The MST3k Project
Page 4
I knew that Crow T. Robot was going to be a trickier build than Tom Servo. Crow is made up of a lot of unusual shapes that would be difficult to convert into LEGO replicas - not to mention his lanky frame would be tough to keep balanced.
Worse still, I didn't have access to any of the parts that were used to build him. Heck, I didn't even have the ping-pong balls used for his eyes. Luckily eBay was there to help me out.
Crow's body was build from a Tupperware Tuppercraft Floralier Centerpiece. While searching on the net for any hints on the dimensions, I found an auction with a $4 "buy it now" price for a set of my own. After an additional $9 in shipping charges and a week's wait, I had the perfect item to make sure my version of Crow was being built to scale.
A few days later I had completed my version of the Tupperware set. The fine details didn't match up perfectly, but I think I did a decent job of capturing the basic shapes and feel for the piece.
Without the Tupperware there for a side-by-side comparison, I doubt too many fans would notice the trade-offs I made when converting to brick.
I included this shot just to show you the dangers of "winging" a design like I was doing. I had ordered these parts with the intention of using them to build Crow's eyes and the soap-dish housing for them. Oh, such a bad call. I'm sure I'll find use for the parts elsewhere, though.
Now that I had the scale established, building a much more realistic version of Crow's head was possible. Here we see my first attempt, complete with the usual "Dang it, I thought I had more yellow brick than this" mottling.
My design required a thicker neck to support the weight of the beak, but it was a small sacrifice to make. Crow's eyes are mounted on a Bionicle ball joint for maximum mobility, and, as you can see, his jaw has a working hinge.
Eventually Crow's head would be mounted on a swivel - but for now I needed to keep him still and stable. The next big challenge was to build the "nest" that sits behind Crow's head.
| Previous Page < 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 > Next Page |
Portions of this site make extensive use of Macromedia Flash. |