RaideR6672 Iron Man Build WIP

[RaideR6672]

So, I've been hanging around for a little while and been minding my own, then I got to thinking, I'm not really contributing much to this, I am just taking. So, here I go, starting my contribution.

Here are some pictures of my Iron Man Mark VI by Robo3687 and helmet by Sharkmark. After lots of searching, I haven't found a better set of peps for the build. These guys' attention to details is amazing... makes for some tough pepping, but amazing none the less.

It has been too cold in Utah to be hardening anything up, so I am just getting all of the pep work done, and as soon as it warms up, I will start hardening. I am hoping to have everything done by Halloween 2011. My company had a costume contest every year and the winner gets $200. I have yet to win anything at work, but this is going to be my year!

Let me know what you think!

And just for the heck of it. This was the helmet I made for my brother-in-law for Christmas. Unfortunately, I was in such a hurry to get it done for Christmas that I didn't take any other pictures. Let's just say I think this was as good as it looked. Being my first build, I had no idea what I was doing with the Resin and Bondo and it didn't turn out quite like I wanted.

(I'm not sure who the credit goes to on this one. Got it off the halo armor wiki page and no credit was given).

Let me know what you think!

 

[geoat2t]

the suit look awsome ...how long did it take??

 

[RaideR6672]

thanks geoat2t! I haven't been keeping track of the amount of time. I've been working on it since Christmas 2010, but life and the wife keep me busy. Looking at the chest and back on my dummy, it looks like I am going to have to re-do those and make them slightly bigger.... so it's going to take a bit longer. I will most likely keep the current chest and back and try to convert it to a female suit for my wife... we'll see.

 

[dsbass09]

Looking good. Can't wait to see more!

 

[geoat2t]

that cool im tryin to hook my wife up too . but she hate the mess i make .....lol

 

[RaideR6672]

So, it has been a long time since I have added to this post.

I didn't want to become one of those people who start a project with all ambition to finish and then drop the project at the first sign of problems. I did finish, and it felt good! Below are some pictures of the finished suit.

I started out with a full-on Pep project, but with some gentle shoving by my good friend Timecon, I was convinced to move to a foam project. While I received some guidance from Timecon and was kind enough to share his templates, I did cut, glue and paint this myself.

Thank you Timecon! Would not be possible without you!

Credit does need to go to Timecon for the helmet. He did have a mold from a while ago and we spent a few hours on a Saturday afternoon casting the helmet. I was on my third pep of the helmet and I could not get the Rondo method to work for me. So I invested in some SmoothCast 321.

 

[phixix]

What a way to start a thread! The entire suit looks amazing, very well done! Will we be seeing more pics?

-Phi

 

[Spartan119]

Way to hit the ground running! This suit looks amazing, and the lights look really great! Can't wait to see more pics

 

[vshore100]

Looks great man. Nice and beefy!

 

[RaideR6672]

Looks great man. Nice and beefy!

Yeah, I'm not the skinniest of guys. I have been told that some like beefier look. Co-workers and friends can't stop talking about it, and that, I think, it was it's all about. Now everyone can't wait for the next project to be finished.

Here are some pictures on my War Machine progress. Trying to get done for The Avengers Movie.

 

[vshore100]

That pep is a pain in the buttocks, but definitely worth it once complete. Nice work so far.

 

[RaideR6672]

That pep is a pain in the buttocks, but definitely worth it once complete. Nice work so far.

It sounds like you have pepped it before. There are a lot of small pieces and it does get challenging. The jaw appears to be the most difficult part of the build, maybe aside from the HD Eye Piece, so I hope the hard part is over. I have already put in about 10 hours.

So, with the assumption that you have built this before, did you build the eye piece? I don't see how you would harden the eye piece, but without it, there is a gaping slit over the nose.

Also, some other thoughts I've had while contemplating this build... How did you go about hardening the mohawk, "grill" portion on the jaw, and the ears? They are all separate pieces. I was thinking of just hardening those separately and making solid pieces and then attaching them after the fact, but I'm worried about warping and then not fitting properly.

I am planning on making a mold and doing a cast of the helm so those parts would not be an issue at that point, but just getting to the point where I can prep the helm for a mold is where I'm worried.

 

[vshore100]

Honestly, I only pepped and resined it for a customer. But as I pepped it, I thought you could cut a small hole on the back side of the mohawk, and pour a runny mixture of rondo in, tape the hole up, then slush it around good. You would want to set the pieces in a way that they wouldn't warp once the rondo started to cure. Same with the ears. I've done this on other pieces with great success.

As far as the eye piece goes, I did pep it, but it was a nightmare. Honestly, I had to cut little pieces off here and there glue, cut, glue, until it fit and looked right. It was probably the worst part of the build. Here is a link to pics of the war machine helmet pep I did if you are interested. Hope it works out for you buddy. I look forward to seeing more on your build. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[RaideR6672]

Just a quick updated...

This is what usually happens after 6 hours of pepping...

And compared to my Iron Man helm...

 

[Tenebrus]

Nice pep skills! but yeah i know the feeling after an entire afternoon of peping you can start to feel a bit derpy. I gotta do an iron man suit one day... too bad my spartan isn't done yet :$

 

[RaideR6672]

Okay everyone, just a quick update. I am sure you are probably tired of my updates on just pepping, but I want you to know that I am still in the game. This has been a difficult pep, but as vshore100 said, it is so worth it! So far I have been extremely happy with the results.

It's not in the picture, but I have finished the ears, so the only thing left is the eye piece. I think I will be ready to harden this baby by Saturday, if not earlier! I have tried the Resin and Rondo method only to be disappointed with the results. The two mistakes I made with that method: 1) I did a crappy job with the resin, so there were globs of resin all over and I had filled in some of the details, which were a pain to try to correct. 2) I mixed batches of Rondo that were too big, I didn't mix them very well, and I was rushed. So the result was a warped helmet with a lot of detail missing, the sucker smelled bad for a long time (because it didn't cure all the way), and a stinky house.

This time around I am going to be using SmoothCast 320. I used SmoothCast 320 for the final of my Iron Man helmet and I am extremely happy with the results. It's easy and can be used indoors. I will post more pictures when I have finished the hardening.

 

[vshore100]

It looks really clean. Nice work!

 

[spartanx360]

can you see trough your iron man helmet with the lights on? if yes, how did you do that?
also, amazing suit man, very clean folds on the pepakura

 

[RaideR6672]

can you see trough your iron man helmet with the lights on? if yes, how did you do that?

That is actually the question I get the most. The answer: Yes, I can see through the helmet with the lights on.

I cut two pieces of white acrylic to the shape of the eyes. I then used some white 4mm craft foam to create a "light pod". Inside they are roughly 1/2 inch deep. That gives enough room for the LEDs to diffuse. The boxes were then glued onto the faceplate, set about 1/4 inch higher than the eye sockets on the face mask. This gives you an area to view through the bottom.

Finally, I covered everything in black electrical tape to eliminate any bleeding of light. Even the slightest amount of light coming back into your eyes will make it impossible to see.

Here are some pictures to show the final product. I have also included a picture of the chest piece. I used the same method to light the chest piece up with an even light.

I have seen other methods, but they mostly fall under two different methods: 1) "light pods" with a slit below or 2) a piece of transparent plastic filling in the entire eye socket with LEDs bordering the eye. The first will give you a look more like the movie, the second gives you better vision but doesn't light up very much.

 

[spartanx360]

Thanks for the tutorial