Crochet Locutus

Recently the two part episode of Star Trek the Next Generation called  Best of Both Worlds was released on DVD.  If you are a fan of Star Trek :TNG you would remember this episode as the one were Captain Picard is assimilated by the Borg and becomes Locutus.  As I was watching these episodes I was inspired to make a crochet Locutus.  My Locutus has a working laser on the side of his head and his arm prosthetic has a small motor that spins a claw (see video below).

Yarn weight 4:

• Black
• Off-white colour
• Small amount of grey yarn or embroidery thread (for eyebrows)

Other:

• 2.25mm crochet hook
• Yarn needles
• 5mm doll eyes and small piece of grey felt
• Black felt
• Silver and gold metallic paint
• Black wire
• Glue

Electronics

• Small laser pointer
• 3V (CR2016) and two 1.5V button battery (LR44H and LR1120)
• Black wire
• Battery holder
• Electric tooth brush (I used a Oral-B Cross Action)
• Needle nose pliers, soldering iron

Here is the nomenclature that I used for the crochet pattern (these are US stitches see link for conversion to UK):

            Rnd         round
            ch(s)       chain stitch(s)
            sc            single crochet
            fp            front post
            hdc          half double crochet
            bp           back post
            sl st         slip stitch
            st(s)        stitch(s)
            sc2tog    decrease by crocheting 2 stitches together

Head

With off-white yarn.
Rnd 1: Magic Circle 6
Rnd 2: 2sc in each (12sts)
Rnd 3: 2sc in first sc, sc in next, repeat (18sts)
Rnd 4-8: sc in sc (18sts)
Rnd 9: sc2tog in first, sc in next, repeat (12sts). Stuff head.
Rnd 10: sc2tog in each
Fasten off. Leave tail.

Torso

With black yarn.
Rnd 1: Magic Circle 6
Rnd 2: 2sc in each (12sts)
Rnd 3: 2sc in first, sc in next, repeat (18sts)
Rnd 4: 2sc in first, sc, sc, repeat (24sts)
Rnd 5-11: sc in sc (24sts)
Rnd 12: bpsc in each sc (24sts)
Rnd 13: sc2tog in first sc, sc, sc, sc, repeat (18sts)
Rnd 14 sc2tog in first sc, sc, sc, repeat (12sts). Stuff torso
Rnd 15: sc2tog in rest
Fasten off. Weave in ends.

Arms:

First arm:
Start with off-white yarn and *switch to black.
Rnd 1: Magic Circle 4
Rnd 2: 2sc in sc (8sts)
Rnd 3-12: *change colour, sc in sc (8sts)
Stuff it. Fasten off. Leave tail.

If you don't want to make the prosthetic arm make two of the above.

Second arm:
With  black.
Rnd 1: Magic Circle 4
Rnd 2: 2sc in sc (8sts)
Rnd 3-8: *change colour, sc in sc (8sts)
Stuff it. Fasten off. Leave tail.
(you may need to adjust length to accomadate prosthetic arm)

Legs:

Using the black yarn, make two.
Rnd 1: Magic Circle 4
Rnd 2: 2sc in each (8sts)
Rnd 3-5: sc in sc (8sts)
Rnd 6: 4hdc in next 4sc, sc in sc in rest (8sts)
Rnd 7-18: sc in sc (8sts)
Stuff it. Fasten off. Leave tail.

Sew each of the parts to the body.  Head on top, feet on bottom etc.  The shorter arm should be on the right side.

Nose
chs 2
Rnd 1: 2sc in 2nd ch(s) from hook
Fasten off. Leave tail.    

Attach the nose to his face and add the doll eyes.  I thought the 5mm eyes were a bit small for the head so I used two circles of grey felt under the plastic eyes. Use the grey yarn to stitch eyebrows above the eyes.

I used some images I found on Google to determine what his armor looks like.  I cut out the pieces from black felt and painted them with silver metallic craft paint. For the abdominal armor I embroidered lines with black thread to imitate abdominal muscles.

To make the Borg arm I needed a small dc motor.  I took the motor from an Oral-B toothbrush (here is some instructions on how to get the motor unit out:https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Better-Bristlebot/ ).  I extracted the whole unit from the toothbrush which includes the switch motor and battery holder.  I modified the battery holder from an AAA to hold a small button/cell battery.  I then painted the unit black.  I attached two small metal pieces (to form a claw) with Super Glue to the spinning part of the motor.  I then stuffed the battery end of the unit into the crochet arm leaving the switch accessible.

For the head piece I layered two pieces of felt and added some silver metallic paint around the edge.  I attached two loops of black wire by sticking the ends into the felt and gluing them in place.  I painted the hot glue gold then sewed the piece onto the side of his head.  I also sewed another small piece of felt to the other side of his head.

I used a small laser pointer cat toy which can be found at a dollar store.  Caitlinsdad has some great instructions on how to extract the laser module in step 2 of this instructable :https://www.instructables.com/id/Star-Trek-USS-Enterprise-Phaser-Red-Shirt/.  I extracted my laser module leaving the switch intact).  I connect it to the battery holder with black wires long enough to stretch from his head to his pants.  I solder the wires in place.  The laser requires 4.5v to operate so I used a 3v CR2016 and a LR1120.  I was able to fit both into the battery holder (one on top of the other).  I stuffed the battery holder into his pant armor and sewed the felt around it to keep it in place.  I then sewed the laser to the head (looping the thread around the laser module).

To finish off I added some more armor pieces to the arms and shoulders and added black wire around the arms and legs.