The official Mystery Science Theater 3000 Bot Building Booklet

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, I want to thank the always friendly and , helpful Barbbb Tebben and Tim Johnson for the ir constant support in this endeavor. Thank you to Jim Mallon for allowing us to visit, photograph and dig through all the interesting stuff althe Best Brains Studios. 1 am indebted to Pmrick Bra1l1,seg for the endless answers to my endless questions and Jel MaY1flmJ for all the knowledge he shared with me. A greatful nod to my friends and robot building pal s and co­ horts. Tom. Ed. Bo, Dona, Ste\'e & Chllck. A s~ia l lhank you to my great wife and family who pUi up with all the lime spent on this wonderful project Finally 10 the cast of MSTIK. without whom this would have never been possible. thanks for the outstanding work you have done.

Copyright C 1998 by Best Brains. lnc. and Gary Glover Illustrations. Mystery Scienu Theater 3000. the planet logo and all characters theirin are trademarks of Best Brains. Inc. 1M All artwork and pholOgraphs (Unless noted) are e 1998 Gary Glover Illustrations.

ISBFE 0-555·71434·31 I. The official Mystery Science Theater 3000 Bot Building Booklet. A story of a boy. his dog. three robots and the love they find together. UP· Yurs 896.5974-bm40 and parts description ••••••••••••••••••••••••

crimson pig ••••••••••••••••••••••••

spider duck ••••••••••••••••••••••••

knowing and purple ••••••••••••••••••••••••

Abdominal Snowman. friend or foe •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

••••• • • • • •• •••• • • • •• • • • • o dos' part and toy searches. I be­ To begin it is impor­ I'm sorry, that gan to frequent the AM Vets shop tant to pick a robot near me, and one day I found my and begin identifying particular part is first set of Floralier's"". More hunt­ all the essential ing found Crow's hockey mask and parts. I found that no longer made. lamp shoulders. A complete robot lhe FAQ(frequently was slowly taking shape! asked questions) We SlOpped making chat icem five More research and corre. nles on line we re years ago. Sir, Ifyou don 'f SlOp pes· 'pondence has put me of great help. The rering us, I am going to GIll the po­ in touch with other most complete lice! Those seem LO be the most 'ISTie's who have too FAQ is put to­ common phrases told to me in the much spare time gether by ChriS last four years. Four years of rOOl­ he Bot building Cornell ing through dank a nd slinky Sal­ passion. been lucky MSampo@ao l) vation Army empo­ enough to ~, l"e(:Olne ac- and Brian lIenry riums, Good Will quainted with book ( E r h a r d t '" @ a 0 I ). They stores and thrift a rtist (graphic novel! and have taken on the daunting shops, four years wri ter, a movie tech- task of pUlling out the of the strange n i cia n in- official,online ~Iystery Science l ooks from my elude: Judge Dred, Star Tnek. " Theater 3000 magal.ine, friends and fam­ Deep Space The Satellite News ily, all because I want 9 a nd who (h ttp:/www.mst3kinfo.com). to build my own, wisecracking Tom helped re­ They have expanded on the Bot in­ Servo, Crow T. RobOl and Gypsy! furbish the formation to make the most up to original tele­ date and accurate parts list avail­ I'S()metim." when the hum has vision Enter­ able. It has been reprinted with been fruitless, I begin to ask prise for the their permission: myself why? Why would I want Smithsonian ), to build some goofy technical ilI'"';t"ilC" ­ Tom Se rvo is Tljp,>crware", lOy and bowling for Chevron and pro­ moslly made or toys: pin puppets a strange and fessional modeler. an Head - A gumball wonderful te levision show? Imag- engineer for Ford, and machine (surprise!) ine the great excitement and re­ many other tal- made by Carousel in­ spect I would command from ented artists dustries and distrib­ friends as they would ask, "What'S and crafts­ uted by LEAF, Inc. of that?" or -Hey. isn't that one of men who Lake Forest, Ill.; lhe those Muppets?" Ah, I feel all warm helped cOlnplet" name for it is "'Execu­ and fuzzy just thinking about it. this publication. This information tive Snack Dispenser. '" This pastime started after I saw a should elear up once and for all Although it comes in red, (he head few fine examples of Bot wi,,,nary the construction process, and help and torso are painted to keep (he at the MST conventions. idemify all those bilS and pieces $.:1mc consistcncy in color. His beak heard proud Bot owners that make up our lovable Crow, is spray-painted silver afcer {he ming with excitement as and Gypsy. m.1nual dispenser handle is re­ would ask the endless QC

