Subject: Be prepared to have lots of patience.
Author:
Posted on: 2015-11-14 01:09:00 UTC
Scaling was her biggest problem; she had to make three different helmets before she landed on the right size to fit her head and the electronics. Then the first chestpiece collapsed under the wet resin...
I think the result in the end is totally worth it, though!
After two years of hard work, she finally finished her Iron Man costume and took it out for a spin last weekend. Needless to say, she got swarmed. :D
It wasn't without its flaws, unfortunately; while on stage during the costume contest, the hot glue holding the ribs together decided to peel apart and the wiring in her helmet got a bit messed up, so it wasn't able to open and close automatically like she programmed it to. But lesson learned, she's taking an emergency hot glue gun for next time. While she was getting her suit off after the contest, one of the judges said that if her costume hadn't fallen apart onstage, she would have won Best Male Hero. Her face went redder than her suit!
Yes, I wasted valuable board space to brag about my mom. But I'm freaking proud of her, so nyah. :P
(Before you ask, Ant-Man is just another congoer who wanted his picture with her.)
Iron Man is my favourite character from the MCU, mostly because of the design and detail in his suit, and that seems to have captured it damn near perfectly.
I had a couple of mates at Uni that were into cosplaying, and they did some pretty involved costumes, but they never went to the extent of including electronics and working parts like that. I'm seriously impressed right now.
- Irish
I think that I can safely say that your mother is truly an inspiration to us all.
Nonono. That would be if we DIDN'T want awesome pics of an equally awesome Iron Man crossplay. I am all of the envy right now. I am, in fact, this thing:-
Congrats to the maybe one other person who gets this reference. =]
Is it too late to get adopted? I want a super cool Iron Mom too.
So, do you know how she made it? You mentioned programming. Was that just for the helmet, or did the suit have other cool features?
She made the suit using pepakura. Basically, she printed out the pattern she needed on cardstock, used an exacto knife to cut it out, then dabbed superglue on with toothpicks to piece it all together. Then it was covered with resin, fiberglass, and bondo and left to harden. After that, she sanded it to its final shape and painted it. The whole thing's held together with rare Earth magnets and straps superglued on the inside.
As for electronics, the suit's chest and eyes light up. When she bends her wrists up (like she's going to shoot someone with a repulser beam), the palms also light up and it makes a sound like a missile firing. The helmet can open and close on voice command, and the eyes shut off when it's opened.
She was so determined on wiring the suit herself that she actually took programming classes at the local college. And then she liked the class so much she went back for a second degree, but that's another story
All that work was totally worth it. The final product looks fantastic. With all of that detail and shine, I never would have guessed it was crafted from paper!
I think I am going to hold onto that tutorial. It looks like it could be super interesting to play with.
Scaling was her biggest problem; she had to make three different helmets before she landed on the right size to fit her head and the electronics. Then the first chestpiece collapsed under the wet resin...
I think the result in the end is totally worth it, though!
I envy people with the time, talent, and resources for badass cosplays like this.
We'll just pretend your mom actually won, eh? ^_~
~Neshomeh