I am Working on a Dr Doom Costume for this years Comic Con and I am looking into aluminum as an alternative to steel for ease of use and Weight. For those who do not know about Doom, the costume would require full arms with fingered Gauntlets, full legs up to mid calf with armored shoes and a face mask.
I am working with limited funds and limited space. Any questions below that you can answer I would really appreciate:
1- Is this a good choice?
2- Any suggestions on striking tools?
3- What would be the easiest way to work the Aluminum?
4- To cut 20 Gauge aluminum, would Aviation Shears be good?
5- Is there a non-chemical way to polish the aluminum?
Damon wrote:In their own little world they are like this huge evil overlord however in the grand scheme of things they are just this sad little hamster going squeek squeek squeek in their own little ball.
DoomedTrueBeliever wrote:
I am working with limited funds and limited space. Any questions below that you can answer I would really appreciate:
1- Is this a good choice?
2- Any suggestions on striking tools?
3- What would be the easiest way to work the Aluminum?
4- To cut 20 Gauge aluminum, would Aviation Shears be good?
5- Is there a non-chemical way to polish the aluminum?
1. I suppose so. Plastic and metalic spray-paint is another choice.
2. Pretty much the same as for steel
3. pretty much the same as for steel EXCEPT that aluminum work hardens easier. Given your starting thickness excessive stretcing may cause cracking or tearing.
4. probably. I think I could cut 20ga aluminum with kitchen shears and determination.
5. Sandpaper and buffing wheel followed by a wax to keep it from oxidizing.
My question: Do you have any/much experience making steel armor, working aluminum, working with thin metal and with creating paterns from scratch? All will affect this project.
Also try to buy your aluminum anealed rather then tempered. It will save you a lot of difficulty in shaping since you don't need it to be srong for impacts.
My question: Do you have any/much experience making steel armor, working aluminum, working with thin metal and with creating patterns from scratch? All will affect this project.
Also try to buy your aluminum annealed rather then tempered. It will save you a lot of difficulty in shaping since you don't need it to be strong for impacts.
I do not, unfortunately, have any armor making experience. I do have almost 9 months to work on it and allot of sewing and fabric experience. So I am very familiar with pattern work. Also, another plus is that i will be using alot of the patterns from the Armour Archive.
Do you think that 20 Gauge is too thin to start with? Given my lack of metal working experience, would steel be a better option? Or a Thicker Aluminum?
Considering your level of experiance I would sugest priceing out material options.
Budget and material choice will have a lot to do with what tools work best.
For aluminum I would sugest a good jigsaw and the teardrop hammers from harbor freight.
Plastic from 5 gallon plaster buckets and a heat gun/oven can do a lot of the shapeing. Then krylon fusion paint would be the quick/easy option.
I would suggest ABS, Kydex, or similar plastic and vacuforming.
As with most things, the devil is in the details. Doom's armour is only similar looking to the historical version. To get the right shape on his armour would really require lots of complex shaping. Shaping that is pretty advanced for a metal worker, but can be more easily accomplished with heated plastic.
Doom's armour is also not shiny, it is very much a kind of dull gray. something that can be accomplished with spray paint. given the weight vs. thickness ratio of plastic to aluminum, I would go with plastic, it will actually be stronger than 20ga aluminum.
Insane Irish
Quote: "Nissan Maxima"
(on Pennsic) I know that movie. It is the 13th warrior. A bunch of guys in armour that doesn't match itself or anybody elses, go on a trip and argue and get drunk and get laid and then fight Tuchux.
Thank you for the input. I would really really rather not use plastic if I don’t have to. Metal working is something that I am really interested in and would love to get into. I am going to do everything in my power to continue on this course. BUT, if I cannot do it, is there a forum for plastic working? I assume that the patterns are the same, but the techniques have to be completely different? And also, i found a local metal shop that can sell me aluminum sheets. Where could i buy Plastic sheets locally? What kind of shop could i get them from?
Mild steel is cheap. Easier to work with. Much more likely you'll have the option to weld parts of it. Also easy to find.
