Friday, July 3, 2009

Kobe's giant Tetsujin-28 robot nears completion

by Chris MaGee

Okay, the life-sized RX-78-2 Gundam on Odaiba Island has been completed, but don't forget that other giant robot going up in Japan this summer. Back in Februrary we told you about how a 15-metre (49-foot) tall, 50-ton statue of Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Tetsujin 28 (better known in North America as Gigantor) was going to be erected in Yokoyama's hometown of Kobe as a symbol of the city's rebirth after the tragic 1995 earthquake that took nearly 6,450 lives.

It's been several months of planning and construction, but as the YouTube video below shows the final component parts of the Tetsujin robot are just being welded and riveted together and look all the more impressive seeing that it will be a permanent feature in Kobe while Odaiba's Gundam is only meant to stand tall for this summer. You can find out more about The Kobe Tetsujin Project, as it's officially called, at it's website here. Now all I need to do is get working on my own life-sized R2-D2 that will tower over Toronto and... Wait. Maybe that won't work.

Thanks to CNet Asia for the heads up on this.

1 comment:

Marc Saint-Cyr said...

Yeah Chris, I can tell you why that R2-D2 won't work: George Luca$ and his army of battle-ready lawyers who'll take down the project before you can say "royalty!"