ironman mark 3

Construction

Contrary to its appearance, most of Stark's armors are not metal suits. His standard armor suit consists of approximately two million grain-of-sand-sized discrete units, which are shaped to have as large a surface as possible to optimize their effectiveness. The basis of the suit's structural integrity is the powerful force field which permeates the armor's "cells," as well as the whole configuration when active. Each of the "cells" is a tiny unit in its own right, contributing energy and computing power to the entire armor; this is also why the suit can remain functional even after having sustained considerable damage. The basic principle of the suit is holistic; each part contains the whole, as it were. When inactive, the entire suit can collapse on the microscopic level, the cells "folding" in on themselves to take up a smaller volume, like a three-dimensional accordion pleat.

While Tony Stark designs every aspect of the armor, the complexity of the design requires that production be entirely automated. Each cell is constructed by using specialized bacteria — the bacteria consume minute amounts of specific metals, arrange themselves on pre-tagged areas on the "chip wafer," then die, leaving a very small amount of iron, or gold, or gallium-arsenide. This method allows great precision in determining the thickness of circuitry.

All the details of the armor's construction listed above are laid out in the Iron Manual. However, some armor which appeared after publication of the Iron Manual may well use entirely different methods of construction.

hree types of Iron Man armor appear in the 2008 Iron Man film. As in the comics, the first armor which Stark builds while in captivity is crude and bulky. It had the ability to amplify Stark's strength tremendously and was armed with flamethrowers and a missile launcher and had a limited rocket jump capacity to allow Stark to exit the immediate hostile area and escape. The rockets failed shortly after the start, however; the suit shattered upon landing and Stark was forced to abandon it to attempt to reach friendly territory. Unfortunately, Stark's enemies found the abandoned armor and it served as the base design for the Iron Monger.

Upon returning home, Stark developed a sleeker, polished silver(bare metal) Mark II prototype version with improved flight capability, but it was prone to icing when attempting to test high altitudes. The testing led to the streamlined and armed Mark III red/gold armor. The gold Mark III armor was built with gold-titanium alloy to resolve the freezing problem that happened when the suit flew at high altitudes. This "gold-titanium alloy" is used in the Seraphim series of Stark Industries' satellites. In the film, it appears that this material not only prevents the armor's systems from freezing at high altitudes, but is also extremely durable while maintaining the weight ratio of the Mark II. It was able to withstand small arms fire, an explosion from a tank shell (the shell exploded in close proximity to Stark, resulting in a fall from several thousand feet up), followed by hits by 20mm Vulcan shells and a high speed collision with a F-22 Raptor with only minimal cosmetic damage.

All three of the armor suits are powered by a miniature arc reactor, a fictional clean energy source, which is also used to power the electromagnet that protects Stark's heart from the shrapnel embedded in his chest. The final armor included anti-tank missiles that launch from the suit's forearms, steering and retrothrust jets in the palms which could double as repulsors (early in the film, Stark mentions that the Jericho missiles utilize his company's repulsor technology), small anti-personnel guns in the shoulders which could be individually targeted for a simultaneous attack, flare launchers on the hips, and a uni-beam projector in the center of his chest. Furthermore, Mark II and III operate with remote assistance from Stark's artificial intelligence JARVIS (voiced by Paul Bettany), who manages the armor's systems at Stark's command, and they also have a holographic Heads Up Display [HUD]. These armors also have variable control surfaces for active flight control, which are controlled by JARVIS to automatically stabilize the suit in flight. All three suits are able to protect their occupant from the effects of extreme g-forces.

The first prototype is based on the original gray suit from Iron Man's first appearance, while the Mark III armor's look is inspired by the modern Extremis armor.

A production photo of Iron Man II shown that Stark have recovered the Mark I as one of the displays within his workshop, along with Mark II, the remains of Mark III, and other prototypes