Chest Plate, etc.

I took a couple pictures of the upper body on Friday, after I had a little time to work on it. Since other than a couple limited pics of hypothetical parts, I haven't shared any of the top half, I figure it's about time. Pardon the ghetto stance on one of them, Curtis thought it was funny.

As you can see, the top half is coming along as well.  I took the yellow pieces off the ends of the vertical part, and I'll be finishing them to look like missiles.  The back will feature a pretty large jet engine (well, it will look like one, anyway) that will light up pretty heavily, and look awesome.  I haven't decided if I want to attach wings yet, but it's an idea we're toying with.

I also figured out a very important piece of the puzzle - how to attach things to the frame.  If I use the dremel tool to cut about a quarter of the circumference out of some 3/4" PVC (imagine the profile of it resembles a C), it snaps onto the bike rack frame like a clamp.  If you look at the chest plate, you'll notice two screws where I've used this method to clamp it to the frame.  Since Friday, I've started making the mech's arms, using the same concept.  I used a T-connector to act as the initial attaching point, with the arms coming off the horizontal part of the frame at a 45* angle, and down around my shoulders.  They look pretty good so far, but I'm not 100% sure on the best way to make them movable, but secure.  I used a joint like the knee joints on the Mechs I linked to before for the shoulder joint, but I don't want to use it for the elbow too, since it makes the arms a little too flexible to easily control.  I'll keep thinking on it, I'm sure I'll figure something out.  That's the major stuff I did this week, next time I build I plan to continue figuring out the arms and possibly make the jet pack.

After that, we're left figuring out the upper legs, the lower torso, and building out the structure to be more robust.  As great as PVC is for framing, it's not very polished or intimidating on its own.  Then the finishing touches - I can't wait to light this thing up.  10 weeks till Halloween!

Mech robot costume stilts - 1st attempt

Today was a victory! We managed to get some video of the finished stilts in action, with a description of what I did to make them work. The audio is so-so since it's on Curt's iPohone, but the video shows you pretty well what the finished product will look like. I have a few pictures of the stilts right before I attached the shoes and took my first walk, I'll edit those into the post a little later. For now, take a look at this!

First Glimpses

This weekend was both productive and completely wasted at the same time.

On one hand, I managed to complete the assembly of one of the legs. On the other, I hate how it turned out, and I need to completely re-do it. This is frustrating and exhilarating all at once. Here are some pictures:



This first image is of the piston assembly that will be featured on the feet of the costume. As you can see, this part came out awesome. I'm really pleased with the look of the assembly, and Curtis was impressed enough to decide to copy them for his own stilts. He won't have the same ladder extensions, so I do worry about the stability of his feet, but that's a bridge to cross at another time.



This second image is the completed foot. It's pretty gnarly, and I think it looks really great - except for the shape of the top and bottom pieces. They both started off as squares, but as soon as I assembled the foot, I noticed that they didn't line up. This is a result of a flaw I failed to anticipate. I bought two different sized flanges, since I wasn't certain which I would like better - a 3/4" and a 1". Each of the pistons is a 3/4" on top and a 1" on the bottom. The problem is that the holes aren't positioned the same in the different sized flanges, and I can't make a template that works for all of the blocks. I had to free-hand it, and obviously that didn't work. Then I attempted to make it look less shitty by cutting away the excess portions of the blocks, but in reality it just made the whole thing look worse. I planned to just say forget it and run with it that way, but it gnawed at me and I couldn't just let it go. I plan to correct the mistake this weekend by re-doing the whole foot. On the other foot, I've planned ahead and made 1 piston entirely out of the 3/4" flanges, and the other out of the 1". This should allow me to make a template and match the feet up the right way. I may try to fix the pistons from the first foot to do the same, but I'd rather not need to paint them again and just figure something else out.



This last picture is a close-up of the "Action" portion of the feet. I don't like the wood block I used as a spacer for the ladder part - I'm going to try and find something that's round and useable instead. I kinda wish I had a bunch of AOL discs to use...

