No, you’re not “literally Batman”—but Ellie Farrell might be. Actually, she’s also Iron Man, too. And with a 3D printer and some paint, she could probably become any hero she wants to be. Farrell is a 20-year-old mechanical engineer and a prop designer based in Dublin, Ireland, and her hobby is building suits and gadgets from your favorite superhero comics.
What started as a deep desire to bring small pieces of the immersive worlds she saw onscreen into real life became a complex passion involving robotics, engineering, and design. Farrell is a self-taught propmaker, learning Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and rendering on her own, along with drawing on skills she learned from her dad and at school. Putting together these abilities has allowed Farrell to recreate stunningly realistic (and functional) props from film and TV. Farrell says when she was a kid, things started small.
“When I was a kid, I’d make little costumes for myself,” said Farrell. “I just wanted to replicate movies. I think there was a sense of realism that I couldn’t get just from watching [them], so I wanted to bring it to real life. I’d make little outfits for my stuffed animals.”
Growing up with the urge to bring fantasy into reality was what solidified Farrell’s interest in mechanical engineering. Now, she is majoring in the craft at Technological University Dublin, where she is a 3rd year student.
We became aware of Farrell’s work after she posted her Batman suit build on Instagram. The reel she made detailing the process has 5.1 million views, at the time of this post. The suit’s details are wildly intricate, and it was a great introduction to Farrell’s craftsmanship.
Farrell is not only a propmaker but an influencer, posting short videos of her creative process on social media. Some of Farrell’s well-known builds on the internet include her two Iron Man suit iterations and a Batsuit. She has also made a realistic Captain America shield and functional web-shooters, among many other cool creations.
With 618.6k followers on TikTok and 294k on Instagram, she has grown an audience of like-minded nerds who appreciate seeing their favorite heroes brought into the real world. She says it was her original Iron Man suit build that really boosted her attention on both platforms. After her first Iron Man suit went viral, Farrell took the learned skills to build a second, more detailed version.
“[The second suit is] just much higher quality. Thanks to the internet, I was able to get a better 3D printer, so the quality just went up a lot. I also knew which paints to get, how to layer paints, how to sand better, electronics that I wanted to include, and different moving parts. I wanted to just get a bit more detailed with it. I think [with] the first suit, I was like, ‘Do I really want to do all of that?’ But the second one, I just knew I could, so I decided to go a bit more in depth.”
According to Farrell, she can sometimes bang out a project in a day or two, depending on the size. But suits? Those can take months. Her creative process starts with a sketch and blooms from there.
Farrell cited the first Iron Man suit as her most challenging build. Going in, she only knew how to build the helmet. But she did what she needed to learn: understanding it “by failing first.”
Farrell has big plans for the future, wanting to pursue propmaking either for live theatre or film/TV as a career. However, she says that her most important goal is to positively influence people.
“I think younger people need an outlet now more than ever… I found that [COVID] was a really rough time. You’re very isolated, and I feel like… there’s a lot going on in society where [kids are] not able to communicate really, and I think it can be a great outlet to be able to be in your own space and build things.”
The internet can be harsh. The more people see your work, the more the wrong people will interact with it or leave hateful comments. Farrell said she has struggled with that, but it hardly bothers her anymore.
“[Social media is] an interesting place to be as a girl. I’ve just gotten so used to it now, but it does get annoying, I suppose, when men comment stuff about your abilities as a woman,” said Farrell. “I [barely] look at comments anymore. I’ve put up with it my whole life—I did football for 12 years growing up, and I was on a boys’ team, [the] only girl in the entire league. So I guess I got used to just regulating emotions relating [to] that.”
Farrell said the social media and virality side of her passion felt enjoyably “unreal.” She understands her role as an influencer and the impact she has on other hobbyists. She said she especially wants her content to resonate with young girls. Farrell hopes she can teach them that they can do what she says some people view as “boy stuff.”
“I just want to be a good influence on [young girls] to believe in themselves and believe in their own abilities and develop their own skills, because it is easy to believe that you can only do it if you get a degree… or you’re talented or [a] genius in something,” she affirms. “But I’m not a genius. I’m just a regular person doing something every day and building up those skills… [It] gets me when girls are like, ‘Oh, you, you’re not able to do this,’ because it’s different coming from a girl than a guy, but I hope I’m able to convince girls then that they’re able to do it too. There’s no real restriction other than a mental barrier for most people.”
Surprisingly, Farrell doesn’t see a future in commissioned propmaking. She is currently building a Nightwing suit for a friend, but says it won’t become a regular activity.
“When I’m thinking about someone else seeing my work… I just get very particular about the tiny little details that I know people don’t care about—and they won’t see it, but I see it, and I care about it. I just couldn’t do [commissions] because [I] would get too much in my head. I would not enjoy it.”
In terms of future projects, Farrell is not even close to stopping making awesome props. She mentioned a functioning grappling hook/ web-shooter hybrid, able to hold a person’s weight. In addition, she is working on an ECG scanner that controls lights, mimicking telekinesis. Farrell also mentioned that she’s working on something else “really cool,” so keep an eye on her socials.
You can follow Ellie’s work on her Instagram and TikTok pages.