Thinner metal is generally more skill intensive to shape.
18ga mild steel is my recomendation. Dr. doom's not supposed to be real shiny anyway.
You can cut it with aviation snips but it's not the easiest thing in the world. Just remember tin snips cut at an angle to the steel and not perpindicular. Sticking one handle in the vise and a bar on the other makes it easier too.
That said, if you're set on aluminum, you might want to look at the armor in this thread: http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... ugo+thaden. The thread shows how good aluminum can look (there are other threads with more closeup pictures and details of that armor, if you care to search).
IIRC, Patrick said he and Ugo used 6061 T0 aluminum. As for the thickness AL they used, you could always PM either of those guys, but I suspect it was about 18-ga (0.049").
So I have decided to take Matts advice and go with 18G Mild Steel. Is Galvanized a Mild Steel? It seems to be the only mild steel i can find locally is galvanized. I got two quotes for a 5' x10' sheet of 18 g Galvanized steel. One was $95.17 and the other was $55 does that sound right???
Use caution if you are going to weld galvinized steel, lots of proper ventilation, in the very least, as it gives of some nasty fumes.
Steel prices can and will vary from vendor to vendor. But 55$ for a 5x10 ft. piece of sheet is'nt shabby. If they have galvinized, they certainly should be able to get you some plain ol' mild steel.
Check the local machine and welding shops as well as the local scrap yard. Usualy smaller pieces of steel or Drops will be cheaper then buying the full sheet.
I would sugest picking up a set of Teardrop mallets from harbor freight.
They are a budget tool and work well for shapeing steel.
Thank you Everyone for your Help! I Really Appreciate it! I am headed to a local machine shop to buy 6 pieces of 4'X12" 18G Mild Steel! And its only going to cost me $25! So Thank you!
Does anyone use "Panelbeater Sandbags"? or does everyone use a tree stump?
For 18 guage mild, I'd use aviation snips, or a set of long handle tin snips. It's not "easy" like cuttng paper, but with a bit of hand strength it's not that difficult.
I'd get a good pair, and compound action.
Avoid the cheapies and you should be ok.
Have you ever worked with metal before? The problem with metal to comic is there is 0 imperfections on a cartoon. If your a perfectionist like me that will take you forever to do unless you have a lot of skill under your belt. Also no metal suit will ever be cheap. Aluminum is also a higher cost metal than steel. Plastic would be the cheapest and a thick padded fabric could be even easier than that.
The Aviation Snips work Great! Its like cutting butter! Thank you everyone for all of your help! I will post Photos when its all done!
The problem with metal to comic is there is 0 imperfections on a cartoon. If your a perfectionist like me that will take you forever to do unless you have a lot of skill under your belt.
I am an extreme Perfectionist and i have 8 months to work on it.
Here's the thing. If you go metal, you'll easily have the skill set when you're done to make 14 century reproduction armor.
However, if you go with plastic, it'll actually have a prayer of being done in 8 months.
When I look at that (who is it, Romita?) I see a lot of severe curves in places that aren't normally that curvy, I see knee joints that will probably gap and maybe freeze the second you walk since the ankles aren't going to move and it'll make you march around like you're in a military drill team, and I see flat-out impossible elbows.
I think you might be able to go from knowing nothing to having a wearable costume in 8 months if all you're trying to learn is how to adapt John Byrne's artwork to the reality of having to walk around a convention floor. Since you can work ABS or polystyrene (much cheaper) with a $20 heat gun, you can one-off a lot of the pieces just by finding something that is roughly the shape you need and bending plastic over it by hand.
However, if I were doing this out of steel, I'd have to dedicate a week of working evenings to do just one thigh, and I know what I'm doing, and I have several thousand dollars of tools to make it easier.
Just food for thought....
Stuff I will trade for: PWM controllers, steel sheet/rod/bar (4130/410/1050/toolsteel), ITC, casting supplies, wood tools, silver, oxpho blue, gun stuff (9luger/357mag/12g/7.62x54R/22LR), hammers, stakes, or pitch me!
