Taiwanese man Wu You-ting has taken Iron Man fandom to a whole new level.

Wu, 28, had always considered himself a fan of millionaire-turned crime-fighting cyberborg comic hero Iron Man, but it was not until he saw the film's third instalment at a local theatre that he was inspired to build his own suit of armour.

"I really like Iron Man. Once I went to see the movie and saw the movie theatre placing the [full size] 1m-tall Iron Man statue in the lobby. I wanted to buy it to take home very much. But then I felt that it's really expensive, so I decided to make one by myself. And it can be propped up on display at home, and looks good when I wear it out for fun," he said.

Wu, a local dance teacher, and his friend Guo Wen-sheng took approximately eight weeks and $164 (£105) to build their own custom Iron Man suit to fit Wu. They got their ideas from various fan websites where others had embarked upon the same mission.

Wu did much of the moulding and cutting of the mostly polyester putty-made suit, while Guo designed and rigged many of the lights and electronic mechanisms.

While this suit does not have all the functionality of Tony Stark's own Iron Man suit, its Ark Reactor – the centre chestpiece of the suit – glows, and the LED lights on his palms and helmet light up, just as actor Robert Downey Jr demonstrates in the film. The helmet can also open and close at the click of a button.

Marvel's official website notes that the original Iron Man in the suit measures a total of 6'6" while Wu only stands at a total of 5'4".

Wu said that he sometimes wears the suit in public and while practising his dance moves he drew a crowd of curious onlookers at the local train station. Currently, Wu said that he does not plan on selling his suit.

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