3-D Printing the ULTIMATE Iron Man Suit

ZacharyHurst

ZacharyHurst

Active Member
Alright all you awesome RPFers This is an all points bulletin sent out to all the greats out there. I have been offered the use of an entire production studio in the pursuit of the perfect Iron Man replica! Stealth, Robo, all you guys involved in the tutorials, I NEED YOUR HELP. We need the most detailed mark four files in pdf format and any advice you have on servo and rigging problems. The goal is to create a suit with the accurate bulk of the live shots in the film and be able to do cartwheels and rollovers in it with no damage. I am talking about an "all weapons and flaps functioning" killer replica. this will take time and money but I have them both in a slow, steady supply. PLEASE all of you builders who are so much more experienced than I, Tell me the problems to expect, Teach me O Great Ones. Help me to build something special. This will take some time but I will update with pics and all credits as we progress. I have access to sculptors who work for Mcfarlane in Az., roto casting, 3-D printers, and experienced armor designers who work for the military. Non of them are going to have direct hands on this. They will teach me then I with your advice will make this thing. this will be a testament to what we are capable of doing without million dollar budgets because it makes us happy! Thank you all for your awesome advice and support on my past builds. Here are the pics of my "shed built" suits so far and the room I built to display them in. Note, the room is in a 10X30 storage shed that I converted into a man cave for display.
 
This is too much just for a super accurate iron man suit. You can build it with just the pep files and some sanding. No need to go to all these lengths.

why do you want brand new super accurate mark 4 files anyways?

Use the original Robo3687 mark 4 ones for paper. Those are pretty great
Add the details with a lot of reference and some sanding etc to get it as accurate as you need it.

Just a lot of over kill for something you could build right at home with no need for this extreme army of sculptors, casters etc.

I think guys like, Finhead, surreal studios, fingaz, ( and many more) have proved this so far.

Their builds were just good ol fashioned paper pep.
Just think it through and plan it out a little more realistically.

This is what concerns me
" cartwheels and roll overs with no damage"

you can't have it all with one of these suits. They're props not a stunt suit.
You'd need to cast the whole thing in Urethane and find a way to paint it without cracking the texture of the paint, which is even more $$$

bah, so many variables. I'm not gonna get into it. lol

good luck man
 
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STEALTH said:
This is too much just for a super accurate iron man suit. You can build it with just the pep files and some sanding. No need to go to all these lengths.

why do you want brand new super accurate mark 4 files anyways?

Use the original Robo3687 mark 4 ones for paper. Those are pretty great
Add the details with a lot of reference and some sanding etc to get it as accurate as you need it.

Just a lot of over kill for something you could build right at home with no need for this extreme army of sculptors, casters etc.

I think guys like, Finhead, surreal studios, fingaz, ( and many more) have proved this so far.

Their builds were just good ol fashioned paper pep.
Just think it through and plan it out a little more realistically.

This is what concerns me
" cartwheels and roll overs with no damage"

you can't have it all with one of these suits. They're props not a stunt suit.
You'd need to cast the whole thing in Urethane and find a way to paint it without cracking the texture of the paint, which is even more $$$

bah, so many variables. I'm not gonna get into it. lol

good luck man
Click to expand...

Yeah Stealth, It is alot of overkill But as when were children and you got access to a bunch of cool new toys sometimes I get all excited and run out to tell all the other boys on the block! I really am just a garage build hobby guy and I have gotten really lucky to have met a group of skilled artist who for whatever reason like me enough to let me onto their playground. This will be expensive and I am not rolling in money but, My job only requires 4 days out of my month and I can spend the rest of my time fully dedicated to other projects. This will not be a quickie build and The little kid in me wants this. As far as the stunt toughness of the suit, The roman armor builder who contracts with museums says he can teach me some buliding and finishing techniques to make it a full mobility suit with a high tolerance for impacts ETC.... And YES I think that the existing files are the best ref in the world. As I run into the coming roadblocks I will be on here asking all of you for your knowledge, You guys really are the best in the world.
 
Not saying it can't be done, and look amazing - because it can!

Nealbombad made this amazing suit of armor using his own personal 3D printer.

CosBlog # 69: Cecil Harvey by NealBomBad - News - www.GameInformer.com

Which as you can see looks incredible. But he also admits that he spent (about) $4000 in the ABS plastic material alone to get it done. What is even more incredible is that he got the machine at a deal (because it was discontinued - a $30,000 Dimension printer) and this was the FIRST thing he made with it! Not making small things to sell to pay off the initial cost. Nope, just make a full suit of armor lol

I see a lot of guys starting 3D print builds but this is the only one I have seen follow through with it. I'd honestly contact him if you are serious about dropping this kind of money. Because at this level, even though it is available to the individual hobbyist - it is still going to be a studio production budget.

God speed Sir! I would love to see an IM suit finished like this!
 
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Ladies and Gentlmen - The FUTURE. Thanks for the link Axiom, that is just unreal. Its only downhill from here - soon that will be the norm.
 
Got Maul said:
Ladies and Gentlmen - The FUTURE. Thanks for the link Axiom, that is just unreal. Its only downhill from here - soon that will be the norm.
Click to expand...

That dawned on me as well, Got Maul! how many times in life do you get the opportunity to be involved in a phenomenon as it goes through a paradigm shift? This is all of our chance to say "Yeah, I was there when......" It really is kinda exciting for those of us who grew up idolizing the great ones like dykstra, and muren, and the rest of those guys who took what was on hand and created the best memories of my childhood. We are the men and women who are making it possible for the first time in history for our dreams to come off the screen and into our kids lives and that I think is pretty cool.
 
That 3D printed armor is absolutely amazing! I wonder if such a feat could be accomplished on a Rep Rap or Makerbot. All I have to say is WOW!
 
This would be awesome if it could be done. But to my knowledge, a fully functional Mark IV doesn't exist. To make one would be amazing. But even the screen used Mark III was very fragile and had limited mobility... Most of the cool stuff was CG.

Look forward to what you come up with.
 
Well life has taken me in a completely different direction and It looks like I will be following the sage advice of a lot of guys here. We will be casing and molding a new version of the suit and creating a mark VII and a more refined version of the Mark IV. Thank you all for your interest.
 
Aw man, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure the quality of your Mark VII will be great. I was hoping to compare my 3D printed progress against that of someone who has built suits before. I can get my head around 3D printing, but the whole casting process is foreign to me. Good luck!
 
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