My Transforming Bumblebee Costume

Really coming along great! i love the concept and the costume! can't wait to see it done!

Also i noticed in your latest vid that when you were in car mode the panels on your feet did not move down...they stay propped up when you were in car mode. just sayin.
 
Hi guys, I took Bumblebee to New York City, right into Times Square. Lots of fun, meet some new friends and had a good test run. Installed a GoPro(small HiDef cammra) on the helmet and found I could wear the costume for 80 min without a break (first time could have been 10 min). Bumblebee handled the broken pavment and odd angles of Times Square like a pro. I have made lots of progress in making BB look finnished, but still far to go for a full transform. Here is a pic of him so far, please post and tell me what I need to upgrade next :)
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=164630400257186&set=a.148538548533038.35751.138124152907811&theater
 
I'm loving following this build. The amount of work, and the thought that's gone into it is mindblowing.

Out of interest, do you have a goal in terms of how long you'd like the transformation to take?

I know it's really early days (so this isn't in any way a critism, so please dont take it as such) but from watching the video it did seem to be an area which was (understandibly!) difficult, so I thought getting an idea of how long you'd ideally like the transformation to take may help come up with some ideas to help you reach that.

(Hope that comes across as intended)

What areas (if any) are you finding the most tricky with the transformation at the moment? What's the visibility like when you're trying to line bits up?

Would I be right in thinking (again, from looking at the vid), that one of the areas which is difficult is getting down onto your knees?

If it is, I have a theory for something which may work, but can already think of a possible problem with it so need to think it through a bit more.
 
My main problem is dropping down, when I do so I cannot see the ground, If I push up the hoood to see, I'm not useing that arm to brace on. I have only done it like 8 times, I just figgured out thats it's better to brace the arms then walk back the legs. Standing up is easy. My goal is to drop, transform and stand again in about 20 seconds. so far, my best is about 40 seconds. I am in no way offended by byou comments and am looking for advice/ideas on how to improve. The next step is to cut away part of the front wheelwells, and reattach them to the doors...preventing the "arm vanes" from hooking. The "Hood/rear windsheild" balance is really very good, and it flips up or down with ease, also locking in the "up" position if I stand with my back straight. This allows me to have better arm flexing or allows me to ajust a finger mount. as I over come each new problem...it seams to lead to a new one that I could not have forseen. This is BY FAR the most challenging costume I have EVER tryed, but I am having a blast making it. It has also been a wonderful learning process. This weekend was a huge success, as far as tests go. People linned up for pics, nouthing importent broke, I was able to use it for 5 hours over two days with far less strain than my other Bumblebee costume( Yes, I have anouther one). Many small children pulled,yanked and pushed on it and me...all with no problems. I also installed a GoPro right in the center of the helmet, almost invisable, but it gave the most amasing videos EVER ! Anouther problem I face is trying to line parts up. When I'm not in it, it does not "fill" corectly, a manaquin would never bend the way I do, and finding a friend who fits my body type is more of a problem than you would belive. As a gap of a half inch would seam huge between pannels, it has been my hardest problem to overcome. I always wecome positive critism, or ideas on how to solve problems. Thank you for you intrest :)
 
bugger, just typed a whole thread, tried to delete a smiley and deleted the whole flipping lot! not a happy bunny! :angry

Will have to retype it
 
Right, let's try that again...

My main problem is dropping down, when I do so I cannot see the ground

Is that because the bonet (hood) blocks your view?

Right, the idea I had was this...

Firstly, the starting point came from wondering if you could somehow remove the need to do an "arm arm leg leg" type manuvoure, and instead, use a kind of "rolling" manouver which would (hopefully) look more "visually" smoother.

With that in mind, I wondered if you could:

1) Attached some kind of wide roller on a movable arm, just below your knees. In robot mode, it would hang out of sight, within the leg frame.

As you start to lower into car mode, it starts to drop.

2) Coupled with this, you have a roller near your toes. As you start to lower (once your arms are supported), you "tip" your toes.
This results in you going onto the roller and therefore your feet "slip" out from under you. As this happens, rather than crashing into a heap, the weight of your legs are supported by the roller arm (1) above which continues to move (fold out) away from your leg and in the direction of your chest. (I hope that makes sense? Ultimately, the your feet are slipping away from you, and the knee roller is folding the opposite way towards your chest.)

To help take your weight, and to give you more control over your decent, I guess it would need some kind of strong spring to add some resistance once it's past the 90 degrees to the ground point).

