Terminator Endo Arm 1:1 - Solid Aluminum Scratch Build

[SteveHaze]

Hey Guys,

I had a project for halloween 2017 that I wanted to share with you.
I started it in November last year and completed it just before halloween.
The plan was to be the Terminator for Halloween, with an Endoskeletal arm (or 2!) and the EndoSkull.

Well....Originally I planned to use an old Resin Kit as the arm, but I deemed it too fragile and decided not to.
So I started thinking I'd make it from wood and spraypaint it, but after some consideration of materials, I decided to make it from Aluminum and learn the necessary skills to make it. I've never worked with metal like this, and I made my own homemade Lathe to make some parts of it.

The journey was a long and arduous one, working in the carport in tropical heat with mosquitoes biting me while I work.
Blood sweat and tears were all shed to make this a reality...and I'm finally ready to showcase my work with you.

The arm is FULLY articulate...Wrist, Elbow, fingers and thumb can all be FULLY moved and posed.
The right arm (not shown here) had cables and guitar strings used to make it move animatronically.

I'll start by posting pictures of the finished arms...all the way up to the shoulder joint....then I'll showcase the costume which used a 3d Printed EndoSkull (which is more accurate than ones available on Thingiverse).

THE ARM:



I'll split the photos over multiple posts if that's okay?

I've put one of these arms up on Ebay for sale....I'd like feedback on how much I should ask for it. Nobody has seemed interested at my first asking price.

Thanks!!

Steve Haze

- - - Updated - - -


The pictures on the previous post had some of the cable covers fitted, while these below, I took before fitting those in place.

 

[cavx]

That is really impressive work. I wouldn't even know where to begin with this thing and it is something I'd love to have near my endo skull.

Sorry to hear about eBay or lack of interest there. From my own experiences on that site, no-one appreciates the time and effort that goes into something hand crafted like this. They are all there just to get the best price. I made and sold a set of 5th Element Stones (not even screen accurate) and the postage to Europe ended up costing the guy 4x what the he bid and paid for them. In the end, I just covered my costs on materials. The big question is, why do people buy on eBay? Because there is lots cheap stuff there and unfortunately, this seems to have cast the mold that everything is cheap there.

 

[reididtenroc]

I agree

 

[SteveHaze]

Thanks guys!

I'm trying Etsy aswell....hopefully someone will find a loving home for Uncle Bob's arm.

Here's his Skull... (Not sure why this forum auto rotates my pictures)

 

[Pumpkinhead]

You are missing a part that connects the thumb to the palm. How much are you asking for this?

 

[SteveHaze]

Oops. Thanks for noticing that. I'll have to put it back on and take some more pictures.

I had removed the Thumb Piston to allow the thumb to rotate easier. I had the inner workings of a rotary tool extension running up into the thumb, so that it could be turned for the various grips by remote. (The plan was to attach that to a Stepper Motor).
I can add the piston back in easily and the thumb will still be posable...(it just moved a with more resistance).

I really would like to get nearly $1000 for this, as it was a work of love.
I could be pushed slightly lower.

 

[Studio Stasis]

Wow, that is impressive

 

[xyster101]

how the heck did you make that? Insane. Looks amazing and I think your price is spot on. That is a lot of work and material. Do you have some build pictures we could see?

 

[RockitScience]

This is unbelievable. I can only imagine the work involved and how much you learnt from it!

 

[cavx]

Not sure why this forum auto rotates my pictures)

What I have found is that if the image is captured in portrait or upside down, metadata attached to the original image is kept and used during the upload.

I really need to get some neck pieces for mine.

 

[SteveHaze]

The link to the Etsy page where I have also advertised the arm is:

[url]https://www.etsy.com/listing/562757658/terminator-endo-arm-11-solid-aluminium[/URL]

I'll upload some build pictures later today. It was quite a long road to getting it done.
The skull was a 3d model I purchased that I had to fill out the inside (learning 3dMax) to allow it to print.
It took a lot of printing!

 

[SteveHaze]

Here's some pics of my home-made lathe that I used for making the cylinders. The lathe was a project in itself and was upgraderd




I also used the lathe to make the fingers and detail parts of the wrist ball joint...which I then hollowed out using a hole-saw.


Marking the wrist plate:
Fingers:

Making fingers...

Making the wrist ball joints:

Making the elbow joint...


The 4 stages of finger tip smoothing. Did this by hand with Dremel, Bench Grinder and Angle Grinder.