The gauntlet has lasers in the palm and in a retractable forearm shooter. No, it doesn't let you fly too.
(Credit:
Patrick Priebe )
What are you going to do to mark the upcoming release of "Iron Man 3"? If you're superfan Patrick Priebe, you build your own Iron Man laser gauntlet.
As a 6-foot-tall, Mohawk-sporting hockey player, Priebe can come across as intimidating. His penchant for making laser weapons doesn't help much either.
His Web site laser-gadgets.com showcases his passion for the science fiction and video games, a passion reflected in his jaw-dropping creations -- guns that fire laser beams as well as laser-guided crossbows.
His latest creation is the Iron Man Laser Gauntlet, which fits over Priebe's forearm. It fires lasers, not anti-tank missiles.
Done up in classic Iron Man red and gold, it works on two lithium-ion batteries that power the lasers, a slider mechanism, and an LED knob. It fires two 1.2-watt blue lasers, one where the palm repulsor would be and one over the forearm, as well as two 4-mW red aiming lasers.
As seen in the awesome video below, the gauntlet can easily take out balloons several feet away.
Priebe makes all the mechanical and housing parts of his laser gadgets by hand and only buys components such as the diodes and capacitors.
Check out pics of his other creations including futuristic laser guns and a bolt-firing wrist crossbow in our photo gallery below.
"Back in the day, I was fascinated by lasers," he says. "It all started with the older Battlestar Galactica movies.
"In 2003 or so, I had some time to tinker a bit. I made some coilguns and lasers. Someone saw my 'first' pulse laser gun on YouTube and asked for one. The white pulse laser gun got 1 million hits...within the first month!
"Generally, I have crazy ideas and it seems I have the skills to make it work...no idea how, actually. I never make real plans. I just tinker."
A former lab technician based in Wuppertal, Germany, Priebe turned his laser hobby into a job. He only sells some of his prototypes, and they tend to be the low-power ones due to safety concerns.
Lasers such as the gauntlet can take up to 120 hours to complete, and Priebe likes to put the "Iron Man" films on in the background while he works.
"I'm a huge fan," he says. "I watch the movies several times a day, while I'm working to keep me focused. I can speak along with the characters. My friends find it very weird."
The thing his YouTube followers want to know is -- will he make a full suit, arc reactor and all?
"I won't make a suit, because to be totally honest the gauntlet, as cool as it is, is way too geeky already...I'm not saying it would embarrass me, but it would be just a bit too much."
No doubt thousands of would-be Iron Men would disagree.
Functional Iron Man gauntlet zaps enemy balloons
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Functional Iron Man gauntlet zaps enemy balloons
