HC Toys Iron Man MKVI KO Rebuild For Walking Gantry.The Photo Shoot Setup Trials & Tribulations..

Oh, wow! I have to admit, when you mentioned the robotic arms you were attaching, I had no idea what you were talking about. It's been absolutely YEARS since I saw the first Iron Man films, and I only saw one Avengers movie way back when it first came out. So I really couldn't picture what you meant. But now I get it -- and it looks excellent!

GubernatorFan wrote:Oh yes, very definitely an improvement!

Stryker2011 wrote:Impressive. Complex looking work.

skywalkersaga wrote:Oh, wow! I have to admit, when you mentioned the robotic arms you were attaching, I had no idea what you were talking about. It's been absolutely YEARS since I saw the first Iron Man films, and I only saw one Avengers movie way back when it first came out. So I really couldn't picture what you meant. But now I get it -- and it looks excellent!

Thanks guys!! SWS: yeah it's kind of like a roiling sea of arms and annular armatures that convolute and spin around him as he walks, taking off bits of armour and storing it under the retracting floor as he strides down the landing platform on STARK Tower whilst talking to JARVIS as he goes.

I've now attached his left arm and hand properly also cut up and dremelled the armoured arm turning it into separate pieces to be held by the many arms which will hold his helmet parts and chest plate too;now I just need to work out how to do all that!

You should set all this at one end of a scene, and at the other you should put Dr Strange grooming himself with all of his extra hands and arms.

That looks brilliant!

Sorry if I've been a bit AWOL of late. I've been playing around with the driving game Assetto Corsa and all the modding you can do with it. So much fun and frustration in equal measure.

CHEERS!

GubernatorFan wrote:You should set all this at one end of a scene, and at the other you should put Dr Strange grooming himself with all of his extra hands and arms.

I don't have a Doctor Strange figure sadly, been thinking about getting the latest/2nd version but don't know where he would fit in, perhaps with my Asguard characters? Nice idea though!

Rogerbee wrote:That looks brilliant!

Sorry if I've been a bit AWOL of late. I've been playing around with the driving game Assetto Corsa and all the modding you can do with it. So much fun and frustration in equal measure.

CHEERS!

Thanks Roger! The game sounds like this build! LOL.

Indeed it does! It's rewarding when you get it right though.

CHEERS!

Epic build! It is great watching this project progress.

GubernatorFan wrote:You should set all this at one end of a scene, and at the other you should put Dr Strange grooming himself with all of his extra hands and arms.

That would be cool. I can imagine one hand holding a toothbush and another holding a beard trimmer and another holding a comb and another holding some hairspray...

shazzdan wrote:Epic build! It is great watching this project progress.

Thank you!

I've been doing detail work on the loose armour pieces for the gantry arms and partially rebuilding bits so they will appear to be removed as units (or he would be standing there all day!), I also went through my draws of electronics parts and picked some nice decorative bits to add to the insides of the removed armour to show some tech details. I also modded his left shoulder socket to accept the HT spare MKVI arm (the figure came with two complete left arms, one BD, one clean) which will mean modding my custom left arm to fit as well now (I blame you Mark for suggesting I do a set of progression pics of armour removal hence all the extra parts pictured). Just need to work on the floor panels, paint them and the steps and make a transparent stand/pole for him next.

Sorry, Brother. Didn't mean to make you do more work... But in a way, I kinda' am. It'll look epic!!!

Stryker2011 wrote:Sorry, Brother. Didn't mean to make you do more work... But in a way, I kinda' am. It'll look epic!!!

LOL, interesting grammar there! The extra work will be in the photo shoot but will be nice if I can pull it off! Worth the effort.

I think I've done everything except enlarge the ball socket on the unarmoured arm but I'll do that mid photo shoot. I filed all the base parts and cut them to size, glued them open, painted the base plate and steps black after dremelling a hole for the custom clear stand I made. All the detail work on the insides of the loose armour parts has been finished, I made the vented 'foils' for the air flaps on his back. I drilled new holes to fit the HT undamaged chest plate for the pics, soldered the plug to the splitter wire. I've probably missed something but can't think of anything right now, got an appointment with the dentist in a couple of hours for quite a bit of work to be done so won't be in the mood to take finished thread photographs if past experiences are anything are to go by! Sorry!  Just remembered! I need to make his little ear com device.

Boy the forum's a ghost town today! Is something going on I've missed? Dentist was a waste of time, got my foot stuck in a water filled pothole and fell flat on my face walking there, then they only saw me for ten minutes and told me to come back next week! Anyway.. made the ear piece as close to the movie version as I can, you only glimpse it but it's definitely white with black edging and a curvy shape attached to his right ear. Was a pain in the butt, the pieces kept shooting out of my hands as I tried to hacksaw and file them, then super glue was fun too! LOL. I need to make him a tumbler of whisky too.













DAMN IT! GOT THE SIZE AND PLACEMENT WRONG SO NEED TO REDO IT...

Aw, that sounds like a bit of a rough and frustrating day. The earpiece looks really good though!

And yeah, I know what you mean...the forum's been especially quiet for at least a couple of days now. People must be busy...

According to the BBC, British dentistry is diabolical, but even if that were true, the pothole ambush sounds like overkill. Your work, on the other hand, is flawless (now that the photos have finally loaded -- sorry, slow internet).

skywalkersaga wrote:Aw, that sounds like a bit of a rough and frustrating day. The earpiece looks really good though!

