Neon Sentry
Sr Member
Alrighty folks, like many here I'm quite enamored by the fantastic work of the many artisans who brought the suit to life. What amazes me is that we don't have any megathread dedicated to the details of this incredible suit.
So, here goes my first attempt at cataloging the intricacies of this thing. Any additional pics/info are welcomed and appreciated.
And a huge huge huge thank you to everyone who has taken pictures of displays or screen capped the trailers and revealed to us all the smallest details of this marvel of movie-magic. This suit has captured my imagination like a small flick called RoboCop and it's robotic protagonist did back in 1987, and I can't say that enough. I love this movie.
The Screws
The screws in Iron Man's noggin don't appear to be your standard flatheads. As seen in the Winston suit and the ILM model, and supported by Sideshow's bust:
However, this shot from the tank sequence appears to have screws with a rounded head, not flush with the surface.
Do my eyes deceive me?
The Hand Plates
The hand plate can be seen in the tuning scene to be attached to the back of the hand itself, turning with it. The Macy's display, and its broken attachment points, support this:
So why the hell is the hand plate attached to the gauntlet as seen here?
Alright, so obviously there are differences between the individual components seen being used/worn and the full suit. The idea here, however, is to make a comprehensive list of all these nuances, down to those aforementioned differences. It'll help anyone making these suits in the future to recognize these subtleties and decide what features they want to have and still be "screen-accurate" to varying degrees.
And, seen again, the full suit's gauntlet-attached hand plate.
The Rocket Pod
The rocket pod is seen in use once, during the previously capped tank sequence, in an ILM shot.
It's also glimpsed at during the Mark II/III suit-up sequences, when the "control flaps" are being shifted about. Still, the ILM model.
The Macy's display featured an actual rocket pod gag, though. How well the details match up remains to be seen, though, as this is the only picture available so far.
I'll be keeping an eye out for it in Tony's garage next time I catch Iron Man to see if this was used as a background prop during his repairs to the Mark III, or if it never made it to the screen. Regardless, it lends to itself the concept of the rocket pod gag being possible for a wearable suit, and not just another RoboCop leg holster.
The Helmet's Articulation
The shots in the film featuring the helmet flipping closed over Stark's face was an obvious CG element, but behind-the-scenes footage reveals that an actual articulated helmet gag was available to the filmmakers, even if it never saw the screen except in the static "open" position. My system refuses to screencap this vid, even though I already did so earlier for the hand plate, but I'll get the pics up eventually.
The question is, where does it collapse? The obvious answer is along the armadillo reminiscent panels, but where exactly? All the flaps? Only the top? Does the ear panel rotate as well? Can the jaw retract to meet up with the "mouth"?
Viewing of additional behind-the-scenes footage reveal the gold faceplate to move independently of the rest of the helmet, sliding back via an internal armature, and not, as I previously and quite mistakenly thought, along the panel lines across the side and back of the helm.
The jaw is also articulated on the Winston prop, and oddly enough, does not cover RDJ's chin. The neckpiece used for this shoot also makes me wonder about the neck panel articulation on the regular filming suits, and whether or not that was another ILM element added in post. A close-up side profile of the Mark II after its flight test clearly shows separate neck panels; it's frightening to consider that even a detail such as that could not be done in real life by the Stan Winston crew.
All of the CG helmet closing shots in the film are forward facing, I assume for the badass factor, but it doesn't really help us, does it?
__________
I was glancing through my reference photos and found a few interesting items, which kicked me back into Massive Info Post Mode so I threw together some more images for you guys.
Shoulder Pistons
The Shoulder Pistons are the silver , erm, pistons connecting the chestplate to the shoulder armor. This is not present on the real suit, and was added in post by ILM. This little montage displays two pictures (top left, top right) from the same photoshoot (same location, same dust, even the same sloppy paint job on the helm) showing the addition. Bottom left is from a display of the suit, showing the non-existent piston, and the bottom right is the ILM model and the piston.
I have no clue why this couldn't have been integrated into the real suit, but I'm sure there was a real reason for it. Or maybe it was an idea after-the-fact, and since the CG suit pipeline was already so integrated into the production, they just ran with it and didn't bother updating the suits. I don't think we'll know till the DVD/Blu-Ray or the Art Of book is released.
7-11 had a cardboard display of Iron Man, before I had done proper research on this thing, so I had no clue whether it was an actual suit or the ILM model. It was gotten rid of before I could nab it, but I did manage to find this pic of it:
No shoulder piston=real suit. I was examining the photo in full res when I suddenly spotted this and got a goofy little grin. Which brings us to:
Rocket Pod Revisited
That's right, though faint, there was definitely a line on the Winston suit to indicate the opening panel for the rocket pod.
This little detail made my day.
Mark 2 Finish
The Mark 2 had a very impressive metallic finish, both on the real suit and on the ILM model. However, I found myself distracted by these little bits on the soft armor.
