MONROE - It took Eric Buol 18 months to complete his Iron Man costume and it shows.
"There was about three months where I just wanted to give up and throw it out," Buol said. "I'm such a perfectionist that it had to look perfect."
Perfect enough to win best costume Saturday night at The Friendly Inn tavern for its Halloween costume contest.
Buol, who works at Westfalia Surge Koehn Inc. in Monroe, picked up whatever leftover cardboard was about to be thrown away to construct a full body Iron Man costume of the popular comic book and movie series. "Iron Man" features a billionaire playboy played by Robert Downey Jr. in the movies, who moonlights as a superhero in his powerful suit.
Buol said the long process of building his suit involved printing out shapes on plain paper using an origami program, tracing that to cardboard then slicing the cardboard into the right size before putting it all together for a three-dimensional suit. Buol then added a fiberglass spray to the cardboard to make it more durable. The final touch came with acrylic spray paint and a "black wash" to make the armor seem like it had fulfilled its duty of staving off a beating.
"It was tedious," he said. But worth it, he won best costume and his Facebook feed has been flooded with compliments.
"People at the gym would come up and say "great costume,' and I would be like, "Thanks, I don't know you,'" Buol said.
He said he had to post photos of the process of making the costume to prove he didn't just buy it online. The suit has detachable parts for the head, arms, legs, torso and hands, and Buols said it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to put on. His wife Ashley Buol said she became frustrated just trying to suit Eric up. Buol said he may try to put the suit on again and visit Abe Lincoln Elementary, where his wife teaches kindergarten, but he does not plan on starting a new project any time soon.
"Maybe I'll do a puzzle," he said.
Buol said Ashley encouraged him to take up building the costume to curb his video game habit, but Eric has always been a tinkerer.
"At first I told my co-workers it was like the dumbest thing ever, but when it was all done I was really proud of him," Ashley said.
"I was standing up on stage at Friendly's and saw her big, old smile down in the crowd," Eric said.
Ashley went as Iron Woman along with their friends and significant others who all dressed as superheroes.
"There was about three months where I just wanted to give up and throw it out," Buol said. "I'm such a perfectionist that it had to look perfect."
Perfect enough to win best costume Saturday night at The Friendly Inn tavern for its Halloween costume contest.
Buol, who works at Westfalia Surge Koehn Inc. in Monroe, picked up whatever leftover cardboard was about to be thrown away to construct a full body Iron Man costume of the popular comic book and movie series. "Iron Man" features a billionaire playboy played by Robert Downey Jr. in the movies, who moonlights as a superhero in his powerful suit.
Buol said the long process of building his suit involved printing out shapes on plain paper using an origami program, tracing that to cardboard then slicing the cardboard into the right size before putting it all together for a three-dimensional suit. Buol then added a fiberglass spray to the cardboard to make it more durable. The final touch came with acrylic spray paint and a "black wash" to make the armor seem like it had fulfilled its duty of staving off a beating.
"It was tedious," he said. But worth it, he won best costume and his Facebook feed has been flooded with compliments.
"People at the gym would come up and say "great costume,' and I would be like, "Thanks, I don't know you,'" Buol said.
He said he had to post photos of the process of making the costume to prove he didn't just buy it online. The suit has detachable parts for the head, arms, legs, torso and hands, and Buols said it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to put on. His wife Ashley Buol said she became frustrated just trying to suit Eric up. Buol said he may try to put the suit on again and visit Abe Lincoln Elementary, where his wife teaches kindergarten, but he does not plan on starting a new project any time soon.
"Maybe I'll do a puzzle," he said.
Buol said Ashley encouraged him to take up building the costume to curb his video game habit, but Eric has always been a tinkerer.
"At first I told my co-workers it was like the dumbest thing ever, but when it was all done I was really proud of him," Ashley said.
"I was standing up on stage at Friendly's and saw her big, old smile down in the crowd," Eric said.
Ashley went as Iron Woman along with their friends and significant others who all dressed as superheroes.