Iron Man Armory - In Progress

[suprmn4105abc]

<Updated (12/18/11)>

 

So it has been nearly 11 months since my last update. And almost that long since I have had a chance to work on this. The scale of the thing made it difficult to work on at my old place. My wife and I recently moved into a new place, where I can claim the entirety of the basement as my own, so now I have plenty of space to work.

 

I have decided on one major change to the build. I am going to make it a 4 level, instead of a 2 level. With the 2 extra levels I can hold around 80 armors, which will support my current 60+ and then give me some breathing room for expansion.

 

2nd tier lit.

 

 

Full Album

 

(HELP!)

 

So in order to complete this thing, I need more of the Iron Man 2 Arc Lights. I purchased most of the ones I have on clearance on ebay lots, but all of my local stores are dry of them, and ebay prices have gone way up. If anyone has a source for these or any extra ones they would like to get rid of, I am willing to pay or trade for them. Just PM me.

 

<Updated (01/22/11)>

 

I have made a few more updates, but the project has been stalled because my supplier of the tubes has had them on back order for a few months.

 

I also consolidated all of the pics into an album:

 

Album

 

<Updated (10/26/10)>

 

Here are a few pics of what I have constructed so far. This is the base of the first level. The armors and screen were just put into place for scale, they are not fully attached yet. Also, I forgot to give the dimensions yesterday. When fully completed, it should be 42" wide, 24" deep, and about 20" tall.

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2145.jpg

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2146.jpg

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2148.jpg

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2147.jpg

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2149.jpg

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2150.jpg

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2152.jpg

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2151.jpg

 

<Update (10/25/10)>

 

Wanted to give an update. I have started construction on the chamber itself. I do not have a picture of the construction just yet. Will update with that this evening.

 

But, here is a scan of the very rough sketch of it:

 

Very Rough Sketch

 

It should hold about 40 tubes I made with the armors in then. It will be two levels, with the upper level just being completely lined with armors. The lower level will have the main view screen, with an elevated platform with computer terminal. There will be armor on either side of the monitor, while the left wall will be completely lined, and the right wall will have other things like inventions and weapons.

 

There will also be two additional sections, which have been outlined in the sketch. One section will be for new armor construction and repair. The other will be a lab for other new technologies and research. Both sections will be detailed with various items to indicate their purpose.

 

<Original Post Below (10/17/10)>

 

Hey Guys,

 

Wanted to post up some pics of the Armory I am working on.

 

Let me start off by saying, that it is the 3.75" scale. While this is not my favorite scale to collect in general, for Iron Man, it is PERFECT! Hasbro has done a great job I think of releasing a great spread of figures in both the Iron Man 2 line and the Marvel Universe line. Yeah, there are repaints and plain part swap figures, but for someone like me who is not great at customizing figures, they have offered a very respectable number of variations of armors.

 

Part of what I like about Iron Man is the armors, and this probably comes from growing up watching the 90's cartoon, where that Iron Man had an armory of 100's of armors. That is my vision for my armory, and Hasbro is making that feasible. My goal is to collect every variation of Iron Man at the 3.75" scale and add them to my armory.

 

So now to the good stuff:

 

I have wanted to make something like this since the first movie came out. It was only recently that it all started coming together though.

 

Right now, the only completed parts I have are of the individual armor chambers. Obviously since my favorite parts of Iron Man are all he different armors, this is where my focus lies.

 

The individual chambers are similar to the Hall of Armors bases Hasbro released, but in a little better scale. The ones Hasbro did I think were way off.

 

The individual chambers are based with a gutted circular Iron Man 2 arc reactor by Hasbro. I removed the electronics, keep the top layer mechanical looking portion. Then, I used a clear plastic piece that fits perfectly in the gutted portion with the mechanical portion left from the gutting below that. The tubes were purchased, and the removable caps put on top of the clear plastic piece inside. All the pieces are mounted together and they all fit quite snugly, which is great. The figures slide into the tubes perfectly, and fit onto the mounted cap.

 

Here is a shot of a few of the completed ones:

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2129.jpg

 

Here is a close up of one of them:

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2132.jpg

 

Here is the tube holding the figure separated from the base:

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2134.jpg

 

Here is a close up of the base:

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2136.jpg

 

The last component of the individual chambers is a 3 LED Touch Light that goes on top to illuminate the armors.

 

Without illumination:

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2138.jpg

 

With illumination in a darkened room:

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2140.jpg

 

Close up of illuminated chamber:

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2141.jpg

 

All of my completed chambers so far:

 

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/rubiks7962/Iron%20Man%20Armory/In%20Progress/SANY2144.jpg

 

Would love feedback or ideas on how to improve. Also would be happy to answer any questions.

 

Thanks!

[Goldbug]

Nice!

One could also use led flashlights for the lights. I would think those would be cheaper to buy than the arc reactors.

Are you going to paint the base more metallic?

[wolvie82]

Thats really cool!!!!!!

[suprmn4105abc]

Nice!

One could also use led flashlights for the lights. I would think those would be cheaper to buy than the arc reactors.

Are you going to paint the base more metallic?

 

Thanks! I chose to go with the gutted Arc Reactor because I already like the color scheme, and I don't have a lot of experience painting, so I am trying to avoid it as much as possible. I may end up not using the very bottom, (the plastic rubbery part that is supposed to hold the arc to your shirt), because it does have a muted rubbery red color to it, which doesn't match. And as far as cost, I have just been patient, finding good deals on ebay, and making trades with people who found them cheap or discounted. Trust me, I could not afford to pay full retail, $6.99, for the 30 or 40 of these it will take to make the display. I've been really lucky so far.

[spystreak]

those are totally killer

[majik40]

Very nice, man. I'm hoping to eventually do something similar. You've definitely given me some ideas for when I do get a chance. Thanks for sharing

[suprmn4105abc]

Updated

[suprmn4105abc]

Added more pictures!

[suprmn4105abc]

Updates!