With the timer at zero, Shawn Thorsson arrived to the Bay Area Maker Faire last weekend with the parts of his ED-209 robot replica, assembling it before the show began for all the attendees to enjoy.
Over the past two and a half months, the master prop maker has been sprinting towards Maker Faire with an incredible goal: build, from scratch, a life-size version of the ultimate robotic bad guy from the ultimate robotic movie, 1987’s timeless masterpiece Robocop. Through the build, he’s been checking in with Make: readers to update his progress and give points of wisdom on the techniques used.
Was he successful in creating this incredible build in time for the show? The answer is a resounding YES. Intricately crafted, painted, weathered, and even (on Sunday) motorized, the build looked ready to tell people they had 30 seconds to comply. And with its built-in speakers, it actually did say that, along with a batch of comical non-Robocop quotes that kept the spectators entertained.
Those who want to build an ED-209 of their own should watch the entire series for all the fine points of recreating an oversized robot:
–Determining scale
–Using body filler
–Casting with fiberglass
–Molding details
–Vacforming
–Rotocasting
–Assembly and painting
We applaud Shawn for an incredible job, and look forward to what he’ll build next.
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