The14thDr
Sr Member
This is the second Avengers prop that I've started building over the past couple of weeks. The first was Captain America's shield, and now I've begun work on Tony Stark's vibranium-fuelled arc reactor. Here's where I'm at so far:
The main body of the reactor is made from cereal boxes (again, this was the easiest material I had to hand), and the 'face' of the prop was built using a template that I found on the Internet and printed out. I then glued the template onto another piece of cereal box to give my arc reactor more strength, without becoming too bulky. This was just built up into a cylinder shape by a strip of card. The result is a cover that can be slotted over the LEDs to act as a filter to create the famous triangular pattern.
The light source for my arc reactor is a simple LED tap light that can be fitted under the filter I created above. The light has a diameter of 68mm and is 26mm deep.
Unfortunately the light was slightly too thick, and the bulb-shaped cover that sits over the top of the LEDs seems to restrict part of the light as it shines through the arc reactor, meaning that it can be too dim when I wear it underneath my shirt. This was a quick fix, however. I cannabalised the tap light by simply removing the grey casing and taking out the bulb cover.
Last up is the base of the arc reactor. I started out by building a cardboard cylinder that was just big enough for the arc reactor cover to slide into. Then I took the battery cover from the tap light and stuck it to the inside.
Next up: The harness that will allow me to wear the arc reactor.
Kind regards, The14thDr
The main body of the reactor is made from cereal boxes (again, this was the easiest material I had to hand), and the 'face' of the prop was built using a template that I found on the Internet and printed out. I then glued the template onto another piece of cereal box to give my arc reactor more strength, without becoming too bulky. This was just built up into a cylinder shape by a strip of card. The result is a cover that can be slotted over the LEDs to act as a filter to create the famous triangular pattern.
The light source for my arc reactor is a simple LED tap light that can be fitted under the filter I created above. The light has a diameter of 68mm and is 26mm deep.
Unfortunately the light was slightly too thick, and the bulb-shaped cover that sits over the top of the LEDs seems to restrict part of the light as it shines through the arc reactor, meaning that it can be too dim when I wear it underneath my shirt. This was a quick fix, however. I cannabalised the tap light by simply removing the grey casing and taking out the bulb cover.
Last up is the base of the arc reactor. I started out by building a cardboard cylinder that was just big enough for the arc reactor cover to slide into. Then I took the battery cover from the tap light and stuck it to the inside.
Next up: The harness that will allow me to wear the arc reactor.
Kind regards, The14thDr
