Spacesuit replica maker Ryan Nagata brings to the cave several of his spacesuits and spacesuit parts he made for the movie First Man! Adam and Ryan talk about his build of the X15 suit seen in the film, the technical accuracy achieved by the costume department, and what he learned from making pieces to be filmed for camera.
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Adam meets cosplayer Brad Hallock, who has made an excellent replica of the police costumes from The Fifth Element! Adam and Brad talk about the construction of this cosplay and how Brad achieved the right look, color, and texture of the fabric from his extensive research.
I'm sure that most of us have some variation of a Third Hand (aka Helping Hand) in our workshop. If you're not familiar with this particular tool, it's basically a pair of alligator clips that are attached to articulating arms with a weighted base. The mechanical "hands" will securely hold whatever small widget you're working on, while leaving your actuals hands free to do the work. The utility of these simple tools for outweighs their meager cost (usually $5-$10).
I have several Third Hands that I employ for a variety of tasks. The one I use most often is at my soldering station. I use it to hold wires, connectors, circuit boards, motors, or whatever else I need to solder. While I love this tool, I do have to concede that it has limitations. You can certainly buy nicer and more elaborate Third Hand tools. But there is often a significant bump in price for the upgrade. Second-tier units typically sell in the $30-$50 range.
There's nothing wrong with spending $50 on a high-quality tool that fits your needs. The problem was that I didn't see any off-the-shelf models that had everything I wanted for soldering tasks. So I decided to try upgrading my base model Third Hand. This was actually my second round of modifying the Third Hand I use for soldering. I previously adapted an aluminum heatsink that makes it easier to solder battery connectors.
Adam geeks out with Beverly Downen of Downen Creative Studios, a cosplayer who has made incredible costumes of Hippolyta from Wonder Woman, Hela from Thor Ragnarok, and Wasp from Ant Man and the Wasp. Find more of Beverly's costume builds here!
XM Studios' take on the DC universe caught our eyes at this year's New York Comic Con, and we check out their statues that put a samurai spin on Batman and rogues gallery. Here's how this collectibles company was able to design figures that put a stylistic twist into the characters we know from the comics.
We've featured Sideshow Collectibles' beautiful superhero statues before, and at New York Comic Con, we took a closer look at some of their creature work. Andy from Sideshow walks us through their new Alien and Predator sculpts, which were a collaboration with the original artists who built the creature suits for the films!
Adam embarks on his mission to explore the show floor at New York Comic Con, in his new NASA ACES spacesuit cosplay! As Adam suits up, he shows all the parts that make up this intricate replica, and describes how its build was truly a team effort. Let's follow this space man on his NYCC adventure!
Sean tests and reviews the SparkMaker FHD resin 3D printer, which is currently available as a pre-order for $250. At that price, it's an attractive low-cost resin printer, and we were happy with both its software and print quality. Let's dive into the details of how it performs!
Adam Savage's newest spacesuit replica project is the NASA Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES)! Known as the "pumpkin suit", this iconic orange pressure suit was worn by Space Shuttle astronauts since 1994. Adam's replica is finally complete and ready for its first test fitting ahead of New York Comic Con!
New York Comic Con is a massive pop culture event--the largest convention of its kind on the east coast. We were there this year to meet artists, makers, prop builders, and cosplayers, and those videos will be coming out in the coming days. While we had any downtime, we walked the show floor and found these wonderful cosplayers. They're just a small sample of the hundreds of cosplayers that showed up this year. Sorry if we didn't see you this time and hope to see you at the next convention!
Nintendo has just released its third Labo kit: a collection of cardboard vehicle peripherals that you put together yourself and play on the Switch console. Norm, Jeremy, and Kishore assemble the steering wheel, flight stick, and submarine controllers. Once again, the fun is the in the build!
Adam shows off a new model kit he recently purchased, and explains his feelings on the topic of recasting. Here's why you should support makers of garage kits and why it's such a tough business to be in. Find the kit Adam is talking about here.
We get our hands on the new Fallout 76 Pip-Boy prop replica kit from The Wand Company, and put it together for this week's Show and Tell! We like that this kit can be displayed in parts or assembled, the intricacies of its components, and potential for modding.
Adam shares the story of a recently completed project: an accurate replica of the Starchild prop seen at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The journey to making this prop involved collaborations with effects artist Steve Neill, finishing work by Tested's Kayte Sabicer, and electronics by Jeremy Williams! Keep an eye on it's hypnotic gaze!
We check out the xArm 7, the upcoming 7-axis robot arm made by UFactory, who previously released the desktop-sized uArm. UFactory's co-founder Tony walks us through the functions of their new industrial arm, shows us how it works, and explains why they built this arm for professional use.
Adam Savage welcomes puppeteer and animator Barnaby Dixon to the cave! We're big fans of Barnaby's inventive puppet design and puppeteering style, and he shares a few of his creations and shows how he brings them to life!