Speaking of barrels, and I was. we need to discuss some choices. It is sU Il possible to find TI·IE REAL MONEY LOVERS BANK! Rumor has it that it came from Mexico. filled with rice a rms. and beans (sorry). It is 7 inches springs for tall, deeply wood-grai ned with real Tom hoops and rivets. It has a circu­ composed of lar logo right where Tom's en­ i gine block sits. The logo reads ~ Mone y Lo ver's Barrel" and not flat like (Fi g.I2). Slinky"'. Tom's springs are J 3/16 inches in diameter, I 3/8 The main component left for inches long. They are custom made any accurate Tom Servo is the by a local manufacturer (Fig.1 0). The e ngine block. I have yet to hear springs can be glued or anached with of anyone finding the o riginal mechanical fasteners to the wrist and plastic toy truck. car or even arm. The original Tom (during sea­ boat that the engine comes from. top. Use small half round strips of son 2 through 4) seems to still have Kevin told me, "There is plastic as the trim pieces. Some mod­ the clear ~b l adder" as- on that. I believe it els of self assembly shelves and desks sembly from the Fig.13 was taken off a Big Brusin' have tiny, disc shaped screw head t-loonie Doll. llis arms drag-race, tractor toy, covers that will work for the raised would spring up and down type deal" (By Marx"'!) Items on the engine sides. Square when Kevin gripped the I have looked in small plastic stock works for the lines bulb. Look for many, many places and accent work. If you are satisfied , pictures in and have nOt found you may now caSlthe engine in IriV the Co.­ a sU itable replica. or use the scratch-built engine lossal This is where your and paint It to match the real Episode years of modeling Tom. The finished block is guide or experience come into primed and sanded and sprayed the Scrap­ play. I have seen some ex­ with the metal flake paint. booktape. Ttl cellent scratch-built versions. Now is a great time to paint your e Patrick This is Ed's (Fig. 13) barrel red as well. When all is dry Swayte Christ­ attach your motor to the barrel mas segment Now if you're like me, and I know I with hot glue. or screws from the shows Kevin in the am, you will have some sheet Styrene inside of the barrel. Usc a short puppet trench working lying around. If nOt, a trip to a local handle screwdriver for this. The Tom Servo with bladder in hobby shop will secure you barrel is now attached to theo top half of the hoverskirt. And it re a ll y, rea I ly works! You can use ~ L ~ brackets The control rod travels up through and nuts and bolts. Pan of the hole in the top of the barrel Gold and the "L~ connects to the in­ where the turntable bearing is side of the barrel and the mounted with 4 screws. (Fi g. IS) Shiny Sci-Fi other half to the top of the hoverskirt bowl. [ keep my The pvC rod is fo rced snugly in barrel in place by drilling to the ur' connector in Tom's head Idol up from the hoverskirt until his head rests upon the bear­ into the resin base of the ing, allowing it to tum freely. (Feed barrel and affixing with the string for Servo's mouth into sheet metal screws and the control tub e fir st .) washers. Patrick Brantseg The hoi the hoverskirt explained to me that Best Brai ns uses a circular wood disk, a Slightly larger diameler than the inside rim of the barrel, that is pulled down snugly inside the bar­ rel and secured with long screws to the hoverskirt. As Patrick tightens the screws, the screw heads pull down on the disk and and barrel lOp should only be a this downward pressure from the fraction larger than the diameter disk keeps Servo conneCled firmly of the PVC rod to all ow it to rotale tothe h overskirt base. inside the barrel without binding. A hole 7/8 of an inch is placed Tom's head should rotate on the through the exact center of the bearing of the barrel. His PVC pipe skirt and the top of the barrel to in his head needs to fi t vel)' mount the controlling rod. This snugly down o nto the 9 inch pipe. Trim the pipe until his melon fits as close as possible to the barrel top. This allows easy access to his gray maller fo r switching Crow worshippers unite and bow out heads. Want to give him a down before him. 1·le's the God! cut? Just pop off the old head and He 's the God! Movie stars and replace his noggin with a new one. plumbers alike both fear and adore I used a small I inch thick ring of him! Ask Kim Cattrall, she loves the PVC pipe to attach the string that wisecracking Crow! controls the mouth. I can fit my fin ­ ger into the ring and use it to ma­ Come one, come all and welcome nipulate Servo's phrases. Practice to the third annual, international your singing and your wise crack­ gathering ofS.O.B.'s (Society of Bot ing, then turn on the SCI-FI Chan­ Builders)! Let's discuss