So, what do you do if you are feeling bored? One man built 7-metre-high replica of a Mazinger Z robot over three years, weighing a metric tonne.
The creator is a Sr. Baltasar Sánchez, who erected his monstrous robot in the garden of his chalet in Urbanización Puntal in Padul. He explained that the head and body swivel with the wind.
The inner structure is metal but the rest of the material used are recyclable. The actual exterior shell, however, is made of fibreglass, which doesn’t sound recyclable.
Baltasar has been able to count on an engineer who works for Aguas Lanjarón, as well as his brother, Joaquín, who owns a construction company.
Who drives a man to the level of… singularity. Baltasar explained that the project came about because he wanted his children to get involved with physically making something rather than sitting in front of a video game – fair enough, but seven metres high, weighing a tonne? What happened to Airfix kits or building a balsawood glider using glue and dope?
Admitted, telling your kids they’re going to build a giant Mazinger robot is bound to grab their attention, so armed with some plans he found somewhere and set about building the head. Actually, there was where it was going to stop but they thought, “what the heck…” and carried on.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of Padul, Manuel Villena Santiago, after being reassured that the town hadn’t been invaded by alien robot monsters, unpacked his suitcase and cancelled his flight – just joking! Nah, he was pretty impressed. Actually, he had been in on it beause you can’t just slap a giant robot on your porch without at least enquiring at the Town Hall if that would be OK.
(News: Padul, Valle de Lecrin, Granada, Andalucia)
Maria del Mar: thank you very much for your input, corrections and additional information. Please pass on our congratulations to your brother and all those that helped in. Who knows? One day this giant robot might become another Padul landmark together with the wooly mammoth down near the old tram station.
We try to get copies of our hard-copy version of the Seaside Gazette up to Padul and Dúrcal, so if you do find one, we hope that you enjoy it. 😉
Hello. I have read the news and I have laughed a lot, it is original but there are some mistakes. Baltasar works as a maintenance technician at the Lanjarón water factory and no engineer has helped him; he was only helped by his family, and for the assembly, he used his brother crane. It has been a challenge for the whole family, which they enjoyed a lot as you can see in the size of the robot.
Thanks for getting diffusion on this new.
Yours sincerely,
His sister,
Maria del Mar Sanchez.