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Has anyone got any links/suggestions for making a big robot-claw type hand? I'm working on a costume so far that is a mish-mash of several ideas - The helmet from the Cyborg Ninja from MGS, the forearm/gauntlet from some Iron Man armor, and a scratch-built backpack "power source". I'm using the Iron Man style hands (Craft foam + cheap glove), and I was just thinking it'd be pretty cool to have a three-fingered "robot" hand instead. Anyone done this sort of thing before? Edit: here's a couple pics - the helmet's got a bit of a different paintjob now, though.  
TwystNeko fucked around with this message at 09:27 on Oct 23, 2012 |
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Oct 23, 2012 09:25
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duros posted:
Nice! I just ordered a Guy-Manuel helmet kit, and I'm waiting for it to arrive. Happily, I have a suitable leather jacket already, so it's just going to be chroming the helmet, and making the handplates. I figure getting something like airdry clay or something to sculpt them on the backs of my hands would be the easiest way. Gotta find suitable gloves for that too...
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May 9, 2013 19:17
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duros posted:I got my vac-pulled glove kit as well already, but yeah I would suggest making a mold of your hands in alginate: Where did you get the glove kit from? Volpin? I'll try the alginate thing, but I'd like a backup incase I completely gently caress it up. 
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May 9, 2013 22:41
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Looking good! Are you doing a full LED scroller? That makes me glad I've decided to do the latest/TRON version for mine - the LED system on the Guy helmet is crazy! Mind you, I can add that in later. I was thinking about this a little earlier tonight. It would be crazy cool if the LED scroller was programmable via bluetooth or something.. and have an app on my phone to swap/add messages.
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May 14, 2013 08:32
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my Guy-Manuel helmet arrived today!  Problems: the cast was kind of bad. the base was a mess, with lumps and warping, but after a bit of trimming, it's reasonable. I might not get it chromed now, just because the chroming will highlight every. little. flaw.  I was also worried about the visor he sent, it looked to be too small, but once I roughed out the visor space on the helmet, it looks okay if I attach it from the inside. It's really thin, though, and has some divots in it. I'm not even sure it can be fixed. The tint on it is really thin, but that's fixable with some of that Nightshades stuff. I'll get some pics up in a bit.
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Jun 3, 2013 19:05
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So I finished up the trimming of my Guy-Manuel helmet today. Now it's a matter of sanding it nicely, then buffing it.  There are a few minor dings in the chin that I can see, but a bit of sanding should make that better.  Any suggestions for the sanding? I pretty much have to buy whatever I need anyways, might as well get the right stuff for the job.
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Jun 13, 2013 23:38
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I wish there was some decent alternative to chroming my helmet to get a bright, shiny gold. I just fear it's going to be crazy expensive. I have some Dupli-Color Gold, but it's really not very shiny. Do I need to do a specific base coat? I'm currently "priming" it with some white paint so I can sand it to a super-smooth finish. (Sanded to 400, base coat, and will sand with 600+) I've heard that with a proper gloss black basecoat it'll work, but I don't want to spend a huge amount of time/money only to have it not work properly.
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Jun 23, 2013 03:00
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Duros: Looking awesome. I just found out that to get my helmet chromed, I am going to have to send it down to California. Hooray for shipping delays. Nobody in Western Canada does this.
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Jun 24, 2013 17:25
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Ugh. I just talked to the only place in town I could find for doing plastic chroming... $450! Screw that. Crappy gold duplicolor spray paint it is.
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Jun 24, 2013 23:19
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Fatkraken posted:What about Alclad? It's not quite chrome shiny, but it's better than spraypaint Actually, I think I've decided on doing the Tron version - which is flat gray and silver as you can see here:  I think I'll order one of those EL tape kits, and pick up a plain black set of motorcycle jacket/pants. Then it's just order up a couple hundred white LEDs, and get a solderin'. I'll have to make a jig like Duros did... I might even need to make a subvisor rig to mount the LEDs. Luckily, the LEDs appear to end up around the nose area, so vision shouldn't be TOO bad. I hope. (also, wearing glasses with helmets like this is just... painful. )I suppose I could cheat if I have extra EL tape, and just do a straight bar... but that kind of misses the effect. TwystNeko fucked around with this message at 08:01 on Jun 25, 2013 |
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Jun 25, 2013 07:59
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They actually make led strips. And cheaply too! Like $20 for 600 of them. They can't be programmed like the ones Duros did, but they don't need to be. I may make the strips sequence, but I don't need more than that. Only problem is they are 12v, so it's a little note complex to light them up.
