Iron Man Armor: Mark II

The Mark II Armor was Tony Stark's second Iron Man suit, heavily refining the bulky and rudimentary design of the previous Mark I suit, resulting in a far more articulated and sleek design. However, due to a dangerous icing problem that immobilized the suit at higher altitudes, it never saw extensive use by Stark himself, who instead fixed this design flaw in the Mark III suit, but rather by James Rhodes as the first War Machine suit.

History

Creation

After returning from captivity in Afghanistan, Tony Stark began designing the Mark II armor, drastically revamping the design of the Mark I using the resources and technology available to him through his company: Stark Industries. Tony started building this suit in stages, experimenting with new technology, mainly to improve the suit's flight capabilities. Working from his basement workshop Tony started by creating a pair of thruster boots, quickly followed by a pair of palm-based repulsor gauntlets to stabilize his flight.

Once Tony had perfected the flight thrusters and repulsors, he went on to create the armor of the suit itself, making it more sleek and aerodynamic than the Mark I, with articulated control flaps for added flight control and stability. He also created a user interface using his J.A.R.V.I.S. AI system. During his first control test, Tony decided to take the Mark II on its first full test flight despite J.A.R.V.I.S.'s recommendations. His flight proved to be an outstanding success until testing the suit's altitude limit, during which it demonstrated a near-fatal icing problem in the higher altitude.

After this test flight Tony retired the Mark II suit, preferring to use the finalized, weapons integrated Mark III suit.^[1]

Promises for the Future

James Rhodes later noticed the Mark II after helping Tony Stark prepare to fight against Iron Monger. Once Tony left, Rhodes contemplated using the Mark II, but opted against it and left promising to one day use it.^[1]

Theft

While dealing with palladium poisoning caused by his Arc Reactor and his impending death, Stark gave into his frustrations and got drunk during his birthday party, putting on his Mark IV armor and using it to show off in a reckless manner, endangering several of his party guests. Concerned over Stark's apparent irresponsibility and the safety of those present, James Rhodes donned the Mark II suit and confronted Stark as promised to himself, erupting into a brawl that caused massive property damage to Tony Stark's Mansion and nearly injured several guests. 

After their fight reached a standoff, Stark and Rhodes fired their repulsors at one another, resulting in a repulsor explosion that destroyed a large portion of Stark's house. Rhodes left standing over his dazed friend, then departed with the Mark II armor and he flew to Edwards Air Force Base, turning it over to the United States Armed Forces under his supervision.

The US Armed Forces then proceeded to have the suit weaponized using guns and munitions provided by Justin Hammer, effectively transforming the Mark II into the War Machine: Mark I armor.^[2]

Repossession

Later, after the crisis at Stark Expo, the War Machine Mark I was re-converted back into the Mark II as Stark removed all Hammer tech added to the suit, considering it an insult.^[3]
The armor can be seen in its original form in the original Hall of Armors in Tony's garage, along with Marks I, III, IV, V, VI, and VII.

Destruction

When the Mandarin's forces attacked Stark's mansion, the Mark II was destroyed when damage to the mansion's systems caused the suit to unintentionally detonate.^[4]

Capabilities

The Mark II armor was a complete revamp of the base principle and technology of the rudimentary Mark I armor, using improved resources and new technology that Tony Stark developed specifically for the suit. The original bulky design was considerably streamlined, giving the Mark II a sleek, more human-like appearance.

The Mark II's greatest weakness, however, was its high altitude icing problem. Because the suit was still in the experimental stages, it wasn't made of materials tested for higher altitudes. Thus, when it was exposed to the thin, cold air of the upper atmosphere, a sizable layer of ice would form over its surface, immobilizing the suit and causing a complete system shut-down, proving nearly fatal for the user. Due to this, the Mark II was retired to make room for the Mark III, which was made out of a gold-titanium alloy specifically made for interstellar exploration.^[1]

• Superhuman Strength: The armor gives it user enhanced strength.
• Superhuman Durability: The suit gives its user superhuman durability, as seen when Stark crashed through the roof of his house, and landed on one of his cars, sustaining only minor injuries.
• Flight: The greatest advancement for the Mark II armor was its vastly improved flight capabilities, now capable of sustained flight for long periods of time. This was made possible through Tony Stark's development of sustained flight thruster boots and hand-based repulsor gauntlets for flight stability. The suit also possessed variable control surfaces for active flight control and maneuverability.

• HUD: The Mark II features a built in heads up display, for analyzing the environment. The HUD is controlled by J.A.R.V.I.S.
• Repulsors: The palm repulsors, while not calibrated for offensive capabilities, can be used as weapons, to a certain degree, as it was used against Stark from James Rhodes.
• Unibeam: The Arc Reactor in the chest can be used to fire a high-density energy beam at opponents.

References

The Marvel Cinematic Universe wiki has a collection of images and media related to Iron Man Armor: Mark II.