First thing; I've decided that I reeeeeally want to cosplay Iron Man. I don't mean Tony Stark in a suit. I mean Iron Man, red and gold armoured suit.

Only thing; I've never made anything that's remotely like armour ever. As Stark says though "sometimes it's better to run before you can walk."

I really want it to look really good and be hard wearing so I can wear it multiple times without worrying about it getting damaged easily so cardboard is out of the question. Soooo does anyone know any good substances which are relatively easy to mould for people who don't have a workshop??

Stuff I have; glue gun. And a cooker. Yeah. That's it. I'm willing to buy stuff that can go into a house though

Oh yes, and I want it to light up too!

Yes. I'm mad. Why am I doing this to myself lol?

Other thing; Catnip-Dreams also wants to do Wasp/Ms Marvel, and I'm sure her bf wants to be a superhero, and I'm sure I want to be a spandex superhero too and I'm sure another friend does. So I really want to start learning how to work with lycra and spandex. Do I need anything special for that, or is a standard machine and needle fine?

If you want it really durable... http://www.propbuilder.co.uk/howto/mouldandcastsolid2.html

(Best to read their other, more basic how-to's first before attacking this one though!)

If not, Tab made his Iron Man out of EVA foam.

For working with stretch fabrics, use the zig zag stitch on your sewing machine. Also use a stretch sewing needle. They look like this.

Well in so much as Iron man I can help you the main easy way of doing it *its time consuming and fiddly* but you could use the Free Pepakura program and download the Iron man armor set *I have it if you want it emailing* you have probably heard of it essentially you print out a 3d model on card and assemble it with glue gun etc. Once the armor is finished you can pretty much coat it in what you want Ive seen people do Fiber glass *reccomended for strength* papier mache, hot glue

great example of someone who has finished theirs fully with what looks like Fiber Glass
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F2J0cH7F2FQ/TC--lDK6hqI/AAAAAAAAHsw/_etLjBQ0aqI/s1600/iron+man+mark+IV+armor+papercraft.jpg

Example of the finished net for the helmet.
http://www.deviantart.com/download/108527026/Ironman_Mask_animated_by_redgoatgamer.jpg

I hope this helps

For spandex suits there are tons of tutorials on the net for working with all kinds of spandex items I know my GF used a site for finding out how to make my batman trunks and that site had tons of patterns for bodysuits, leotards like Ms.Marvels.

There's a couple of methods I've seen used to make Iron Man and they are pepakura, fibreglassed, then bondo'd, which I like to call the Master Chief technique (as I've seen it mainly used for Master Chief) or do it in Eva foam.

Pepakura is basically papercraft but on a huge scale. Someone models a shape and the program splits out the faces of a 3d model so you can glue them back together to make a 3d shape. You download a program Pepakura Designer and find someone who has 3d modelled Iron Man and created a pepakura file. You then measure yourself (how wide, deep and high) your various body parts are and then put these measurements into the program and it'll resize the pieces, you then print them out onto paper or card, cut them out. You can switch on tabs so you have tabs to glue together.

I've seen both foam and fibreglass people use this technique. This is where the techniques differ, with the fibreglass you glue the card (you almost definitely use card for this one) together using the tabs to make each part of your full armour, helmets etc. So you basically have your armour in card form. You then apply fibreglass and resin and stuff to strengthen it. You then add bondo, which is car body filler to the outside and smooth down with sandpaper etc until it looks right and then you paint it.

The foam technique is slightly different, you print out the pepakura like above but don't have tabs switched on. You then trace these pieces onto Eva foam and cut them out. You glue all the pieces together and then you have your armour made out of foam. Seal and paint.

There is a slight variation to the foam technique for colouring it (I believe it's called the Goldie technique), before gluing the eva foam together to make your armour you glue PVC to the outside this creates a smooth shiny surface, that might look more shiny and expensive more like how Iron Man should be.

This description is a bit rushed, when I get home from work I'll get you proper links and videos of each technique so what I said above actually makes sense.

Thanks! I'll download Pepakura programme when my PC stops going "OMG IT'S 6PM!!!! FEEEEEEECK!!!" and starts co-operating with me.

@Ryukredapples: I'd very much appreciate that file! I'll pm you my email!

@Kata-san: Kind of half understood what you were trying to say, got a bit lost on the fibreglass but did kinda understand the foam one... Kinda lol I'll appreciate the other details.

@Pez: I would love to do that... But 1. I think my mum will kill me and 2. it looks really hard @_@ I think I'll try a smaller prop before doing a full suit of armour in that technique.

And I'll make sure to buy some stretch needles too ^___^

Hey sorry, I was trying to do it in a rush (which is never a good idea ) and I should've just waited until I got home to post at all.

There is a tutorial here where he is actually making an Iron Man costume and shows you how to use the Pepakura editor and to use the foam.

This guy is part of The 405th (a Halo armour making community and seems to be good at the "Halo technique" tutorials which can be found here. Personally I'm avoiding the "Halo Technique" because you're working with pretty nasty chemicals that can be quite expensive but it's all personal preference.

Here is some pepakura files for Iron Man but he's pretty popular so you could probably find different/more on google.

Hope that helps, and makes a bit more sense

Pm'ed you hun a good chum of mine sent me this link as it was easier than me sending you it all as it was kinda big and my net is lame ¬¬ but yeah this should sort you out

Thanks for all your help ^___^ This is looking really doable now!

It seems that you have a heated discussion, i really want to see the final costumes! it must be very cool