Ironman WEARABLE Arc Reactor: Pic Heavy!

Alright so here goes nothing! I know this is nothing close to movie replica status, but it was cheap and easy to build. Here is my material list:

Polymorph Plastic Pellets - Ebay
Shower Flange (i think it's called that)
Wire (not sure what it is, found it in my garage)
Electrical tape
Card Stock
3 Small Screws
1 Soda Can
9 Prewired LED's
PVC pipe
Black Paint/Black Sharpie
Silver Paint
23A battery
Peanut Butter Jar Lid
Straps
optional: Reflection tape

Tools:

Hot Glue
Scissors/Exacto knife
Wire Strippers
Soldering Gun w/ solder
Frosting/Icing lid
Spice lid
Hacksaw
Small hole punch

All in all it probably cost about $15, simply because a lot of the materials I already had.

First I started off with the making of the plastic ring which will be the outer part. I molded it by using an icing/frosting lid as the bottom, then a spice lid in the center to act as the inner part.



After that I cut up some electrical tape and eyeballed where they should be placed.



I found some wire on a spool in the garage and decided to use wire strippers and take the copper wire and wrap it around each electrical tape piece.



This is where I went to Orchard Supply Co. (you can go to Lowes or Home Depot) and bought a shower flange which I lucked out on because it fit PERFECTLY in the center without me having to adjust anything.



Now I drew the design for the center metal part on cardstock, cut it out, and painted it.




I found some leftover PVC pipe that fit perfectly in the center hole of the shower flange and cut it down to fit right.



Here I set the the silver ring on top to see how it looked, I know it should have been smaller, but I liked it better on top.



I used the PVC pipe as a mold to make the center cover for the light. I used the polymorph once again to create it. I then glued the first LED in place, on its side, and glued reflective tape on top of it much like how a flashlight has reflective stuff on the inside to disperse the light. I also painted the PVC pipe black, and touched up a few areas with black sharpie




Next I cut thin strips of electrical tape and taped it on the inside of the ring



I then hotglued all the LEDs in place



I seperated and gathered all the red wires and black wires together with electrical tape and twisted the tips together...



...then soldered them



I lucked out with finding the small screws since my parent's dvd player broke and they were throwing it out. I took off 3 screws and was happy as good be. For the small metal "brackets" I simply cut a soda can (ok it was coors lite, but soda would work too) and bent them to fit where I wanted. To get the screws to go through the metal brackets, I used a SMALL hole punch, NOT a big size!



And now it's about 95% complete! Here it is all lit up!



For the final steps I am going to take a Peanut Butter lid and use it for the back to hide the wires and it fits PERFECTLY on the outside. I'll most likely cut a hole in the back to get access to the inside for putting in the battery. The LEDs are 12V, though a 9V battery works, but for the sake of having this as flat as possible on the chest I went with a 23A size battery, which is about the size of a AAA battery only cut in half! I'm going to cut off the adjusting straps of a backpack I hate and use it to create the straps to hold up the arc reactor. First I need to eat the rest of the peanut butter...

If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them! I might make a second thread for an Ironette costume, if I have time for it.

-Achilla137

Great job! And good use of budget materials. It reminds me that its almost time to have another budget build contest.

Welcome to the forum!

Brandon

That is amazing!! Used great materials.

Thanks! I just finished the backing today along with the straps, though the paint I used is chipping off the PB cap, so idk what I'm going to do, maybe electrical tape. I forgot to take pics of the progress, but really it's so messy I'd almost be embarrassed to show it. unfortunately the battery doesn't last long, it's already starting to dim and it's only been on for an hour, luckily they're only $1 each so I can buy a few and pop them out during the night. Will try something different for the next gen I make lol

Ok so here is what I accomplished today!




I forgot to take pics of all the steps, but it looks TERRIBLE inside so I'll type what I did. First I took the lid off of a peanut butter jar and with a dremel tool I sanded out the inside grooves (the screw type parts). Then I dremelled out a hole in the back for the battery and then dremelled 4 holes, 2 on each side, for access to the straps. You can see what I'm talking about in the pic below. Also I had an issue with the paint as you can tell since it doesnt want to stick.



Here is a shot from the side



So on the inside I made a sort of "casing" for the battery, for this I used my polymorph that I used to make the ring and molded it around the battery so it would fit correctly. I then electrical taped the positive and negative wires down to the lid, and boy did I use a LOT! I made the casing so that it was open on each side of the battery so that when I pop the battery in it makes contact with the wires. It fits perfectly snug and does not pop out! I then threaded through the holes my elastic straps since I wouldn't be able to with the next step. I took my reflective tape and made a cover to cover up everything and help reflect the lights a bit. Then I shoved down my arc reactor into place, which unfortunately does not fit snug in the peanut butter lid, so I shoved it down as far as I could and used super glue along the edges to help keep it there.

Thank you Brandomack and clb398 for responding! I was afraid no one would

Cheers!

SO friday was the party and the arc worked PERFECTLY! except for the fact that the arc started to dim after about 2 hours, BUT it still lit up pretty well Unfortunately the pics I took didn't come out too well, so I just quickly put it on to show you how it looked completed and ready to take on the night as tony stark!









So the bottom straps don't actually go THAT low, I just didn't want to pin them up in place. They are meant to go over the shoulders to hold it up, so basically it was bra lol. Hope you liked and thanks for following! The MK I arc is completed, and I will probably make a MK2 down the line, but for now I'm pretty proud! I'm thinking about cutting the cord of an old lamp with a switch and connecting it to the arc reactor so I can make it a sort of night light to hang up on my wall in a case or something, or just sit on a shelf

Nice budget build.

One question. Those polymorph pellets, how do they work. They seem like a good material to work with.

-R-

hi
Nice job!
Im a big Iron Man fan and still havent made one of these yet! I think it looks fantastic!

LOOKS GREAT!!

RvanAken said:

Nice budget build.

One question. Those polymorph pellets, how do they work. They seem like a good material to work with.

-R-

Click to expand...

They have a low melting point so you heat some water put them in until they turn clear and then mold them to the shape you want. As they cool they harden back up and hold there shape.

Ah, that's the same stuff that I Got to fix my fake fangs to my own teeth. Always thought it had hobby potential. Now I just have to find out where to get it in the Netherlands.

Thanks

-R-

RvanAken said:

Ah, that's the same stuff that I Got to fix my fake fangs to my own teeth. Always thought it had hobby potential. Now I just have to find out where to get it in the Netherlands.

Thanks

-R-

Click to expand...

I bought mine on ebay from this guy: localphillyman on eBay

AND he ships to the Netherlands!



I used a heatgun to melt my pellets because I'm impatient and the less steps (and dishes) to do the better! After I had the mold, I put it under cold water to make it cool and harden faster.

Thanks for all the comments! I'm really proud of this since I was working with a pretty small budget. I was glad that most of the parts I had already, though I might work on this one to house 2 batteries and solder them together so the wires will work, who knows!