Make BIG Robots

This is the Laputan Robot from Castle In The Sky,
with Grant, at Fanime, May 2015.
Let's call this "Version 1.0."
Introducing... Laputan Robot V2.0
This is a cosplay project for Fanime. The design team and consultants include: Grant, Alex, William, Natalie, and Geoff. The build team includes: Grant, William, Alex, Geoff, and Clark.

From 2015, here are some build moments, days before the convention...













The entire foam creation was built on a PVC frame and worn attached to a backpack frame. The mass and height of this design caused a few issues at the convention... including it being too tall to actually enter the venue, and the frame PVC breaking! These are some of the issues being addressed this year, as the BOoM team works on Laputan Robot V2.0... it needs to be lighter, smaller (so the torso can fit in a car roof carrier,) and a lot stronger. Also, this is the garden version, so now it has two complete arms.

Here are some build moments from this year's new and improved big robutt...

A new, smaller torso mold, which will be used as a base to create a paper mâché torso.

Cornstarch and diluted wood glue, and a lot of newspaper strips.

Geoff has been welding an aluminum frame to act as a spine... this will replace the PVC, which snapped under the tension and weight of the original 'bot.

William and Maria with one of the two halves of the Laputan Robot torso. Fortunately, the weather has been cooperating this year, and these drying parts have come together quite nicely. Another change, which you can see in the top photograph, is the slipcover sleeves for the arm panels. Grant sewed each pocket for every panel of the robot's arms.

BTW, Fanime is this week! There's a bit of crunch here, folks! The good news might be that this creation could be seen at the next Maker Faire... we sure hope they accept our application!