Project Zaku: Harry Potter

Wow.. I've been busy. I did get to finish off another Zaku for a friend. He wanted a themed one. It was a special request.. as I've known him for 30 years now... maybe more.

This one was fun!

Zaku: Monoeye lens

Time is running out. I needed to make a decision on the mono-eye fabrication. Many options had gone through but none would look good or had too many safety compromises.

This one is the least that looked the best. Still kind of dangerous though. O well, I'll have to keep an eye on her then. (uh.. sorry)

Lexan plastic. Heating it up in my toaster oven. When it starts to droop in the window, I pull it out right away.

The best form I had around the house was this paint can. Whatever works!

Perfect diameter

To shape it further, I just took it to my belt sander. 

For the tint, I used some leftover auto tint.

Made a small accent ring out of craft foam. Hotglued it on. And voila!

Now, all i have left to do is:
- screens in the side windows
- hot glue the lens in
- custom cut some foam to fit my daughter's head
- maybe another final coat of top coat to seal things off a bit more for durability

Horns

The paint is pretty brittle at this stage. I have a super sharp knife and I still can tell. I'll have to top coat it with a sealer very soon. 

Test fitted. Looking good. I like the placement and all. Time for primer and paint!

Just noticed from looking at this pic, I totally forgot to make the vents!

Random Details

Trimming up the snout shorter:

Hot glue gun burn. I really don't like working with hot glue guns. Gonna have an awkward week of typing now.

Not really caring what color craft foam I use to cover up the insides. It'll be painted another color later anyways.

How to make Sausage Links

Pipe Links:

Back with my trusty Dremel tool. Love my Dremel. It came with a mini-router attachment. How cool is that!?! What this allows me to do here is 'router' a channel at a perfect 90 degree. It would be impossible to do this by hand. I could, but it'll take forever and it won't be as accurate. Here I have a  rig with a board and a couple clamps.

The steps:

- I make one channel across.

- Stop. 

- Move the board ~3/8" up. 

- Make another channel. 

- Repeat.

Reason I'm making all these channels is so that one side of the foam has less material. This is so I can roll the foam into tubes. I could use the heat gun again. But, it won't be heated up evenly and it'll bend unevenly. It would just be a mess. I think this was the best approach.  Hot glue the ends together.

Made a bunch. Not really sure how many was needed.

Like the 'nostril canister', I beveled the ends on the belt sander.

The placement mockup. I think it'll work. Next, I have to figure out what to use for the inner pipe.

Rear Box

Again, I have no idea what this box is for. All I know is that it connects both of the pipes on either side. Anyways..it's all decorations as far as I'm concerned.

I hollowed it out as much as I could. To keep the weight down as much as possible. (Learning from my own helmet) This is especially more important as this is for a 4 year old's head/neck.

Hmm.... I could put my battery in there if I choose to make electrical work on this.


Again, gotta hide those fugly jaggies...

Side Windows

Last year, I made a Hobbes costume (of Calvin and Hobbes) for my daughter for Halloween. It was pretty tight on her body. She got really claustrophobic in it. She never wore it for Trick-or-Treatin. [tear]

This year, I've learned my lesson... I'm making sure she can see out of it from ALL angles. There should be nothing blocking her peripheral vision. So, I'm cutting out some side windows. 

To cover up those jagged cut marks, I cut up a small strip of craft foam.

I wish I can have them tinted and roll up for some privacy!