Tony starks Iron man Arc reactor VI

As you may have seen from other prop posts on here, i like making Arc reactors from the Iron man Films.

I have Previously made the first Arc here and I've also made whiplashes second Arc here

So this time I thought i would try and make the Iron man Arc reactor mk VI

So as always i started with a little google and found this rather nice screen grab of the arc.

Once I had an idea of what i wanted to make i did a little sketch of how I thought the layers would be best tackled and what thickness plastic i would be using.

once I had worked out the layering i drew up some plans in Illustrator.

Then when i had the plans finalised i cut them all out in 2mm plastic on a laser cutter.

I designed the arc to be made from 3 layers of 2 x 2mm plastic. each group would fit together and make the complete arc. 

So i glued the layers together into their groups.

I then put all the groups together to make sure that the design would work out right.

When i knew i had the design correct i gave all parts (except the clear sections) a coat of plastic primer paint.

Then just for fun i assembled them together again. i also cut a circle of translucent blue to try and give the arc the blue glow later on.

The Base and stand. 

I drew up some plans for the base that matched the film as close as i could garner. 

i cut the parts out and part assembled it and then painted them with a coat of plastic primer.

The parts that needed to be black i painted black.

I cut a disc of EL panel and placed it in the rear of the casing of the Arc. 

The image on the left is with the full blue disc in the Arc.  The image on the left is with the blue cut into a triangle (with a triangle in the centre cut out) to match the pattern of the arc.  

I gave all the parts a coat of metallic silver paint. Then I out it all together. 

i painted the base silver and glued it together.

The when it was all together and finished i placed the whole thing on a base that holds the batteries and driver for the EL panel. 

I designed the arc to be able to be removed from the base. as if it were going to be put on Iron mans chest.

Thank you for reading my blog, if you have any questions or comments please leave them in the space below.

Whiplash's Arc reactor MK II

 Since i had a lot of fun making my Iron man Arc reactor i thought i would make another one.

Which one? this was the question i asked myself, Whiplash! I what i answered!

So as per usual i did some research and found a few screen used props at yourprops.com

and some in other places.

Here are a couple of images i found. the first still had the 'heatsink' in.

The second didn't have the 'heatsink' blades in so it was good to see the LED array in the centre.

I started off by making some plans in Illustrator and cutting them out on the laser cutter.  

 i designed the parts cut out to be made in to a few elements that will go together and form the Arc.

 The first part i made was the LED bank. 

 i put all the other parts together. 

i made the heatsink by cutting 25 blades that could be strung up in a circle. to stick them together i made a JIG with slots for each blade and ran a 1mm styrene rod through the holes. 

 

 Just a test assembly of all the parts.

 

the main case that sits around the Arc is a bevelled so i took the main case that i made and sanded down the outer edge with a belt sander and then used a file to lower the four sections that are notched out of the outer case. 

 

Sanded case on the rest of the Arc. 

  

 i took the LED board and engraved some markings into it. I then rubbed ink into the the engraving and polished off the excess to just leave the dark lines.

 

 I used Six bright white LEDs for the LED bank. 

 

LED test through the heatsink. 

 

 

I gave all the parts a coat of plastic primer.

 

 

Once the primer had dried i separated the parts into three different groups. 

The case and base were painted dark metallic grey. 

The Arc parts were painted a metallic silver (lighter than the grey)

The heatsink was painted gold. 

 

 The bearing parts were painted silver and glued into the holes in the case base. 

The LED array rings were also painted silver and stuck to the white LED board which in turn stuck to the Arc holed base.

I used 1m of 'white*' EL wire and wound it round the inside edge of the Arc tube and mounted it to the inside of the tube. 

Light tests. 

 assembly test.

 

The wires on the base of the Arc were made by bending 9 wires in to the strange shape. 

i drew it out on the computer and printed it out so i could make sure the wire was in the correct shape.

I sprayed the wires gold to match the heatsink and glued them onto the holed base and then glued the heatsink over the LED array.

 Light test. 

i forgot to take progress shots of the Arc clasps being made. i cut Four T shaped parts with an etched centre to make it look recessed then i heated and bent them to match the shape of the case. these were then glued onto the Arc. 

i also got 4 coloured wires and stuck them to the rear of the arc to match one of the reference images i found.

The Whiplash Arc reactor next to the Iron man Arc i made. 

Thanks for reading. 

please leave a comment or question if you feel like it.

*bloody White EL wire is actually blue :(