45ft tall robot enquiry

F

fetustwinzies

New Member
hello, i'm in VERY early stages of a film and was kicking around the idea for kickstarting it. it's kind of a Jaeger/Kaiju film, but my main question was how much would you estimate it cost to make a 1:1 scale 45ft tall giant robot; it doesnt have to work or move, as it's being repaired and is hunched in a sort of sitting position for most of the movie (and the fights would be a person in a really lovely built suit like old kaiju films) with cg only used as a last resort - i want to do as much of the film practical, and it'd just be so cool for the jaeger to be life size, and i thought no better place to ask than the RPF - thank you :)
 
Last edited:
How much do you think it will weigh? You can approximate your printing costs just by looking at the weight of the filament needed.

I'd be more worried about the time costs though. Unless you have a bunch of printers running in parallel, it could take years to print something that big.

Also, what are you going to do with it once you're done? That's a big thing to store. The plastic would be hard to reuse. If you built it out of wood, fiberglass, etc. you could at least dismantle it and reuse the parts on other projects.
 
How about you build a rough human scale version of it as a suit, green screen the shots you need then add all the details in post?

Its funny you would even consider 3D printing a 45ft tall anything.


I think pepakura a suit, make it ala Power rangers style. get good lighting and effects in post and maybe you have something fun going on.
 
The cost would be astronomical. The time it would take would be dependent on the speed and quality of the printer, not to mention the build volume. You would only be able to print a small piece at a time, then you would need room to either build the thing or to create an assembly map and catalog and store all of the prices somewhere and build it at a later date. I would start look into getting a a good 3D designer and add the thing in post production. It would be far less costly and more of a realistic choice.

TazMan2000
 
thanks every body. i really worded this wrong but didnt know how to word it; i dont need it 3d printed, i just meant that i wanted a 45ft robot. though i feel like all your suggestions are great. i knew this community would help me
 
This is a "how long is a piece of string" question. Without knowing how it's going to be shot, it's hard to suggest how to build it and therefore what it would cost. Would it be seen from only one angle? If so, you only need to make part of it. Is it the sort of thing you can do with forced perspective so that you don't to make it so big?
 
Perhaps build a 6ft robot and multply costs by size. Then add some. That way you have a good model can either use on green screen, or have a accurate model to show others, either to help finance the movie or show the builders what you want the robot to look like.
 
I've done a quick drawing scaling up the average 5'10'' person to 45' tall and he comes out at around 15' wide.
Stood up that’s the equivalent of a 5.5 storey building.



Even with it sat down you’re going to need a substantial framework just to hold it in place.
With my modelmaking / prop background for something of that size, detail and level of finish I think you need to allow £250 / £400,000.00 - if you went to a commercial company.
It's not really something you could build with a few friends in your garage!
 
In lower budget shows they would only build a pair of feet with a little leg for shots with actors. Then for long shots they would use a model, or a matte painting, or (more recently) CGI. I personally hate CGI, but it is really cheap... just think of all the Syfy channel movies!
 
Any drawings/plans/designs of your robot? As many have said, it's going to be expensive. I mean, just the inner skeleton will have to be made out of wood (you'll have to produce a very accurate plan for all of that). You could also use spray-foam to fill any gaps and maybe clad the entire thing with regular block foam, shaping the forms with files/cutter/sandpaper, etc.
Fillers to make it smoother, more sanding and then the painting. Man, I can see months of steady work for you mate;)
 
giphy.gif
 
This thread is more than 6 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.

Similar threads

mogrinz
Building my Robby the Robot
Replies
4
Views
667
David3
David3
cyberpred
Forbidden Planet Robot
Replies
3
Views
942
cyberpred
cyberpred
dotails
Inspire Space (Robot Museum)
Replies
0
Views
462
dotails
dotails
Vmasterbuilder
ABC Warrior - War Robot Bust Lifescale 1:1 Prop Replica
Replies
12
Views
1,348
Metalalien
Metalalien
Knightmare
How Accurate are these Regal Robot Holy Grails ?
2 3 4
Replies
73
Views
8,327
Apollo
Apollo
Back
Top