Iron Man Mark 4 build-inprog

[Seneschal]

I figured I'd make a thread about this more to motivate myself to actually work on the thing than for any other reason.

This is my second armor-type build ever. First one was a foam automail arm with shoulder port held on by clear vinyl strap to look like a prosthetic arm. Worked out fairly well as I got asked while hanging out at the mall in costume one day if I was in the army and lost my arm...but anyhow.

This one's a bit of a project. I'm going for Iron Man Mark 4, as accurate to the recent movies as possible. I choose the Mark 4 because it's my favorite of them, so far. I like the sleek lines and the curves and, generally, the overall 'sexiness' of the suit.

I am trying to keep this thread as organized as possible, to satisfy my own OCD need for organization in the written word. So. Expect this to be long, because, well. I'm anal. <3

Quick overview of posts:
1. Explanation/list of expected problems/navigation/Material list/running expense list
2. Plans/list of things to do
3. Reference pics (and later, complete pics)
4. Sketches/plans/designs on paper
5.


Material List (And running expense list)


Materials so far, list form + cost: (Updated: 8/4/2012)
Printer paper, on hand
Pencils/pens/sharpies, on hand
4 sheets of 48''x48''x 0.093'' High Impact Styrene $163.89 (including taxes + shipping) (Arrived: 7/28/2012)
2x 1 yard of 3/4'' black elastic: $0.97/ea
Black leggings (for undersuit)--$8.00
Black tee shirt (for undersuit)--$4.48
Black stretch fabric--Had on hand from old project, free
Foam, batting--had on hand from old project, free
Thread, black--Had on hand, free
Heat gun--$24.97

TOTAL as of 8/4/2012: $203.28



Gonna put a few ref pics of the styrene up, lol, just for the sake of posterity. And because, not gonna lie, I was squealing and excited over the thirty pound package of plastic the FedEx guy brought today. Lol. Super lame, but that's ok. <3

Expected Materials:
Rivets---Some Ungodly Number
Paint
Clear coat
Clear plastic of some kind--12''x24''
Rubber bits--or silicone + molding supplies
Nylon straps, 1'' to 2'' wide
Buckles, etc to go with the nylon straps (all of it black)
A pair of shoes
LED lights, plus wires, batteries, etc.
Various bits of hardware
Craft foam--have some on hand already, will probably need another roll
I dunno, other stuff....


General other...stuff, like me talking:
8/4/2012: I looked around a bit while at the store for some kind of lights, just getting ideas. I'm not sure yet how I want to do that part, or how much I'll need. I'm trying to find something that's already close to what I need, so that I can just pirate it and alter it to suit my purposes, rather than have to buy all the raw materials and work from scratch. No progress on that front yet, but I'm starting to get ideas.

 

[Seneschal]

Potential problems, before beginning:

1. Proportions
The Iron Man designed for the movies has unrealistic proportions. The suit is 6'5'' tall, with proportions similar in unrealism to that of the Barbie proportions--NOBODY is built like Iron man, just like nobody is built like Barbie. My problem here is twofold, though. Not only are the proportions of the suit unrealistic compared to normal human body proportion, well. I'm a woman.

Essentially, what I'm doing here is making myself--5'4'', 103lbs, with waist 23 inches and hips 36 inches, into something that looks believably masculine. First issue is height--easy to fix. I'm planning to affix shoes set at an incline plane atop a lightweight platform, probably solid cork, to give me (and this is my hope) 7 inches. This should put me around 6' tall, plus an extra inch or two for helmet. So--close to the right height.

Second issue; my shoulders aren't massive masculine shoulders. Solution--build out the shoulders of the suit, and the torso, to offer a broader shoulder and chest set. Conveniently, I won't have to bind my chest down, as the chest will need to be built out to allow for the larger frame. Meaning I also have plenty of room for the lights/batteries/etc for the arc reactor in the chest. (And also, for those of you who don't know, it HURTS to bind your chest down for more than a few hours at a time. As in, bruised ribs hurt.) The broad chest and shoulders should help make my hips, which will be as close to the surface of the armor as possible with only enough padding to allow comfort, appear within acceptable proportions for the overall look of the suit.

