CCM INTERVIEW: @DODI.STARK

We welcome @dodi.stark . Thank you for giving everyone a chance to get to know more about you and your insane cosplay collection that you have created. You are probably recognized most for your appearance cosplaying as Tony Stark.

But what has stood out to us most is your latest creation of the Hulkbuster armor straight out of the movie.

Let everyone know who you are and how you got started in cosplay.

I started like many people, attending some fairs, first only as a visitor and then putting myself on the line. My passion for engineering, for Iron man movies and the resemblance to Tony Stark did the rest. I started first with cosplaying other characters, then making the first armor and then I didn't stop anymore, I got to collect 9, even rebuilding the armor room and the metal platform present in the Iron man 3 movie, but above all the historical Mark 44 Hulkbuster!

Other than cosplaying as an incredible Tony Stark double, what other characters have you cosplayed and who have been some of your favorites other then Tony?

As I said before I didn't start with Tony Stark and I didn't even stop with him :-) I wore the role of Wolverine, Doctor Strange, Shang Chi, Black Panther, Groot, Spiderman ... Am I or not a Marvel fan?

As a Tony Stark double, have you ever met him or any of the other Avengers? If so, have they had any reactions about the resemblance?

Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to meet any of the original Avengers live yet. Robert Downey Jr has often come to Italy, and I hope to meet him sooner or later, it would be really a pleasure to chat with him. We share many passions such as music for example, but above all that for martial arts; We both have been practicing Wing Chun for a long time and the beauty is that I started without knowing that he also practiced it.

Not only do you have all of that, but now you have completed one of the largest cosplay builds that I have ever seen, which is your Hulk Buster armor. We have seen others create one but yours is probably the most screen accurate. Tell us about this build and what went into its creation? How tall is it, how much time and money was put into making it, what is it made out of, how well do you move, and…just how?! Share as much as you can about it. What are some of the hardest parts to build for it and challenges you had creating it?

Yes, the longest and most demanding job I did was Hulkbuster. I had to carve out some time from other projects to be able to make it happen. I was supposed to finish a year early, but some family problems slowed me down. I must admit, however, that during the Covid period I dedicated a lot of my time to its realization. It is almost 2.5m tall; the outer armor is foam rubber, like so many others, but I used various

materials to allow me to build it this way. There is a light internal metal skeleton that allows the suspension and articulation of the arms, this skeleton is wedged inside a polystylor structure that rests on my shoulders and which gives rigidity to the whole chest. I started from a normal Pepakura file, but I spent a lot of time making a lot of changes, first to make it fit my body, of which I used a 3D scan for the positioning of the various joints and then to modify many parts that were not correctly proportioned. For most of the creations I had to proceed freehand following meticulously the details and proportions of the official Hot Toys, which faithfully reflect the real armor used in the movie "Avengers - Age of Ultron ''. I lost count of the cost of the various materials, I also paid a lot of attention to the painting, to try to make it as similar as possible to the film. Obviously all this made it not very light and therefore wearing it is not easy :-) I add, however, that the wearing phase is another very scenic thing, in fact it is hooked to a crane that lifts it and after being positioned on my legs, comes to me directly on the shoulders.

What do you do with your huge collection of cosplays and scene props?

Thanks to the resemblance to Tony Stark and to my particular collection, I am often present in comic and film fairs.

Your work is truly mind blowing. What is in store for the future? What are some builds/cosplays that you want to try and create next?

I am always full of ideas. I also take care of the realization of the other sets reconstructed from the scenes of the Marvel films for my group, the Real Avengers Italian Cosplayers. It is always very voluminous creations. If you like maybe, we can talk about it another time with my colleagues too.

How can everyone follow and check out more of your work?

It is possible to follow me on social networks on the addresses:

Instagram - @dodi.stark / Facebook - PeterGIronman

Thank you for sharing with us more about you and your work. We wish that we can one day see it all in person day. I’m sure everyone wishes that they had a collection like yours. Really cool stuff and we look forward to seeing more of what you come up with in the future. We wish you the best of luck and we welcome you back to showcase it all anytime.

Thanks to you for allowing me to tell you about some of my passions and for sharing your time with me, I hope to meet you in person and on social networks.

Photo Credits - Pasquale Pasculli

VIEW HULKBUSTER PHOTOS