denkbot cosplay Step 12

building denkbot cosplay part one

Hello Friends!

First off, thank you so much to everyone who stopped us and asked what the giant blue thing we were carrying around was!  We had an overwhelming response, all positive, to our mascot and our journey to Season 3 of BattleBots as a combat robotics team!  We also had several people stop us at GenCon and ask “How did you build that thing!”  Since our motto is “Learn, Create, Inspire” we knew we had to write up a tutorial to teach others how we made our giant friend, so they could use that knowledge to create their own inspirational creations!

This tutorial will be done in two installments:

  1. the denkbot
  2. denkbot courier

Without further ado, let’s begin the tutorial!


MATERIALS


Below are the materials used to build the denkbot!

Materials for the denkbot courier are listed below and will be repeated in Part Two!


BASE LAYER STENCIL


First, we scaled a pdf of our denkbot up to print on a 30″ plotter.  If you don’t have access to a 30″ plotter, you can go to any FedEx Print Center with your file and they can print it on their plotter for around $10.

denkbot cosplay Step 01
The paper stencils for our denkbots cosplay!

Next, we cut out the denkbot so we could trace it on cardboard.  If you order a lot of stuff from Amazon or Jet, just save up your bigger boxes for a month and you will have plenty of cardboard to make stencils.

denkbot cosplay Step 02
Cutting the paper stencils for our denkbots cosplay!

If you have quilting or sewing pins, they help a lot when laying out your stencil for tracing on cardboard.  We traced with a marker, wider tip markers were useful.

denkbot cosplay Step 03
Tracing the cardboard stencils for our denkbots cosplay!

Once you have finished your trace, get some good scissors and get to cutting!

denkbot cosplay Step 04
Cutting the cardboard stencils for our denkbots cosplay!

We designed our denkbot in two layers, so below is a picture of the bottom layer stencil cut from cardboard.

denkbot cosplay Step 05
The cardboard stencil for our denkbots cosplay!

Next, we trimmed down our bottom layer stencil to create our top layer stencil.


TOP LAYER STENCIL


We cut out the eye center and denkbot outline to provide the paper stencils for our top layer.

denkbot cosplay Step 06
Cutting the internal cardboard stencils for our denkbots cosplay!

While we were penning down the eye for tracing, as we did for the bottom layer above, our cat showed up to provide feedback.

denkbot cosplay Step 07
Tracing the cardboard eye stencil for our denkbots cosplay!

Once both paper stencils were done, we pinned them down to begin tracing the top layer (NOTE: We cut the eye out of a separate piece above, the eye was just placed for reference) .

denkbot cosplay Step 08
Tracing the top cardboard stencils for our denkbots cosplay!

We then traced the outline just as we did for the bottom layer and eye above.

denkbot cosplay Step 09
The top cardboard stencil for our denkbots cosplay!

Next we inspected both cardboard forms to ensure all of the sizing was correct.


CARDBOARD FORMS


The cardboard forms turned out well.  We reinforced the top layer stencils with some packing tape.

denkbot cosplay Step 10a
The top and bottom cardboard stencils for our denkbots cosplay!

With all of this attention on cardboard, our dog started to get a little peanut butter and jealous.  So we took a break to go catch Pokemon.

denkbot cosplay Step 10b
The top and bottom cardboard stencils for our denkbots cosplay!

Next we unpacked the 3″ Thick High Density Mattress foam that was delivered by Amazon that day.


MATTRESS FOAM


We had our minds blown when a 3″ thick by 24″ wide by 72″ long piece of mattress foam arrived in this average sized box.

denkbot cosplay Step 11
The foam for our denkbots cosplay!

Next we grabbed our stencils and laid them out on the mattress foam to begin tracing.  Once again, our cat made sure everything was lined up correctly.

denkbot cosplay Step 12
The stencils and foam for our denkbots cosplay!

We had a be a little creative with our placing in order to fit all of the parts onto one sheet of mattress foam.

denkbot cosplay Step 13
Tracing denkbot in foam for our denkbots cosplay!

Once we started cutting the foam, we found that our steak knives cut the foam the best.  Just make sure you sharpen your knives before and after.

denkbot cosplay Step 14
Cutting denkbot from foam for our denkbots cosplay!

Once we got everything cut out, we mocked up the denkbot.  Our dog thought it was an elaborate food bowl we had built for him and was disappointed when there was no food in the middle.

denkbot cosplay Step 15
The cut foam for our denkbots cosplay!

While we still had daylight, we tested out the two brands of spray paint we had bought earlier that day: Krylon and Rust-Oleum.


SPRAY PAINT


We took out some cardboard and painted two layers of each paint, then let them dry.

denkbot cosplay Step 16a
Testing spray paint for our denkbots cosplay!

The Rust-Oleum had a thicker fill and more vibrant color, so we went with that!  We also had some white of the same brand.

denkbot cosplay Step 16b
Selecting spray paint for our denkbots cosplay!

Make sure you paint outside or in a well-ventilated area.  If you are painting outside, lay down some cardboard in the grass.  That way if you miss you just paint the grass, not the sidewalk or driveway.  Also, we suggest you test your spray paint of choice on some scrap pieces of foam so that you get a feel for how the foam takes the spray paint (that is what those odd shaped pieces on the left side are in the picture below).

denkbot cosplay Step 17a
Painting the foam for our denkbots cosplay!

We let the pieces dry for a few hours, applied a second layer of paint, then let them dry for another hour, then brought them inside and put them on some trash bags we had slit the sides of so they laid flat.  We let everything sit overnight so both layers could fully dry.

denkbot cosplay Step 17c
Dried foam parts for our denkbots cosplay!