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Jun 25, 2013 17:15
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I've done a fair amount of pepakura over the years - including a (failed) Guy Manuel helmet. Drop me a line, maybe I can help.
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Jun 26, 2013 05:01
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Speaking of jackets... any idea where I could find something similar to the Tron Legacy jacket they wear? I'm not averse to getting one custom made, but I have no idea where to even look. The EL wire I'm getting is differently shaped, so accuracy isn't TOO important. They don't SEEM to be too complex - it's just a basic jacket made with angled panels front and back, as you can see in the figurine photo here:  I'm just waiting for the paint to try before I de-mask the helmet and test-fit the visor. It's looking pretty great in the silver/grey.
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Jun 27, 2013 06:28
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Wow, they do nice work (it's MacheteNSons on etsy, BTW)... but that's waaaaay out of my price range. I suppose finding someone local who can take a pattern (this one is close: Kwik Sew 3570) and modify it slightly (different fabric, adding panels, etc) would be a bit more cost effective. edit: I just de-masked and placed the visor in (loose, it's not attached yet) and it's looking gooooood.  
TwystNeko fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Jun 27, 2013 |
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Jun 27, 2013 08:42
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Well, I really lucked out today. I managed to find a faux-leather white jacket, along with some nice white slacks at a Le Chateau outlet. The jacket only cost me $25! Well worth the hunt, and cheap enough that I don't mind modifying it. Now I just have to find that perforated fabric so I can make the panels. I plan on just cutting them to size and getting the edges done, then gluing into place.
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Jun 27, 2013 22:29
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That's perfect! Thanks! Now that I know what to look for, I should be able to find it locally. I also think I'm going to take the (slightly) easier route for the gloves - I'll just make the handplates out of EVA foam, since it's super simple to work with, then seal it / coat it. also: fffffffffffuuck. I was test attaching the visor with some tape, and managed to get a finger print in the paint job. So I figured, "No problem, I'll just sand that out and spray it again." Now I've got black specks in the paint job, runs everywhere, and it's just gone completely downhill. I'm gonna leave it for a couple days, then sand it back down to the primer layer, and start again.
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Jun 28, 2013 00:24
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The one real problem is sanding the centers of the "ears". I can't get anything in there to sand it effectively. maybe a little wire brush or something on my dremel might do it. Or I could just fill them in.. I doubt anyone would really notice.
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Jun 28, 2013 01:52
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daaaaamn, that's impressive. So I stripped down my helmet, giving it some nice new scratches in the meantime. Nothing major that a bit of bondo won't fix (and a layer of self-levelling primer!). I've also found someone to modify the jacket, and found similar perforated fabric locally. Bad thing: it's $50/m.  Maybe I can find the "right" stuff at a boat place.
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Jun 30, 2013 01:06
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Holy poo poo, that's amazing. Do you plan on sharing a full build log at some point, mainly for the electronics? I'm kind of handy with LEDs/PIC controllers, but that's a whole new level for me. Also, what's the visibility like? On my end, I've re-done the helmet, but I am incredibly sad, as it's nowhere near as nice as the first time. It's not BAD, but it's got a few noticable dings on it that I just could not fix. It doesn't help that the cast I got is a bit warped. If I ever start over again, I'll do the pepakura -> resin/fiberglass route. I tried that before, and it worked really well - I just got hung up on the visor. I'm really inspired by your helmet to do a Thomas one next - I wasn't too thrilled with it before, but seeing what you've been doing is just awesome.
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Jul 7, 2013 06:46
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So I fitted the visor tonight. Looks really slick, and this is the jacket I found. It's almost perfect, but for the breast pockets. I did get the EL tape, but... it's all got these great big black connectors to clip them together. I'll probably have to cut tiny holes in the jacket to hide the wires.  Next up is finding white gloves. I figure golf gloves will do the trick, since I'm going to be adding stuff to the backs anyways. Also, tiny fans in the helmet.
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Jul 18, 2013 08:11
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So one thing that I'm having a hell of a time finding is a Tron Identity Disc. Disney released a "deluxe" version, with lights and stuff, but they're no longer made. To top it off, the Kevin Flynn version is white - which is exactly what I need. Except they range from $130 (stock) -> $300 (modded). So I'm trying to come up with some other method of making a disc. I *have* found a papercraft model, but it's a little too simple. I was thinking of a ring of styrene, with a couple of grooves in it, as the base. Put EL wire in the grooves, and build up the ring a bit. Edit: I wonder how feasible it would be to repaint a black disc. Because those are a lot cheaper. TwystNeko fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Jul 25, 2013 |
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Jul 25, 2013 04:27
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I found out today that a different spray paint was MUCH shinier than what I was using. the Krylon brilliant silver comes out that silver they use in the tron pics. So I had to remove the visor, and remask and repaint the helmet. Looks a LOT better. I just have to work on the gloves now. I saw a suggestion to use a piece of 1" PVC pipe and cut all the pieces out of that, but I'm not happy with how thick they are. I think I'll go back to using the thick styrene I used for the back of the hand.
