What's up Iron Man fans!
This is the video you've been waiting for so long.
Today I will show you how to make
the outer layer of Iron Man exosuit
with your own hands in the dark garage:
You will see the entire
process of creating a suit,
from pencil sketches and small clay model
to the full-size composite version.
Likes and comments below,
Let's go!
Allright, let do this one last time
My name is Alex Burkan and Im building Iron Man suit 6 years ago I started with the heart of that technology. In a cave with a box of scraps, I assembled several electrolysers, which split water into hydrogen and oxygen and produce high-octane fuel gas mixture for the suit. Then I realized that the electrolyzer can be used not only as a source of fuel, but also as a compact but powerful compressor, which means it can be used to activate artificial muscles and other pneumatic stuff. Slowly but methodically moving from the inner layer to the outer one I started to make a full metal shell, but I quickly realized that no matter how cool it looks, it turns out to be too heavy, and completely non-functional. The desire to lighten the weight of the suit as much as possible, but keep the original design, led me to research composite materials and electroplating coating... And now, in the right order. Just as always, we begin development with pencil sketches. Manual drawing from photographs and screenshots - this is what helps to better understand the basic geometry, and then work out in more detail other parts of complex technical gadgets. After drawing the device with our own hands, we are beginning to understand better what parts it consists of, how the parts interact with each other, where they are attached and where they intersect. In addition to sketches, now it's about time to make some notes in a diary, about what we want to put into the final version of the device and how it should work. After enough graphical practice, when you already think that you can draw the desired object in any pose, with your eyes closed, let's move on to creating a small three-dimensional model. In any 3D modeling program, such as Blender, 3D Max or Z-brush, there is a sculpting mode that allows you to create an object in a way similar to traditional clay sculpting. But still computer monitor remains flat, many artists who are involved in 3D modeling, including me, still feel more convenient to work the old fashioned way, using regular sculptural plasticine. When you take look at backstage scenes of any science fiction movie, or see the process of modeling the body of modern sports cars, you will see that despite the most powerful computers, and the latest advances in virtual visualization, the first prototypes of suits and cars, are still made from plasticine. When the model is not on the monitor, but right in our hands, we feel volumes and shapes better and we see it immediately in 3D, but not flat in any one axis. Moving from modeling basic shapes to increasingly smaller details, we keep our sketches at hand, and they really help a lot here. Once your inner perfectionist decides, that the quality of detail is acceptable, let's move on to the next stage, which still seems somewhat magical to me. So the next step is called 3D scanning. Previously, for a long time, I tried to adapt the camera in my smartphone for scanning. The quality of the final 3D scans was quite poor, and required long manual post-processing of the model. In fact, using a smartphone and mobile app managed to get a diffuse unclear model, with terrible swelling like I have on mornings, which, although it made it possible not to miss the main volumes, but almost all of the detail had to be modeled by hand. But fortunately, over the past couple of years, high-resolution 3D scanners have become cheaper by about 10 times and buying such a machine became acceptable even for those guys who doesn't just do 3D scanning and modeling for living on a daily basis. Now all you have to do is go through the scanner, connected to a phone or laptop on all sides of the plasticine model. And within 5 minutes we get precise three-dimensional copy of any desired object. If you look closely, the scanner conveys such fine details of the relief, that even fingernail marks on the plasticine are visible. Of course, if our task is not just to make souvenir copies of a plasticine model, but print a full-size suit from many well-fitted parts, then such a 3D model will also need to be processed in Blender, to obtain parts suitable for 3D printing. But, with such a high quality of raft model, the process of retopology, that is, the construction of a new mesh, takes much less time, after all, every edge and every face is clearly visible on the screen, and with Shrinkwrap modifier ON you can easily snap to it. And most importantly, the process of retopology, in contrast to the process of 3D modeling from scratch, it just comes down to constructing a high-quality mesh over ready made model. Therefore, with this technology, we will definitely not miss the proportions of the suit. Especially if we stop gaining and losing 20-30 pounds, after the suit measurements. After retopology and virtual fitting of the suit on your dummy, obtained in a similar way, we cut the parts in a slicer and start 3D printing. Usually, large body parts are printed with a petty large thickness, in order to achieve as much strength as possible due to the thickness of the plastic. The inner and outer perimeter is printed in 3-4 layers, and infill factor of the internal space between the perimeters set in the range of 5 and 50 percent. This method is suitable for parts which do not involve a large load. But if the purpose of the parts implies increased strength requirements, then it is better to move the load from plastic to composite materials. In this case, conversely, we print the walls of the parts as thin as your 3D printer and printing setup skills allow. Obviously, printers with a fixed bed are more suitable for this method, because the large part does not move or wobble during printing. Sure, printing large but thin parts require increased demands on your hardware and print settings, but ultimately, after composite reinforcement, we will receive parts of a completely different quality, therefore, your investment in technology, and most importantly, learning and practicing 3D printing is definitely worth it. In the meantime, our printers are loaded a whole month ahead, so there is time for science and research. Composite reinforcement and clear coating of parts, are a very labor-intensive tasks. It took me several months just to build the helmet and torso. And the best thing we can do before