And yeah, I know what you mean...the forum's been especially quiet for at least a couple of days now. People must be busy...

GubernatorFan wrote:According to the BBC, British dentistry is diabolical, but even if that were true, the pothole ambush sounds like overkill. Your work, on the other hand, is flawless (now that the photos have finally loaded -- sorry, slow internet).

Thanks guys! Nice to see some activity on the forum, typically I'm going to bed now, been up since 1am my time. I would say the pavements are diabolical, the dentists just like to charge as many appointment fees as they can! Thank goodness for the NHS! Even if it does mean I'll have to go back next week (they know about my agoraphobia but still just booked me a 15min slot for 3 fillings, like that was going to happen).
Anyway.. redid his ear piece so it's much more accurate and positioned correctly now, also was a lot easier to make as I just used the off-cuts from the first one to make it .

15 minutes for three fillings? Should be more like 45, if not more...

GubernatorFan wrote:15 minutes for three fillings? Should be more like 45, if not more...

Yup! And to top it off, a previous filling of mine that had been fine before started hurting the next day due to the sonic cleaning, kind of ironic.

Thought I'd share my experiment of making a 1/6 tumbler of whisky and ice since many members like to have drinks as accessories for their figures in dios and skits etc.. I didn't use the glue gun in the end, I used the contact adhesive as the simulated whisky after mixing a blend of colours with markers on the inside of the clear plastic. Also so random pics of the dismantled helmet assembled for some reason.. no idea why!LOL.

Looking good, Alex. Sorry to hear about the sidewalk fall, and the debacle with the dentist.

Thanks for sharing that whiskey idea! And indeed, I hope you're not in too much pain....

I love the whiskey custom. So small and so perfect.

Stryker2011 wrote:Looking good, Alex. Sorry to hear about the sidewalk fall, and the debacle with the dentist.

skywalkersaga wrote:Thanks for sharing that whiskey idea! And indeed, I hope you're not in too much pain....

LOL, all good, just having a middle age whine!

More pics of the whisky now it's cured, there are 3 chunks of 'ice' in there, could be whisky and Coke/soda now I guess..

GubernatorFan wrote:I love the whiskey custom. So small and so perfect.

Cheers! We just posted at the same time! LOL, more pics above.

shovelchop81 wrote:Cheers! We just posted at the same time! LOL, more pics above.

LOL, nice, I love it even more now! Maybe it could also be rum and coke? So a very versatile little thing.

That does look REALLY nice. I love the ice, the swirls, and the bubbles!

GubernatorFan wrote:

shovelchop81 wrote:Cheers! We just posted at the same time! LOL, more pics above.

LOL, nice, I love it even more now! Maybe it could also be rum and coke? So a very versatile little thing.

skywalkersaga wrote:That does look REALLY nice. I love the ice, the swirls, and the bubbles!

Thanks! That's why it pays to experiment, never be scared to try some new or odd (damn, I sound like some kind of irritating guidance councillor! ).
I've got the whole photo shoot to do later, been getting that ready for a day or two now, clearing out the kitchen/workshop and getting the photo-booth out of storage etc.. I'm going to need a continuity guy for the pics!

I am loving this bash! It is all coming together so well. Don't get me started on dentists! I have a bad nerve in my jaw and when that plays up it feels like toothache. That was what I thought I had the first time it flared up, so I tried to find a dentist. I rang NHS Direct and they told me places to try. Each and every one I tried was full, so, in effect, I was updating their list for them. That was back when it wasn't 111 and racked up a hefty bill!

I just take painkillers and bear it when it flares up now, there's nothing a dentist can do anyway as it's not related to the teeth. Hope yours feel better soon.

CHEERS!

Rogerbee wrote:
I am loving this bash! It is all coming together so well. Don't get me started on dentists! I have a bad nerve in my jaw and when that plays up it feels like toothache. That was what I thought I had the first time it flared up, so I tried to find a dentist. I rang NHS Direct and they told me places to try. Each and every one I tried was full, so, in effect, I was updating their list for them. That was back when it wasn't 111 and racked up a hefty bill!

I just take painkillers and bear it when it flares up now, there's nothing a dentist can do anyway as it's not related to the teeth. Hope yours feel better soon.

CHEERS!

Cheers Roger! I remember you telling me about your bad nerve and that you tried to induce pain killing endorphins by relaxing and thinking happy thoughts? I also remember saying I'd be screwed unable to do that with hyper anxiety and chronic depression! Tooth's better knock on wood, I have some prescription pain killing tooth paste.

Finished setting up for the photo shoot today using the booth then realised that wasn't going to work even though it's big enough for the dio and flight stand, there's no way of hiding the white light diffuser panels. I tried all white as well but the shadows sucked and the flight stand sticks out like a saw thumb! I also covered the diffuser panels on the outside to blend them in since it was daylight but still lousy results, also went extreme reducing the exposure settings, better but not great. I've ended up nicking the photography backdrop from my bedroom that I was using as part of my curtains (no bloody shutters in this country! ) and rearranging my kitchen/workshop again to use a ladder to help keep the backdrop up. And the lack of shutters is problematic again as I now have to wait until dark before I can start taking pictures properly. I feel like I'm opening a mini play/stage production with the gear and space I'm using now!



















New setup:

This will be cool once you get it all figured out for proper shooting. It’s pretty impressive already.