One of my cosplays for MCM London October 2018 was Tony Stark from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I decided on a mashup of elements of his costumes – knowing that I wouldn’t be able to make a full suit of armour! I just had to make an Arc Reactor for my costume (the device in his chest that keeps shrapnel from entering his heart in the first two Iron Man films, and the first Avengers film) because it was an iconic piece to his character. Read below to find out how I made my own Arc Reactor.
· I started by sizing up and printing a template of the version I wanted to do – the Arc Reactor used at the end of Iron Man 2. Using thin white craft foam, I drew and cut out my pieces. One was the outer circle, one was the outer circle and large triangle, and the last was the full, detailed template.
· I then glued them together with PVA glue, with the detailed piece on the bottom, followed by the large triangle piece, and then the outer circle piece.
· I used paper mâché around the outer edge of the piece, and then cut and sanded it down to be smooth. This was to cover up the seams between the three layers of foam.
· I then sealed the whole piece with matte Mod Podge. After it had dried, I coated it with white acrylic paint for a base coat. Once this layer was dry, I covered the piece with two layers of silver metallic paint, making sure to get in all the little cracks and crevices. This was then sealed with another layer of Mod Podge.
· On white printer paper, I took my template again, and drew two of the inner triangle, and two of each of the three semicircles. These pieces were all cut slightly larger than what was on the template. I then cut out one piece of the whole circle. The paper pieces were then glued to the back of the dried Arc Reactor top.
· Since I have never dealt with electronics for a costume, I made it simple for myself. I bought tiny little blue LED lights that are used on cakes. I measured how tall they were, and then measured the circumference of the Arc Reactor top. I made a strip of craft foam with the length of the circumference and the width slightly larger than the LED light, and glued this onto the back of the Reactor top with hot glue. I repeated the same process of sealing and painting the foam.
· I drew around the template circle onto some cardboard and also painted this – this was going to be the base of the Reactor.
· I took two small strips of craft foam that had been folded, and glued them onto opposite edges of the inside of the Reactor rim, which then had Velcro stuck to them. The other Velcro halves were glued onto the cardboard base – this allowed for me to open and close the base easily to turn the light on and off. I kept the light in place inside by just using Blu Tack. On the back of the cardboard disc, I stuck on two strips of extra strong Velcro, and added the other half onto my shirt so I could wear it.
This Arc Reactor also makes a good room/night light if you don’t want to wear it! The light doesn’t show up much in daylight, which is the only issue I had with this prop.
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