Raw progress notes from every session. What got printed, what got wired, what broke, and what's next. Updated as it happens.
Most recent entries first. Each update covers one or more build sessions — printed pieces, electronics sourcing, problems encountered, and decisions made.
Helmet and glove are done as raw prints. The chest piece is currently printing in two halves — it's a substantially larger piece than either the helmet or glove and needs to be split to fit the Ender 3 bed. The first half is running now and it's looking clean so far. I've already accounted for the arc reactor housing cavity in the front section, so the LED ring will sit flush with no modification needed.
While the chest prints I've been sorting out the arc reactor electronics. Going with a 16-LED WS2812B ring and an Arduino Nano — the pulse animation code is already written and tested on the bench. I ordered the ring, a frosted acrylic diffuser disc, and a slim USB power bank to run the Arduino. Components arrived in two days.
The plan is: finish printing both chest halves, glue them together with the same superglue process as the helmet, then do the arc reactor wiring before moving on to the back plate. The chest is by far the most prominent piece of the suit so I want to get the electronics right here before moving on.
Next up after the chest: back plate, then I'll likely jump to the forearms since those need the repulsor glove electronics integration. Full details in the Electronics Guide.
The repulsor glove is printed and assembled. The palm housing came out well — the circular LED mount in the centre is clean and there's good clearance for the wiring to run through the finger joints. I've printed both the right hand version (main build) and a left hand version so the suit eventually has both.
The articulated finger sections are the fiddliest part of this piece. Each finger is three segments connected by small pin joints, and getting the tolerances right took two attempts — the first print had the joints too tight and they cracked on assembly. Scaled the joint clearance by +0.3mm on the reprint and they move freely now.
On the electronics side, the palm LED setup is simple: a 3W cool white LED in the housing, a constant-current LED driver module, a small push button in the index finger channel, and a flat LiPo in the back-of-hand section. Full wiring diagram is on the Electronics page.
The big moment this session: posted the helmet build video to Reddit's r/3Dprinting and r/ironman and the response was unexpected. The video hit 291 views within the first day and the Reddit posts got hundreds of upvotes and comments. Lots of people asking about the eye LEDs and whether I'll go full suit. Yes. Obviously. That's the whole point.
The YouTube channel — @EngineeringChaosDIY — is where the build videos live. The first long-form video covering the helmet build and the decision to go for the full suit is below.
It started with just the helmet. I'd been wanting to try a large multi-part print for a while, and the MK85 Iron Man helmet seemed like the right project — recognisable, well-documented by the community, and genuinely impressive once assembled.
The STL files came from Printables — a well-regarded version with good reviews and clean section splits. Six pieces: crown, two face plates, chin/jaw, upper back, and neck collar. Print time was about 52 hours total across five days. All printed in grey PLA on an Ender 3 at 0.2mm layer height, 20% infill.
Assembly was straightforward. Dry-fit first, then superglue in pairs starting with the two face plate halves. The seams needed a small amount of filler and a sand but nothing excessive — the section alignment on this file was good. The helmet sits on my head with enough room for some foam padding inside, and the eye gaps came out exactly the right size for LED modules.
That was supposed to be the end of it. Put on the finished helmet, took a photo, and that was it — the whole suit became inevitable. I ordered the glove STL files the same evening.
The eye LEDs are still on the to-do list. I've left the gaps deliberately open and I'm deciding between a pre-made module (quick and clean) and a custom Arduino startup sequence (takes longer but looks better). Full comparison on the Helmet Guide page.
11 pieces still to print. Each one will get a build log entry when it's done. Subscribe on YouTube to catch each update as it drops.
Follow on YouTube @EngineeringChaosDIY for video updates, and check back here for build log entries after each session.