Unique Gift

[drapeama]

Hi guys
I've been quiet around recently, and this is the reason: I'm currently working on a christmas gift for charlie's son so I spend most of my time in the basement working on that thing. What is it? Well, when I was his age, I enjoyed playing with G.I. Joe's toys, so I decided instead of buying anything to his son, I would prefer to make something unique and fun for him: a G.I. Joe base. I thought about something easy to do, while being fun and nice and I ended up with something that I would have played with when I was 4-5yo too. It's not finished, but I'm updating pictures as soon as I progress. Here's some pictures of it:


Notice the 4 holes in the center (except the screws holes): I'll put some flashing 12v leds in them to have a landing plate for an helicopter on the rooftop. I also plan to put some lights in and outside the base.



There's no door on these pictures, but I've added some sliding doors for the "garage" on the right and another one for the action figures on the left.

It's a rough version so far, but once painted it'll look definitively better. I'll post some updates later this week when I'll get some time to work on it.

[MalfunctioningHuman]

Drapeama,

That's quite amazing. Probably the most dear posession to me is a cage that my dad built for me to keep crickets in the summer when I was 4 years old. Things like these that you build with your hands are the best gift you can give to anyone. Like you say it's unique, because it has a piece of your soul in it. That's way more especial than anything you can buy anywhere, believe me.

And, what you are doing looks super cool. (And it's not even finished.)

MH

[drapeama]

That's quite amazing. [...] And, what you are doing looks super cool. (And it's not even finished.)

Thanks Mal!
Here's some other screen that I've transfered:






I've even started some kind of futuristic helicopter that's similar to the ones in Avatar and Halo:













Potty time!:




That's about it for now. I plan to finish it later next week when I'll get some days off the work. I'll try to bring the T2i to get better stills of the construction.
Thanks for the comments Mal!

[Janke]

Nice! I'm sure he'll love it.

A doll's house for boys - that's equality of sexes! (And I'm really not being facetious here at all!)

I admire you for another thing, too: Your workshop is very tidy - nothing like mine:

IMG_7071.JPG

[cgbier]

Workshop and tidy is normally an oxymoron...

That's really great. Dollhouse for boys was also my first thought

[charlie_tango]

Nice! I'm sure he'll love it.
I admire you for another thing, too: Your workshop is very tidy - nothing like mine:

I really think and hope so! But I'm sure Mark will do a great job when he'll have finished!
Well, this workshop isn't his but his father's! That explain the tidy and order of all the tools! Otherwise his computer desktop looks more like your workshop. In fact, my own desktop looks like that!

Workshop and tidy is normally an oxymoron...
That's really great. Dollhouse for boys was also my first thought

I think so too. As long as you can find order in it, I think it's ok.
And I don't know if I would have called that a dollhouse for boys, but I can't wait to see my son playing with it! =)

[cgbier]

Well, CT, if I'm not mistaken then GI Joe is the male equivalent of a girl's doll, so the thought is not far away. After all, they both help kids to "find" their gender role.

A handmade gift for a child is always something special. It has more soul than just wrapping a Gameboy for X-Mas. Kudos to Draps.

[1]

Amazing, and GREAT JOB!!!!!

Really cool...

[Janke]

they both help kids to "find" their gender role.

Remember the Simpsons Halloween episode where principal Skinner becomes GI Joe, and looks into his pants?

He didn't find anything...

[MalfunctioningHuman]

Remember the Simpsons Halloween episode where principal Skinner becomes GI Joe, and looks into his pants?

He didn't find anything...

And any man that gets married is sooner or later bound to go through that same shocking experience. LOL

You are a Simpsons fan? Awesome. Best...series...ever.

[Janke]

Well, there's also Futurama...

I like'm both, especially their facetious references to literature, movies and TV...

(And let's leave Lorena Bobbitt out of this, please... )

[MalfunctioningHuman]

Yes, I like Futurama as well. I think The Simpsons (even though the series as a whole has come down from the levels of years past) is so great for many different reasons:
- Characters are well developed, and you care for the main characters. In this sense the Simpsons is better than 99% of live action shows.
- Scripts are very good and are not dumbed down (Family Guy, anyone?)
- I think The Simpsons have done a great job of making a parody of modern American (or even Western) life, and have been able to touch on a lot of issues in certain ways that, had it been a live action series, it wouldn't have been allowed to.
- Homer. I mean...dude! LOL

As for Lorena Bobbitt, I wasn't referring specifically to her. She took the art of being a wife a little too literally.

