Iron Man Is In Fact Plastic Man

At the risk of publicizing a superhero’s Achilles’ heel for all to see, here’s some shocking news: The Iron Man suit used in Iron Man II is in fact made of plastic, NOT iron.

If only Ivan Vanko had known this before creating an entire army of evil clone robots to hunt down and kill Tony Stark. The team behind the effects in Iron Man 2 relied heavily on a cutting edge new technology for designing, prototyping and building the suit used in the hit movie.

3D printing is all the rage in the manufacturing and medical sectors, but many applications have yet to be fully explored. In this case, 3D printing was used to quickly create props for Robert Downey Jr.’s character.

Using the new technology, the team was able to create the intricate and realistic parts out of plastic no thicker than a dime. Compared to the props used in the first Iron Man movie, Downey Jr. was able to spend longer in costume for each scene, which meant shorter production times and lower cost overall.

3D printing is an almost limitless technology which even in its infancy is revolutionary and exciting beyond the imagination. With more progress on materials, we could be one step closer to Star Trek-style replicators.

Source: Ecouterre