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Jul 27, 2013 07:24
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So the visor I got with my helmet has a really patchy dye job on it. It wasn't a big deal when I wasn't planning to light it, but now that I'm doing stuff with it (going for EL tape, since it looks really cool!), I'm going to need to change it. Will the Nightshades spray fix that? Edit for pic:  See how cloudy that is? it really detracts from the look. TwystNeko fucked around with this message at 04:51 on Aug 4, 2013 |
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Aug 3, 2013 19:43
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The thing is - the guy I bought it from had done the dye job already. So now it's kind of a problem. Without the EL tape, it looks even from the outside, which is why I didn't see it until now.
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Aug 4, 2013 07:02
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So my 200 blue LEDs showed up today. Now I have to figure out how to wire them up. They're 3mm, so very tiny, but they're nice and bright. In fact, they're almost TOO small. I did find that wiring up 24 of them in parallel doesn't really need a resistor, and makes them CRAZY bright on 5 volts. So yay for that. I would love to make something like what you did with your visor, Duros, but I don't think there's enough room inside mine. It's a pretty snug fit thanks to glasses. I certainly can "offload" a power/control box, so that's an option for wiring, but there just isn't a lot of room for a support structure.
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Aug 8, 2013 07:25
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duros posted:note: TwystNeko I will respond to your PM tomorrow I am le tired and am about to go to bed Looks like you've got a much nicer cast than mine was. I'm jealous. Who'd you get yours from? I assume you're not doing the full-visor LED mask, as that's insanely cool but has zero visibility and is ridiculous in terms of the build.
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Aug 12, 2013 23:38
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Yea, everything I've heard about Volpin is that he's pretty drat awesome and helpful. Duros, thanks for the writeup! I wish I'd known about those MAX7221 chips, because those are insanely useful. I've been dicking around with the arduino I picked up, and have been successful in making an LED cube - I'm still waiting on parts to make the LED display. I am seriously tempted by your offer of getting those boards, but money has become an issue lately.
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Aug 20, 2013 08:01
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Well.. I'm a very sad panda now. I was attempting to redo the tint on my Daft Punk helmet, and, well... Got the tint off, but now the whole thing is opaque, and I can't get it clear to be able to see. And of course, the person who sold the helmet on ebay refuses to respond to emails, so I'm screwed completely, and I have no way to fab a new visor. It's a Guy Manuel helmet, would any of the other Daft Goons be willing to do up a visor for me? I can tint it myself, but I just can't make a new one.
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Feb 13, 2014 23:38
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Well, the first thing I'm going to try is to make a vacuform table, and convert the visor I have into a mold by remounting it, then filling it with plaster of paris, then removing that and trying a pull. If that fails, I'll drop you a line. Thanks!
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Feb 16, 2014 10:00
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That's looking pretty sweet! So I decided I was going to make a DeadMau5 head. Finally got the globe for it on Friday. Progress so far:  Since then, I made the mouth screen, cut the eyes, and added holes for running wires into the eyes/up the ears for electronics. I should have this finished in the next couple of days. I still have to fix the Guy helmet, but that's waiting for a warmer day to get into the shop to make the vacuformer. Stupid second winter!
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Mar 25, 2014 16:53
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Finished up the DeadMau5 helmet tonight.  I might jazz it up a bit more, and I plan to do some fancier coding on the eyes. The EL tape is kind of annoying, though, because of the constant whine.
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Apr 3, 2014 07:55
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So I am super happy now. I managed to fix my Daft Punk visor. Lots of sanding, then a coat of "Future Floor Finish" to make it way better for visibility. I almost screwed it up a second time trying to make it dark enough, but it's good now. I won't be putting LEDs in it until I can actually replace the visor, though.
