Bazza's Iron-Man suit build

[Barry]

is it going to have some foam padded like a biker's helmet? that would be more comfy..

Yes the whole suit will have a lot of layers of padding, strapping and other things inside it including amimatronics, lighting, cooling and sound.

[Barry]

I made a few tools today to help me shape the metal for Iron Man.

1. A short piece of an old post, reshaped into a mallet-head with a wide and narrow end, an old broken sledge handle, cut down to make a good handle for the mallet.

2. A thick piece of steel with a slot cut in it at the thickness of the aluminium I am using, then a spanner on the side to provide enough torque to bend the sheet-metal right on the line.

3. Finally, a short but thick piece of steel, shaped on the grinder to act as a battering ram to achieve very tight and precise curves.

[Barry]

These tabs all fold up to form a step to the next piece. The large blank bit in the middle needs to be cut out, but it is best to do that after the tabs have been bent. I'm thinking that instead of these clunky tabs, I will cut them all off and just cut a long flat strip, then curve it into a ring to form the circular step instead.



More helmet pieces cut from aluminium.

[bornfree]

wow~ the making of the Aluminum Man! nice~~

[Airconvent]

I guess the paper version is just a mockup? That one would have suffice as its so well made! But looking forward to your Mark III !

[Barry]

I guess the paper version is just a mockup? That one would have suffice as its so well made! But looking forward to your Mark III !

Yes it was a trial build and fit.

Got about an hour and a half this afternoon to work on the aluminium suit.

[bornfree]

reminds me of the "Man in the Iron Mask"

[Barry]

reminds me of the "Man in the Iron Mask"

It does a bit yes!

[Barry]

Abs, ribs, lumbar and spine templates ready to trace onto aluminium.



Templates traced out onto 3mm aluminium.



Spine done in aluminium and pre-polished.

[Barry]

1. Abs sections cut from 3mm aluminium.



2. Shaping one of the overlapping aluminium plates at the back of the helmet around to the ears.



3. Earpiece showing folded tabs to be ground and sanded smooth. I found that if I tried to simply bend the tabs to 90 degrees, they would invariably fatigue and crack or even snap off. Fix? Clamp it between two pieces of thick steel and beat it over with a hammer and flat punch.



4. Got a bit of work done today.