Sorry for the multiple posts, I figured I should start a thread with a title that matches what I am working on, as I have gotten through most of the questions phase. I got a nice handful of pictures which I will include in later posts, but for now I will reiterate a bit of what I am doing to have it all included in one single thread.
The Project:
So basically I am trying to put together some Iron Man armor before the upcoming Halloween party we try to hold every year :cheers. After gaining TONS of useful information on this site, and deciding to go with using the Sintra material, I started making headway one piece at a time, and pretty much from scratch. I would love to make it look as good as the new movie armor, but the detail and complex amount of pieces are well out of my current skillset, and way out of my time constraints. So the armor pieces I am making from scratch, just using sheets of paper to measure out pieces which will give me good coverage of various limbs and body parts and the like. The armor will no doubt be closer to looking like this rather plain Iron Man armor here:
Except I will be sticking to the Red and Gold classic Mark III armor as opposed to the silver seen here.
Not that I won't be shooting for some things to look like the movie armor, I will be doing my best to make the helmet/mask resemble that of the movie armor, and plan to have glowing blue pieces for the chest-beam, each palm-beam, and glowing eyes. Also, the mask needs to be either removeable or raise-able so I can drink alcohol while in the suit as the Halloween party is a big drunk fest as well!
Painting:
After about 10 different cans of spray paint, alot of wasted money, and alot of wasted time, I finally found the perfect Sintra painting solution. In one simple world, Duplicolor! The biggest problems with painting, was finding something that would stick solidly and be difficult to scratch off. After many different Krylons, Testors, American Traditions, etc. paints, I found Duplicolor was the only one that stuck well, wasn't sticky, and was very difficult to scratch off.
After reading some posts about using Self-Etching spray paint, I found some Duplicolor Self Enching Primer (which unfortunately only comes in puke green color) and picked up a can of that. To match that of the red for the Iron Man armor, I picked up some "Autumn Maple Red (Metallic)" Duplicolor paint, which looks perfect, and has little sparklies within which I actually like the look of. So I basically spray on 3-layers (in 1 coating run) of the Duplicolor Self Etching Primer, and then 2-layers (1 coat) of the Autumn Maple Red paint. I will also be finishing them up with some Duplicolor Glossy Clear Coat. Of note, to get a good stick and finish, that is difficult to scratch, the paint color alone works great too! So the Primer isn't necessary, but I feel safer with it on. The gold paint for the armor is Duplicolor Instant Gold.
Attaching Pieces:
For joining the pieces of Sintra together, I have stuck with using Rivets and a manual Rivet gun. I don't mind the appearance of rivets on the armor, and they kinda suit the feel of it, but best of all it provides flexible and rotate-able joints! So I can use a couple of rivets to make a knee joint, and be able to rotate that joint for standing or sitting. The rivets are also easily painted to match the paint on the Sintra material and provide a very strong and permanent hold. If you plan to use Rivets in your own projects, make sure to buy the "washers" too for the backside!
The Project:
So basically I am trying to put together some Iron Man armor before the upcoming Halloween party we try to hold every year :cheers. After gaining TONS of useful information on this site, and deciding to go with using the Sintra material, I started making headway one piece at a time, and pretty much from scratch. I would love to make it look as good as the new movie armor, but the detail and complex amount of pieces are well out of my current skillset, and way out of my time constraints. So the armor pieces I am making from scratch, just using sheets of paper to measure out pieces which will give me good coverage of various limbs and body parts and the like. The armor will no doubt be closer to looking like this rather plain Iron Man armor here:
Except I will be sticking to the Red and Gold classic Mark III armor as opposed to the silver seen here.
Not that I won't be shooting for some things to look like the movie armor, I will be doing my best to make the helmet/mask resemble that of the movie armor, and plan to have glowing blue pieces for the chest-beam, each palm-beam, and glowing eyes. Also, the mask needs to be either removeable or raise-able so I can drink alcohol while in the suit as the Halloween party is a big drunk fest as well!
Painting:
After about 10 different cans of spray paint, alot of wasted money, and alot of wasted time, I finally found the perfect Sintra painting solution. In one simple world, Duplicolor! The biggest problems with painting, was finding something that would stick solidly and be difficult to scratch off. After many different Krylons, Testors, American Traditions, etc. paints, I found Duplicolor was the only one that stuck well, wasn't sticky, and was very difficult to scratch off.
After reading some posts about using Self-Etching spray paint, I found some Duplicolor Self Enching Primer (which unfortunately only comes in puke green color) and picked up a can of that. To match that of the red for the Iron Man armor, I picked up some "Autumn Maple Red (Metallic)" Duplicolor paint, which looks perfect, and has little sparklies within which I actually like the look of. So I basically spray on 3-layers (in 1 coating run) of the Duplicolor Self Etching Primer, and then 2-layers (1 coat) of the Autumn Maple Red paint. I will also be finishing them up with some Duplicolor Glossy Clear Coat. Of note, to get a good stick and finish, that is difficult to scratch, the paint color alone works great too! So the Primer isn't necessary, but I feel safer with it on. The gold paint for the armor is Duplicolor Instant Gold.
Attaching Pieces:
For joining the pieces of Sintra together, I have stuck with using Rivets and a manual Rivet gun. I don't mind the appearance of rivets on the armor, and they kinda suit the feel of it, but best of all it provides flexible and rotate-able joints! So I can use a couple of rivets to make a knee joint, and be able to rotate that joint for standing or sitting. The rivets are also easily painted to match the paint on the Sintra material and provide a very strong and permanent hold. If you plan to use Rivets in your own projects, make sure to buy the "washers" too for the backside!
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