Fiberglass / Resin Hell

Well I have spent the last couple of weekends reinforcing the flimsy vacu-formed ABS parts so they might actually stand up to their intended roles.

Weekend 1 went well and very minor fumes... nothing that my push fan and exhaust fan couldn't handle. However, this past weekend was quite another matter. The winds were quite high, and I believe that the wind pushing in the window was of a higher force than my extraction fan was able to deal with, so the fumes got pushed not only back into my shop, but throughout my house :-(

In the end, I had to hermetically seal my workshop and leave the extraction system running for a few days to clear it, whilst opening windows around the house to air out the initial escaped fumes from the living areas. This was less than ideal as it was fairly cold out.

Anyway lesson-learned. Do not do this when the winds are up, and try to time it for when the wife and kids are away for the weekend just for safe measure :-p

FYI: The fiberglassing was fine for the ABS, and caused no damage or warpage. Furthermore it increased the surface rigidity by a factor of at least 2 with only one layer. This is good enough for some areas, but others will require a second cross-hatched layer, such as the greaves(shins) and the forearm rocket bay.
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Well, as of today, all fiberglassing is done and all Bondo'ing of seams has been laid.
Started sanding and feathering all Bondo'd seams (Yay)

One last sanding before I lay a dark layer and another lighter layer of primer to detect hills and valleys

My new gloves!!

Can't say enough good about these Masked Rider gloves... I have some work to do to them yet, but they are going to be amazing!

Wiring is completed...

Starting the endo-wiring to maintain alignments

Ver 3.3 - Visor Electronics

Ok, a couple of changes!

After installing the orbital hinges, I have decided to go with my original 3-bar system for ease of installation and stability. One of the things I borrowed from the orbital designs is the use of Chicago screws which increase the ease of installation and maintenance. Another thing added is the use of Lock-Tite to keep the posts from backing off inadvertantly.

Note, this is the beater helmet and I didn't take the time to install the eye LED arrays as they are not intended for this brain bucket.

The Firgelli linear actuators are designed for precision and longevity, not so much for blinding speed. So while the movie visor speed is not matched, the safety to the user and peace of mind requirements are more than met.

Firgelli / Hyperdyne system in action:

Visor ride height at top of open position:

ARC Reactor final

Well this is it finally!
A nice lucite ring (Thank you Zabana!) with 10 sets of copper core windings soldered at the top terminals.
The LED array below is not too overstated, yet significantly bright I think...
A nice mixture of steel, Aircraft aluminum and copper... I am pretty happy with it

Working with the Colours

Starting paint tests under the following conditions:

1. Natural light
2. Flourescent Light
3. Flash
4. Mixes of the above

3 colours under consideration:

                                                  Hot Chilli Red        /       Dark Toreador

                                                             Dark Toreador |  Merlot Red

                                                                     

The Armour!!

The targetted armour shells are now fibreglass hardened and are being cleaned up from the resultant globule residue.
Note: The grey sections are the main high-stress areas that were fiberglassed; the clear sections are Vacu-Formed ABS primarily used to reduce weight at the most-distal points to the trunk... the exception being the abdomen itself which was an overall weight reduction choice.
Without tech installed, the suit comes in at about 35lbs. I estimate the final weight to be approximately 40lbs +/-  3lbs.

Ver 3.2 - Visor Electronics

Well the Futaba linear conversion units were very close, but in the end did not have sufficient travel to fully open and close the visor as I need.

Moving on to an orbital hinge design and Firgelli linear actuators that have a matching stroke and power with enough speed that it won't look stupid :-p

Orbital hinges constructed from a mixture of aircraft grade aluminum and steel.
Will be ordering the Firgelli's in the next month or so.