[Barry]

Here it is folks! My Iron Man suit on TV on ABC One's 7:30 ACT report.

I did mention quite a few people, including the guys who wrote the pepakura files, modified them, folks who donated stuff etc.

I was interviewed, filmed and photographed for a couple of hours and gave credit to a lot of people, even going so far as to say I thought it was important that they were mentioned. However, the first edit was 8 minutes and had to be cut down to 4 minutes. They did a fantastic job but only so much can be kept off the cutting room floor.

Thanks so much to all involved in helping me get this done! I can't wait to get this into a kids hospital ward!

God bless ya all!

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2014-1...nberra/5927124

[Barry]

Today is my last day of a two and a half week break. I've had no access to a welder so I've been madly cutting and bending more parts ready for welding.

Today all I could do was grab the die-grinder and angle grinder and get some clean-up done on the existing welding.

Hopefully tomorrow after work I can get a bit more welding in.

[Barry]

Got a lot of one leg welded up today after work.

[Barry]

Got most of the first leg done this arvo after work.

[Barry]

Got another shin done and part of the waist armour.

[Barry]

This only took about 1/2 hour to bend, align and weld up.

Short time to work with today.

[Barry]

One of the difficult challenges of an anatomically incorrect superhero with impossible proportions is making the suit fit without having to change the whole thing. When you scale this suit in the program that prints it, if you change the scale you change the whole thing! If I scaled up to widen at the waist, I could fit two of my bums in the rest.

My simple fix - only adjust it where you need to, AFTER scaling. My cardboard suit is perfect for making such adjustments. Cut it open, add thin strips where needed and problem solved!

Now all I have to do is the same on my steel suit. Only ten minutes work in it too! Bonus!

[Barry]

Tonight I tried to experiment with a bit of a hybrid idea for the gauntlets. Not sure if I will go for all foam then dip in red plasti-dip, or use the metal fingers I've already made.

[P Plates]

Do you ever sleep Barry? You certainly have a lot of patience and I guess there have been many steps which were very frustrating. Can't wait to see the finished product and I have a grandson who would be very excited to see it. My daughter-in-law posted a photo today - they took their sons to a local church which put on a "A Marvel-ous Christmas" concert with all the super heroes.

[Barry]

Do you ever sleep Barry? You certainly have a lot of patience and I guess there have been many steps which were very frustrating. Can't wait to see the finished product and I have a grandson who would be very excited to see it. My daughter-in-law posted a photo today - they took their sons to a local church which put on a "A Marvel-ous Christmas" concert with all the super heroes.

Ya gotta love kids!

I actually went to bed at 8pm last night and slept for 11 hours! First time I've done that for years!

First four attachment-points in the suit's bolt-together system. I've welded in a short extension on each side then welded two sets of tabs on each side. That way the back piece slips in between two layers of steel and bolts into place. The flat nut on the inside is welded into place then ground smooth. There's a little bit of room in there for some lining yet.



Abdominal armour fits. Now to widen codpiece to match.

[Barry]

Added in the extensions for the codpiece and welded it to the abs. Next is to cut the cod in half and add attachment points like I did with the abs.

[Barry]

[Barry]

The hands really are the hardest part. The more rigid you make them, the harder they are to get on and off and the less range of motion you can have in them.

This is the sixth gauntlet I have made and I'm really getting sick of it. At least they are getting neater with practice.

This time I used 3mm closed-cell foam sheet. It's not finished, but once I've worked it all out I will be dipping the whole thing in plasti-dip, which will seal and lock it all together.

[Barry]

[Barry]

Today I cut out all the parts for Iron Man's biceps ready for folding and welding.

I've also cut and flattened all the parts for the remaining thigh, (not pictured).

My hands are covered in blisters from the aviation snips so I'll have to give cutting a rest for a couple of days while they heal.



Also got everything done on both gauntlets including a PVC ring glued in and ground down to just proud of the palm surface. These will be fitted over cotton gloves then the whole shebang painted with a thin layer of plastidip to seal it, followed by a nice thick dunk in the stuff to lock it all in together.