what we are nel and get behind the sofa for going to need for the Crow T. Ro­ your own Cow Town puppet show. bot project. This robot has a few Please enjoy a big steamin' gawk more moving parts than Servo or of your finished Tom Servo, and Gypsy, but patience and a few even though you might not get him thousand dollars will insure at first, remember. ... a good looking, vel)' accu- Nobod rate robot. gets Tom, h e's th You will need two sets of lhe Wind! ivory while, polyethylene rod is made up of three parts. The plastic Tupperware™ bollom or ~ h a ndl e" rod is 1/2 inch "Floraliers"m (Hg.I). any PVC, 3 and 3/4 of an inch long. A color of the MEmpi re bowli ng straight 1/2 connector is added and pi ns with the embossed "e", a 9 inch PVC tube is glued into the scraps of 1/2 inch and 3'4 inch connecror. These parts travel up PVC pipe, chewing gum, bal­ and out of the barrel. The ing wire, elbow grease and the hoverskirt wil l rest on that lower ever~popu l ar "Schwartz Soap coupling to support the weight Dish", available at al l fine Sal­ oof the barrel and head on top of it. vation Army and thrift stores. In addition, you will need two vases. (Fig.3) some of the standard, 4 inch, black plastic yard Grab your bowling pin drain, found in all Home (if you know what I Depots country wide. The mean). the proper hardest parts to fi nd in­ model of course being clude the Cooper Hockey the Empire "e" model. face mask and some old (Fig.4) The new pins flu orescent lamp hous­ . wit h t he crown will in gs for hi s shoulders. work, (Patrick uses the newer crown pins now), Lel's assemble the torso. but try to find the older Remember how impor­ manufactured ones, as tant a good fit of these , the base (the e nd of parts needs to be, so a dry Crow's nose) is run or test fit stage is ad­ smoother and not as vised. Cut a 4 1/2 inch tall dimpled as the newer section of the drain pipe. Il should verted vases. Check the fit care­ ones. Look at the Episode Gu ide, have about 7 of the segmented fu ll y. Try fining the Wall ace lamp the Scrapbook and Poopie tapes for rings on il. This forms the center housings inside the twO trays. Use the correct shape of Crow's mouth. of the body. Using a key hole bit in a pencil to mark on the tray your drill, make a 1 inch hole where the holes match up with t hrough t he center of each the holes in the lamp housings. Tupperware™ ~.. -- .... Drill the corresponding plate. Use a 1 _.. ... ,- the tray edges. Once inch key hole bit you are sure of the construction on each section of process, get ready to paint the the vases. To help torso. Each piece gelS primed the pai nt ad- ...~~ inside and out with Testorslll here to these )t:J;':'~~G:~ray Primer. Let the strange plas­ ~ dry thoroughly. tics, it' will Once dry, spray only b e,..-- the inside of each nee· a nd each e s iernl a n at sary KrylonTM is great (Fig.S) Use a towel lined vise to t 0 hold the pin as steadil y as you can, lightly ...... and trace the shape on the pin with sand a il lhe Pick up one of the six cans of a pen or Sharpie. I used an X-Acton. surfaces. Use steel wool or other Testorslll Lime Gold Spray paint knife and CAREFULLY cut the shape fine wet/dry sand papers. Primer necessary to paint al l of this price­ out. It may take IS or 20 passes, is recommended on all pans that less puppet and start shaking and but it's easier and leaves a cleaner will be painted. Measure a 2 1/2 foot keep shaking and shaking and cut in the pin. Do not cut yourself! length of 3/ 4 inch schedule 40 PVc. shaking. Spray the lap We are not respon­ This will form the structure that and bottom tray, and sible for this! Don't everything else rests upon. Pl ace a the two vases. It's dif­ EVEN think about straight, 3/ 4 inch connector to the ficult not to touch this calling Best Brains! top of the pipe. Force this into the stuff until it driest Barb knows plenty upper Floralier plate from the bot­ That metal nake paint of thugs who will tom. Make sure it is even with the shows finger prints come to your house top of the tray's surface. forever! It will take and beat the ... well . four or five thin coats, don't even think not one heavy one. about it! Sand the This paint runs like a ed ges smooth and race horse, so take your time. It will rough up t he surface with steel take a full day or two to dry. Stop wool o r fine gril sand touching it now! If you get any paper. Remember when chunks of dust on the surface, you you paim these items it can wet-sand with 400 grit, and is very important to This is where then paint. Assemble the entire have a completely primed surface.. the neck and head body unit by means of screws or assembly will rest. nUlS and bolts. I used some dry­ Fashion a neck from I n inch PVc. Place the