Lifesize ED-209 Project - UK

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

Hi All,

For the last year I have been working on building a lifesize ED-209 from the 1987 film robocop.

I am not the first person to do this, in fact my inspiration was Shawn Thorsson who built is a couple of years back and did a whole series with Make about it, here is his forum post with build photos and the like.

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=207853

So inspired by Shawn I started to build the masters I needed, the purpose was A) to learn new techiques and learn from mistakes which so far I have made a LOT of mistakes, but all have been recoverable. and B) to build something awesome

So Shawn is in the US and has 2 ED-209s that I know of, as far as I am aware there isn't a decent life size replica of ED-209 outside of the US so I figured I would make one.

I am aware the first ED that Shawn made took 96 days, this has taken me much longer for a few reasons, I work full time so I cant work on this all the time, and Shawn had a lot of help to build it, I can see at least 6 other people he had working on it, I am building this all my self, well 98% my self, I have had a small amount of help here and there with some sanding but thats about it. I'm hoping to have this done by the end of the summer.

I created a facebook page for people to track updates on the project

https://www.facebook.com/lifesizeded209/

Feel free to like the page, I will be posting updates in this thread as well but probably not as often as the facebook page.

I am going to make a load of posts in a minute with a bunch of build photos from the start all the way up until today.

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

The gun pod was where I started, I couldnt source a plywood cylinder so I had to improvise, and in hindsight I would do it a different way, smaller slats.

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

The toes

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

The lower Leg

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The Knee block, master

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

The masters for the Knee block detail at the back and the Thigh and cap for the thigh

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

The Rail that the knee block slides up and down on, the piston master for the thigh, the knee block locking flap, and the gun pod primed, all masters

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The master for the pelvis, and I thought it would be fun to stack up the leg parts and stand next to them for scale, I'm about 6ft 2

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Masters sanded and puttied ready for final priming and painting, the rear toe, the rear detail on the foot, the detail plate for the ammo box and the ammo box

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Ammo box and some detail parts primed ready for silicone moulding some of them, very please with the thigh detail that I made looks awesome, also have the detail for the front of the pelvis

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The detail for the lower leg which will fit in the cut out, also the master for the guns

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

Details for the gun pod which need silicone moulding, tried a few of them out for size

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

toes painted in the red prototype colour, the pelvis ribs and the final pelvis and the cap for the rear rails

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The body under construction

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

More of the body being built and some silicone moulds of the bolt detail and the pelvis detail

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Detail for the thigh being moulded and the finished 2 part mould

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

The chin for the body, made out of MDF Expanding foam and skimmed with car body filler and sanded smooth

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

My Chosen tool for shaping the dome was a machete, it was way easier than a hobby knife

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n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

Body primed, it looks awesome in the dark grey primer

madmax · Feb 12, 2016

booooom....thanks for that,now my mind has blown,i saw the original thread and was amazed,now again i have to deal this,these,things,that make me realize i should try harder...good work

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

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Thanks Madmax, i'm still dumping photos, I am already moulding the parts I havent got to those photos yet.

Its a hard project and anyone attempting to do something this big needs to be prepared for the insane amount of work and expense that something like this has.

doppelganger · Feb 12, 2016

Oh how I love this, let me count the ways. I dreamed of making ine many moons ago to sit out in my front garden with the body moving when it detected movement..... but never did do it. Cant wait to see this complete.... well done and the utmost respect to your skills.

n1cod3mus · Feb 12, 2016

Right so I need to explain the fibreglassing here, I did these parts before I knew how to do it properly so they look appalling, I had a guy who makes props for the theatres in Eastbourne, (East Sussex, United Kingdom) come and help me do a couple of sections of the body and teach me to do it properly.

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doppelganger said:
Oh how I love this, let me count the ways. I dreamed of making ine many moons ago to sit out in my front garden with the body moving when it detected movement..... but never did do it. Cant wait to see this complete.... well done and the utmost respect to your skills.

thanks, I learnt most of what I know on this project, this is only my second prop, I am using it as a learning too, and I am making a lot of mistakes and learning a hell of a lot, the plan will be to put some basic animatonics in it, I did consider a sonic sensor to track people but I will be taking this to cons and with the foot traffic it would go mental and likely damage it.