Sunday, July 21, 2013

Budget Robot Costume

"The survivors of the nuclear fire called the war Judgment Day..."
You may have heard that I (J) was out of town for a few weeks. One highlight from that adventure was my brother asking me if I was interested in serving as a robot back-up dancer for a show he was doing while I was in town. "Sure!" says I, because it sounds like fun. "Cool! You won't mind building the robot suits while I'm at work, will you?" "Sure..." says I, because a show with robots > show without robots. Who am I to deny him that happiness? With a budget of under $30, here's how you make two or three robots of your own.

You'll Need:
  • Cardboard boxes, two per robot. Our heads were about a foot square on the ends, and around 16" wide. Bodies were bigger, but make sure that it fits over your torso.
  • Roll of aluminum foil. We used the 12" kind, but if you want to drop hella coin on the 18" stuff, you could probably get away from seams.
  • Scotch tape
  • Duct tape (silver, natch)
  • Dryer vent hose
  • Zip ties, 6 per robot. We used white, they blend in pretty well.
  • Bike helmets, one per robot. You can substitute dollar store helmets here, but my hosts had bike helmets, and the chin strap is vital to having a working robot head.
  • Assorted tools: Cutting implements, measuring stuff, wire cutters. I did these without rulers or measurements of any kind, and my main cutting tool was a bread knife. Feel free to substitute better implements, but necessity is the mother of invention.

Friday, July 5, 2013

From Concept to Completion: Bottlecapped Sidebar, Part 1


A and I were talking through a need for a space by the window for some herbs and maybe a tomato plant. By the end of the night, we'd decided to build a sidebar with liquor and wine storage, a resin and bottlecap top, and a wine glass rack. You know how it goes.