Jurassic Park - Raptor Cage Loft Bed for my 7 year old Dino Fan!

[Psicorp7]

My son has been asking for a loft bed for over a year and I finally gave in and decided to build him one. When asked what he wanted it to look like he said he wanted it to look like the Raptor Cage from the first Jurassic Park movie. He has loved all the Jurassic Park movies for years and we took him to see it in 3D when it was in theaters a few years ago. He loves dinosaurs and has more plastic dinos than I can count.

We started this summer when my wife found a pair of dorm lofts for sale for the whopping total of $45 for two lofts. It was a great base to start from. It won't be a 100% screen accurate build do to the loft base and mods to make it a functional bed. This will be more of an "inspired by" kind of build.

The lofts needed to be cut down to fit in the house and to provide a lip on the top to keep my son from rolling out of bed.



I added 1"x4" boards to make the cage bars and a plywood panel to be the base for the climbing rungs.



I added a door that slides on a overhead track like a closet door.



The lofts came with a metal spring bed frame and a quick coat of grey paint made it presentable. I also started painting the rest of the loft.



More incoming!

 

[Psicorp7]

The painting went really slow but after two coats it was starting to take shape. I also ordered three rolls of red and white striped tape for the vertical stripes. I kept the back open since it would not really be seen and it allows me to retrieve toys that fall behind the loft.



I used metal pipe fitting for the climbing rungs. It seemed to give it a more industrial look. I thought about painting them but ultimately decided to leave them raw to break up all the grey.

 

[azheat01]

Love seeing these, seems like yesterday I built my son's SW Desert Skiff bed, great project you got going there!

 

[Psicorp7]

The other day was moving day! I took the loft apart and put it back together in my son's room. It came apart in only a few pieces so I was able to do it by myself.



I cut off the bolts that were too long and started adding the stripes. I also put some signs on the cage that we had purchased a few years ago.



To round out the loft space I put the large cutout of the Giganotosaurus behind the bed, hung the dino poster the display shelves, put the dino sheets on and added the Jurassic Park hardhat.

 

[Psicorp7]

The reveal was yesterday and the final finishing touches were a pair of raptor claws from the Jurassic World movie earlier this year. Needless to say, my son loves it!



Whew! Glad to be done! This was more work than I thought it would be. But well worth it now. Thanks and enjoy!

 

[JKKS]

That's absolutely awesome. As a kid, I would have been thrilled/terrified to sleep on top of a raptor cage.
Excellent idea and brilliant execution. Kudos.

 

[NR16020]

You should sneak a speaker under there and make it roar while your kid's asleep

 

[Gimpdiggity]

So.
Much.
AWESOME!!!!!

 

[Halliwax]

that a very cool! nice going dad!!

 

[ecl]

Wow this is radical! Very cool.

 

[Psicorp7]

That's absolutely awesome. As a kid, I would have been thrilled/terrified to sleep on top of a raptor cage.
Excellent idea and brilliant execution. Kudos.

Thanks! His comment on sleeping on it for the first time was, "No one's going to mess with me up here! I'm gonna sleep really good!" and he did!

You should sneak a speaker under there and make it roar while your kid's asleep

Soooooo...tempting! :lol

So.
Much.
AWESOME!!!!!

Thanks mate!

that a very cool! nice going dad!!

Thanks! I get to be in the "Cool Dad" club for a while.

Wow this is radical! Very cool.

Thanks much! It was fun to build something other than a handheld prop or costume for a change.

 

[canela]

Oscar for dad of the year!

 

[MB Trooper]

I would love this bed for myself. Great job!!1