The ankle and foot area is going to be a challenge in and of itself, since, with my plan, my toes will actually be closer to the middle of the foot than near the toes...meaning somehow, my entire shoe will need to pivot when the ankle joint bends, to allow for natural looking flexion, and the toe of the boot will have to be slightly weighted while also jointed, to allow for flexion without the foot wanting to raise the toe. I can probably avoid most of these issues by taking some liberties with design which will stand up to casual observation while allowing me the space in the ankle that I need.


2. Electricity/wiring/lights/circuitry
...The issue here is that I know literally nothing about electricity, lights, or circuits, other than 'push the button and it turns on'. I'm going to have to learn it, because I want lights in the palms, chest, and eyes. I've also heard mention around of mechanized and automatic faceplate lifting, and, you know. I want it. Not sure if I can figure it out, but I WANT it. Picture me making grabby hands, and yes, that's accurate.


3. Symmetry
...Not even going to lie, I suck at symmetry. Hate trying to make anything symmetric. I'm not really worried about individual pieces being symmetric, since honestly I've already figured out how to avoid that, but my problem is making sure all my curves and angles are symmetrical, because it will drive me crazy even if nobody else will notice if it is. This is probably going to be the biggest issue I have throughout, because historically it has always been a problem for me. Expect some hissing and hair-pulling over this issue.


4. Visibility. I've seen other iron man suits that probably have about 5% visibility compared with the normal amount. This is an ISSUE for me. No. NO. I want as much visibility as possible. I have a plan in mind for this, though, that should give me excellent visibility. I won't be utilizing the eye-slits in the visor for vision, at all.


5. Dexterity/flexibility
My last build was a foam arm that, due to necessity of the character, was worn on my dominant arm. It was built such that I was able to write, type, use forks and knives and basically do anything I wanted other than use chopsticks while wearing it, and I was able to rotate my arm with a nearly complete range of motion. I want to replicate this in the suit. I already know how I'm doing the hands, and it will allow me that level of dexterity while still looking movie-accurate.

It's mostly a matter of maintaining that flexibility in the suit throughout, which means a heck of a lot of moving parts. I've already got a strong idea of how I'm going to overcome this. Part of that is in my materials (more on that below) and part of it is in the method. Well. More the patience than the method, since the method is fairly simple in and of itself; implementing it is going to be an exercise in patience and attention to detail. And a lot of rivets and joints.


6. Painting
I'm not AFRAID of painting....but I'm afraid of painting THIS. My worst fear is, I've finished the whole thing, and I paint it...and screw it up. So. I'm worried about that. I plan on painting with an airbrush, and am also concerned about the type of paint and the durability of the paint; I don't want it scratching always. So, I'm also planning a clearcoat for durability. Which brings me to...


7. Durability
I don't want to spend months building a suit that will proceed to crack/break/scratch/etc. the first time I trip over my own feet and fall on my face (yeah, I expect that.) or that will generally not hold up well to a little abuse. Therefore, that put fiberglass right out of the picture from day one. I also ruled out cardboard and foam out as potential materials because I have used foam, and while I found it very easy and pleasant to work with as a medium, it doesn't hold up to abuse well at all. So I was left with one thing, that I'd thought of before but dismissed: Plastic.

I selected high-impact polystyrene for its durability, waterproofed-ness, versatility, and for the fact that it's strong without being exceptionally bulky. Also, it being plastic means that I don't have to spend hours and hours trying for a smooth surface (hopefully!!!). Further, it's a thermoplastic, meaning I can work it with a heat gun (gonna grab one for about $15 from a home improvement store) and my hands (gloves, children!) in a fashion very similar to how I did my foam armor---additionally this means that the techniques I learned on the foam automail will still be applicable to this build, so I won't be completely without experience when workingon this.

I also know that between the joints I want to be as movie accurate as possible, and will borrow from the techniques used by the actual special effects team from the Iron Man 1 movie who built the suit; I'm going to use flexible rubber pieces in the joints. I'll either see if I can find something that will work that I don't have to completely fabricate, or I'll sculpt, mold, and cast some out of dragonskin silicone rubber or something similar. I lean to the silicone for the durability and for Problem #5; it's super stretchy and flexible, so will allow me the greatest range of motion.

