Since “Iron Man 2” is out, I thought I’d share this cool Iron Man tidbit I found on Kotaku. Granted, I’ve never really been into the whole Iron Man thing like a certain GeekMontage member (*cough* Foose *cough*), but even I found this to be cool either way. I bet even “he” and all Iron Man fanatics will get a kick out of this as well.

These are not screenshots from Iron Man 2, they are pictures of an ACTUAL piece of armor created by Anthony Le. The 25-year-old had been a die-hard fan of the Iron Man series, and decided in 2008 that he would create his very own piece of armor.

His first attempt ended up looking more like a Halloween costume. His second attempt, however, cost over $4000 (US) to make. The suit itself, is made of high-impact urethane and held with over 1,500 rivets and washers. The helmet was sculpted from clay by Le, and finished the final version in resin. It is also outfitted with many LEDs, and motorized helmet faceplate. The mini-gun that is mounted to his back is fully functional: it can actually spin and fire out paintballs, which can be activated within the glove of the suit.

And, as any Iron Man fanatic will tell you, this is the “War Machine” suit, worn by Stark’s friend and ally, Jim Rhodes. The reason why Le decided to make it instead of “Iron Man” suit?

“It just looked more hardcore”, Le said.

Pretty much sums it up.

Sources: Kotaku