Star Wars Oregon

Public Information => The Imperial Cantina => Topic started by: greedo on February 19, 2018, 06:53:21 PM

Title: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: greedo on February 19, 2018, 06:53:21 PM
So this is what you do when you're running out of things to build.......

I know this isn't really costume building, but I thought I'd share anyways. 


I won't go into detail about the whole process, but I'll post a bunch of photos to show the journey.  I researched this for a few weeks before building and didn't see anyone who had made this version of our British butler friend.

So this is entirely scratch built from PVC, wood, acrylic and bondo.  The neck is connected to a servo and there are speakers mounted in the head.  The animatronics will come later after I research Arduino a bit more.

I'll start with the end:

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4705/39455362105_6e89ccb405_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/237x3xT)3PO (https://flic.kr/p/237x3xT) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4654/39455362385_6a9e1eaf5e_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/237x3CH)3PO (https://flic.kr/p/237x3CH) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr


Now here's how we got there.....

I took the visual dictionary and traced the outline of the head/torso area onto tracing paper.  Took it to Kinkos and enlarged it until the eye sockets were 1-5/8" in diameter.  Then I knew I had the scale I needed.

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4761/25480609787_6be85cbed8_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/EPCMyp)3PO (https://flic.kr/p/EPCMyp) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr

The skeleton for this is a 4" PVC "T".  I then took 1/8" acrylic to mold the main shape of the outer area you see.  To bend it, I put it in the oven at 300 degrees for five minutes.  You've then got about 10 seconds to shape it into pretty much anything you want.

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4711/39455358615_fc71d8e4f7_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/237x2vH)3PO (https://flic.kr/p/237x2vH) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4724/38542854400_85aea86d65_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/21HUcNq)3PO (https://flic.kr/p/21HUcNq) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr

Then used layers of bondo to create the final shape.

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4619/40307388552_925a78b87c_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/24pPUk3)3PO (https://flic.kr/p/24pPUk3) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr

Out of the three weeks of research, most of it was spent trying to find an actual reference shot of the back.  There really isn't a good screen cap ( Trust me... I looked through 18 thousand photos of this horrible movie ), so I ended up using the action figure and a tiny bit of creative liberty.

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4701/39641503864_19ba54381d_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/23oZ51y)3PO (https://flic.kr/p/23oZ51y) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4721/40352459741_1ebcdc120d_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/24tNUqv)3PO (https://flic.kr/p/24tNUqv) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr

Then primer and paint

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4719/25480612957_c7f6d13b85_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/EPCNv4)3PO (https://flic.kr/p/EPCNv4) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4609/39641506354_34ee13d311_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/23oZ5Ku)3PO (https://flic.kr/p/23oZ5Ku) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr

I used heated acrylic to make the face.  Just used an existing 3PO head as my mold and pressed it up against it until it set

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4649/25480609007_25d088ebcd_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/EPCMjX)3PO (https://flic.kr/p/EPCMjX) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4695/38542847630_d7254ce26b_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/21HUaMG)3PO (https://flic.kr/p/21HUaMG) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4707/40352460011_e77873701d_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/24tNUva)3PO (https://flic.kr/p/24tNUva) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr

And done...

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4650/38543423490_779d795f98_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/21HX7Yj)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/21HX7Yj) by chris stephens (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152423083@N07/), on Flickr
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: carpe mindiem on February 19, 2018, 07:07:39 PM
 :shock:

Freaking amazing!
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: daryldoak on February 19, 2018, 08:05:36 PM
That is super cool.  Great job!
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: MissyThing on February 19, 2018, 08:09:57 PM
This is awesome!


Sent from the Jedi Temple
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: CJ49er on February 19, 2018, 08:11:28 PM
very nice!  thanks for sharing.
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: Mosi on February 19, 2018, 09:06:51 PM
wow!!
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: MetalJedi on February 20, 2018, 10:50:57 AM
Crazy cool! Thank you for sharing.
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: Sarah on February 20, 2018, 10:57:40 AM
Holy crapola that’s awesome!!!
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: nukem25rs on February 20, 2018, 04:48:35 PM
Nice work Chris!! Seeing that made my day!!
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: Pixelito on February 20, 2018, 08:28:25 PM
Hot damn, good stuff!  :grin:
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: Lidocaine on February 20, 2018, 08:58:53 PM
Great googley moogley that's awesome. Nice work Chris!
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: NavySith on February 23, 2018, 01:48:08 PM
Awesome
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: PDXTimbers on February 27, 2018, 02:26:30 PM
wow...awesome stuff.
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: TD-8821 on February 28, 2018, 06:08:23 PM
how awesome!!!very nice job!
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: Dax Corrin on April 20, 2018, 02:07:05 PM
Nice prop for cons, no?  :)
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: greedo on May 10, 2018, 10:51:56 AM
I finally got to adding some animatronics to 3po.  Using an Arduino board, a sound board and a speaker in his skull, I've got it programmed to light up, move his neck and play a random sound every 5 seconds.

I'll keep adding to it as I learn more ( motion sensors, etc) but here's a sample video of him currently

http://youtu.be/-FLFAQfpmus
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: CJ49er on May 10, 2018, 04:15:59 PM
thats pretty freakin cool!
Title: Re: Episode 1 C3PO
Post by: Anzo on May 17, 2018, 06:44:22 PM
Most impressive!