green robot

I made his head floppy and turning to the side. I pulled out all my rust and discolored bits, but that wasn’t good enough so I had to do some research into making metal look old. What fun- home chemistry! Then, gears-  I needed some gears… shout out for donations on my local community mailing list- the next day, a bag of gears on my doorstep. Have I mentioned that I love the internet?! I was finished with him on Wednesday… but then I wasn’t. I made him new legs and feet. Better. And a few more bits of hardware. I now declare him finished.

the “Idea” was a robot, found decomposing in a forest, a milleneum after his last step… but I think he looks more like he’s had a few too many and didn’t make it home. Whatever.

robot- the other one

Here is the pair. The new robot is the dork robot. It is all about the plaid. The one on the left has plaid pants (uncool), high-waisted (hmm), bow-tie (dorky), pocket with pocket protector (oh please!), well, you know… Now the robot on the right, who looks as if he fears that by sitting too close he will catch something- he’s got a plaid jacket (so debonair), slim gray trousers to show-off his long roboty legs, brass buttons, a smirk, and a snazzy pocket square shaped pressure indicator on his chest… isn’t he so handsome.

Maybe I have been reading too much Mr. Peacock. Should a middle-aged, fashion challenged, Boston (frumpiest city in America) lady even be reading that blog!? There is a lot of fantastic plaid over there. But, the fascination with plaid started before I started reading a fashion site for men… There was the plaid blanket I finished in January. And my brother scanned a load of childhood photos and sent me a disc- I swear it was all plaid, all the time from the 1950’s through the 1970’s. All that input had to spill out somewhere!

So here is robot #2 in this series. The Dork.

long and spidery but not as much as robot 1.

I often redo faces. I make a doll, sit back, maybe even wait a day and then decide that I am not satisfied. Off with the old face and try something new. Yesterday’s face- right before I snipped it off-

one robot is finished

I started out on one robot to confirm that my new hip and leg design would work. I got into doing the finish work and did what I always do when I only have one doll to work on- I completely overdid it! Step away from the robot… cut out 3 more, sew and stuff them. Once I have 4 going, I can think and see more clearly. Then it is always a surprise to see which one get done first.

I am slightly reluctant to post him because he is part of a pair (in my head anyway)- but, what the heck! Introducing, the robot version of Mr. Handsome

It is always a challenge to get a sense of scale. I took a number of photos on objects that hopefully will give an idea of how big he is- almost 28″ tall with his long spidery legs.

His hip joints work beautifully and he is lots of fun to pose.

I will tell more of his story when I get the other robot done- it is all about the plaid.

robot 6- blue man

I was getting pretty frustrated with this guy- I wanted to give him a hat, but he wasn’t having it. Sometimes it is hard to know when something is really finished.

robot6

I made his head quite a while ago and it was one of my favorites. Suddenly that made it somehow valuable and I had a really hard time doing the rest of the robot. His nose is made out of a clip from an old girdle- that part that you attach the stockings with. I have a small bag of these that my mom saved. He has snaps for ears and “eyes” for all the rest of the metal bits on the face.

face6

The round body was inspired by Tik-Tok of Oz. I made him a badge of honor out of some old resistors.

resistors

his shoulder joint is a hook and eye-

shoulder

and here are his fingers- I love them. They look froggy to me and so now I think he is a blue froggy robot and not Tik-Tok at all.

hand

If you want to see even more photos, there are a few more here and here on Flickr.