# I AM (or soon will be ) IRON MAN



## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

a quick pic of my latest project.

Imagine a lighting scheme so Simple that even I can't mess it up!
and I'm working on a way to keep the candy apple red paint off of the gold.

more details as they develop


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## xsavoie (Jun 29, 1999)

Oooooh.Looks nice so far.


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

*Big Update*

Iron Man is coming along very smoothly.
The good news is that I 've developed a painting template set that will allow one to use the big rattle can paints. (the only good alternative when trying to get the auto paint finish, is to use auto paints)

the not so good news is that while they look smoking good in person, They don't photograph well. (or at least, my photos don't do the finish justice.)

I went the route spelled out in the instructions. Under painting everything in gold first. then the masks, then overcoated in the red metallic.

You'll definately want to paint the legs and arms before you put the body together because you'll never be able to spray inside the armpits and between the legs and get even coverage. I'll put a blending coat over it all after construction is complete, but I'm glad I thought to give it a coat before.

The picture shows the colors as best I could photograph them


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## Parts Pit Mike (Jan 3, 2001)

Thanks for this Lou. I hope to be starting this project soon and these shots are a great help.


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## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

"I AM (or soon will be) IRON MAN." You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Dalmaso, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet.


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## MonsterModelMan (Dec 20, 2000)

Hey Lou,

Great tips so far...how about telling us alittle about how you are lighting this kit up and how you are doing it?

Thanks in advance!

MMM


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## gregsb (Jun 25, 2008)

Lou,

Are your templates available?


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

the plan is to make a really cheap set of templates, cuz there isn't much to it.

as for lighting?

this is about a simple as it gets


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

*DONE-ish*

Here he is! mostly done. 
All that's left is to connect the wiring to the switch, paint the flat black and silver details and he's ready for action.

I'll try to take pictures outside this weekend in natural sunlight (if it stops raining long enough here, that is) so you can see the real beauty of the finish.

cheers


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## modelgeek (Jul 14, 2005)

Very Nice Lou!!!!!!


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## Bwain no more (May 18, 2005)

Lou, looking good. :thumbsup: You have a PM.
Thanks
Tom


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

here's the shot of the templates on the kneecaps, by request


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## Bwain no more (May 18, 2005)

Lou; thanks for the quick response. That area is SCRIBED on the Hot Toys figure and is curved, not angular (but a VERY quick fix!) I spoke to Paul B. and he will be glad to send you what you need in terms of reference! BTW, I will be glad to contribute an RDJ head to your next build...
Tom
PS: You can see the knee area FAIRLY well on this promotional image of the Hot Toys figure...


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

Thanks Tom!

I can't remember the last time I was offered free.. uh..cranium

sorry, but I couldn't resist.

BTW the template set is done and the first order is going to Cult Man today!

I noticed a typo or two on the instructions, but that's what you get for rushing. I'll have them corrected on the next batch.

Like Tom said, the kneecap is a quick fix if you want the rounded version. I think future sets will include both styles

Finally, here's what the man looks like with the lights on and everybody home!

This kit was an absolute blast to put together! and the paint finish definately makes the model pop! But you know, i'm never satisfied so I'm thinking I still may want to go into the joints with some Tamiya smoke to bring out the panel lines and give the suit just the hint of some grime.

but now i gotta go fly it around the back yard ( with the "whoooshing" sounds, of course..)


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## Bwain no more (May 18, 2005)

Lou; VERY glad you have made this set available. :thumbsup: BTW, here is a pic of the replacement hands I told you about. These were "grown" using artwork based on the Hot Toys, tweaked to match the Moebius kit. They will be offered as mix and match pairs (i.e. you can choose to have a left hand open, right hand fist, etc.). Initial castings will be solid cast in opaque resin, but I may offer a clear lighting version later...
Tom


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Wow, you weren't kidding about the finish, Lou. It looks great!

Tom - those hands look really nice. The fist is much more natural looking than the wide-fingered pose of the kit's. (I know it's not Moebius's fault about the pose. Too bad they were forced into something so static looking.)


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Lou he looks FANTASTIC!!! :thumbsup: 

I like the differant shading and tone on the base too. Almost makes me want to get one with what you blokes are doing with it.

