What happens when comic books meet cosplay? A frickin’ awesome War Machine suit, that’s what.
When he heard the new Iron Man movie was coming out, long-time fan Anthony Le decided to make his very own functional War Machine suit. The suit is a formidable construction of rivets, washers, high-impact urethane and PVC piping. It features a mock spinning Gatling gun, a motorized faceplate with glowing, red eye openings and an LED arc reactor in the chest. Though the armor is thin, it can take a beating. “You can throw it against the wall, and it won’t even be damaged,” Le states.
Not only is the armor dent-proof, it’s lightweight, too. The entire suit weighs about 13 pounds, and Le says that moving around in it is not an issue. He once wore the suit to a zombie-themed party and was able to get down on the dance floor without any problem.
This isn’t the first Iron Man suit Le has made. There have been four other iterations, including an MKV suit and an upgraded version of the Mark VI suit worn in the movie. With the creation of each suit, Le learns a bit more about his craft. “I went from foam board, bondo and fiberglass from past experiences,” Le explains. “I use other stuff too, like vacuum forming. It’s all cool and all but it doesn’t last as long. I started researching into better materials. I found high impact urethane. Most of the biggest challenges is finding what you need. Home Depot is always a good source. I go up and down every aisle.”
The War Machine suit took a month and a whopping $4000 to complete, but these costs are well worth it to Le, who uses the suits for charity work. On his website, he states that he loves to use the suits to “cheer up sick children” and raise funds for homeless children. During one appearance at a Children’s Hospital in Denver, the kids took to the suit so well that the hospital made him his very own ID Card, with the name and picture is for Iron Man, of course. Le has also been contacted for promotional work with Paramount, Guess Jeans and Iron Man 2.
I can’t decide which is cooler. The Big Daddy suit, or the Iron Man suit.
Source: Popular Science