EDIT: I just realized we are out of topic. This thread is for Drapeama to showcase his awesome gift. Can't wait to see the new pictures!

[drapeama]

A handmade gift for a child is always something special. It has more soul than just wrapping a Gameboy for X-Mas. Kudos to Draps.

Thanks CG!

Amazing, and GREAT JOB!!!!!
Really cool...

Thanks Mal!

I just talked about that to Charlie as my father did something similar when I was younger: After Watching Blue Thunder at 5-6 yo, he did an helicopter in wood. It wasn't exactly the same, but I was so happy and proud of him because of that, it simply inspired me!

[drapeama]

Here's an update, really close to the final thing:


And here's some little videos I've took during the building (I'll post better pictures AND a better video when I'll have it completely done! - with the T2i!):


Thanks for watching!

[paperkut12]

Where were you when I was a child! haha

[Janke]

Hey, you're playing with it, already...

Looks great, in army olive-green!

(That helicopter still needs a bit of sanding and painting work, doesn't it?)

[Bob Sanders]

Nice job Drap's! Shows some great imagination.

[MalfunctioningHuman]

This is fricking awesome man! Those landing lights are sweet, and the drop tunnel is a nice touch. Really, really cool. CT's kid is gonna love it!

[drapeama]

Where were you when I was a child! haha

In the same basement, doing something way less complete than that! I've always played with the tools in the basement, that's why I ended up doing that for Charlie's kid!

Hey, you're playing with it, already...
Looks great, in army olive-green!
(That helicopter still needs a bit of sanding and painting work, doesn't it?)

1) Yep, I'm actually testing it. Some kind of quality control!
2) Yep, I first thought it would be darker, but it's great as it is.
3) Yeah, a little bit. But I'm not sure if I'll have the time to finish it before christmas. His birthday his on April 8th, so I'll have the time to work on something else by then!

Nice job Drap's! Shows some great imagination.

Thanks Bob! If you take a look at the very first picture, which looks like a furniture, then I guess it takes a lot of imagination to be able to see the final result!

This is fricking awesome man! Those landing lights are sweet, and the drop tunnel is a nice touch. Really, really cool. CT's kid is gonna love it!

Thanks Mal!
The landing lights were one of the first idea I had. The tunnel came later, and I thought it would be cool. Reminds me the TMNT sewer playset. I'm sure he'll love it! =)

Here's some new pictures:



And here's some ugly videos showing what's the closest ever to the completed version:

[darthpaully]

This is the greatest thing ever! Can i come over and play!!

[drapeama]

This is the greatest thing ever!

I wish my dad had the skills I have right now, I would have been very happy at the time!
My dad did the best he can and I'm still proud of what he did and what he's doing! =) Just hope that Nathaniel will think the same in a couple years, even if I'm not his dad...anyway! Let's see in time!

This one is more a test than anything else for the moment. I plan to make another one for his birthday, if he likes it enough to justify building another one (the bad's camp!). I already have some ideas that I'd like to put together...let's see how it goes!

[Daniel Rutter]

Then borrow them and make a stop-animation with them

[drapeama]

Then borrow them and make a stop-animation with them

Part of a plan already! Stay tuned!

Some updates, as the kids will be half at mom and dad's home for christmas, they'll open their gifts tomorrow here, the 25th with dad and on 31th with their grand-ma. We told ourselves a couple weeks ago "They'll only have one gift this year, so they'll appreciate it even more" due to a little incident last year: the little boy said clearly (while opening one gift) that this wasn't what he asked for and simply put it aside. The bad thing in that, isn't that this specific present cost more than all others, but simply that he should appreciate it. So we decided to learn him this year. What an epic fail you'll say:




I'll post some more when they'll have opened their gifts. I really want to "capture" their faces at that specific moment!

THANKS:

[Janke]

I'll always remember a clip I saw on "funniest videos": A boy got a "soft" package, and after opening it, he threw a fit, and threw the gift away too:

"I don't want underwear !!! "

- but I see that your packages are all "hard"...



I've been told, that when I was three, Santa asked me (after loading me with packages) - "Have you got enough, now?"

- and I answered "I'd like to have some more !"

[Jim E]

Gee, I wish I lived in your house, Mister Drapeama, really I do!!

There are some nice big packages there, that's what I like to see...

.