Once everything had dried, we were ready to glue it all together with some Foam Fast 74! (NOTE: We only sprayed the foam fast adhesive outdoors, similar to the spray paint setup, because it is an industrial strength adhesive)


FOAM FAST 74


Before we started gluing our final pieces together, we tested the Foam Fast 74 on some pieces of foam we had tested the spray paint on earlier.  It worked fantastic, even on foam surfaces that had been painted!

denkbot cosplay Step 18
Testing Foam Fast 74 on painted foam for our denkbots cosplay!

To make the antennas, we made a slit in our painted pieces of foam and laid 1/4″ armature wire in the slit.

denkbot cosplay Step 19a
Preparing the antennas for our denkbots cosplay!

Then we sprayed Foam Fast 74 into the slit and onto the armature wire to hold it in place, then foam-fasted the two antenna parts together (slit side facing in).

denkbot cosplay Step19b
The antennas for our denkbots cosplay!

To attach the antennas, we just stabbed them into the bottom layer.  There is probably a more eloquent way to do this, but stabbing worked just fine for us – just make sure you leave a long enough piece of armature wire extending out of the piece to be mounted.


PVC STRUCTURE


Next we cut a piece of 3/4″ diameter PVC pipe to layer inside of the bottom layer and attached two 5-foot pipes using two right-angle fittings.  We left the full 5-foot pipes intact so we could cut them to length later.

denkbot cosplay Step 20a
Preparing the PVC structure for our denkbots cosplay!

Similar to how we traced the cardboard stencils, we used quilting/sewing pins to mark the location the PVC pipe needed to lay inside of the foam.

denkbot cosplay Step 20b
Tracing the PVC structure for our denkbots cosplay!

Like we did above, we used a steak knife to cut along the corridor we marked in the previous step.  Since we will be hollowing out a channel in the foam for the PVC pipe to lay, the exact location of the cut is not pivotal (it just needs to be down the middle of the pins).

denkbot cosplay Step 21a
Cutting the foam to place the PVC structure for our denkbots cosplay!

Next we cut out a small channel at the base (bottom of the denkbot) that was wide enough for the PVC pipe to fit in.  This gave us a reference width to begin hollowing out a channel up the denkbot underneath the cut.

denkbot cosplay Step 21b
Cut foam to place the PVC structure for our denkbots cosplay!

We found the easiest way to do this was to pull apart the foam where we had originally cut it, then make a ~1″ slit halfway down on the walls of the foam you have pulled apart from your original cut.  Once you have made this slit, get a hold on the foam on the bottom half of the slit you just made and firmly but slowly start pulling out foam while inching your grip up the channel.  It will come out in long strings if you are doing it right.  Just go slow and experiment, you will figure it out – we believe in you!

denkbot cosplay Step 21c
Gutting the foam to place the PVC structure for our denkbots cosplay!

Once the areas under the cuts are hollowed out, lay the PVC structure down then spread the foam apart and gently press the pipe down into the hollowed channel while pulling up the foam to enclose the PVC pipe in foam.

denkbot cosplay Step 22
Placing the PVC structure for our denkbots cosplay!

After the PVC was firmly placed in the foam, we used Foam Fast 74 to seal up the seam.  We sprayed the adhesive in foot long runs, pressed the foam together, let it dry, then moved up and did another section.


ASSEMBLY


Once the bottom layer was done, we used the foam fast adhesive to attach the top layer to the bottom layer.  Again, only sprayed the foam fast adhesive outdoors, because it is an industrial strength adhesive.

denkbot cosplay Step 23a
Placing the top foam layer for our denkbots cosplay!

As mentioned above, we simply stabbed the armature wire of the antennas into the bottom layer.  Simple, yet effective.  This also allowed us to remove the antennas whenever we needed to work on other things.

denkbot cosplay Step 23b
Placing the antennas for our denkbots cosplay!

Once all of the adhesive had been sprayed and the parts assembled, we let it sit outside for an hour to dry.

denkbot cosplay Step 24a
Drying the glued foam layers for our denkbots cosplay!

In order to more conveniently store the denkbot, we built a simple standing mount with threaded fittings to screw into the bottom of the denkbot poles.


STANDING MOUNT


We cut a few pieces of PVC to length, tossed them into a T-fitting (slip to threaded) and tossed some end caps on it.  We used wood screws to hold everything together.

denkbot cosplay Step 24b
Standing mounts for our denkbots cosplay!

By putting slip to threaded adapters on the bottom of the denkbot poles, we were able to screw on the standing mounts or the courier mounts as needed.

denkbot cosplay Step 24c
Standing configuration for our denkbots cosplay!

We let denkbot stand outside for a few well deserved moments in the sun (with human supervision of course)!


SUMMARY


We will continue our tutorial in Part Two, where we will detail how we built our denkbot courier!  We will also go over some Lessons Learned from our build, outlining cost and design improvements!

If you have any questions on how we did things, if you find any sections could use more detail or clarification, if we made any errors, or if you just want to let us know what you think – please let us know in the comments below!

Thank you for your interest in our endeavors and for taking the time to read this article!  We will see you next Friday with Part Two!

Before we go, we wanted to leave you with the video that learned several of the techniques used in this build from; Adam Savage’s creation of Patton Oswalt’s Doc Ock costume inspired us to create such a large scale denkbot.

If you found this article useful and would like to follow along with our Season 3 redesign/build and future content please like us on Facebook; follow us on TwitterInstagram, Flickr, and Google+; subscribe on YouTube; and fumble us on Tumblr!

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