Tweet
It has been more than five amazing years since the start of the Classics line, and about three years since Mattel has announced it acquired the rights to make toys based on the original Filmation cartoon series. We've seen Troopers, Palace Guards and Snake Men, leaving Skeletor chomping at the bit for his own army to command! Or at least a sturdy set of guards that won't let that muscle bound menace He-Man and his troublesome allies traipse about Snake Mountain's halls whenever they choose to! With enough support the Robot Knights would make an excellent choice for the Classics toy line, and I'm holding out hope to see an official army builder within the next two years.
Until then, Sascha Bischof (derWaffenmeister) has come up with an ingenious custom recipe, mixing 3D printing with resin casting to crank out scores of these mechanical minions to line our toy shelves. According to Sascha, a lot of work was put into constructing body molds suitable for attaching the articulated arms he designed with 3D software. The body itself was designed in the same fashion, and both were printed by the popular online printing service Shapeways.com. The printed body provided the shape he needed for the mold, and once cast the robot was assembled and painted.
Sascha did a great job translating and maintaining the design from the Filmation cartoon series. The printed plastic in the arms is sturdy and does not feel too brittle, though I'll let someone else volunteer to conduct a stress test with their own set. The arms rotate around the shoulder, at the elbow, and at the wrist. The forearms swivel a 90 degree angle in front of the robot's arm and behind it.
Although the head and body were designed and printed separately, the robot's final form is made with the two parts cast together in the mold, so the eyes are fixed in place. You can see tiny pores in the robot's shell, giving it an almost cement-like texture. The body's mass is appreciated as it gives the figure a much nicer weight than the part's original printed shell.
Each robot can come with a printed two-part base. Rather than rotating the robot on its base it's best to carefully detach the base from the body and reattach it in the desired position. Otherwise the thin ring of plastic at the bottom of the robot could potentially crack. Stands offered with Classics Orko and with Mattel's smaller Ghostbusters line of figures are taller and work pretty well with the Robot Knight, however, some modification to the tip of the stand is needed before it can be firmly secured to the robot's posterior. Sascha is planning to produce translucent stands, and has already finished designs for weapon attachments including maces, circular saws, and a set of propellers right out of the vintage cartoon!
There are other Robot Knight customs out there, but this is the first best recipe I could get my hands on and it was well worth the wait! I can finally replace the floating printouts I made when Joe Amaro posted photos of his own custom recipe three years ago.
More MOTU news and photos can be found at Adultcollector.org.
Until then, Sascha Bischof (derWaffenmeister) has come up with an ingenious custom recipe, mixing 3D printing with resin casting to crank out scores of these mechanical minions to line our toy shelves. According to Sascha, a lot of work was put into constructing body molds suitable for attaching the articulated arms he designed with 3D software. The body itself was designed in the same fashion, and both were printed by the popular online printing service Shapeways.com. The printed body provided the shape he needed for the mold, and once cast the robot was assembled and painted.
Sascha did a great job translating and maintaining the design from the Filmation cartoon series. The printed plastic in the arms is sturdy and does not feel too brittle, though I'll let someone else volunteer to conduct a stress test with their own set. The arms rotate around the shoulder, at the elbow, and at the wrist. The forearms swivel a 90 degree angle in front of the robot's arm and behind it.
Although the head and body were designed and printed separately, the robot's final form is made with the two parts cast together in the mold, so the eyes are fixed in place. You can see tiny pores in the robot's shell, giving it an almost cement-like texture. The body's mass is appreciated as it gives the figure a much nicer weight than the part's original printed shell.
Each robot can come with a printed two-part base. Rather than rotating the robot on its base it's best to carefully detach the base from the body and reattach it in the desired position. Otherwise the thin ring of plastic at the bottom of the robot could potentially crack. Stands offered with Classics Orko and with Mattel's smaller Ghostbusters line of figures are taller and work pretty well with the Robot Knight, however, some modification to the tip of the stand is needed before it can be firmly secured to the robot's posterior. Sascha is planning to produce translucent stands, and has already finished designs for weapon attachments including maces, circular saws, and a set of propellers right out of the vintage cartoon!
There are other Robot Knight customs out there, but this is the first best recipe I could get my hands on and it was well worth the wait! I can finally replace the floating printouts I made when Joe Amaro posted photos of his own custom recipe three years ago.
More MOTU news and photos can be found at Adultcollector.org.