Starting a Gonk Build

Over the break, and given the needed time, I'm planning a Gonk droid for our fan film. Two concerns before I get started on my version. First, can these be used as a costume? Can the lights and maybe sound be added as a costume. I'm not too interested in just making a static version, but some sort of stand/display would be a great idea.

Now, to get some things worked out before a trip to the Walmart.

Tub size. What tubs looks the best? Brand? What is a good size tub to get?

The legs on most replicas don't seem to be large enough in diameter and seem too long. Flex conduit in 8 inch dia. seems to me to look pretty close. Dryer hose seems too small. Ideas?

The feet. Any clear HD screen grabs available? I plan to make wooden forms and vac-form the feet uppers.

Greeblies and doo-hickies, are any 'know-found' objects?

Color? Smoke Gray is what I plan to paint mine, with some aluminum for weathering. and some flat black for soot/smudges.

Internal armatures?

Internal power? Solar cell powered? I hate running it off batteries if I can help it.

Other thoughts ideas? Are any other parts needing to be vac-formed?

Thanks for any positive feedback or helpful links.

There's some good ref material here:

http://www.blueharvest.net/gonk.shtml

Good pics here too (scroll down):

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/bingo275/droidfan.htm

Thanks for the links freakengine. Good stuff there!

Excellent references. I hope to start mine sometime after Christmas.

I've been looking at tubs from various makers. Some concerns. One, the original Gonks have a large 'V' notch in the center. Some industrial tubs have this design. I'll keep looking and find some image to post.

JIm

Good luck with this project,I did a Gonk recently,but didnt go for screen accuracy.
It was a fun prop to make!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(freakengine &#064; Dec 7 2006, 07&#58;02 AM) [snapback]1373167[/snapback]</div>

...Good pics here too (scroll down):

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/bingo275/droidfan.htm
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The first one on that page is mine....here are the pics of the droid weathered. The whole thing was scratchbuilt (timber frame, plastic sheet sides), as I couldn&#39;t find good enough containers...I scaled all the measurements up from the Hasbro action figure.

Excellent Gonk&#33; Something I was wanting to avoid was that, &#39;oh, I have those tubs in the attic&#39; comments. Very nice&#33; Can you give some dimensions?

Jim

Whoa Dr. Maul, that&#39;s the best Gonk I&#39;ve ever seen&#33; Could you share a few details on how you built it or measurements?

Thanks - I scaled up the measurements based on the starting point that I wanted it to be an appropriate height next to my R2 (photo below). I actually built it many years ago (1999), and don&#39;t have any construction photos...if I was to do it now, I&#39;d do the feet, in particular, a little differently.

Basically, the rim around the droid&#39;s "equator" is made from timber, and it has a cross-member to which the wooden legs attach. The plastic used for most of the rest of the body did start life as a pair of storage bins/tubs, but I cut them in half to form the 4 quarters of the body, separated a little bit to create the vertical indentation on each side. The bins did have wheels/rollers, which were removed, and the "wheel wells" were filled in. The "roof" is a thin piece of hardboard (replacing the base of the original bin), with lots of filler around all the seams. The face is an oven tray, and all the detailing is just bits and pieces that I found lying around (it&#39;s based on the reference photos of the ANH sandcrawler version - http://www.blueharvest.net/images/gonk/gonk5.jpg ).

Overall, he is approx. 1060mm (41.7") tall, and the rim around his equator is 595 x 430mm (23.4" x 16.9")



Here are a couple of additional pics (at a display for a convention a few of us did years ago):

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Are those smoke alarms on the side?

Yup

That&#39;s an impressive Gonk there... top job.

Very tempted myself now.... would go nicely with my MSE.... don&#39;t think the missus would allow that one though....

Jimbo890 said:

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Over the break, and given the needed time, I'm planning a Gonk droid for our fan film. Two concerns before I get started on my version. First, can these be used as a costume? ...

Hey Jim, did you ever make any progress on this?



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Trooper TK409 said:

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Hey Jim, did you ever make any progress on this?



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Still on my workbench. I was going to make it a costume for one of my kids, but those plans fell through. Instead, a static model will be built. I'm still trying to find the perfect tub, but I may end up scratch building the whole thing...

Too many projects, not enough time.

Jim