Mark I Iron Man helmet

[Belakor]

So, you're probably thinking this is about another Mark III Iron Man helmet. Well, it's not I am planning on doing a movie version Mk III later on and I've got a comic version helmet under construction right now as well but my first is, rather logically, the Mk I movie helm. Seen here:


I started it yesterday out of boredom though I have been thinking about doing it for a while now. It's made out of 220gsm (about 110lbs) manilla folders that I had lying around and some corrugated cardboard for struts.

It started out as this hand drawn template I made using a few screencaps and some photos taken of the actual suit that I found on Flickr.


After that I scanned and scaled the template up by 125% and then printed it out again. Once printed I glued that on some card, folded it over to get everything symmetrical and started rolling the card to give it a good curve. I added some flaps to the top of the face so that I could fold and glue them later to help keep the curve of the face:


Next up was the back, pretty simple piece really... just a strip of card with some flaps at the bottom to help prevent it flattening back out. Then I started piecing it all together:


Looks pretty sad there because of the fold in the middle of the face, to fix that I just hot glued another piece of card to the back of the face and that sturdied the whole thing up. I also folded over and glued the flaps and added the struts inside:

(The weird looking left side was caused by me ripping parts of the template off )
The dome pieces are just there to give me and idea of what it might look like, I thought it would probably be easier to do the dome after the rest was fiberglassed so the helmet is out curing right now. It'll also be easier to build it all as one piece and split it in two later (with a hinge on top just like the screen-used piece).
I'll finish the fiberglassing tomorrow and start smoothing, then cut the top out and work on the dome. I think I should be done by next weekend... more pics after it's dry

Also, I can provide the template I made if anyone wants it but it might be a few days before I get to that. Let me know if you want it

 

[Chazodude]

lookin good Belakor!
Are you going to do mkII as well as III? then you'd have a whole set!

 

[KillerT26]

yea i wouldn't mind u giving me a template

 

[falcon NL]

There is no doubt in my mind that this will be great.

 

[WarHead9705]

looks pretty good. Keep it up!!

 

[LastSpartan]

You are simply amazing Belakor!

 

[Zenzeigan]

is it me or is it being held together by 2 XBOXES!?!?

 

[LastSpartan]

Lol I hadn't noticed ^^

 

[Belakor]

lookin good Belakor!
Are you going to do mkII as well as III? then you'd have a whole set!

Thanks, I think I probably will do the II as well... out of the two new model helmets I think the II is my favorite.

yea i wouldn't mind u giving me a template

I'll tidy up the template today and see if I can get it uploaded tonight

There is no doubt in my mind that this will be great.

I hope so, it's quite a simple piece but I think, with the right paint-job, it should be pretty cool

looks pretty good. Keep it up!!

Thanks

You are simply amazing Belakor!

I do what I can and thanks

is it me or is it being held together by 2 XBOXES!?!?

It's not you

The DVD drive in the one on the right died recently so the Halo 3 360 is a replacement for that, I'll still fix the drive on the other though


Some more progress:


The fiberglass one the outside was done for a reason I wanted my one to have the thickness that you see on the movie version but thickening the inside of mine would have made it a little too small to wear comfortably. This way I can bulk up the outside to make it look more like this:

and still have it fit well.
I've just fiberglassed the rear of the helmet and once that's cured I'll start on the dome. More pics will be posted tonight.

 

[RadioactiveMicrobe]

Hey Belakor, I will be happy to take one of those Xboxs off your hands. You know, just ponder that deal.

 

[Dark Rogue]

Maybe Bungie will give you the Stark armor in Halo!

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Looking good so far, can't wait for more updates!

 

[RadioactiveMicrobe]

yeah, I wouldn't mind that template myself.

 

[falcon NL]

I hope so, it's quite a simple piece but I think, with the right paint-job, it should be pretty cool

It's not you

The DVD drive in the one on the right died recently so the Halo 3 360 is a replacement for that, I'll still fix the drive on the other though
Some more progress:

If you got the time, you could show us how you did you battle damage on you armor/helmet and your 360 :rolleyes .

