Animatronic Dinosaur Skull

thingiverse

The project was my son's idea - a dinosaur skull that sings 'Jingle Bells'. The lower jaw is controlled by a servo mounted in the base. Watch it in action here: http://youtu.be/Z-ojvIRqI_Q. It's undubbed, with circuit board visible here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hoYsfMroyg. To create the skull, I brushed its surface with acetone and connected the pieces using rubber bands. Scrap ABS plastic was dissolved in a jar with acetone overnight, then mixed with glow-in-the-dark pigment for a bone-like texture. After assembling the skull, I carefully cut the bottom jaw from the upper piece. The lower box was finished by brushing with acetone and sanding smooth; oil paints were used to give it a wood look, using acetone as the medium. A few coats of spray lacquer made it shiny. The jaw connector was printed in two pieces and joined with acetone. Stand and skull mounts were connected, and servo motor installed in the bottom of the box, with wire cut to length and connected to the servo.