working with printed parts, is to do several test probes. Experimenting with fiberglass, carbon fiber, Kevlar, different combinations of these reinforcing materials, and most importantly, different number of layers, we enter the strength test data into a table, and determine the appropriate composition for different parts. The main points we need to determine are ratio of strength and weight of the parts, specific type of reinforcing material and number of layers. Also, do not forget to capture in your diary the manufacturing nuances, consumption of materials and approximate budget of our party. After determining the optimal material, Let's move on to experiments with finish coating, and determine the optimal properties of the outer layer. Using pencil test, abrasion and impact loads, we measure the hardness, abrasion resistance and chip resistance of the coating. But, besides this, even at the test phase it is better to estimate not only the cost of manufacturing the coating itself, but also the cost of repairing it. Any surface will wear off over the time, and you may want to choose a coating that is not as hard and wear-resistant as possible, but the one that will be easiest to repair. I know, I know, right now this amount of preliminary work may seem terribly long and boring, but firstly, it takes the quality of your work to a whole new level, and secondly, once you feel this excitement from creative scientific and technical workflow, you will not be able to stop In the meantime, we were captivated by entertaining Strength of Materials, our 3D printer farm, working seven days a week has already begun to bear the first fruits, so now we can move on to reinforcing our parts. First, align the edges and print defects. Then we begin making patterns for the parts. To do this, we make a paste from a couple of crossed layers of masking tape on the inside of printed parts, to get accurate templates, which we will then transfer to the reinforcing material. The two main consumable tools that will be in our hands in the next couple of months, are brush and a roller. And if a brush in a hardware store will only costs you 25 cents, then for some reason, the roller is too expensive so it’s better to do it yourself. At first, I'm like any normal person, who has a 3D printer printed rollers from plastic, but then I tried to work with metal one, I realized that it lasts longer, because it can be easily cleaned of hardened resin, and therefore, like any normal person, who has a lathe, made them from metal. By the way, such a roller can be made without a lathe, the main thing is to drill evenly. If you suddenly become too lazy to bother with a DIY tool, remember that Henry Ford on his factory considered the most qualified workers to be those which were not made by the cars themselves, but more advanced tools for car production. When the pattern, tools and other supplies are ready, we can start reinforcing the parts. With your permission, we won't stay here long because composite reinforcement is described in the playlist Basics of Composites as detailed as possible, but if I suddenly missed something, please write about it in the comments. The front side, we putty, sand, prime, sand some more, prime some more, sand some more, in short, level it to a mirror shine and apply any coating described in my video about hardness. In this case, this is my experimental coating based on two-component varnish and graphite powder. I already more or less like the way the coating looks, but I want to tinker with the recipe a little more and come up with something to increase adhesion and hardness, so once I finish my research, I will definitely share it with you. In the future, all composite parts of the body will be attached to a metal exosuit, which in turn will already be put directly on our body. Which once again brings us to two conclusions. First, it turns out that, despite all the new technologies it is our biological body that remains the core of the exosuit. Don't forget that true Iron Man suit conception is a fusion of man and machine, flesh and metal. So while working on the exosuit, we continue keep ourselves in shape, recover from injuries, and become stronger and more resilient. And the second conclusion, despite the outer composite parts it looks like there is still a lot of work with metal ahead, including turning, cutting and welding in a cave, with a box of scraps. Hot dark night, sweat on my brow Wanna be like me, I can show you how Blueprints ready on the wall Just a little left - D.I.Y. this all Flesh and metal fusion from the childhood dreams Now detailed reflected in electric schemes In the dark garage under flickering lights Engineering marvel prepping for the flight Hand-built courage in the dark of night No corporate backing just a builder's might From the chest reactor to the metal traps He did it in a cave with a box of scraps Rough hands bleeding but the heart beats strong Could blow the part of house if one movements wrong
Circuitry tangled in the mess of mind
Balance to the force is really hard to find.
Blueprints ain't perfect but the vision's clear
Hydrogen is ready and he feels no fear
Garage walls echo with repulsors blast
Another point of sanity has just been passed
Hand-built courage in the dark of night
No corporate backing just a builder's might
From the chest reactor to the metal traps
He did it in a cave with a box of scraps
At the moment, the technology for creating a suit
and other complex technical devices,
the one described in this video
seems to me the most optimal.
3D modeling and 3D printing
together with composite reinforcement parts with complex geometry
and necessity precise scaling to fit each user
allows you to create light and
strong parts faster and easier,
than any other way.
We get a huge gain in weight and price
and most importantly the production
technology of such parts
becomes accessible even to young engineers.
Vintage step-by-step building instructions
of Iron Man reactor, and the basic
model of Repulsor and Exosuit,
high pressure electrolyser and
kilowatt electrolyser drawings
are available for Alex Lab channel
members and Patreon members.
Guys, thank you so much for the
opportunity to do what I do.
Remember that I made a second YouTube channel
with long comprehensive videos
where I describe all these
technologies as detailed as possible
for the guys who are serious about
replicating all this stuff.
Please click the like, share
this video with your friends, and of course, don't forget to become Alex
Lab members to get access to all my books, technical drawings and 3D models.
Good luck with your own projects and see you soon!
Bye!