Cheers,

Alec :wave:


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## Bwain no more (May 18, 2005)

Alec, you should just give in and join the party, LOL.:hat: Paul, between you, Lou and myself, this kit is going to end up with more accessories than Barbie.
Hey, there's an idea, "Tony's Dream House", LOL.
Tom


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## Bwain no more (May 18, 2005)

Lou; templates showed up yesterday in PERFECT shape, thanks. WOW!!! I am very impressed! Excellent craftsmanship, thoroughly researched and comprehensive instructions. My friend Steven Lee from Forbidden Plastic is documenting his Iron Man build on the Clubhouse and Starship Modeler; do you mind if I send him one of the sets you sent me to use in his build?
Tom:thumbsup:


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

That would be cool by me. Glad you like em.


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## sprayray (May 13, 2009)

hey tom what's up let us know when you going to offer the hands for ironman .

Robert


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

Great work Mr. Lou!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Man I love model building, Just wish Moebius offered a "payment plan" so I could get Ironman , Big Frankie, as well as many others they have to offer.
-Jim


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

wait till you see the next one...


"yeah,I can fly..."


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

*Yeah, I can fly*

So here's where I am now..

I cannot sing the praises of the fine folks a Moebius enough for how they designed this kit. Sure they've taken their lumps for the pose they were mandated to use, but those sneeky, magnificent gents also designed it in such a way that even hamfisted fools like me can repose Iron Man with a lot less fuss that you'd might think.

The panel lines are perfect places when it comes to dissecting the kit into the body segments. The tip i'll share is the you may want to thin the plastic from the inside with a dremel.

more photos as the project goes forth
Enjoy


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

*update time*

did some more "leg work" on the Flying Iron Man.

first I secured the LED to the sole of the foot. The extensive nature of this repose means that you have to think of the finishing touches way back at the beginning cuz you're not going to be able to get back into the leg once it's in the right position.

I sliced off the big flap that covers the calve. I want to show this opened slightly, so I mocked up some faux infrastructure for the inside of the leg

there's not much science to the construction. once the two halves of the leg were together, I poured some 1 minute epoxy in the ankle, pushed the foot up into place and held and waited.

I also decided to also pose the winglet flaps on the back. those didn't remove as cleanly as I would have liked, but replacing the piece on the flat of the back was easy enough. I'll put some other greeblies under those flaps when the time comes.

now if i can only make the other leg match, that'll be neat


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## drewid142 (Apr 23, 2004)

...looking great, Lou! I can't wait to see it all come together!

Drew


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## falcondesigns (Oct 30, 2002)

Lou Dalmaso said:


> I cannot sing the praises of the fine folks a Moebius enough for how they designed this kit. Sure they've taken their lumps for the pose they were mandated to use, but those sneeky, magnificent gents also designed it in such a way that even hamfisted fools like me can repose Iron Man with a lot less fuss that you'd might think.


Thank you,Lou for stating what was apperant to me,and missed by other so called "modellers" on other boards,who went out of their way to slam this kit,to the point of almost calling it a POS.We now begin to see the real possibilities of this open canvas that is this model.The proof is in the results,not the efforts of a few to demean it.alex


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

OOps,
After re-reading my last post, I realized that I had forgotten to mention the work I had to do to make the ankle joint work in the first place.


the foot:
You build the foot as normal except you need to fill the two stand holes in each sole and open up the Repulsor (if you plan on lighting it) the big chunky tab that fits into the lower leg when you build it normally needs to be almost completely removed. I'll try to remember to take a picture of the other foot before I build the other leg

the back of the heel needs to be sanded down to a more rounded profile. this will be covered with the heel flap, anyway

The lower leg:
the little wing flap that covers the heel needs to be removed and set aside.
the inner sides of the side ankle covers needs to be thinned from the inside so I gave them a good dremeling. This allowed the foot to be positioned in the proper "pointed toe" pose

reattach the heel flap.


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

*'nother update*

first the foot picture I promised

then two side profiles of the torso and legs.

I hope this is as ugly as it gets. there is quite a bit of epoxy putty to be cleaned up. I kinda went a little overboard with it, but I figure it would be better to get the support while it sets up and I can sand it down later.

enjoy


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## sprayray (May 13, 2009)

hey lou great work so far can't wait to see how its going to look once your done one quick ? what do you use to cut the plastic ? what kind of tool .