As for strapping, it'll be attached together in some places with plain rivets put through the plastic, and in other places, nylon webbing attached to a harness I'll be making, probably with buckled aplenty, and padding to prevent chafing and to distribute the weight. Which brings me to...


8. Weight/comfort
This thing is probably going to be heavy. I just got my (first) shipment of plastic in. It's just under 1/8in thick, and 4 sheets of 48''x48'' weigh 30 pounds. That's THIRTY PERCENT of my body weight, right there, in one fell swoop. I can carry it, yes, but it needs to be comfortable. I am actually concerned I may need more plastic than that, truth be told, so this thing may end up around 50lbs, including underarmor, webbing, rubber, batteries, shoes, etc. So I am very concerned about strapping it all to lay comfortably--and this is the part I'm most concerned about, actually, as it's the part that I have the least experience with. I've plans to distribute a great deal of weight to my hips, since my center of gravity is my hips, and I don't want my back/shoulders hurting. Still. This is an issue.

Heat is also an issue, and a lot of the reason I am looking at foam builds and RUNNING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. I live in Florida, and I live inland, meaning heat, humidity, and no ocean breeze. Foam is a fantastic insulator, and if I lived in, I dunno, Canada, I'd be all over foam, but considering I live where I do...heat is an issue. I'm figuring for some kind of breathable undersuit, and maybe try for some ventilation slits in the helmet. I might go the direction of fursuiters and install a computer fan into the helmet.


9. ....GOOD LORD WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO OH MY GOD.
...Yep, that's about right.


I'm sure I missed some, in there, but ehh. This is my first suit, I'm allowed to miss some. ;D

 

[Seneschal]

Plan:
Here's where I'll put my plans, things to do, and progress points.

Planning stage: (currently here as of 7/28/2012)
1. Work through challenges of the piece on paper and in head [Partly done]
2. Sketch ideas [Partly done]
3. Trace body outline, draw plans for suit taking into account body underneath-vs-desired outcome [Upper body, arms, front and back done--need to do upper body/arms from the side, legs front, legs back, legs inside and outside, foot details)
4. Begin rough sketches for the pattern [Fingers and hand begun]
5. Tighten up pattern sketches, working on sizing
6. Make reinforced paper pattern, cut out and sized accurately to body

Undersuit: Needs to be done, at least partially, before costume
1. Sketch out undersuit design
2. Buy a few used backpacks from resale store--broad, cushy shoulder pieces.
3. Buy/make a thin black fabric undersuit--consider mesh in underarms, back of knees, etc. for breathability, need everything stretchy and breathable, and skin tight.
4. Harness--make it, or at least the basic parts of it. Buy webbing as well.
5 Padding--needs to be either sewn on, or attached to inside of armor (leaning towards attached to undersuit)---at least needs to be designed and sized and cut.

Armor plates:
1. Size the paper pattern over the undersuit and padding, adjust sizing as necessary.
2. Here's the part I'm still not 100% on--thinking about making a foam version as well, and either using the foam part as a pattern for the Styrene, since it;s about the same thickness, or do the foam and ATTACH the styrene on top of it, but that would increase the bulk of the armor. Not sure on this yet.---Measure, size, cut foam mock-up.
3. Measure, trace patterns onto styrene. Measure thrice, cut once! Make cuts. Will probably use either my heat tool or a cutting blade on a dremel tool; leaning towards the dremel now that I've seen how thick the styrene is.
4. Use heat gun to begin working the styrene into the curves and bends it needs
5. First fittings; assemble with string, not actual rivets, test-wear the armor. Adjust as necessary.
6. More adjustment phase.
7. Second fitting.

Underarmor Part 2:
1. Gotta get all the strapping planned out at this point, and prepared!
2. Joint rubber--it needs done.
3. Shoes. Rig them, um, somehow.

Armor Part 2:
1. Paint the pieces once they're all set to go.
2. Paint 'em again.
3. Maybe a third coat.
4. Clearcoat time!!!
5. More clearcoat, because scratches are my enemy.
6. Let it dry. Lots of dryin'.
7. Assemble for real, with rivets and all that jazz.
8. Attach webbing, work on adjusting all straps, etc.


