This is my Mark 1 Iron man costume. Its quite the beauty isn't it? ;D

Last year for Halloween i dressed up as Tony Stark, having the arc reactor strapped around my chest. It was a last minute decision as i wanted to build something "techie". The arc reactor took a night for me to design and build (taking around 5 hours).

Now this year for Halloween, my group of friends insisted on dressing up as the characters from Mario kart and race around the school in our cardboard kart... but that didn't happen. Then 3 nights before, my other friend asked me if i could show him the arc reactor i made last Halloween and i commented that i wanted to build the entire Mark series. Jokingly, i told him that i wanted to build the very first Mark and wear it for this year's Halloween. But he replied with a "nooooo wayyyyyy" you wont have enough time to finish it! But i said ILL DO IT! So then that night i went home and got on the computer to checkout how the Mark 1 looked. There were a lot of metal layers... like A LOT. So then i thought of using cardboard to substitute for the metal that i don't have. Cardboard was easy to work with; easy to bend and glue together. This entire suit took me 3 days and 2 loooooong loooooong nights to finish (by long i mean 10 hours each night to design, measure, cut out, paint and assemble the entire thing)

Step 1: The Cardboard

Cardboard is a decent material to use when you want to carve specific shapes and position with all sorts of bends.
It is also CHEAP as well! You can go to your local No frills and ask for a bunch of them!

Step 2: The Arc Reactor

The arc reactor is built using a tuna can as the container that holds all the electrical component together.
It can switch from blue to red colour by simply pressing on the push button.
The arc reactor is attached through a hole that cuts through the can and is wrapped around your upper body (much like how you would wear a duffle bag)
There is a longer red wire placed in a loop at the end so that you can loop it around the belt loop of your pants, preventing it from swaying back and forth.
A knot on the wire is tied on the inside of the tuna can so that if the wires are accidentally pulled, the wires wont pull on the led connections. This prevents the disconnection of the wires.

Materials used:

1 tuna can
Electrical tape
Wires
Solder
Glue gun
1 Seat belt
1 push button switch
1 toggle switch
copper wire from a transformer and electric motor
9 volt battery
1 Resistor
18 LEDs:

9 - Blues
9 - Reds

Step 3: The Research and Designing

I obtained multiple images of the Mark 1 suit and tried to replicate it as much as possible.

Step 4: Begin the Drawing and Measuring Stage

This step took me the most time. It take quite a lot of time to measure and get the correct dimension for the parts.
I had to measure the parts based on my body size and make it just right so that it matches the actual suit.

Step 5: The Helmet

The helmet is made from 2 pieces of aluminum sheets that i found at home depot... not quite sure what it is from, but it did the job perfectly!
I used blind rivets to hold the folds in place because glue and duck tape are weak when it come to assembling metal.

Step 6: The Body

The body is the main part of the costume that i built after the helmet.
I started making the "Shell" part of the body so that i can build on top of it, which makes the construction a lot more easier.

Step 7: Making the Arm and Leg Armor

The arm attachment was rather simple because it fits just right on your shoulder such that it wont fall off nor would it be too tight for you to move.

Step 8: The Parts of the Suit

Step 9: The Entire Suit!

And.... Finally! The final out come of my Mach 1 costume!
It turned out to be great! However if i were to rebuild the entire suit again i would use Cross Linked Polyethylene foam. This is because on Halloween, it was raining... any i'm sure you will know what happens to cardboard when it gets wet.... DISASTER!
But! Over all, i am glad i finished it on time!
Hope you guys like it!