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

hey, thanks for lookin' 

A use a dremel with a sanding wheel on the inside to thin down the plastic, then a x-acto from the front (with a chisel blade in it)

I have the straight blade from a small hacksaw that I use on straight runs.

I was surprised that I was able to save as much of the original parts (I had spare parts standing by) the only place where I had to remove and replace was the flat area on the back of the chest section


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## sprayray (May 13, 2009)

Hey Lou again great work !! going to start on my ironman and doing a repose on him i will take your advice and use those tools i have an x-acto hot knife that i have'nt used in years what do you think will that work just as well (for some who do not know it looks like a soldering iron with an x-acto knife attachment ) i do not want to ruin the kit let me know .

Robert


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

Robert,
I think that would work like a charm! try it out on some scrap of the sprue first , tho. I've noticed that the plastic that Moebius used for this kit is more brittle than some others i've seen. try cutting off the big tabs ( those chunks that lock the parts together, like the thigh into the codpiece or the foot into the ankle) and after you're confident you can go after the more visible seams.

Good Luck


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

*Optimus Primer*

Got a quick shot of primer on, and I'm quite encouraged with the results


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## Dave Metzner (Jan 1, 1970)

Hi Lou,
It sure is nice to see someone busily building a Moebius kit that does exist, rather than posting suggestions for kits that may never exist!
Thanks for posting photos of your work!

Dave


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

Dave,
Starting with the PL Refit (all those years ago) and continuing thru to the Iron Man, you sir, have been instrumental (even if you never knew it) in getting me back to the joy of putting model kits together. and for that, I don't know if I can thank you enough!

It's really a kick to be able to converse with the guys that make your toys. Something I never dreamed I'd be able to do when I was a kid (the first time, that is.)

So thanks again!

Lou
PS. I'm sure Frank also helped a bit


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## drewid142 (Apr 23, 2004)

OK Lou! You've inspired me! I thought having my Hot Toys pre-built Ironman posed here next to my 'puter was enough for me... but I am placing an order for 2 of each of the Ironman kits now! Your posing is outstanding and really shows what fun mods can be done to it! I'll be ordering a few of Just An Illusions lighting kits to go with them!


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## Bruce Bishop (Jan 17, 1999)

After seeing all the work you are doing on your kit, I even removed the parts of my Iron Man kit from the sprues. 

I test fitted them, and I began planning the same conversion, but reversed from left to right, that I saw done in an earlier thread by Yasutoshi when he showed his reposed kit. I can see I can only build the conversion without those interlocking connectors supplied with the kit, so I need to start cutting off the ones which are molded as part of the kit pieces. I need to finish this within the next month so I can show my daughters I finally built a kit!


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

Yup,
Those connectors have got to go!


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## solex227 (Apr 23, 2008)

Looking good Lou! 

Solex227


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## starmanmm (Mar 19, 2000)

Glad I fould your little project here.

Great going! :thumbsup:


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## sprayray (May 13, 2009)

Lou , that ironman is looking better and better keep them pics coming and by the way guys i got my moebius mummy in today looks awesome hopefully will start building some stuff soon , and hats off to cop's Tom Parker for suppyling us with an awesome Robert Downey jr. replacement head i got mine in this past friday and the likeness looks great awesome job Tom thank you !!!!!!!.

Robert


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## Roy Kirchoff (Jan 1, 1970)

Dave Metzner said:


> Hi Lou,
> It sure is nice to see someone busily building a Moebius kit that does exist, rather than posting suggestions for kits that may never exist!
> Thanks for posting photos of your work!
> 
> Dave


 
Ditto......... :thumbsup:

The whole project looks great Lou. Thanks for taking the time to show us your WIPs.

RK


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

*I got Connections...*

Hey gang!,
Time for a long overdue update. Took a bit of a break, but I'm back at the flying Iron Man.

At this stage of the construction, I had two issues that I could no longer put off. How to get power to the LEDs and how to display the finished kit.

Since Iron Man is in a "flying" pose, the first thought was to hang him from a wire or a sling of some sort. but that's no good because you can't move him around easily (to show him off) , and running power down the wire is clumsy.

