T-800 Skull 3D Printed display

I've been putting a bunch of time and effort into building this and a few other projects and I'm only now getting to posting about it. When I first joined the RPF I had a thread looking for a T-800 head for my dad. I managed to buy one and it's been sitting in a drawer ever since. I just recently decided to build it.

Here is the original model:



The problem is that this model isn't 100% accurate. I'm by no means a T-800 expert but my research showed that the jaw was wrong, the details on the top of the head are wrong and the detail on the right side of the head is off. That's fine, I like a challenge. Here, have some pictures:



By this picture I'd already done several steps. I had already glued two of the head pieces together and had been sanding like crazy (Using various sanding sponges and my files). I had also drilled out the eyes so that I can later put in some LEDs. I had also covered everything with filler primer so I had a ton of sanding and clean up left to do.



On the left, this is the original jaw line. As you can see from the picture on the right I had a bunch of work to do filing that down. I used a flat file and a Dremel 8220 with a small sanding drum bit.



I used Bondo to fill the seam in the two pieces here.



A detail of the covered seam. From here you can also see that I've marked the space where a gap should be. Guess what I'm doing later...



I started hacking the neck off. I'm still not sure if I'm going to fabricate new neck joints or just leave the head as is. I'm also still not sure how to mount it. I was thinking either getting someone to laser engrave a Cyberdyne Industries registration tag or maybe make it look like a trophy John Connor took and has in his office. I'm open to suggestions.

I have more pictures so hold tight...

WRONG! No worries though. I can fix it.



Neck carnage. I used a chisel. It was super effective.



Neck progress. Look at it!



LOOK AT IT!!!



The remains of the neck removal.



I sanded down two clear, rounded Polycarbonate end caps. It took forever with my Dremel but I think they came out really well and I hope they work.



He's just so happy!


More pictures to come...

Three detail shots. First is of the hole where a rod is supposed to go (I'm going to fabricate a replacement with a dowel or something). Second is the left eye, it was tough getting into those tiny spaces to clear out the left over 3D printing shmootz. Third is the right eye.



Detail of the Jaw from both sides. As you can see I've started sanding off the excess Bondo using sandpaper and needle files. Also, I corrected both sides of the jaw.



I took out all the neck joints and started carving away part of the jaw. There is a detail shot of the hydraulic nub and a hose hole. I'm not sure if I will be fabricating a new hydraulic part with a dowel and PVC. It all depends on if I decide to fabricate new neck joints. I will probably end up putting in a hose (one of those braided metal hoses) regardless.



Here's the top of the head. Originally I Bondo'ed it and got it pretty smooth but when I hit it with some filler primer I saw I still had some work with sanding. The holes in the side of the top are pretty smooth. I'm going to hit them with more filler primer and see if I can get them any smoother. Not easy to sand in there!



I have all my electronics ready. I'm going to hook up an Arduino with some sort of shield able to play MP3s and a speaker so when my dad hits a switch it will play a line from the movies and make the eyes light up or something. I also plan to program it to say, "Rubber baby buggy bumpers, Ha! You didn't know I was going to say that did you?" from Last Action Hero. Hopefully the Arduino can handle this. If not I'll use a Raspberry Pi.


And that's it so far. I'm going to hit it with another layer of primer tonight and let it dry for the next day or so. More pictures to come!

Project had to go on the backburner for a bit but it is quickly approaching the top of my TO DO list so more pictures are coming soon!