Foam Man!

It doesn't exactly have the same ring to it and it is certainly not as protective as the real thing, but I've finally decided to try my hand at making some Iron Man armor out of EVA foam.

I want to have a costume to wear for the opening of Iron Man 3 next week, so I decided on doing the boots and gloves for the shot of Tony standing with his suits of armor.  I don't have enough time to do a full suit, and this is my first real experience working with foam, so I thought this would be the right size of a project.

The pepakura files for this project came from the RPF user jackieisrockin and we designed to be used with EVA foam.  The main difference with normal pepakura files is that the tabs and pieces that add depth have been removed.

The only other thing to be careful of is the thickness of the foam.  I've actually got a sheet of foam that is closer to 3/8" thick and I think it is too thick.  Also, some of the parts are meant to lay over the top of others and I went with some 3mm craft foam.  The trade offs here are stability vs. thickness as an entire piece made of craft foam is too wobbly.  The glove parts, for example, are craft foam because of how small and articulated the parts are.

Thus far, I've got most of a boot, a forearm, and a bunch of glove parts.  I am also planning on making a helmet for my Pepper Potts (wife) to carry around.