Ehh, I know I'm missing steps in there. Like the wiring, which probably will be attached after painting. Also, the helmet is gonna be my last thing, because I'm really unsure about it--I want that mobile faceplate, and also want the visibility I mentioned earlier. I have the plans for that in my brainmeats, but no telling how it'll translate from brainmeats into reality. I'll play with it in paper, and probably in a few other materials, before I try it with the real deal.


I'll probably start with most of this on the hands--because I'm comfortable with the hands, and I've done them before. I already know how all the mechanisms will work, and I also like doing tiny fiddly things. So it's all good.

 

[Seneschal]

Reference pics:

Sketches/Plans/designs

Here are what I have so far, as far as paper drawings/sketches go.

These are life-sized tracings of my body, with freehanded drawings of what will go over it. This is an exercise in familiarizing myself with the parts, and helping myself picture how this will be assembled and attach together. It is also a great exercise in understanding how this will fit over my body, and the various proportions involved. It is NOT a scale drawing of the suit, and it is nowhere NEAR symmetrical--it's not meant to be. It's a freehanded familiarization technique, that's all--this is for me. And, well, it looks kinda cool.

Perspective is a bit distorted because I took these with my phone, first standing on the ground and later on a chair. Lol.

Have not gotten to the legs yet, though. It's coming. Along with side views of it all. Heavily referenced screencaps and Marvel toys and promotional material.

These were done over the course of about 2 days.


NOTES ABOUT SKETCHES: The green lines, if you can see them, is the outline of my body. The black is the joins between the suit plates/contours of the plates.

More to come, I plan to work on the legs today.

 

[I am Fuzzy Bear]

 

[sgtski]

You sure are putting in the prep work. I will be watching this for sure. Best of luck on this.

 

[TheRabbit]

Since it looks like you're going to be doing so much custom work anyway, why don't you do some sort of Iron woman suit instead?
Something like this looks distinctively "iron man" but at the same time conveys some femininity:

 

[Bulbxsaur]

Since it looks like you're going to be doing so much custom work anyway, why don't you do some sort of Iron woman suit instead?
Something like this looks distinctively "iron man" but at the same time conveys some femininity:

I agree It sure would be original and just down right amazing!

 

[TheRabbit]

After more searching it appears this already exists. Pepper Potts dons a suit of her own and calls herself Rescue:

However, Pepper's suit has a stupid frowny face. If you do this, please don't have a dumb frowny face helmet.

 

[Seneschal]

While those pictures are very interesting, and very unique, to be honest I'm wanting to stick to the original designs. It'll be difficult, but I relish the challenge. And I really just like the regular Iron Man suit.

But thanks for the suggestions, I'd never seen either of those pictures before! Maybe after I do this one, I'll go back and do a female version just because that'd be a really neat display, to have a male and female version standing there, haha.

No update this morning because I'm lazy and sketches are still in the 'what-is-that-supposed-to-be-is-that-a-leg?' phase. Maybe tonight, depending on how late I'm out with my friend. I have this plastic sitting in my room and I just want to get it out and start cutting, but I'm nowhere near that point...I can tell having it there is just gonna drive me crazy til I can start working on it, lol.

 

[DBmike]

Good luck with your project, though I think tHe design ideas the guys above have had would really give you a unique edge I still think regardless this is unique enough. Your the first female to build an iron man suit as it is!

 

[Seneschal]

Am I really the first female to try it? I wouldn't have thought so. Well, we'll see how this goes. Quick update to show the rather disproportionate (going to have to play with things on the outer thigh and the design of the front plate, and perhaps use some creative deception to make it look like it doesn't hug the outer hip area as much as it will--less accurate, but more proportional.) beginnings of the leg sketches. Got a little under half of the front drawn in, and will be following up with the other half in the next little while. Please excuse the skewing of the photo, took it while standing on a chair off to the side.

Also, below that is a quickie of the plastic I'm using. I just wanted to show the thickness of it. Again, just under an eighth of an inch. It may be a bit thick for the fingers though--I'm thinking about pirating from a few old joint compound buckets we have laying around for the more delicate areas that need to be thinner, such as the hands and wrists. I'm also eventually going to get around to drawing out the plans for those little things on the top of the hands/wrist area, and figure out how I want to attach them (probably hidden rivets on top of the palm and forearm with raised areas that I really can't explain but visualize very well) to allow for flexion.

