Marvel Superfan Creates 3D-Printed Suit, And The Time It Took May Shock You
Almost everyone wishes that they had an exact replica of their favorite superhero suits. Comic books and movies do such a great job revealing the superhero suit and always make them look so amazing. Even the older, more nostalgic suits that fans sometimes make fun of. Either way, it is a dream to own one. And this one person was able to do just that.
Marvel super-fan subreddit user Lil_Bizkit_Style used a 3D printer to make the Iron Man suit. 3D printing has become a huge craze in the past couple of years, especially since it has become much cheaper for the average person to own a 3D printer and to get materials. It’s become quite a craze for fans to print replicas of their favorite characters’ outfits and armor along with gaming props that may not be on the market or are very very expensive and rare. Sometimes, it is cheaper to make them with a 3D printer, even if it takes longer.
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With the release of certain TV shows, such as Disney+’s The Mandalorian and The Bad Batch, items such as Mando’s helmet and the Empire ID card became a hot commodity in the 3D printing world. A Simpsons super-fan, using a 3D printer, re-created the iconic TV that shows up in the TV series’ opening. And, to add to its level of complexity, the 3D-printed TV can play every episode from the first eleven seasons. With the accessibility and price going down over the past couple of years, 3D printing has blown up, with many amazing movie props and outfits being made all over the market.
Along with other fanbases, Marvel fans have also very much enjoyed 3D printing some of their favorite outfits and props from the movies and comic. Some of these items include Captain America’s helmet and Thor’s hammer Mjolnir. Mjolnir is a favorite among fans since it has intricate details and a very iconic look, which makes it fun to print, and to own.
Of course, along with props and costumes, little figurines and action figures of Marvel superheroes are also 3D-printed and sold. Of course, with the more Marvel movies come out, the more fans can find new props and costumes to make with their 3D printers. Reddit is definitely partly responsible for this uptick in 3D-printed movie props and costumes since even videos and updates of works in progress for 3D-printed stuff have gained a lot of attention. People love watching a 3D printer work and seeing the finished product.
But how long exactly does it take for something to be 3D-printed? It’s not at all like a regular printer that takes mere seconds to print something out. In fact, it can take hours, even days to print something. Well, for subreddit user, Lil_Bizkit_Style, the Iron Man suit that they were working on took around 1,300 hours to complete over an entire period of seven months. The suit itself is based on Iron Man’s Mk.85 armor from Avengers: Infinity War, which definitely stands out from the other suits that Tony Stark has since it has such a sleek design and is a favorite among Iron Man fans. The suit that Lil_Bizkit_Style designed is made up of around 50 separate pieces from a mix of PLA and PLA+.
Lil_Bizkit_Style detailed their journey on Reddit in making the Iron Man suit using a 3D printer. They noted in their comments that the hardest part of making this suit was not the actual printing or the time it took to print, but the spray paint. To really create the sleek look and classic colors of the Iron Man suit, a fair amount of spray painting comes into play. Lil_Bizkit_Style noted that because of the time it takes to spray pain and the preparations to set up and everything, it was one of the hardest parts of the suit creation and was quite maddening. They also shared that the model they used came from the 3D printing blueprints website Do3d.com.
Despite the above images of the suit looking absolutely incredible, and the fact of the amount of hours already put into the suit, Lil_Bizkit_Style said on Reddit that it is far from finished. They want to put some LED lights in the suit as well to improve the movie-like quality look of the outfit.
The printer that was used in the printing of the Iron Man suit is the FDM Artillery Sidewinder X1, which is actually one of the most affordable 3D printers out there. Which means, if you really wanted to make your own Iron Man suit, all you’d need basics-wise is this printer and the blueprints. Although, of course, you’d need a ton of the filament required to actually print the suit, and that in and of itself is not cheap.
3D printing is not all about just video game and movie prop and costume printing for fans. It is also notably used in science and the medical field. Scientists were successful in 3D printing a thermoelectric generator that actually works to power small electronics. Another group of scientists successfully created beef steak in a lab, which could be a type of future food. Of course, 3D printing is still a pretty new endeavor, but it is quickly gaining speed as something very popular, even among the ordinary movie and gaming fans.
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Source(s): Screen Rant