My friend built an Iron Man suit from scratch and wore it to the opening night, ask him anything! (AMA)

How did he fix the freezing problem?

He changed the suit to a gold-titanium alloy.

(painted it gold)

Did you get laid?

Of course I got laid, I am billionaire, genius, playboy, philanthropist.

And was she hot?

Yes. very.

Not even a question, just wanted to say holy shit, that's amazing.

Thankyou Kind sir.

so cool that he even did the carbon scoring on the mask. sorry not really a question, but A+ job. I would buy it.

Thanks!

I probably wouldn't sell it though, unless someone was willing to pay ludicrous sums of money.

How much is a ludicrous sum of money to you?

£700-900. simply due to materials and time.

edit* spelling

What kind of foam is this, and where can it typically be purchased?

What kind of tools did you use for cutting / shaping?

Eva foam, I used a stanley knife and 100+ extra shap blades, to get clean cuts you need a sharp blade, and it blunts then fast. a tiny bit of sanding, and a dremel.

Hey Mafferick, I'm a writer at Mashable, can you get in touch? my email is [email protected] we'd like to use your friend's pictures in a gallery.

Thanks!

Sure thing! Why not get in touch with him: [email protected] !

Was this his first major prop endeavour? What kinds of other stuff did he do before this? How did he start learning how to do this!?

We'd say it's is his major endeavor, however he has done a few smaller projects for example: http://imgur.com/2Okn02M

10 points for whoever guesses what it is.

Halo magnum ;)

10 points.

It was actually a birthday present I made for a friend.

Did you get in to the theatre for free?

Unfortunately not, all the cinemas here in the UK are very business driven, and letting people in for free would be bad for business.

But having Iron Man in your theatre would be amazing for PR.

True, True.

Im working on that :P

What was the final pricetag? What materials did he use? Looks great.

The price-tag. £300-350 in materials, and a f*ckton of time.

But materials include lots and lots of foam, wood and various recycled bits and bobs, i.e. the boots are some old shoes with the cushions from some old roller blades to make them wearable.

Sale price : 900 pounds

Materials : 350 pounds

hours spent on project 336 (2weeks7days24hrs)

900-350= 550/336 = 1.64 pounds

Your time is worth more than 1.64 pounds an hour.

True. True.

[deleted]

The rest of the suit will get the same treatment.

Why did you decide to do that?

I like Iron Man.

I like making things.

It seemed like a good idea.

How long in total did it take to build?

More hours than i care to remember! Probably a few weeks if you add the hours together

a few week's worth of hours in total.

Did you design the blueprints/plans yourself, or get them from the interwebz? Also, very awesome :D

some parts were freehand, most were loosely based off templates from the internets, the helmet was built straight from pepakura files. (however, that only gives me a very blocky shape, I have to build all the curves and details onto that.

what's his and your favorite kinds of muffins?

We're both Chocolate kinda guys.

Will you be going around to playgrounds/hospitals to make the day of a shit ton of kids? I would do that if I had that awesomeness!

Yeah im gonna do some charity events when the come around.

What kind of spray paint was that? The suit appears to be a type of foam and the paint makes it look metalic. Is it that chrome type spray paint that makes things look like metal? What is the actual brand, color, and type of spray paint?

I think most people use automotive spray paint with a glossy clear coat. You can get it at autozone.

Yeah, I got mine at Halfords at first, but I found a local trader and he was MUCH cheaper, so I recommend scouting around your local shops before you go for the big brands.

Any chance for a rough tutorial? I would love to build an Iron man helmet!

Possible, yes :D

since you mentioned you might be going into buisness. What do you think the price tag would be on a costume like that?

Probably £600-900, depending on the amount of detail, type of suit, and time constraints.

£700-900. simply due to materials and time.

Will you be having sex in it?

Might have happened, actually.

Is it tough going to bathroom when you're in the suit?

Nope. There is Velcro and 2 different clips on the codpiece.

Pull it from any direction hard enough, and you can get it off.

You should wear that and stand outside the theater on opening day of Ironman 3. Just stand there nice and still and people will think you're just a prop piece and when they come up to check you out you can startle the hell out of them.

I did. I'm in the Uk

How does he see out of it?

There is an area under the leds which i can see through

How much did materials cost, and what future projects are planned?

as for future projects planned - there is this.

http://imgur.com/U04cqSC

Guess away guys!