The helmet looks good, i probably would have fit the top on already, but it still looks your off on a great start.

 

[Belakor]

Hey Belakor, I will be happy to take one of those Xboxs off your hands. You know, just ponder that deal.

I think my brother has already laid claim to the H3 360 There's no way he'd be happy with a second hand one and personally, I like my paint-job more

Maybe Bungie will give you the Stark armor in Halo!

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Looking good so far, can't wait for more updates!

Haha, now that would be sweet!
More updates down the page.

yeah, I wouldn't mind that template myself.

Still need to tweak the template a bit, I discovered a few problems with it as I've been building mine... I'll try and get it done soon .
I don't have a template for the back though, but it's not really needed... it's just a strip of card the same width as the side of the helmet.

If you got the time, you could show us how you did you battle damage on you armor/helmet and your 360 :rolleyes .

The helmet looks good, i probably would have fit the top on already, but it still looks your off on a great start.

I didn't really document the weathering on the helmet or armor all that well but I did create a thread on another forum to document the weathering of the 360. I'll create another topic shortly for that, it could easily be used on anything (I weathered an old cell phone to match the 360 as well)

If it was any other helmet I'd totally agree with you about putting the top on first, the problem with this one is that the card is pretty flimsy (the good thing about pep is that all those folds tend to strengthen the piece a bit ) and I thought it'd be easier to work with a solid fiberglass base


Update time again:
I've spent a few days fiberglassing and smoothing and this is where I'm at now:

The eyes were a little too high for my liking so I closed them up and repositioned them (I've only done one so far )
The dome went together pretty well, I forgot to document the build from the outside and by the time I remembered I had already 'glassed it, I did get some shots of the inside though:

Now I just need to get some more sanding pads, after that I'll wet-sand it and start working on the details

 

[JediStumpy]

looks like a sticky mess of bubble gum!
it comin'along

 

[NuggetWarmer]

Just an idea... How about for the weld edges you use hotglue? Like, just put it on there somewhat messily and it gives a neat welded effect. Then you can just paint over it and once it's molded it'll look like it's straight out of the shop! (in a good way, of course)

 

[Skullcandy Girl]

HAHAHAH OMG Belakor you're INCREDIBLE! I can't get over how fast and how well you make these props!

 

[rvb4life]

HAHAHAH OMG Belakor you're INCREDIBLE! I can't get over how fast and how well you make these props!

i can....


by outsourcing to china......like everyone else....duuuuuh

 

[Belakor]

looks like a sticky mess of bubble gum!
it comin'along

You should have seen it earlier, it really was a big sticky lump of goo The cold weather really slows the bondo's curing time.

Just an idea... How about for the weld edges you use hotglue? Like, just put it on there somewhat messily and it gives a neat welded effect. Then you can just paint over it and once it's molded it'll look like it's straight out of the shop! (in a good way, of course)

that's quite a good idea, I just wish I had checked back in on this thread before I headed out to do some more work on it last night... I'll have to try it out on some other pieces I'll probably end up doing though

HAHAHAH OMG Belakor you're INCREDIBLE! I can't get over how fast and how well you make these props!

Thanks again SKG... oh, that reminds me, I still need to reply to my other thread
I can usually knock out things at a pretty good pace as long as I stay motivated, which is why I like to have lots of things on the go at once, lots to choose from

i can....
by outsourcing to china......like everyone else....duuuuuh

Only quality, New Zealand made products here Outsourcing would speed things up though... too bad I can't afford to pay people to do my work for me


Small update:

I separated the front and back halves yesterday, the front looks nice but the back is a little wonky. I'll see if I can fix it tomorrow but if not I'll just make a new back.
Here's the front with the initial weld lines added and the box thing for the hinge on the top

 

[Pkmnjunky7]

Its looking really good! Do you plan on doing something to it to try and give the surface a rough metal texture? Keep up the good work!

You should have seen it earlier, it really was a big sticky lump of goo The cold weather really slows the bondo's curing time.

I actually prefer using bondo in the cold. It gives you lot longer to work with it and its a bit less mushy. That way you can shape it more.