considerably more stable when I got around to the fiber glassing part but led to some strange areas that needed addressing....


First, there was no hole for my neck...
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I cut this out with a Dremel using a cutting bit, then sanded down the excess
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After trying the parts out I ended up cutting back quite a bit more (see later photos...)


Next step was separating the front from the back. I had some trouble deciding where to make the cuts until I figured out a plan for how they would be re-connectable. Obviously, the first think I did once they were cut is run inside and put them on in front of the mirror to determine the fit. I noticed right away that the parts along the sides that connect the front and back would be very uncomfortable. They were stiff, stuck out sort of funny and had a really ugly connecting point.

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Foam seemed like a good option to fix this so I started doing some modifications...
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I removed the pointy "flap"? section from the back with the dremel and using some paper and masking tape extended the flat area a few inches and added 2 layers of fiberglass mat
I also cut down the front part of the connection considerably so there will be an overlap between the foam and the fiberglass parts. I'll get a photo of that in the next post....

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After the glass cured the area was trimmed down and cleaned up.




Going through some of the Halloween weekend photos I've found that it becomes really easy to see the weak and strong points on the costume.
BUT, from more than a few feet away, the difference in foam and fiberglass from the chest to the back is pretty seamless. (the midsection... that needs some serious tweaks but i'll get to that soon. ;)


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I'll be doing a "part 2" to this post after I take some more photos of the inside of the chest showing the connections.
 
Hi Gordon,
You rule!
I'm following your way, I've the same exercise mats ready to be cut! I just miss the x-acto blade (the one tht cuts 45 degree angles) as I cannot find it here.

Please keep this post updated, I cannot wait to see your progress!
Thanks! I've been using a box cutter to do the main cutting then using an exacto (the smaller size "A" seems to work fine) for cutting the details and curves in the foam. I dont' have a 45 degree cutter but haven't had much problem doing it by hand. I was actually really nervous about it when I started but it's much easier than expected.


How thick are those mats?? I got the ones from Harbor F. But they are .5 every ones says they use 6mm. 6mm would be .25 so, did I buy the wrong stuff or is it the right stuff and every one else is just daying the wrong size?
The mats I've been using are .5 inch. (same size as harbor freight) they work fine. I've only needed anything thinner on two spots so far and for those spots, I just cut the foam in half. fillet it like a fish. I think the thinner stuff seems almost too thin for some of the larger areas but would probably work great for some things, like the neck and hands.
 
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how did you hook the bicep to the gauntlet? I did not see a elbow file in the Foam WM temps. Also, what did you do for the FN2000 on the side of the gaunts?

thanks
 
Your chest piece looks awesome so far..great job dude
Thanks!

how did you hook the bicep to the gauntlet? I did not see a elbow file in the Foam WM temps. Also, what did you do for the FN2000 on the side of the gaunts?

thanks
No connection at the moment. Right now the elbows are made from fiberglass. The forearms fit pretty snug on my arms and don't seem like they'll slide off but I did put a little loop in the inside of the hand guards to keep them from rotating around. No guns on the forearms yet but I'm going to try to get at least a temporary version done this week. I pepped some out of paper but I'm an idiot and ruined them. I'll post photos of that in a future post....
 
Wow this looks amazing!
Thanks!


which pep file did you use? can you link pls?
Yeah, I'll find them here soon. Check out Stealth's foam Iron Man page for a few. I used the foam Iron man template for the feet and neck. I also used the HD pepakura versions for most of the other parts. I'll try to link to the thread here if I can find it. I just finished converting the HD thigh file to work with foam.

I had a chance to wear the suit at the Tampa Bay Comic Con this weekend (Tied for first place in the costume contest with another war machine!) .


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I've been trying to upgrade a few things since Halloween.
They eyes have been redone and are much more compact now BUT the red diffuser, when moved closer to the LEDs, no longer makes the eyes glow red. SO, I'll be buying actual red LEDs sometime in the next few weeks and swap them.


Still some finishing work to go on them but the new foam thighs were a lifesaver. SO much easier to walk around in, up and down stairs, no pinching.
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Also built a really quick version of the forearm guns. All made from foam scraps and old computer parts along with some random things i found around the house. Biggest problem with these is that the extra weight pulled the forearms lower on my arms than the previous times I wore the suit. I'll have to attach them to the bicep now or add some extra padding inside to prevent this for next time.
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These will eventually be replaced but I think they'll do for now.

Almost finished the shoulder canon but couldn't quite pull the mounting system together in time for the con..
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I'll get an update with some new photos soon and better details/links to the pep files I used.

Also, I'm planning on doing a video tour of the suit in the next few weeks. If anyone has requests on what you would like to see, weather it be on the suit, or more detail on how something was built, let me know and I'll try to incorporate it.
 
Very VERY awsome.. the forearm guns are pretty serious looking too.... You scratch built those??

Thanks!
Yeah, I made them mostly from foam scraps. The greebly parts are mostly from an old computer. Anything that I found find doubles of. There is an old alarm clock there that i cut in half and use the speaker grills on both sides.
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I sanded the edges a bit since this photo which helped to even out the foam blocks before painting.

The barrels are PVC tips, about 30 cents each. Also a few pieces of the ribbed mat I used for my C3PO belly.

I'll clean them up some more as time permits and hopefully steer toward something more accurate.
 
Also built a really quick version of the forearm guns. All made from foam scraps and old computer parts along with some random things i found around the house.
You make me sick! :lol I spent days trying to figure out how to make mine. Your guns do look slick though!
Is the gatling made out of foam too? Could you post some pics of how you mount it to your suit? When I first made mine, I used PVC and it weighed a ton! It kept pulling my chest to one side. I remade it in foam, but it still pulls slightly.
A bit of critque if I may. I notice your first ab plate, the one under the chest is connected to the rest of your abs. I think you would benefit by connecting it to the chest.
Also, what colors did you use?
I see you're slowly making the transition to foam. It's only a matter of time...

Great work!
 
You make me sick! :lol I spent days trying to figure out how to make mine. Your guns do look slick though!
Is the gatling made out of foam too? Could you post some pics of how you mount it to your suit? When I first made mine, I used PVC and it weighed a ton! It kept pulling my chest to one side. I remade it in foam, but it still pulls slightly.
A bit of critque if I may. I notice your first ab plate, the one under the chest is connected to the rest of your abs. I think you would benefit by connecting it to the chest.
Also, what colors did you use?
I see you're slowly making the transition to foam. It's only a matter of time...

Great work!

Thanks!
Yeah, you're right about the top ab. It keeps popping out when I move around BUT I have a fix for it that will work great as soon as I can set it up.
I would (actually almost did) attach it to the chest but the way the chest/back fasten together it prevents the ab part from being mounted properly. Hard to explain but when I Take some video I'll be sure to show that so you can see what I mean.

Right now the shoulder gun is partially foam, resin coated cardboard tube, and pvc. it's a little heavy but not horrible yet. I'll have it mounted to the suit soon but got a ton of work the last two weeks and it's putting a crimp on my personal time. ;)
I made some PDF templates for it. I'll add them here when I clean the file up. not screen accurate but will worked with the supplies I had on hand. (PVC tubing, and Cardboard Tubes)
 
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