However, as it would need to be a strong spring, I'm guessing there's a risk it could smask into your shin if you needed to get up in a hurry, etc, so it probably needs some kind of control wire to stop that happening, but hopefully it's a starting point of an idea.


3) Once your legs are down (both should be possible to go down at the same time), you could use a similar technique for your upper half.


The other advantage of using the springs is that hopefully as they're under tension they'll want to come back to the 90 degree to the floor position, which may help you with pulling yourself back up in one move rather than several.

That's the theory anyway! I'm not engineeringly minded, but it may hopefully be an idea that you can do something with. If not, nothing lost ;)
 
I like the idea, but I see sevral problems with it...I use thin peices of aluminum to hold/support the costume. No one peice can support the 300 pounds of (me+costume), making something strong enough to hold the weight will add lots more weight. The other problem I see is adding rollers/wheels, I like having rubber feet, hands for gripping reasions. This weekend I went to a B-day party, many small children gathering very close to me as I dropped down to all four limbs. moving even a few inches in the wrong direction would be a desaster. I LOVE the fact that your thinking outside the box. One of the bigest challenges I'm facing with this costume is the size/stilt thing...it has cost me the abilty to put a moter in it(love to roll around). But the size is essental to protraying a Giant Robot...I just can't make a man sized giant robot and feel good about it. I am trying other gimmicks to smouth out the transformation. I have installed strong springs in the rotating rear quaters and that has caused lots of problems...I had to rebuild the feet TWICE to make them strong enough to not twist under pressure. Now the rear quater is too heavy for the magnets I added to hold them in place, now more magnets to hold them, now more weight..each solved problem seams to lead to new ones. I'm not bitching, this has been a huge learning process for me, one that I have really enjoyed. If I ever make anouther one, it would be in about 1/3 the time :) I like the idea of making anouther one...one that was built right the first time, not with 20 rebuilds :)
P.S. quick pic of Bumblebee on the subwayhttp://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=214666458547837&set=at.199732673374549.58181.199732303374586.1208623443&theater
 
Hello again guys, just got back from my test run in NY, Times Square. Things went very well, 120 min use the first time, 60 min the second time on day one. Biggest limiting factor...30* temp and only wearing thin spandex...wind tunnel between buildings:)
Found some real problems, which will be easy to overcome, and found that people REALLY love Bumblebee, even half done :). Made a new video, installed a GoPro(small hidef cammra) in the head and had a Blast ! Check it out.YouTube - Bumblebee Goes to Time Square Again (episode 12)
Then post and tell me what you think, oh I know the tires are not done :)
 
Once again, an awesome and professional project from the members here, at first I though that maybe this would've been a transforming statue, but when I saw it action I was blown away, Ican't wait to see it when it's finished!!!
 
Hello again guys, just got back from my test run in NY, Times Square. Things went very well, 120 min use the first time, 60 min the second time on day one. Biggest limiting factor...30* temp and only wearing thin spandex...wind tunnel between buildings:)
Found some real problems, which will be easy to overcome, and found that people REALLY love Bumblebee, even half done :). Made a new video, installed a GoPro(small hidef cammra) in the head and had a Blast ! Check it out.YouTube - Bumblebee Goes to Time Square Again (episode 12)
Then post and tell me what you think, oh I know the tires are not done :)

This is an awesome build project stumbled onto it on YouTube and now here on th' RPF!!
 
I post HERE because the people here are the most talented I can find, and because the people here can understand how much work it takes to make a project like this. I look forward to the feedback and ideas on how to solve problems. I have been lucky enough to be selected for a contest sponsered by YouTube, I am a finalist in the NextUp program. They will be rewarding orrignal content. If I am ammited to the program, they will promote my channel, pay for a new shop and train me on how to make better videos. If you have enjoyed any of my videos at Extreme Costumes, please come and vote for us at
YouTube - creators's Channel
I hope this is not spam, if so I apologize. Thanks for following along. If you want to vote, click on the link and then on the "thumbs up", once a day till fri the 8th.
Thanks again
 
Tom,

You have put a ton of work ad thought into this project. The most impressive project that I have seen on these boards so far. Love the updates.

For the waist and chest area, I would recommend some type of black perforated latex for coverage and mobility. For the cables, I would buy the chrome duct tape that is sold at Michael's crafts and apply that to plastic accordian tubing used for covering speaker wires. The chrome craft duct tape is not like normal duct tape because it is super sticky and will not eventually come off like normal duct tape. I have applied this kind of tape to my own Bumblebee and it has stayed on for a long time. Thanks.

Paul

Paul
 
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