Frank Ippolito Makes Things

The Calypso Twins statues For @borderlands that we made at @thingergy_inc are actually pretty big! Troy is 10’ tall, and Tyreen is 8’4”. Swipe for a picture with Randy, the big-cheese at gearbox, and another with Teller (from Penn & Teller) when he came to visit the shop last week. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw9mQwtniwN/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=13nlzh2tv4hq8

Thanks a ton to the amazing crew over here at @thingergy_inc, turning the volume up to 11 on these effing-rad statues!! And I had a blast working on them too, getting out of my office to play is a nice change of pace! We👏love👏this👏game! (at Burbank, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw8Dk-NnOB4/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1pkmx9elqfea0

The world has lost one of its finest magicians. I just heard that Johnny Thompson passed. I didn’t know his as well as others, but had a hell-of-a-great-time making a zombie movie with him a few years ago. Zeke and I directed it, with our buddy Teller, and well, hell. It was fun. The great Tomsoni was great. https://www.instagram.com/p/Buz1FduHws4/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=9w1fflblz9r7

Without a crew, the @Thingergy ship wouldn’t sail. And for 2 seasons now, we have been fortunate to work on a cool show like @theorville. So, I raise my glass and cheers to the people that put in long hours and hard work to bring @josephporro‘s vision to life! Thanks everyone! (at Burbank, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs8eiIWHIKV/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=lq9ikltevxzr

Tonight is the season premiere of @theorville on Fox! Our crew at @thingergy_inc did a ton of work for costume designer @josephporro and ACD @vintageivy on this season! Can’t wait to share all the cool things! Oh, in the photo is my pal Dave from Nasa... I brought him to visit the set one day. (at Fox Studios) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsBlhminXpG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=wdcjpcq0w5ob

So, @therickbaker posted a picture of his awesome steampunk Frankenstein today, brought back memories from that Halloween party he threw at his shop before he shut it down. My pal @raycebird and I dressed up as Assholes from “Spaceballs” to the party. Yah, it was pretty rad. Hey Rick... it’s about time to throw another party! https://www.instagram.com/p/BoO6YoxDDCI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=18dmufpfedqh9

Seems like forever ago that I painted up @dubbax3’s RAD latex mask for @testedcom. I have an itch to do some more fun stuff like this. It’s been toooooo long. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn1oY31gcQo/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=199exowmi8ykf

I built this Hypnotoad for @lanigandan’s Futurama fan film a couple years ago, and have been itching to put my copy together lately. It was masterfully sculpted by @millionaireclayboy, and I did all the rest. It was fun trying to figure out how to animate the eyes, and I think I can do it better now. Or, at least I’ll try. https://www.instagram.com/p/BnuO_NkjGS4/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=uyrneuz12h2u

In the new issue of @prosthetics_magazine there is a great spread about @thingergy_inc , and a little article about some of the things I’ve learned along the way. I hear that it will be available at some Barnes and Noble, but getting a subscription or digital subscription is what we do! Oh, the new issue has Cable from Deadpool 2 in the cover.

I haven’t done a painting in a while, so here is a watercolor I did in 1996. Next photo is my ‘95 Ducati M900 (Irene) that I want to restore to look like the painting. And next photo is the new Ducati That I just bought last week (still needs a name), because I want something to ride while I keep putting-off the restoration. Then the next photo is my dirtbike (Ellen) who I’m still trying to decide what new graphics I want on her.

All of the robot parts laid out before install- 142 parts printed in-house 2,681 hours of printing (112 days) (not including outsourced parts) all done in less than 10 weeks (thanks to having multiple printers!) Machines used at Thingergy: 3DP Workbench Raise 3D N2Plus Lulzbot TAZ6 Ultimaker 3 Extended Form 2 Moai Flashforge Creator Pro 1 Part (Facemask) outsourced to Scicon 3Dsystems SLA 10 Parts (Calfs, shins, thighs, pelvis) outsourced to Pictographics Massivit 1800 (at Fox Studio Lot) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl-_ESTjLmz/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1pimb4taprvnv

We just completed one-hell-of-a project at @thingergy_inc . In around 10 weeks we built a 14' tall statue of FOX Sports mascot Cleatus, holding a 75" TV. It took a lot of long hours to build this thing in such a short amount of time, and everyone gave it their all! Thanks to Eddie Holecko, Nick Bonamy, Kirk Tetzlaff, Ben Ploughman, Geoff Curtis, mike Cavanaugh, Rebecca Klika, Luke Saenz, Erin koskella, David Genoshe, Emily Fanuce, Nora Hewitt, Pam Hoogeboom, Nick Alvarez, Justin Gregory, Ellie Oster, Albert Shakhnazaryan, Remmington Brimmer, Scott Fields, Adam Beesley, Gary Crowl, Hanz Mulligan, Chris Alexander, Janice Tucker, Helen Cohen, Johnny Chou, Scicon, Chad Utt at West Coast Customs, and also the army of robots that were printing all of the parts- 3D Platform, Raise3D, Inc., LulzBot, Massivit 3D, Peopoly and a few others. TONS more pics on the way, and more in-depth of how we made it all on the @thingergy_inc page, so keep an eye out there if you want to see more! And if you happen to be at the Fox lot, go check it out! (at Fox Studio Lot) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl6iTXijXYF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=t79jsz2qlso

Turned my new Amazon Fire Cube (in not actually a cube) into a Hellraiser puzzle box last night. I used my @universallasersystems Laser and some brass sticker sheets. More about this on my facebook!

Bought myself a rad not-a-flamethrower from @the_boring_company. And am going to donate $1000 to the California Wildfire Relief Fund. (at Space X)

This has been my last week-or-so of late nights at the shop. Crankin’away at some curved and angled brackets for a project we have. Love this new @tormach 1100M! (at Burbank, California)

Hey! Tonight is the night! Start of my little stretch as a guest judge on @battlebots! Check it out on @discoverychannel . And if you want to hear a little more about our judging process- I talked about it on our latest “Creature Geek” podcast. (You can find on facebook, or podcast apps, Spotify and through amazon Alexa)

The @egg_sisters talked me into trying on their Reinhardt costume... I’m to fat for the torso (aka my shoulders didn’t make it into the framework). But it was fun! And fun playing in their twitch stream today!