This incredibly detailed puppet of the Wheatley from Portal was sent into us, and we a so very happy that we’re not writing about a GLaDOS build right now.
Hewn from florist foam and covered Wonderflex and Apoxie Sculpt, Wheatley pretty much tows the line as far as cosplay and prop builds go. What makes Wheatley interesting is his movement mechanism – he’s actually a hand-controlled puppet. Portal quotes come a small sound module that plays 10 Wheatley quotes. The control system has ten buttons and allows for the display of a lot more emotion than we would expect from a talking sphere. We really like the completely manual solution to an articulated robot eyeball – a really great, simple solution to a complex problem.
Like the portal turret and the adorable and friendly companion cube, we’re really impressed with the build quality of Wheatley. Yet again we’re left wondering why Valve doesn’t license some awesome toys like their office sentry.
Check out the intelligence dampening sphere in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzG94ct2d5k&w=470]
Did not play Portal 2, but the first one was awesome.
That said, the finish quality on this puppet build is fantastic. The texture and small details are hard to believe considering the medium used to create it. This would be about 100x harder to make with fiberglass or vacuum plastic. Nice work keeping it simple and still making a great end product.
Whoa! Great build. I want one…
Nifty. I want to get P2, but there are other things I’d rather spend the money on for the moment, I’ll wait until the price comes down.
Just FYI, Steam dropped the price to $29 last week.
Wow! Amazing quality and detail. Great articulation. I agree with spork on the medium of choice. Applause!
Very, very well done! I love the article picture… Perfect.
Shocking bit of craftsmanship there. The only thing that gave it away as not a cg shot was the book was too detailed.
Wow, I’m loving this ! Also, the cake is a lie ;P
love to see space puppet
Dude! you are a god! who can ignore such an opinionated thing.
now just to send it to space