Iron Man (2006) - Iron Man Mk 3 Suit Mechanicals
I spent a lot of time working out how the internal mechanicals of the Mk 3 suit might look, as well as how the major components might expand to allow Tony to fit in the suit, before we came up with the whole robotic "suit-up" sequence. My major inspirations were rear-entry ski boots, watchbands and an expanding mechanical divider I have as a drafting tool.
The torso section, which would expand like a watch band to allow Tony to slip into it as one piece.
The "pants" section, showing how it would expand to allow Tony's legs to slide in. The boots were inspired by a ski boot project I had worked on for Salomon while I was at Nissan Design.
A rough sketch of how the suit would be broken down into its major components.
A cutaway sketch of the arm showing the low-profile "mechanical musculature." I was inspired by drafting dividers, which use a pantograph action to expand and contract.