"The idea was that Tony's constructing the Mark I out of old shell casings and equipment, and everything had to look like found objects. Broad color schemes and tones were then worked out in conversation with Jon Favreau. While Ryan Meinerding's designs were excellent reference for the shape of the Mark I, they were all in black and white. But the clunkiness is sort of what made the Mark I what it was, you know? You kinda didn't want him to move well in it because then it wouldn't have made as much sense. We had to go through several fittings to make sure that suit performer Mike Justice would be able to fit it in and move in it because it's a very clunky suit. And then all those parts were hung onto the frame. We added some flexible urethane areas for comfort. "The shells were then molded and cast in epoxy. We just kinda fashioned it like it was hammered out in a cave." The final steps are where everything started to come together, added Merritt. Then we could go in and add bullet holes or damaged, dented marks into the surfaces. "Then we went in and hand-carved and sanded the foam, put resins on them and smoothed them out. So they were all milled out of foam," said Merritt. We just felt that the type of detail that was on them didn't warrant the expense of going through the growing process. "We didn't grow any of those full-size shells. We used the same paint technique on the full-size suit because Jon Favreau loved it." After Jon Favreau and the producers approved the maquette, Dave Merritt and the model making team at SWS moved onto the full-size Mark I armor. Before that we'd been chrome plating and using other automotive finishes but they never had that incredible reflective quality. Of course it's always a team effort, but it was cool that my Mark I maquette paint job set the standard for many of the metallic characters we've done here (SWS & Legacy Effects) for the last 5 years.
#Stan lee iron man 1 how to#
And it was kind of a test run, we weren't really sure how to use that stuff. You start with a shiny black surface and then you mist on the chrome paint. The digital team modeled the shells first and I said, 'Well you've gotta attach these shells to something if we're going to grow them.' And so they attached these frames, and then I said, 'Well you know you've really gotta have these things attached to a body so it won't fall apart.' So then they had to model a body inside as well." Key artist at Stan Winston Studio & Legacy Effects, Trevor Hensley, said, "The Mark I was the first time we used that killer chrome paint, that metallic surface finish. The 90-pound suit was primarily comprised of epoxy "armor" shells, flexible urethane, leather and aluminum.Īccording to Merritt, the Mark I was one of the most complicated maquettes he's ever worked on, "It was really like building three maquettes in one because you had a body substructure underneath and then you had all these armor shells that hang onto a frame. We were so proud that we did it." To support the nearly 90-pound Mark I suit, the Stan Winston Studio crew created a sturdy corset harness and aluminum support rig. And then it was lots of hushed conversation and they started asking 'How much can he move?' Mike starts turning sideways, putting his arms out, moving all around, and they realized this was a suit that they could actually shoot with. We lit him all up and there was a very brief moment where they were all looking at it, Favreau, the producers, and then suddenly Mike took a step forward and they were shocked. "So we uncover the Mark I and Mike Justice is inside it, but it was dark and they couldn't tell there was a guy in the suit. They didn't know we were bringing a suit, they thought we were bringing a prop on a stand that they could roll in and roll out as a reference element," said Hensley. "So we showed up for the first Mark I film test at the cave interior set. When the day of the film test came, the SWS crew was ready to make their case for shooting with a real Mark I.