An Old Project, But One That I'm Very Proud Of...

[robothunter]

I know you guys like the great and always amazing John Rigg blow out custom robots in about the same time it taske to order a modern free-delivery pizza! And now guys like Eagle have upped the stzndard even higher and have begun entire themed robot building competions.

So where does al old fat fart like me go to show of his great and proud projects of the past.....? Right here! So take a look at my efforts to build an electronic (sounds and lights only, nothing was motorized) life-sized Star Wars Droid.

I did thig about ten years ago using mostly Fred Bartonbody Parts (the entire head nd dome wa my own design and crreeation) and the "workshop" you see is the kitchen in what was our newly built custom home on Staten Island. And Gerti never complained a single night. I am blessed by being with the best woman I have ever known. Ask friends who know her (like John or Joe) and they will back this up 100%!

So here goes...

SO how ya like me now? LOL!! :lol:

[Sparkrobot]

Really nice job Pat,,,,,,,There is no doubting when you get into something you go for it 101 percent!!! :)

[Andyman]

That's really cool, Pat! Do you still have it?

Were the droids head "innerds" based on anything or is that an original Robothunter design?

[Eagle]

Holy Crap PAT !!!!!! That dude is sweet !! I see over 300 bucks worth of Aeroquip hoses alone ! :lol: Why in the Heck would you be concerned about [COLLECTING] when you can BUILD ??? ;) Maybe thats what the recent confussion has been. Your creative side has been subdued and is clawing to get out. From what I have seen,,,,you have collected darn near every type SCI-FI toy there is over the years. Wouldn't doing it again just be repetitive? Sure it's a great feeling coming across a sweet toy at a Flea market, but it in no way compares to the feeling you get when you finish a tough project that you created from scratch !!! [i'm working on a project like that right now] . Andy, Laser,Phil, John,Andy, Doc, Grandpa and all the DS 2007 participants ........Do you agree ? Should Pat get back up on the horse ? You'll feel like a "Knight" !!!!! ;) So take all that new found cash thats burning a hole in Your pocket . Buy raw materials and tools ! Then move to York Springs !!!! So I can borrow the stuff. B)

[robothunter]

That's really cool, Pat! Do you still have it?

Were the droids head "innerds" based on anything or is that an original Robothunter design?

It was a full-sized super clean Hero version of R2-D2 that I got from Fred Barton and it was pretty as hell, but couldn't actually do too much.. A lot like my first wife. So I made it all dirty as if it had been in the hands of the Sandpeople for a few weeks and it got a lot more interesting and I got a lot more compliments. Then I found a place on Canal Street that had the exact size plexi dome I needed. Then about four hours going up and down every row at Home Depot, and R2-B2 was born. I nickednamed it after my wife, so three guesses what the "B" stands for! LOL!

I actually think it came out pretty cool and I think, if memory serves me correctly, I sold it out of Amok Time Toys in Levittown, L.I. for a pretty good price. Lots more than I was being offered while it was still s plain old R2D2!! ;)

[robothut]

Santa Rigg here, I have started a robot for you.

Now about the your R2 unit. I seem to recall you told me some story about a spray can mishap or was that a different project. It might have been a B9 project come think of it.

[robothunter]

Santa Rigg here, I have started a robot for you.

Now about the your R2 unit. I seem to recall you told me some story about a spray can mishap or was that a different project. It might have been a B9 project come think of it.

I just knew this was going to happen. That you would make me tell the paint can/lit cigarette story. OK. I'm too tired right now, but I promise I'll tell it tomorrow. You got me! ;)

[Andyman]

Oh pray tell, Pat! ;)

[robothunter]

Oh pray tell, Pat! ;)

So it's about 8 years ago and I was still a smoker and like all smokers, enjoyed lighting up after a good meal, good sex, a good cup of coffee, or a good sense of accomplishment. Now having said that peice as the backstory, imagine you're trying to prey open the top of a spray paint can with a slotted screwdriver as we all have done a million times. Only this time. no matter how hard you try, it won't come off. Finally you let out a giant premodial scream and with every once of breath you have left you not only do you get the top off, you realize you're punctured the side of the paint can and it's starting to gush paint out under terrible pressure through the new hole in the side of the can right under the rolled top edge of the can.

So what do you do..................?

Like any good soldier in a time of war, you clutch it tightly to your chest and decide to "take one for the team" and go running out the french doors leading to the middle floor of the three story deck that was attached to the back of the house and throw it high and straight into the backyard watching the trail of grey primer paint exploding into the air as it made an incredible spiral downward path to the center of the yard.

Then you walk back into the kitchen (or what's left of it) and realize that every single inch of every surface is now covered with grey primer. EVERY inch. Including you, the now fallen soldier who took the shot to the chest.

You are grey from head to toe. At this point you do the only logical thing you can think of doing. You grab the gallon can of paint thinner you had under the kitchen sink and about 30 rolls of paper towels and get to work wiping down everything you can see. And somehow, I managed to do it. Not truth be told, if you look at the grain of the Golden Oak cabinets under a magifying glass, you will see grey paint in the grain. And yet it didn't hurt the clear coat finish on the woodwork and the cabinets still loooked great. How I managed to sell that house without anyone ever noticing what happened still remains a mystery to this day!

But here's the punchline...

I now walk outside to be greated by all my neighbors who are aware that something horrible has happened and have heard me cursing and using the most disgusting profanity I can think of for over the last 8 hours or so and I an saturated in both paint and paint thinner. And I, very calmly and with no sense of having considered anything suicidal whatsoever, began asking several nieghbors for a lighted cigarette.

I had worked like a dog and had a bad day and I wanted a smoke. And I wanted it RIGHT NOW, And they thought I was trying to set myself on fire and kill mysel! :o So I simply said that it was OK if no one had any extra smokes left, but I was going to jump into my Tahoe and go get a pack of Newports and God help anybody who tried to stop me,

Well when Gerti started crying and my good friend and neighbor Johnny D the cop explained that while he knew he would get hurt in the process, there was no way he was going to let me get in my car and go buy cigarettes. Even if he had to shoot me in a non leathal place that would heal OK. But he was totally prepared to shoot me if I didn't go back inside and go to sleep right now!

So I went to bed. The next day, or at least the majority of it, is just a blurry dream. All I can remember is wanting to have a smoke! LOL :D

Only real major damage was the glossy kitchen tile floor which was destroyed by the paint thinner. It was replaced with a new floating laminate oak floor. And I did have to repaint the walls & ceiling again but I still had a five gallon pail of paint left from the builder. Everything else really did look OK and I got away with murder when you take everything into consideration.

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the infamous spray paint can story........................ <_<

I swear to you, two day before this photo was taken, every single inch of every surface was covered in grey spray primer!!

[robothunter]

Holy Crap PAT !!!!!! That dude is sweet !! I see over 300 bucks worth of Aeroquip hoses alone !....

What in the world is Aeroquip hose! I see hoses that connect lawn sprinkler heads to your regular garden hose. And sink drains, And wooden honey spoons. And yo-yo's. And lots of cheap blue plastic electrician junction boxes. And tons of plumbing elbows and piping. And lots of wooden spacers from Michaels's craft store. And some other junk that I can't even make out at this point. And silver metallic tape and tons of grey spray primer. And assorted plastic beads in various sizes that I just glued wherever it looked like there should be some sort of light. And somewhere in there is a used oil filter from my old '56 Pan Head. The whole head didn't cost a cent over $40.00 in parts including the dome which had a crack in the flange. And since I was cutting off the flange anyway, who cared! :D . Not bad for a guy who can't paint a wall or draw a straight line, huh? ;)