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Animatronic Figures

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:07 am
by Armortek
I have been contacted by one of our customers, Mr Barrett, (who is not yet registered on the forum), to tell me about a company he has found supplying Animatronic figures.

They are Churchill Creations:

http://www.churchillcreations.co.uk/animatronics.html

He is going to order a unit and will let me know how he gets on and I will pass the information on.

Gill

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:40 pm
by Mick Regan
Hi Gill

Churchill Creations have been around for a few years now. I have been running 2 four motion figures for 3 years with no problems. I have a short clip of them working on Youtube at

Regards

Mick

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:41 pm
by Armortek
thanks Mick

Good to hear that are a reliable supplier, I will let Mr Barrett know

Gill

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:08 pm
by John Fitzsimons
I came across these a few days ago also. Will be interested to see report on them. They look very good and seem to sell as a kit or complete with varying degrees of motion. If any body can advise on how they work I would love to know. Are they connected to the tank power or totally separate. What else apart from the figure do you need and are they easy to set up?

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:28 pm
by Tim Bowman
Hi Gill and John

Like Mick, I have had four of the figures for about two years. They are very afordable and offer all the movement needed. I run my figures on their own power and own switch along with the bow MG movement.

All you need is a control board and the micro servos, both easy to find. The control boards I use operate six servos independently at the same time and are easily programed on your PC using a USB cable and free downloadable software.

Service and help from Churchil Creations is excellent. Highly recommend the kits as an affordable'do it yourself, way to have moving figures.

Best regards
Tim

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:25 pm
by John Fitzsimons
Thanks Tim. Another thing to save for.

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 10:48 am
by Dennis Jones
Does anybody know of a programmable controller board available in the UK for figures. They seem to be a bit expensive from the states or is there a diy alternative ?

Dennis.

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:12 am
by Adrian Harris
I think the Pololu Maestro is probably the favourite to use for these figures. 6 independant servo channels, which you configure through a USB interface from the PC.

http://www.coolcomponents.co.uk/catalog ... cts_id=500

Adrian.

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:16 am
by Dennis Jones
Thanks Adrian, That looks good.

Dennis.

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 12:16 pm
by John Fitzsimons
I have contacted churchhills and got a fast response and helpful information about servos and boards required. I will certainly try them. They recommend the board mentioned earlier as the best value. Think they said it's about £22 for 6 channel.

Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:42 pm
by Churchill Creations
Hi all,

Sym here from Churchill Creations. Thanks to Mick and Tim for the kind words, I'm glad to see the little fellas are still earning their keep. :D

I've posted a How To thread in the Craftmens Market Section, please take a look - http://www.armortek.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 6293#26293

Many Thanks,
Sym.

Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:48 pm
by Paul Morris
Hello Sym.

Nice to see you on board, its a great forum and I am still using one of your figures in the turret of my white Tiger and he's been in there a few years now with no trouble.
Cheers Paul.

Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 4:03 pm
by Churchill Creations
Hey Paul, good to hear from you mate. I hope you and the young lady are well.

Yes they seem a nice bunch on here.

Cheers,
Sym.

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:51 pm
by Marcel de Groene
I can only confirm there reputation. I have one figure for a couple of years, custom built by sym according to my wishlist. Alway good communications. So, AAAA Plus(the Ebay way) :lol:

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:09 pm
by Churchill Creations
Thank you Marcel, you are a Gent.

Until this thread was started we rarely received feedback, I suppose that could be seen as either good or bad, at least there were no complaints! It's nice to hear so many people are happy with the little fellas! :D

Sym.