Daniel
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I didn't know the original "Lilo and Stitch" movies and series from the 2000s until now. However, I watched the 2025 remake in the cinema and was thrilled by the character of Stitch. In addition, I was also approached by the community that someone would have to build an animatronic stitch and whether that wouldn't be something for me. I actually had to admit that it was a pretty good idea. In addition, after Grogu, PIP Droid, Grogu 2 and Nix, it would once again be a character who would not come from the Star Wars world. Ok, I still haven't escaped 😉 the Disney franchise with it.
There is also a making-of playlist for the project on my YouTube channel:
A toy as a basis
Since I had enough to do with silicone and fur with the previous figures, I had little desire to create a figure from scratch again, to build moulds etc. Fortunately, there is a life-size Stitch hand puppet available as a toy that already has movable eyes. Similar to my first animatronic Grogu, I was therefore able to concentrate on visually preparing the figure a bit and installing servos.
The Purchased Hand Puppet
Conversion of the hand puppet
Here you can watch three time-lapse videos to see how I converted Stitch's hand puppet into an animatronic Stitch:
Spice up eyes and mouth
The original hand puppet was a bit too simple for my taste in terms of coloring:
- The eyes were dark gray, matte color with a painted white reflection.
- The teeth were very even in color and also a bit too matte.
- The tongue was also dull instead of moist to shine
- The nose was dark blue and not shiny either.
Overall, the look had more of a comic-like appearance.
But this could be made more natural with a little paint and gloss varnish. All you had to do was paint the eyes and nose glossy black. Tongue and teeth also got a gloss varnish and I brushed the necks of the teeth a little dirty.
I like the result much better for a live action:
Head redesign
Installing servos
In order to be able to animate Stitch's eyes, ears and mouth, a total of 5 servos had to be installed. To do this, the head had to be completely disassembled.
Restructuring the body
In order to install the electronics and servos in the body, I completely removed the inside of the hand puppet. As a result, the character's body is no longer as soft and cuddly as the original. But nobody is supposed to cuddle the animatronic Stitch, so it wasn't so important for me in this case.
Neck and neck
For the neck, the Stitch uses the proven 3-servo construction again, which I have already used with Grogu and Nix. This allows the head to be moved in all directions without putting too much strain on the servos.
The pink sports car
The basis of the sports car is a ride-on car that I bought second-hand. Except for the body, however, everything is basically new. The chassis consists of a sturdy aluminium frame and the wheels each contain a brushless motor - so it has 4-wheel drive.
This allows the car to turn on the spot, as can be seen in this video:
The chassis of the sports car
The tires are printed from TPU so that they have enough grip even on slippery surfaces.
Test print of a tire with green TPU that I had left over from the Grogu project
Stitch in action, but still in the car prototype and sitting way too high
At the same time, the car is also the resonating body for the sound system, which I installed from an old amplifier box. To make sure the body is closed, I closed it at the bottom with Worbla plates.
In addition, some electronics had to be accommodated, such as two ESP32, a sound module, batteries, amplifiers, several voltage converters and a 360° lidar scanner.
With the scanner, the sports car can detect obstacles and automatically avoid them when it is driving autonomously. You can also control the car manually via a 433 MHz remote control.
