To the Examiner

Just in case my project get assessed I would like the examiner to know that the killer bee was broken from viewing on the exhibition and the clown knuckle duster was stolen also on display at the exibition. I hope this does not effect my mark, Richard Price.

Killer Bee

My final weapon for a child is influenced by the spinning top and the Tomy car as they both use the mechanism of the toy to flick out a blade. So my version for the weapon for a child is to create a bee that when you squeeze it a blade will come out instead of a stinger. I achieved this by creating a box which contains a sharpened blade with a spring attached. Another flat piece of sloped wood is put on a pivot with another spring attached so that when this is pushed it will allow the spring to flick the blade out of the box but when the blade is then pushed back in it will be held in place due to the sloped catch and the pivot with a spring.

Teddy Bear Mace

Wieght and hardness is what turns the babies brick into a weapon so to develop this so that it is a weapon for a child i have created a mace but disguised as a teddy bear with a pull to talk chord as the chain and handel. I achieved this by filling a 2 litre bottle with cement and inserting a coiled piece of metal rod with a loop in the middle. I have then attached a metal rope using metal wire to secure to the loop and inserted this into the the teddy with a hole at the top to allow for the wire to come through. The rope is disguised as the pull to talk chord by covering the metal rope with the outer ring of a skipping rop then this is secured in a handel.

Clown Knuckles

The jack in a box i have transformed so that when needed spikes appear through the top and it can be used as a punching weapon. To develop this into my weapon for a child i have taken the clown theme and converted it into a knuckle duster which would be worn as a decorative ring, but when the nose is removed a sharpened spike lies beneath
giving this weapon a surprise like a jack in a box.

Weapon Toy

Now that i have designed and created numerous weapons I want to develop my idea of the toy weapon by instead of customizing existing toys into weapons but making my own weapon for children. I will take the toy weapons I have already made and use what i have added to them to create weapons for children, eg the Spike in a Box is a punching weapon, so i will use the clown theme and create some sort of knuckle duster.

Knife Car

The Tomy Car has a very complicated mechanism, once you push the button on the top of the clowns head the suspension jumps up from front to back the doors close and then it moves forward this is all controlled by springs.

For my weapon to be successful I need to choose a way to integrate it into this mechanism, so i thought that the best way would be to use a cog which drives the back wheels and hangs low to the bottom of the car. I will cut away the plastic which covers this so that it is open i will then make a track for this cog to run in and attach this to a knife made of sheet metal, I will attach bent metal rods to bottom of the car to hold the knife and track in place. Once completed when the car moves forward at the end of the mechanisms cycle a knife will also be revealed for use.

Cutting Top

The spinning top uses a corkscrew to power a mechanism causing it to spin, with a train and carriages inside spinning at a slower pace. To adapt it so that it becomes a weapon I will take advantage of the centrifugal force created by this mechanism and attach two lawn mower type blades to the bottom so that when you pump the spinning top then fling out and can be used on your enemy like a circular saw.

Brick for a Baby

Here is the second weapon I will turn into a weapon. This colourful babies brick I believe will transform very well into a weapon as it is very unsuspecting and innocent.

For this transformation i plan to stay very true to the purpose of the brick in its current state as a toy but also want it to inflict as much harm as possible. I will achieve this by replacing the soft spongy foam underneath the colourful exterior with actual bricks so that if used as a throughing implement or hand held it will cause alot of damage.

Spike in a Box

The Jack in a Box is the first toy i am going to turn into a weapon. It will still have to function as a normal Jack in a Box so I have decided that the best way to relate a weapon to it is by using the spring system which launches the clown out of the box to also launch the weapon.

So my idea is to drill holes in the top of the clowns hat and hide spikes underneath. These spikes will then be connected to a pole which goes through the rest of the clowns face and hangs just below the top red rim. A hole big enough to fit my fist will be cut in the bottom red plastic so that a wooden disc the size of tube will be inserted and will lie on the remaing red rim. A handle will be attached to the wooden disc to give you something to hold onto and then it will be attached to the spring, this will allow for the Jack in a box to operate in a normall way but when you apply pressure to the wooden disk it will force the spikes out of the clowns hat and serve as a spiked punching glove.

Selected Toys

Here are the chosen toys which I believe have the ability to be transformed into weapons as most of them possess mechanisms or are interesting in their own way. This will give me the opportunity to experiment and develop my ideas for a final outcome.

Search for Toys

After visiting all the popular toy shops such as: The Entertainer (Kingston/Staines), Bentalls, Early Learning Centre and Toy Discovery I have found that the majority of toys for sale at these shops are character based so are not really the type of toy i am looking for. Older toys which use mechanisms to move or perform a function give me alot more to work with and allow me to relate the weapon to the toy, however these older toys are much more difficult to find as most are now classed as collectables. I have been visiting charity shops, second hand shops and searching cupboards and boxes in my home and friends house and found a few suitable toys for the application of a weapon.

Initial Research

Today I have ordered Zips, Pipes and Pens: Arsenal of Improvised Weapons and Disguised Weapons: The Law Enforcement Guide to Covert Guns, Knives and Other Weapons as i believe these books will inspire me when designing the mechanism and give me ideas about what the best chose of toy would be.