Ironman Costume Part 4: the Gloves

This is the fourth installment in my Ironman replica building series so far.  Here's links to the first three:

Part 1: Rapid Prototyping the Helmet
Part 2: the Hard Parts
Part 3: the Soft Parts

On a build like this, with all of the parts designed to look like metal, getting the joints to look right while still being functional gets a bit tricky.  The problems compound when you get to the hands.

Here's the finished hands I made:


To see how they were made, read on...

Combat Garden Gnome Radioman is Ready to Ship Out!

Somewhere in the wilds of a suburban garden plot right now there's a platoon of garden gnomes pinned down by suppressing fire from a hedgerow.  In the past they'd have to hunker down and wait until the opposing forces ran out of ammo or hope some friendly unit happened to be within yelling distance. 

That was before they enlisted the help of the Combat Garden Gnome Radioman:


At first glance he's mostly harmless. He doesn't even have a weapon, just the comically oversized A/N PRC-25 Portable Radio set:


But that's before he calls in an aerial bombardment and churns the very earth beneath your feet into a broiling hell that Dante could never have imagined.


The Radioman is carefully chosen. He has to be someone with experience and steady nerves who won't get rattled under fire. He has to be able to read maps, too. If something happens to the commanding officer, the Radioman is essentially in command of the unit, calling in fire support, medevacs, and reinforcements. It's also an exceptionally dangerous job, since the conspicuous radio antenna says to the enemy "Shoot ME first!"

Here's a closeup of the details on top of his radio pack:


The A/N PRC-25 (called the "prick 25" by GIs) is a compact, lightweight, tactical, VHF solid-state portable radio set. Over its service life more than 130,000 sets were produced. Although mainly designed for manpack use, the PRC-25 can be mounted in vehicles or aircraft as well. It can survive a 50-foot drop from a helicopter onto a steel plank runway or up to an hour submerged in six feet of water and still function reliably. It was the most widely used piece of communication equipment in Vietnam and no suburban lawn is truly secure without one.

I've got a handful of these guys listed in the Etsy shop.  You can order your own by clicking HERE.


More projects in the works as always.  Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any updates.

COMING SOON: Radio Gnome

When the fight on the ground gets too thick and the infantry is at the risk of being overrun, garden defenders know they can always count on the radioman for help.  The enemy might think he looks harmless armed with nothing more than his A/N PRC-25 portable radio, but they'll change their tune when he calls in an airstrike and levels the playing field.

Here's a shot of the sculpt in progress:


I tried to capture the expression of a gnome in the middle of calling for an F-bomb.

I still have to sculpt his radio pack.  For right now, he just has a blank space:


As soon as I've finished the molds, it'll be time to crank out copies and list them in my Etsy shop: http://etsy.com/shop/thorssoli

In the meantime, I need some more ideas for a backstory to go with this guy.  Any suggestions?

Prop Building 101: Making a Two-Sided Silicone Mold

In this article I'm going to detail the process of making a 2-piece silicone mold.  The same methods can be used mold and cast all manner of things with details on both sides.  If you're looking to make a mold of something flat that has no details on one side, check out my last "Prop Building 101" article, "Making a One-Sided Silicone Mold."

For the purpose of this demonstration I will be making molds to copy a few hammers.

Hammers are hard and heavy.  One of the basic tenets of society is that throwing hammers at your friends will rapidly result in not having friends.

But what if you want to keep your friends and you can't resist the urge to throw hammers at them?  Well my friend, you've come to the right place.  Here's how to simulate a variety of typical, run-of-the-mill hammers with soft, pliable, non-concussion-inducing flexible foam.

Here's a picture of a fully-finished foam rubber hammer:


If you'd like to know how to make one, read on...

Building Signage for the Fundemonium Toy and Hobby Store

A while back I was contacted by one of the owners of the local hobby store about helping out with their project to re-brand the store.  For my part, what they needed was a series of glowing signs to point out the different departments inside the store.  The design called for a very thin sign stylized to look like an old-school monochromatic display being held between a couple of cartoon robot hands.

Here's a pic of the end result:


And a close-up:



For details on how they were made, read on...