drain section on the pipe wall screws drilled through the bot­ It should be roughly 2 1/2 feet long. as well as (he bottom tray and in- tom Floralier™ tray and into the This will travel inside the 'throat"o the botLOm. A through the top pin, returns I 1/4 inch tall , through a small hole next (Q the '/2 inch di· entry hol e and repeats on the a meter PVC IIlo:w"~ pin and then is knotted. tube will ex· . ) This makes for a very te n d , tr()U-I)lle free. workable set of jaws. through the top of Find a similar poim on the lower t his cou· pin and drill a very small hole. It piing and needs only to be the thickness of ou[ of the top~1iii"1!11" ~~ .8 the string used for the mouth con­ of the bowling pi n. The soap dish trol. Speakin g of string, I like his will connect LO this tube, and even· work with the Police best! I have tually the eyes will rest on lOP of been told [hal a special black. ny· these componenlS (Fig.G). Now is a fine time to glue and paint these torso you alr"ady items once you are sure of the pre· you say endoscopy? cise fit. The inside of the pins are this neck. se· flat black, and the PVC tub· cure a '/2 is a satin black fi nish. inch PVC coats coupling. '-- __ the Gauge the distance from - 1e,ve,l v Lime the top tray of the Gold on the rest. Floraliernt to the bouom please. So far. this has of Craw's bowling pin. been ha rd work and About 4 inches will do. Cut your maybe it's ti me for Crow PVC neck and place it into the neck and you to take a break Ion puppeteer string is sold coupling. Using an extra scrap of and enjoy a ni ce through puppet and marionette '/2 inch PVC, cut a ring that is also "sammich". supply houses. Best Brains uses a 1/2 inch tall. Cut only one side of black carpet thread for Crow, lhis ring and spread it apart. Force Once glued and painted. Gypsy and Tom. Attach the lower this "collar" over the pVC and slide slide the rubber Scuba jaw to the rest of the pin, and then it down to the Floralierb<. This will tank hose down onto the neck. us· attach the smaller flap of clastic to serve to keep Crow's neck at the ing a section with five to seven the same lower jaw. on top of the right height. Later, the string to rings. Refer to the photo to see how threaded black string. Drill a small control his mouth movement will the hose rests on the neck. On to hole in the ce nter of Crow's neck be threaded through a pre­ ".- ...... - _....'Crow's lower jaw. Say directly below hi s moulh. The hole drilled hole in the gap left by "aahhh!". I hope is inside the gap left by the ring of the ring. The PVC ring is , he's been PVC discussed earlier. Insert a pop. glued to the neck and will tI flossing! rivet to work as a guide for the rest upon the LOp tray. The mouth·comrolling string. Pass this neck tube, ring and PVC cou­ The pling should spin freely, left bow li ng and right. This new assembly pin lower will attach to the bowling pin from jaw needs a 2 or 3 inch long piece of elastic to serve as a hinge for the mouth. Attach to the bOllom pin with super glue, or a mechani ­ cal fastener (screw, small nut, washer & bolt, Ctc.) Before you at· tach the lower jaw to the rest of the pin, cut a 1/ 4 Inch wide. S-i nch long piece of elastic that serves as the return spring for his lower jaw. It mounts ri ght under the upper pin's emblem. Use super glue. hot glue. or again. the small nut and screw. On the Crow at BBI, Patrick uses an elastic cord, like on the back of a Halloween mask. He uses string down through the neck and this as the hinge and the return jaw leave plenty of slack. A ma ster spring. He simplifies lhe process by mold is made from the soap dish. making a loop of elastic that goes A resin duplicate is then vacuum formed \\ith .o6OSl)'I'mr pb.Wc SO parts, bur a new wrist con· a thin, light part b made. After nector should be cut. It re­ trimming and sandin&- a bole the sembles a guitar pick and is , same diametrr a the I 1 inch p\'C cut from .090 plastic. is cut from tlx bouom of the dish. (Fig.14) Best Brains uses a (Fig.S) Slide the soap d.o,b mer the resin copy or the real plastic las' pan ot Crow' PVC ned. this is toy Mgrabber" hand. The ro­ where the e:} DlC'CIu.nbm "ill rest. bots on the show go through I used a "'el') small S£'re\\ through cross-eyed! (Fig. 10) A still-smaller a massive amount of han· the plastic soap dhb IOto the PVC round cylinder, less than the 1/2 dUng, and parts or copies are tube to secure lht dhh in place. Hot inch diameter of his neck, is snaked constantly switched out with glue will abo ,,-ork.. lou need a down inside the inner most esoph- others. Best Brains uses the small pl

tribute to ative vision. Just how many full-sized Kramer's have you seen? So wave your Bot flag high and realize that the time and effort