by Dimitris Kaliviotis

This is a scratch built model that's about 12" tall at standing up-right position. It's made of resin, vinyl, found objects, aluminum, brass, bronze and steel. The molded pieces that were cast out of resin were originally made using polystyrene, auto-body filler, found object etc. The block molds were made of silicone and and the biggest one for the torso was a two piece mold and had a fibreglass jacket (matrix mold). The torso had to be cast hollow so as to save on weight. All in all 23 molds were made and 35 resin pieces cast with them (some were double cast for identical left and right side extremity pieces of the figure). Together with the non-resin parts the model consists of 400 glued, brazed, or screwed together pieces.

3 different types of joints were made (32 in total) for the model using various metals and some vinyl so as to make it fully articulated and positionable. The tension for the joints is adjusted via allen screws. An allen screw also anchors the robot to it's base so it can stand on one toe (toes were cast out of bronze). The metal joints and bones were added in the silicone molds before the resin was poured in. The articulated fingers were built using brass, modified r/c vinyl hinges on a resin palm.

A led light on the head works as the eye for the android and is powered by a 3V lithium battery hidden in the hollow resin cast of the torso.

The silicone molds were covered with aluminum coloring powder which then fused with the resin after it was pored inside and cured. This made for a very durable aluminum colored layer for the "undercoating". About a third of the model was masked with Tamiya tape and then covered with Tamiya camel yellow spray.

The chip-off method was used to make it look worn and beaten. Several other weathering techniques were employed, some of which involved a torch, hammer, "random dirt particles added in the molds", lots of enamel washes and dark leather wash for added contrast. Some rust colors were also used (Testors & Gunze Sangyo) as well as the micro-mark "rusting" kit, Rustall.

I designed and built this model as a main character in an animation short. It had to look like it was battered and buried for some time. The led light was added as a means to show the android comes alive after high voltage passes through it.

Miniature sets are used for the androids "life" in animation and the square base made of mdf in the pictures was made for its life as a "static" model in my living room.

Image: Right/rear view, running

Image: Left/rear

Image: From above

Image: Yikes! He sees me!

Image: Close up

Image: From below

Image: POW!