Bazza's Iron-Man suit build

[Barry]

Did a bit of work with the boots this week. I haven't had much time.

I finished welding up all the joins and seams, added some bottom plates to glue on the tread. Cut away a part of the top so I can get my leather boots in. This piece will re-attach with some tabs and bolts later.

I cut some circles out of thick aluminium to bulk out the foot pivot. Later I have to cut some notches in them for movie-accuracy.

To raise the overall height of the suit, I will be welding in a false bottom in the heel about an inch above the bottom.

Tried them on and found them to be pretty comfortable and the foot rolls well. There's a slight pinch on the back of the Achilles tendon from the rigid steel, but I peined it out on a tow-ball so now it's got a rounded edge against the back of my foot. Little adjustments along the way and it will be fine.

[Barry]

Found a special brush to go on the bench grinder that removes scale and rust and leaves a brushed satin finish to the steel.

I'm ready to start installing the servos for the faceplate and then the lighting.

[Barry]

I haven't had a lot of time on the suit lately, but I got a bit of a chance today. Next week I have some late-shift work so I should get a few hours in.

The tricky part about getting into a rigid suit, is that certain parts of your body are wider than others. I've solved this by splitting the suit in two and welding in some tabs with nuts welded on the inside.

My number two fitter will dress me with a cordless impact driver and an ice-cream container full of bolts.

I'm not going to do much clean-up until I'm sure there's no more cutting and welding mods left.

[Airconvent]

Looks pretty tight mate...whew!

[Barry]

Looks pretty tight mate...whew!

When you put fat wheels on a car, often you have to roll or flare the guards. Likewise, when I try to fit my fat ass into the Iron Man suit, I have to add some extra-flared guards around the hip-pods.......


Cardboard templates to be traced onto steel.

[Barry]

It's been a while but I finally got some more time in the shed. This is the time-consuming part now that the suit is built, I have to cut it apart and put in joining/attachment points so I can get into the darned thing.

Also tweaked the reactor a bit and started to fit it into the chest armour.

[Airconvent]

Go Mate go! Your're 90% there already!

[Barry]

A lot less than that.

Go Mate go! Your're 90% there already!

Fiddly work.

Modifying the boots so they fit over my old army boots. Welded in a false heel to raise me off the ground another inch and a half then modified the top of the boot to be removable for ease of getting in and out.

Still got to trim the bolts protruding inside flush with the nut I've welded in there. Soon I can grind back all the welds, bog them up a bit smooth all the edges and paint them. Rubber soles will be glued on underneath to protect the hospital floors.

[Barry]

30 second video of walking in the boots.

https://youtu.be/CpZXw17b3o8

[Barry]

Now that's sorted out and I can actually wear them, it's time to tweak the comfort before I clean them up and put the rubber soles under them.

I have to cut a couple of comfort lines where it pinches or rubs slightly.





Also started to build a housing inside the chest for the arc reactor.