I also managed to successfully attach the bike rack to my shoulder pads. It looks really amazing. I'm starting to get pretty excited about the whole costume, now that I'm seeing pieces of it come together. I don't have any pics ready for you on that part, but as we finish up the feet and move upward I'll keep them coming.

Last night I spent a few hours shopping for supplies and building. I've figured out a good way to make the legs function in a manner that won't result in broken bones or death, which I think is a good thing. I explained it briefly in the last post, but now that I've actually applied this guessing game to the real world, I'm gonna elaborate.

Begin with the ladder leg extensions. I've measured from the base of the foot (or, rather, the point where I'd attach it to the "foot" of the costume), and up to the top of the bracket. This is about 12". I've purchased 2 metal flanges to secure the PVC, and attachments so the PVC can screw into them. Measured these assemblies, and cut a tube of 1" PVC to fit the height. I then cut a 1.25" tube to act as the sleeve for the piston, and will attach that as a decorative piece to the outside of the 1" pipe. You can see some of the pieces here:



This picture is missing the 1" pieces, but the rest is all there. The next step is to paint the pieces the appropriate color. I bought some Rustolium textured grey spray paint that I'm pretty sure I'll use over most of the skeleton, and some really shiny chrome paint to use for the pistons. Here's the assembly in paint:



As you can see, there will be a pretty stark contrast in color, which should make a cool effect. I'll be checking to see if any more coats are needed probably tomorrow, and then I'll begin to assemble the base of the legs. I'm still trying to decide on what to make the horizontal pieces out of, since plywood is super heavy. A firm (relatively thick) plastic piece would be great, but I'm not 100% on where to get what I'm looking for. I'm going to keep working and deal with that eventually. As for the top of the legs, I've attached another 2' section of 1" PVC (painted chrome) to the upper portion of the stilt, to extend it long enough to attach to my upper calf. This should be high enough to stabilize my footing as I walk with a bunch of crap on my feet and back.

Speaking of, Curtis found this AWESOME bike rack at the thrift store that we've been working with. It's completely replaced my idea for the chair piece and for the backpack - this thing is about 100x better. I've found a great way to attach it to my shoulderpads, so it's all systems go. I'll update with more pics and details of the process as I have more time to work.

I wish this stuff was in my garage, but Curtis shipped me a key to his place, so now I can work on my own time instead of everyone else's.

So this weekend, I went hunting in the barn at my parent's house, hoping to find anything of use for the costume I could get my hands on. My dad was pretty helpful, offering to help me find anything I was looking for. The problem was, I wouldn't know what I'm looking for until I found it. Ultimately the search was fruitful, finding a plastic satchel that's used for holding vacuum cleaner accessories (no idea what I'm doing with it yet, but the shape and the material are good), and a pair of these:



I'm going to modify these into the stilts for the leg section of the costume. They're really only going to bear a resemblance to their original purpose by the time I'm done with them (originally they were ladder leg extensions), because I'll need to reinforce them if I plan to not break my neck. My intention is to use 1" and 3/4" PVC pipes to create two additional supports between my feet and the ground. This will be great for a few reasons;

First, as I learned in high school shop class, cylinders are the most stable shape to support weight on. Second, using three points of contact gives me a broad enough base to feel stable on the feet and not worry about tipping one way or the other and breaking my ankle. Third, there's a way to work the PVC so that when painted, it looks like hydraulic cylinders, which means that I can maintain a cool look with them at the same time as being functional.

I've also purchased this:



I'm going to use this as the ultimate end of one of the arms. It's got an electronic open and close which I should be able to modify into an extended arm so I can control it without my hand being inside the claw. It also looks totally badass, and I'm really excited to try and incorporate it into the design.

The backpack idea has fallen through, because 1)I couldn't find either of the frame packs I thought were at my parents, and 2)Buying a new one is more expensive than I care to pay for a metal rectangle. To circumvent that issue, I've taken apart the base of a camp chair, and I'm using the cross braces and backrest to replicate the same basic principle. My next build day should consist of attaching the frame to the shoulder pads and constructing the stilts. I'll take lots of pictures.