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Halloween Crawling Zombie

crawling_zombie_prop_-_radio_controlled.pdf
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Above is the download of my old page via a PDF file.  If you are looking for HTML pages, go to the main Halloween Page by clicking on this text and download the file there.
This was a fun prop back from 2007 to make.  I sold my own crawler a couple years later as just didn't have time on Halloween to run it with the other stuff going on.  Back in the day, at the now retired annual Halloween haunter gathering called IronStock, I did a Make-N-Take of eight of them.  And a few requests afterwards, so maybe around a dozen of them were built up by me.

Most of my original parts I used have come and gone, and I don't have any new resources for the crawler.

A foreword first, credit for mine came from seeing Dave in the Grave's version.  While not radio controlled and using a single slower motor, his crawling skeleton design spurred the idea to make a controllable RC crawler version.

My final version was the Mark III version.  This incorporated a linkage set to move the forearms.

Most of this is really for me and my memory to document the history of the crawler of when and whom got them:
Starting off with mine (Bourno).  This and sequential RC crawlers are the Mk2 version as I would call them from trials of different motors and speed controllers.  Debuted in the summer of 2007 at IronStock.

Next came Peanuts as I drug out the project for about a year and took the Mk1 version to his BBQ earlier to make them drool.  I figured he deserved one of his very own from all the enjoyment I got from harassing him about me building one.
Jim Wieme bought a crawler mechanism when I showed it off at IronStock 2007.

WormyT became the next proud and excited owner of an RC crawler at her "Make and Take" that she didn't know about when I stopped by her place during a work trip.

DeadSpider (Angela Hill) became the next haunter.  We met in Seattle at Krough's place when I was out in Moses Lake, WA on a different work trip in 2008 and drove over to spend a late morning and part afternoon building the crawler and ripping out the hairs of my hands with some flex wax casting.

Now, for the explosion of crawlers.  Many of which I haven't tracked down pictures for or possibly mis-placed.  This so-called 'explosion' was due to having a Make and Take session at IronStock 2008 with 8 haunters overall getting one.
Participants were:  Mazz (didn't make it, but wanted one anyway), Adam_I, Pat (revenant), Toby (haunt31), Mr. Bill of Mr. Bill's Thrills and Hayride, Tony (Haunted Campers), Gary (king_of_halloween), and a somewhat nearby haunt group in red shirts bought the demo one (forgot their haunt name).

Onto the old and partial "How-to".

Like I mentioned earlier, this isn't a complete "how-to" and many of the surplus parts are not that easily found as they were back in 2007 and 2007.  Times change, and using info from back then.  Hover over the photos for comments on them.

Parts list:

For either Mk II or Mk III version

Transmitter - search on ebay for Vex transmitter, All Electronics is sold out (was a nice, cheap transmitter back in the day)
Receiver - I used a GWS 75mhz receiver on channel 89
Motors - SurplusCenter.com items 5-1581-L and R (these have since been gone)
2 ESCs - Traxxas XL-1, these seemed the most quiet for the  price
Battery - 7.2 volt RC car type
Battery Y splitter
swivels - McMaster.com item 60645K131
aluminum metal - got mine from onlinemetalsupply.com as the yarde.com dropzone minimum has gotten too high.
For the upper arms I used 5/16" x 1-3/8" last time I ordered.  The motor mounts was 1/8"x1-1/4"x1-1/4"square tubing.  The swivel to arm adapters were 1/2"square aluminum bar stock.  You may need to adjust.
1 x 6 wood
some 8-32 machine screw and nylok nuts

Mk III version
additional parts only
forearm swivels - McMaster.com item 60645K431
5/16 - 24 x 2 feet threaded rod 90032A030   
RC Crawler How-To 1 x 6 wood One piece at 14-1/2" You could narrow that a little Two pieces at 4-1/2"
Here the side pieces are slotted for the arm holes I used a 3/8" slot for mine at 1-5/8" long Depending on the width and thickness of the arm material, the slot size may need adjusted
Now to bevel the slot.
Set the depth so about an 1/8" is left un-beveled.
For later on, I made my swivel joint to arm adapters out of 1/2" x 1/2" x 1" aluminum. For most of my aluminum, I get it at http://www.onlinemetalsupply.com or else http://www.yarde.com/cgi-bin/dropzone.pl
On my early ones, I scribed the center. I later on made a jig piece to it much easier and faster. The ends are tapped for a 5/16" bolt thread and the side for a 1/4" bolt thread (mainly due to using a 1/4" x 1/2" long bolt, couldn't find a shorter 5/16" bolt less than 3/4" and didn't want to cut them down.
I made special motor mounts out of 1-1/4" x 1/8" square aluminum tubing for the 150 rpm 12 volt motors found at http://www.surpluscenter.com
The motors had metric bolts, so I drilled them out bigger to slip 8-32 x 1" machine screws thru
Here, the 5/16" swivel joints from http://www.mcmaster.com item 6072K63 are welded to the motor shafts.
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