Making An Animatronic Head For A Mascot?

In his 4-part course series on DIY mechanical characters, Craig Caton-Largent teaches students how to create an epoxy and fiberglass underskull, the critical first step in building facial features. He also teaches how to build an animatronic head, including controlling skin thickness, molding the core, and joining the underskull halves. In the final part of the course, Caton-Largent guides students through the final steps of their mechanical character build, including creating servos.

The series includes 11 different animatronic projects, including making a Wall-E robot, making a talking robot, and more. Animatronic prop motors are divided into electric and pneumatic (air pressurized) motors. Electric motors offer the lowest barrier to entry and are relatively easy to integrate into props.

Animatronic prop motors can be made with blinking eyes, moving ears, and a moving jaw, or even something that can simulate breathing smoke. To create an affordable mascot head, students can gather materials, cut rough shapes, cut out room for the head, assemble the core, and modify the 2-Stage Tentacle Mechanism into a turkey neck.

In summary, Craig Caton-Largent’s 4-part course series on DIY mechanical characters provides comprehensive step-by-step instructions for creating various animatronic projects, including creating a realistic lion mask with stereo night vision and amplified hearing.