Can Suit

At first you need a lot of cans... about 350-400!
I decided to use RED BULL COLA cans because of two reasons.

First one: i like the colours and their combination in this diagonally way.

Second one: some cans are made out of aluminium, others are produced out of tin-foil (coca-cola). Red Bull uses aluminium. The advantage of aluminium is, that you have no corrosion (rust) at the cut edge and its much easier to cut and to punch!

The disadvantage of aluminium is that its not that ductile, tin-foil is more ductile, and therefore it breakes easier when you start buckling it 2 or 3 times at the same place... but if you act carefully with your suit, this won´t be a problem.

The gloves for this suit aren´t part of this instructable, they have their own and can be found here:  https://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Gloves/

This image shows the most important tools and materials i used.

Before you start connecting you need holes. Therfore use a puncher or a special bin rail. The hole-diameter has to be larger (1mm) than the grommet-diameter (5mm). This is necessary because the grommets fit better and the pieces stay flexible towards each other. The connection of the pieces works well with grommets (do you call them grommets?). For more solid connections, especially between the can pieces and the steel band, use blind rivets. The steel band helps you to strut some parts like the helmet or the shoulder components.

Remove the cap and the bottom of the can, then cut the cans if you want to give your suit a special optic. I choosed the diagonals where the colours change. Be carefull and use gloves, otherwise you will hurt yourself at the cutting edge!!!

Here you see an inside view to the shoulder and front component. Based on my body size, i used a chain to get the most important data, i constructed something like a frame out of steel band and tin-foil. After that, i took the can pieces and connected them bit by bit with the frame.

For the legs i made a frame out of tin-foil and connected everything with grommets...

For the vertical stabilisation i used elastic band which is in addition flexible enough to allow you to angle your knee. For covering the gap between the thigh and the shank i connected the elastic band in the middle with some loosely rivetted strips. (next step)

This picture shows the loosely rivetted strip which is very flexible. It can be banded in every direction without being destroyed.

I needed about 2800 grommets to connect all the pieces...  here you see a part of the suit that covers the torso...

On the backsite i connected the pieces with zippers.

The helmet is made out of two parts. On the top these parts are connected with a hinge. I choosed a hinge that you find in your kitchen unit. It is cheap and it has a snap fit so after opening the helmet it stays in that position.

All together the suit resists out of 12 pieces.

2 shoes: each shoe has two parts which are connected with hook and loop fastener so unter your "new shoes" you can wear your "old shoes".

2 legs: the pieces for the legs are connected on the backsite with zippers. They fit very good at the thighs (work exactly with the diameters) so they dont glide off.

2 pieces for the hip: on the inside of these pieces i added nooses for a belt. What is more, a hook and loop fastener helps to join the pieces. (pictures will follow)

1 piece for the torso: with a piece that looks like a mat you surround the torso. On the backside you connect it with a wide loop and hook fastener. Advantage of the wide one: it still fits after eating to much ;)

1 component for shoulders and front: (look the previous step)

2 arms: The arms are joint with your body with elastic bands. At the elbow they have a articulated joint. (picturs follow)

1 piece for the neck and a
helmet.

more information on facebook... search for: "BenJeneer" and dont forget to "like" :)