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Apr 16, 2014 18:01
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I do an awful lot of blinky things these days, and looking at the bracelet Dandy wears, it's definitely chunky enough to hide all kinds of mechanics. How much time do you have? My suggestion: Make the bracelet out of EVA foam so you can make it hollow. 2) get the following (all from AdaFruit, shipping is a bit much, but getting it in two days is awesome) Micro Lipo charger - https://www.adafruit.com/products/1304 500mAh LiPo battery ( it's about 1.25" square) - https://www.adafruit.com/products/1578 3.3v GEMMA - https://www.adafruit.com/product/1222 30 LED/Meter LED strip (1M long) - https://www.adafruit.com/products/1376 If you want it sound activated, you need this as well: Mic board with amp - https://www.adafruit.com/product/1063 The rest of it is pretty simple. The LED strip gets wired to power, ground, and D1. The mic would go to power, ground, and A1. Plug in the battery to the connector, and the hardware is done. For the software part, you can go with this: https://learn.adafruit.com/led-ampli-tie/the-code (note: written for the Flora, which is the "big brother" of the Gemma, so it needs minor changes - Mic Pin is A1, LED pin is 1) ... Heck, I can write you up some code for that if you want, make some changes to it so it fits better. Now, I do have a small chunk of high-density LED strip leftover from my UberLED Tie. It's 6" long, and has 22 LEDs. If you want it, PM me and I'll drop it in the mail.
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Aug 22, 2014 17:38
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So I've started working on a Prototype Viktor costume, from League of Legends. This guy: http://www.lolking.net/models/?champion=112&skin=2 So far, I've ripped the model from the game files, and separated all the costume pieces - the pauldron, the arm, the gauntlet, and the leg armor. I'm building this out of EVA foam, and it's coming along pretty well - I have to fix the scaling a bit. Does anyone else have experience with EVA foam? I'm looking at how best to seal and fill parts of it before painting. I've heard about using diluted Mod Podge, followed with a coat of Plasti-dip.
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Sep 8, 2014 17:27
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drat, nice work on the Orb. I miss having a 3D printer, but that takes it up a notch with the finishing you did on it. So I've gotten the shoulder piece mostly done for Viktor:  I still have to finish up the LEDs for the palm of the hand, and maybe work on some shading and detail paint - which I'm terrible at. Onto the leg armor, which is going to be loads of fun. 
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Sep 18, 2014 04:21
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Speleothing posted:Okay, it seems like the better funnier GBS may not have a Halloween thread this year. I'm also doing a retro-esque astronaut, as I wasn't able to get Viktor done in time for the Edmonton Expo. Still working on it, but I already know I'll need to repaint stuff. Next year!I've got a 14" acrylic globe on order, which is what I used for my DeadMau5 helmet. I'm looking at this RPF thread for inspiration. I found a silver "astronaut" outfit at the local Value Village. Alternate awesome retro-build from 1962: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=117109
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Oct 7, 2014 08:47
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Terec posted:That same rpf thread got me wanting to try it and i got friends to do a retro space theme. This was us at DragonCon. Im on the left. drat, nice work. that robot is pretty sweet. Sadly, I can't seem to get cardboard tubes at 11" in Canada, so I'm falling back to my usual material - craft foam. Here's the suit I found - I've removed the badges at this point.  I figure with some black fabric layered on down the middle, and a belt, it'll be pretty great. The helmet is coming along, and I repainted/modded a Nintendo Zapper for a raygun - it now has a laser pointer inside, and is chargable via USB. 
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Oct 9, 2014 20:01
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Since we're sharing Halloween costumes, here's my finished Retro Astronaut:  (with bonus Sugar Skull GF )I ended up making the boots semi-freehand, because "Moon Boots" are $180 now. At that point of the night, part of the backpack had fallen off - the part with the antennas. But it still turned out pretty great.
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Nov 4, 2014 19:25
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It's a 14" lighting globe. Most lighting companies can order them in, or you can get them online. And yea, that would be neat - I'd just have to figure out how to mirror-tint it so it looks good.
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Nov 4, 2014 21:15
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I've used a bandsaw on foamcore sheets before when I needed a stack of identical bits, and it worked amazingly. A little bit of cruft on the bottom piece, but nothing that would be impossible to cover. I have plans for a set of robotic spider legs that I'll do out of the pink foam on a bandsaw. Also, craft foam, the EVA kind, can be safely cut at low power on a laser cutter. No noxious fumes, hooray! Edit: I guess I don't really do "cosplay", more "I have crazy ideas for things and must build them!" Current ideas: - remote controlled robot spider legs - "spirit walker" with a tech slant - instead of a mask, a tv screen showing static interspersed with footage from cameras mounted on the back, with a white-noise generator as background audio. - steampunk shoulder-mounted arm controlled by a wii nunchuck - shoulder-mounted robot dragon. TwystNeko fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Jul 6, 2015 |
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Jul 6, 2015 03:24
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