Iron Man Armor
Creating my own origin story.
DesignCraftFinishPart of the Experience
After a year of work, I was able to show up to Comic-Con in a (mostly) full-body suit of Iron Man armor.
It was the culmination of a lot of effort. I had spent countless hours of cutting and gluing. I had packed the cardboard pieces and moved across the country. And I would do it all again for the amazing afternoon I spent with Marvel fans and fellow cosplayers.
Time After Time
My interest far outweighed my understanding when I started this project. I was a Marine living in the barracks, and had free time that I wanted to use creatively.
That time quickly disappeared to printing, cutting, folding, and re-working the Pepekura templates. Each element of the suit needed multiple iterations to get it from digital dream to practical pieces.
Details
Every piece of the puzzle was a work of art created by fans at the RPF. Their passion and critical eyes had made templates that truly captured the feel of Iron Man’s suit.
As I got further and further into the build, I realized I was losing details. My choice of materials, my size adjustments, and my skill level turned sharp elements into fuzzy lines. I found myself re-creating details at every step in the process.
Love My Failures
This project had a lot of ups and downs, learning curves, and “wasted” effort. It was exhausting and took three or four times longer than I had planned.
But every mistake, failed experiment, and second draft kept me energized. I learned how to love a process even when it doesn’t work out along the way.