Is that a pelican eating a fish?

Well, here's a better picture.

http://imgur.com/HGUpL5W

£300-350 worth of materials.

I noticed there was a bottle of wine and some toilet paper sitting beside your couch. Is for sexy romantic time with yourself? Oh and nice job! Suit looks great!

not my couch. But thats awk :')

How was the feedback?

Lot's of staring, pictures, Iron Man hugs.

It was all positive really, but I don't think you can get much more from people at the opening night.

Can I buy a halo magnum?

Hit me up at [email protected] for commissions, we can discuss it there :D

Do you have any plans on a next costume. Please say a transformer.

The new mark 42 is in my head at the moment.

Can you actually see with the visor down?

Yes, there is a gap between the leds and the eyes.

This is amazing. I love how you kept the scratch effect on the face, makes it look raw :D

Thankyou :D

Is it hard to breathe with the mask on?

Not at all, there is space in front of my mouth. It does get a little hot.

How durable is it? Were there any unforeseen issues with it once you put it on?

Also, once you get to University be careful you keep your figure, it doesn't look like there's a lot of room to grow in that thing.

Quite durable. the seal on the foam can flex, the paint with it. although flex too far, and wrinkles appear. And I've got that covered, thanks :D

Very nicely done. Congratulations to your friend.

It's one of the most impressive things I can say a friend of mine has ever done.

He's starting up a props creation... business...thing, because clearly he has a talent.

It's a shame his other talent is being a lazy ass! (Unless its creating awesome things)

how long did this take him?

I believe he started this project late last year with a deadline of the Iron Man 3 release (Midnight 25th April?) and he got it done the night before I think So all in all not a bad turnaround. I'll get you a proper answer when the genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist arrives.

I'm particularly impressed by his sense of engineering. There's nothing hacked about the contours of this thing. Also his scuffed metal on the helmet, from the photos anyway, is impeccable.

Guaranteed there's gotta be a place for him somewhere. I hope he puts down the pizzipe and earns your rating for "really really not lazy" -

I don't understand how you can get such a skill, I'm actually incredibly jealous.

And no, don't worry, he's not that lazy, it's just all a bit of fun for when he arrives.

Hopefully we get some good questions (and he gets you some proof).

No, it's a kind of intelligence (there are quite a few of these) - and particularly if he can look at something, then duplicate it by hand, even if he's using software but making his own files (particularly so, actually) - he's got quite a talent there.

What are his college plans?

Hey, I'm not lazy, I simply value my sleep after so many late nights finishing this thing! As for University (college) plans, Id like to be a concept artist, or be somewhere in the art department for a game/film company, or maybe be in the props department. ;)

I kinda thought your friend was being goofy about that (lazy) -

so where are you thinking of going for school?

Not really any idea yet. I looked briefly at a computer games art course in Cambridge, but I haven't got any solid ideas yet.

Well, I was thinking about it late last year, and I collected resources and reference material, and then I started making around late January.

What kind of foam did you use? What kind of paint?

EVA foam. Automobile paint, its the toughest.

What is the suit primarily made of?? I've been reading that it's foam, but what kind exactly? I would like to build a suit like this, but I don't know where to start haha

EVA foam. And you need a strong will and determination to build a suit like this.

did you enjoy the movie? i know i loved it until the ending which completely ruined it

Movie was excellent. I thought the ending was fine, they are following the extremis storyline now anyway.

Are you using super glue to glue the eva foam pieces together, or is it some other adhesive?

superglue to glue, hot glue to strengthen.

I dont have a question, but you have some serious artistic talent and the suit looks amazing!

Thank you muchly!

i am so so so jealous of you. Are you going to wear it to anywhere just for reactions?

Yes. I haven't taken it off.

[deleted]

Fiberglass resin.

I'm confused; are you they guy that build it but you said it was your friend for who knows what reason, are you answering his answers in first person, or are you both answering and confusing me?

By the way, AWESOME WORK, MY MAN. JUST AWESOME.

I am using Maff's account to post :D And thanks.

What is the Halo Magnum made out of? And any tips for someone who's looking into making this kind of stuff? (Smaller stuff obviously)

MDF and plastics.

Why does the mask have a damaged effect while the rest of the body looks brand new?

The rest of the suit hasn't been battle damaged yet, these photos are a few days old.

But how do you see in it?

There is an area under the leds which i can see through