Anyhow, more pictures, less rambling:

 

[DBmike]

haha sorry I meant to say probably the first as it is as far as i've seen
I type so fast and change my mind on what I want to say far too often and then post with out reading.
I'm quite keen to see how it all goes, I've fancied trying to use plastic to build a suit. What kind of plastic is it? just regular plastic sheet?

 

[Seneschal]

Lol no need to apologize, I was just surprised. Typing this at work on my phone, so please forgive any typos.

The plastic is just high impact styrene, from a plastics company. It's a thermoplastic, should be workable above 180F. I'll be heat gunning it, probably as low of a temp as I can manage.

 

[DBmike]

Yh for some reason my iPhone can't keep up with my typing speed
Sounds good, can't wait to see how it turns out. It may be a new material I'll try on my next build

 

[Sealgair]

This is a very ambitious project I'm excited to see how you're making progress! One hint from me: Do not ever feel about anything being a waste of time when it didn't come out as you wanted it. This was what pulled me down once but the guys on the forum kept me in high spirits.

But anyway, with all you thorough planning and stuff, this WILL come out great!

 

[TheRabbit]

Any updates Sen? How's the planning going?

 

[Seneschal]

Jeez didn't mean to take so long on replying here...sorry guys. Work kind of wiped me out this week. I haven't gotten nearly as much done on it as I would have liked. I have, however, started on plans for the undersuit and the main harness I plan to attach much of the strapping to. No pictures of that, but I'll be buying some of the materials for it and maybe beginning sewing this weekend. I don't usually get much time in the evenings for it, and especially not this week, so it's slower than I'd like.

Thanks for the support, Sealgair! No need to worry about discouragement on my part. I'm used to this kind of thing. Well, not the armor part. Lol. The rest of it.

I'm working on paper patterns for the hands tonight. I've finally figured out how I want to do the fingertips with the plastic, which has been bothering me for a few days. A couple sets of paper mock-ups have helped solve the issue, and now I'm just sizing and cutting out paper mock-ups/patterns to base the plastic ones off of. I'll probably be using a different plastic than the stuff I bought for the hands, since the pieces need to be small, thin, and light--the stuff I bought is rather thick for those, so I'll probably pirate from some buckets. Provided I can get the buckets, once I get the paper mock-ups finished, the gauntlets should move along fairly quickly.

Also: I need to buy that dang heat gun soon, lol.

Plans for the weekend:
-Finish paper mock-ups/patterns for the fingers/hands
-Shopping trip for:
>Buckets
>Heat gun
>Tight black cotton-blend pants, tight long-sleeved black cotton-blend shirt, black stretchy fabric, and either thin foam or thick batting, and probably some bands of elastic and nylon webbing.
-Start on undersuit/padding

Expect pictures tonight or tomorrow on progress on the gauntlet paper mock-ups.

 

[Seneschal]

Aaand update with photos. Crappy photos taken by my cell phone, but photos. Top and bottom of the first mock-ups of the pattern. Please ignore all the messy lines and loose tape; I want them to be easy to remove so that I can alter them as I go. Much trimming to be done, yes, much trimming indeed...

Note that the gaps between them will need to be widened significantly on the palm-side, to allow for better movement. As they are the movement is decent (I was wearing it while attaching each piece, using both hands) but I want it smoother--and once I get the rubber bits between the joints, and have all the elastic inside for attachment, it'll be bulkier. That's why I'm measuring loose, and wearing the glove--to simulate the bulk of the piece. Of course, I'll be wearing gloves under the lot anyways, to prevent chafing, so I need the bulk for sizing.

I'm trying to stick to movies as close as possible, which means I need to be careful of the fold lines along the top and sides to keep them matching one another, and when the fingers are straight the tops of the joints need to be as close together as possible without actually overlapping. The bottom side doesn't need to be that tight-fitting though, thankfully.

 

[PigBenis]

no way words can express my excitment for this project !!!

I love the way you do it .. i for myself thought about pepping it but dunno.. it will be sure my next project and im glad that u building it so i can mybe watch a bit and learn from you
keep up the good work sexy iron manlady !