Ironman Mark 3

Step 3 Chest

While at Goodwill, idea-shopping, I found several plastic place mats. Having had some limited experience with plastics I knew I would be able to use heat to deform these particular items. On the same trip I found a foam rubber kneeling or exercise pad.

I knew I would need some thickness to the chest as I wanted to add a tap light for the "Arc reactor." The foam pad was for this purpose.

I made a poster-board pattern of the chest then reproduced it in the foam. I also then cut one of the place mats into the same pattern. Based on the proportions of it all I came up with a hole size for the chest light. I found tap lights at the store which by serendipity were exactly that size. These came in a pack of three.

I trimmed the foam into shape using a craft knife, cutting into the foam to allow for the highs and lows of the chest itself.

The plastic chestplate was painted and held in place by doubled-over duct tape. The back of the chest light opening was covered with a piece of plastic (from a piece of vertical blind) and the tap light dropped into place. The tap light stayed in place by virtue of the opening in the chest face-plastic being slightly smaller than the light itself.