Now, was the metallic film covering the soft armor the same as the hard armor? The finish appears to be the same in every pic I've seen, so it could very well be, but again, this is something that won't be entirely clear until we get the video release with some special features.
So, here goes my first attempt at cataloging the intricacies of this thing. Any additional pics/info are welcomed and appreciated.
And a huge huge huge thank you to everyone who has taken pictures of displays or screen capped the trailers and revealed to us all the smallest details of this marvel of movie-magic. This suit has captured my imagination like a small flick called RoboCop and it's robotic protagonist did back in 1987, and I can't say that enough. I love this movie.
The Screws
The screws in Iron Man's noggin don't appear to be your standard flatheads. As seen in the Winston suit and the ILM model, and supported by Sideshow's bust:
However, this shot from the tank sequence appears to have screws with a rounded head, not flush with the surface.
Do my eyes deceive me?
The Hand Plates
The hand plate can be seen in the tuning scene to be attached to the back of the hand itself, turning with it. The Macy's display, and its broken attachment points, support this:
So why the hell is the hand plate attached to the gauntlet as seen here?
Alright, so obviously there are differences between the individual components seen being used/worn and the full suit. The idea here, however, is to make a comprehensive list of all these nuances, down to those aforementioned differences. It'll help anyone making these suits in the future to recognize these subtleties and decide what features they want to have and still be "screen-accurate" to varying degrees.
And, seen again, the full suit's gauntlet-attached hand plate.
The Rocket Pod
The rocket pod is seen in use once, during the previously capped tank sequence, in an ILM shot.
It's also glimpsed at during the Mark II/III suit-up sequences, when the "control flaps" are being shifted about. Still, the ILM model.
The Macy's display featured an actual rocket pod gag, though. How well the details match up remains to be seen, though, as this is the only picture available so far.
I'll be keeping an eye out for it in Tony's garage next time I catch Iron Man to see if this was used as a background prop during his repairs to the Mark III, or if it never made it to the screen. Regardless, it lends to itself the concept of the rocket pod gag being possible for a wearable suit, and not just another RoboCop leg holster.
The Helmet's Articulation
The shots in the film featuring the helmet flipping closed over Stark's face was an obvious CG element, but behind-the-scenes footage reveals that an actual articulated helmet gag was available to the filmmakers, even if it never saw the screen except in the static "open" position. My system refuses to screencap this vid, even though I already did so earlier for the hand plate, but I'll get the pics up eventually.
The question is, where does it collapse? The obvious answer is along the armadillo reminiscent panels, but where exactly? All the flaps? Only the top? Does the ear panel rotate as well? Can the jaw retract to meet up with the "mouth"?
Viewing of additional behind-the-scenes footage reveal the gold faceplate to move independently of the rest of the helmet, sliding back via an internal armature, and not, as I previously and quite mistakenly thought, along the panel lines across the side and back of the helm.
The jaw is also articulated on the Winston prop, and oddly enough, does not cover RDJ's chin. The neckpiece used for this shoot also makes me wonder about the neck panel articulation on the regular filming suits, and whether or not that was another ILM element added in post. A close-up side profile of the Mark II after its flight test clearly shows separate neck panels; it's frightening to consider that even a detail such as that could not be done in real life by the Stan Winston crew.
All of the CG helmet closing shots in the film are forward facing, I assume for the badass factor, but it doesn't really help us, does it?
__________
I was glancing through my reference photos and found a few interesting items, which kicked me back into Massive Info Post Mode so I threw together some more images for you guys.
Shoulder Pistons
The Shoulder Pistons are the silver , erm, pistons connecting the chestplate to the shoulder armor. This is not present on the real suit, and was added in post by ILM. This little montage displays two pictures (top left, top right) from the same photoshoot (same location, same dust, even the same sloppy paint job on the helm) showing the addition. Bottom left is from a display of the suit, showing the non-existent piston, and the bottom right is the ILM model and the piston.
I have no clue why this couldn't have been integrated into the real suit, but I'm sure there was a real reason for it. Or maybe it was an idea after-the-fact, and since the CG suit pipeline was already so integrated into the production, they just ran with it and didn't bother updating the suits. I don't think we'll know till the DVD/Blu-Ray or the Art Of book is released.
7-11 had a cardboard display of Iron Man, before I had done proper research on this thing, so I had no clue whether it was an actual suit or the ILM model. It was gotten rid of before I could nab it, but I did manage to find this pic of it:
No shoulder piston=real suit. I was examining the photo in full res when I suddenly spotted this and got a goofy little grin. Which brings us to:
Rocket Pod Revisited
That's right, though faint, there was definitely a line on the Winston suit to indicate the opening panel for the rocket pod.
This little detail made my day.
Mark 2 Finish
The Mark 2 had a very impressive metallic finish, both on the real suit and on the ILM model. However, I found myself distracted by these little bits on the soft armor.
Now, was the metallic film covering the soft armor the same as the hard armor? The finish appears to be the same in every pic I've seen, so it could very well be, but again, this is something that won't be entirely clear until we get the video release with some special features.
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