Build a Military Wood Storage Box

Dec 8

How to Make an Iron Man Prop

Military wood ammo boxes are the coolest storage project you can build! They are perfect for workshop or garage storage, or for giving a room a rustic look. There’s one way to make it even better…model it off of a movie prop, giving you an amazing conversation piece.

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Marvel Movie Prop Design

I was designing a military wood ammo box to store tools in my workshop when I came across pictures from the 2008 Iron Man movie. In the scenes, Tony Stark is captured by terrorists who also acquired crates of weapons built by his company Stark Industries. Tony eventually escaped captivity and destroyed the weapons.

wood ammo crates from the Iron Man movie

After some extensive research and math, I was able to figure out the dimensions of the Stark Industries ammo boxes used in the movie, including all of the custom stencils and hardware. Then, I created a set of project plans for myself and got to work!

Military Wood Ammo Storage Box

Get the Project Plans

Materials Needed

You can make an ammo box using cheap wood from your local hardware store. I opted for common pine boards. You will also need nails and some rope. I cut the bottom and four sides to length and width, and nailed them together. At first, it seems like this won’t be strong enough, but the beauty of this project is how each piece strengthens the next.

Box Rope Handles

rope handles for a military ammo box crate

The crate has rope handles that feed into posts in each corner. I routed a channel in back of each post, put the ends of the rope in the channels, and let the middle draped between the posts. This is where the whole crate gains a lot of strength. I drove nails in the posts, through the ropes, and into the crate sides and bottom. This means there are nails facing different directions, essentially locking all the boards in place.

Installing the Lid

The ammo crate’s lid uses traditional military crate hardware. It requires routing notches in the crate for the back hinges. The front latch flips over a metal knob that swivels, latching the lid down. The hardware has classic flathead screws. I absolutely love the overall look and they match the movie props perfectly!

The last part of the construction involved adding feet and top rails. This keeps the crate off the ground and lets you stack crates on top of one another. I made two crates at the same time and did just that.

Storage Shelf

At this point, I had two crates that matched the movie props (minus the stencils). But I needed mine for tool storage so I made a custom interior shelf to maximize space. Why reinvent the wheel when I can use the same overall box design for the shelf? I essentially made a mini version of the crate that sits on rails nailed to the inside of the storage box.

Ammo Box Graphics

The storage box has multiple distinct graphics stenciled on the sides and lid. The front has the Stark Industries logo in large, bold text. It also shows that the crate holds 25mm M910 TPDS-T cartridges and that it weighs 86 lbs. The lid also has a stencil saying it contains solid projectiles.

I made custom templates of each graphic and cut them out using my workshop laser. If I didn’t have a laser, I would have used a scroll saw. I hand painted the Stark Industries logo to help give me the closest look to the prop. I simply used spray paint for the other stencils.