Some alternate concept art for The Avengers' Helicarrier and Iron Man Mark VII Armor has arrived online from artist Phil Saunders. The Avengers is such an awesome movie, so you can imagine that this concept art is equally cool.
Here is Saunders' description and designs of the Mark VII Armor:
Below are the initial 3 sketches I did early on before we knew what the Mk 7 should be. The first was actually a revision of a design I had been thinking of initially for Iron Man 2 before ultimately choosing another project. It was a lighter, more streamlined version of what had come before, trying to integrate a flowing theme wrapping around the "RT" on the chest and mirroring that fast line through the body. This was more of the evolutionary design, and ultimately was approved pretty much immediately as a starting point for the Mk 7.
"The next design was playing around with the stance of the suit toward more of a brawler attitude, somewhat beefier and less aircraft-like."
"Lastly was a more extreme departure, trying to create a very different silhouette, sort of the Stark Industries answer to a more heavily militarized suit like War Machine, but drawing from Air Force form language instead of Army."
Below are Saunders' designs and descriptions of the Helicarrier:
"Before working on the Mk 7 suit with the Visual Development team, I was initially brought into the Art Department to work on the Helicarrier. While ultimately the Production Designer James Chinlund's direction was pursued by Nathan Schroeder to the version you see on screen, I was tasked with providing some alternative approaches. Below is a sampling of some initial sketches pursuing a combination of naval and stealth-inspired forms. In a more radical departure from the concept of 'Heli-' carrier I was exploring some form of vertical jet engine clusters to lift the massive hull rather than the traditional ducted fans."
Here is a video discussing the designs of the Helicarrier:
Follow Jim on Twitter and Tumblr