I didn't want to power him with internal batteries because I wanted to seal him up.

normally I use 1/8 inch audio jacks for power connectors, but I had an idea for something that works the same but is a)substantially cheaper and b) will allow me a quick connect to the kit and will provide support from the stand.

the answer? Christmas light sockets!

pic #1 shows the socket. you take the bulb out of the "plug end" 

What I did was to take some 1/4 inch clear tube and run wiring thru it. I ran the wiring out of the tube and into the bulb-less socket and folded over the wires.I heated the clear tube enough to be able to bend it at a 90 degree angle and glued the socket at the end

#2 shows the socket that was puttied into the hip of the figure

#3 shows the power line plugged into the socket.

the clear tube will act as the support that will come up from the (as yet uncreated) base. Since the bulb socket has a definate shape to it and isn't a cylinder ( like a 1/8 in jack would be)it will hold the position and not allow the figure to rotate on the plug. There is a danger of reversing the polarity, but only if I plug the support in 180 degrees "upside down" but that's not likely given the configuration of the stand.

with these two hurdles, well, hurdled.. I can get back to the business of adding the arms and head. Before you know it, Tony will be ready for some paint! 

Enjoy!


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

*final flight profile!*

hopefully, this will be as ugly as it gets.

got the head and arms in place. ran a lighting check and filled in the remaining gaps with putty.

after an overnight of everything setting and hardening, I'll sand the rough spots and then Tony will be ready for paint.

Istill have to reattach the flaps on the shoulders and calves, but that's going to be among the very last things I'll do


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## jgoldader (Mar 26, 2008)

AWESOME! I just might have to get one & put it in the Stash.

Jeff


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## sprayray (May 13, 2009)

Lou that ironman is coming out awesome !!!!!!!!!! i would like to get some specs from you on lighting him up would love to do that to my ironman kit when i get around to working on him .

Sprayray


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## modelgeek (Jul 14, 2005)

WOW!!! That is fantastic!!!!! Great Job! Lou.....Jeff


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

*I have no mouth and I must fly!*

Quick update.

put the first coat of gold on tonight and snapped a pic to share.

the faceplate is not attached. which explains the lack of features

enjoy


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

*better Red...*

It's getting fun now!

more drying, then the templates come off.

I wish my camera did the finish justice


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## Dave Metzner (Jan 1, 1970)

Thanks for posting the pics Lou!

Dave


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## sprayray (May 13, 2009)

Hey lou coming out great !!!!!!!!!!!


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## ochronosis (Dec 29, 2005)

Excellent job Lou! the new pose looks great :thumbsup:

Simon


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## drewid142 (Apr 23, 2004)

Fantastic work, Lou!


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

Thanks All,
I hope to have ol' Tony ready for the friendly skys this weekend. It's really been a blast of a build.

then I'll be ready to get "wrapped up" in the next project.


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## ochronosis (Dec 29, 2005)

Lou Dalmaso said:


> Thanks All,
> I hope to have ol' Tony ready for the friendly skys this weekend. It's really been a blast of a build.
> 
> then I'll be ready to get "wrapped up" in the next project.


Its a hard job, but somebody has to do it :thumbsup: Keep up the good work


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## drewid142 (Apr 23, 2004)

I'm going to guess that you are doing the Mummy next...


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

yea,
but I don't think I'll try to repose HIM :tongue:


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## ochronosis (Dec 29, 2005)

:lol::lol::lol:


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

That just keeps getting better and better, Lou! I can't wait for the tape to come off so we can see what you've put in the calves, behind the airbrakes.


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## starmanmm (Mar 19, 2000)

Like Paulbo said, looking forward to the airbrakes step.

But, why did you not do that all at once and then paint it?


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

well,
because I want to paint some detail in "under" the flaps. 

If i did that, then got some overspray from the red in there, it would be near impossible to repaint over it. this way, all I need do is to place the finished flaps over the painted interiors. and since i really won't know for sure how open the flaps will end up being, I felt this killed the most birds with the least stones.

now that the legs and arms are posed, I can better "pose" the flaps.

I removed the vinyl and it looks reallllly sweet! 
I want to do the detail painting and attach the flaps, kneecaps (with ROUNDED gold accents) and the faceplate before I introduce the next (and probably final) set of pics.

well OK here's a tease


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

The flying Iron Man is finished!

here's the thread with the pics

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=259142

cheers


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