1. For those of you who have been asking how I am going to colour my aluminium Iron Man suit, I won't be painting it - I will be anodising it. Here is a sample.
2. Back assembled. This was actually way easy to put together. I was dreading it thinking it was going to be complicated.
1. Last boot. Practice makes perfect. I'm so glad I have approached this incrementally. The fibreglass/car-bog method was good to learn, but messy, expensive and time consuming in the extreme. Doing a boot in foam was also a good learning experience, but still not practical. Finally moving on to cardboard before the aluminium build, each part I make just gets better in quality as I gain experience. This is the third boot I have made and I reckon it's 100% on the first one.
Baz, are you DIY anodising? I just started myself, and it is SO simple, and I am getting REALLY good trial results using either Rit clothing dye or powdered food colouring (the commercial grade permanent stuff) - no need for commercial anodising dyes. Old car battery gave me the H2SO4, Bunnings the Aluminium rod and wires, and I had the car battery charger.
Can't believe I used to pay people $30 UP per part to do it!
Baz, are you DIY anodising? I just started myself, and it is SO simple, and I am getting REALLY good trial results using either Rit clothing dye or powdered food colouring (the commercial grade permanent stuff) - no need for commercial anodising dyes. Old car battery gave me the H2SO4, Bunnings the Aluminium rod and wires, and I had the car battery charger.
Can't believe I used to pay people $30 UP per part to do it!
I'd love to hear more about how you do this. I found a place that has quoted me $500 to anodise the whole suit in the two colours.
Basically, you need to prep the aluminium by cleaning it thoroughly - caustic soda is a good start! Then you hook up the neg terminal to a sheet of aluminium or a bar stock, in the tub (I use large plastic tubs from Sam's Warehouse - cost $5 each). To the tub you add as much water as is needed, prepped previously with between 30% and 80% sulphuric acid (by volume). I use 30%/70% acid/water mix, and it seems to work well.
You need to attach the part to be anodised via an aluminium wire (electric fence wire, or aluminium welding rod) to the part in a place where the anodising is not visible - so, inside somewhere. Where the wire touches it will NOT anodise (shielded). Once that is done, hook the part to the positive terminal, and immerse in the acid/water solution. Run the charger at 12 volts.
Leave it roughly 30 minutes. Take out, and ruinse in bicarb soda infused water or similar neutraliser, then IMMEDIATELY into the dye bath which is SIMMERING (not boiling). Any good permanent dye is good - Rit fabric dye works well, as does commercial grade powdered food dyes. Simmer it until the shade is a few shades DARKER than you want it to be, then remove and dunk into a clean tub of boiling water for a while. Remove and dry with a towel. VOILA!
Nicer results can be obtained by lacquering after, even getting a deeper colour with the spray faux-anodising you and I use. Not necessary, but I like the added barrier.
Basically, you need to prep the aluminium by cleaning it thoroughly - caustic soda is a good start! Then you hook up the neg terminal to a sheet of aluminium or a bar stock, in the tub (I use large plastic tubs from Sam's Warehouse - cost $5 each). To the tub you add as much water as is needed, prepped previously with between 30% and 80% sulphuric acid (by volume). I use 30%/70% acid/water mix, and it seems to work well.
You need to attach the part to be anodised via an aluminium wire (electric fence wire, or aluminium welding rod) to the part in a place where the anodising is not visible - so, inside somewhere. Where the wire touches it will NOT anodise (shielded). Once that is done, hook the part to the positive terminal, and immerse in the acid/water solution. Run the charger at 12 volts.
Leave it roughly 30 minutes. Take out, and ruinse in bicarb soda infused water or similar neutraliser, then IMMEDIATELY into the dye bath which is SIMMERING (not boiling). Any good permanent dye is good - Rit fabric dye works well, as does commercial grade powdered food dyes. Simmer it until the shade is a few shades DARKER than you want it to be, then remove and dunk into a clean tub of boiling water for a while. Remove and dry with a towel. VOILA!
Nicer results can be obtained by lacquering after, even getting a deeper colour with the spray faux-anodising you and I use. Not necessary, but I like the added barrier.
That's it. It's VERY simple.
I just googled the heck out of it. Thanks mate, it's worth considering if I was going to be doing a lot more of this, but for a one-off, $500 is a bargain! If I start finding some of that stuff laying around, I'll grab it though because it sounds like a lot of fun.
Well the hand was a tricky one. So fiddly! I had to modify it a bit and make some of my own parts as this pepakura file wasn't really designed for the medium I am using.
Got it done though in a marathon all-nighter. Nearly 5am and I've been going for ten hours. zzzz....
…worth a thought and an email or two..? 
