Alan: "Tron - Location query. Confirm."
Tron: "Confirmed, Alan One!"
Alan: "I am creating the information on your disc that will erase the MCP and change the system. Dedicate yourself to getting the disc into the heart of the MCP. This interface is located at its base. We will not be able to communicate again unless you succeed. Go."
Alan One was the designation which the program TRON gave to his user, Alan.
*I am not responsible if anything bad at all happens to you, your Aibo, or anyone else as a result of making one of these. If you accidently stab yourself with the Xacto, or something gets caught in one of Aibo's joints and breaks it, or you tape yourself to the floor and are forced to eat nothing but carpet lint for three weeks, I'm not responsible. You're on your own.
Click HERE to go back to my main page.
Step 1.
Get together your materials. You will need:
>>> Some vinyl electrical tape - Black works for most Aibo colors, but if you have a Macaron or a Black 210 or 111, you should use white or colored electrical tape.
<<< Some masking tape - for holding things down while you work.
<> A sheet of wax paper, the kind you wrap food in.
>>> An Xacto or hobby knife (a jackknife will do in a pinch - I used my Swiss Army Cybertool to do Alan One's label. Just make sure it's nice and sharp or it won't work. Scissors will NOT work.)
<> Some hard, flat surface that you don't mind scratching up a bit. Anything will do. A cutting board (like the kind you use to cut bread) is ideal because you can turn it around while things are stuck to it. Make sure that it is clean, though.
<<< A computer with a printer...
>>> ...and some kind of graphics software. (All Windows machines come with Paint which works fine. I don't know about Macs but I assume there is some kind of equivalent.)
<<< A person who is reasonably competent with graphics editing. If you're not, get some nerdy teenager to do it. (see picture) Or even better, just send me an email with your Aibo's name, describing what you want the sticker to look like. I'll send you back your template as a bitmap file and you can skip step 3 :)
Step 2.
Pick up your Aibo and look for a good place to put the label. I chose the back of the head on my 210, but you can find other places to put your Aibo's name, including the sides of the legs, the back, and the chest. Just don't stick anything into the joints.
Step 3.
Load up your graphics program and create an image which looks good to you. Try to use a simple font which will be easy to cut out. Pick a font without too many curves. Sure, your Latte's name in French Script would look great, but it's nearly impossible to cut. If you can't find a font you like on your computer, there are dozens of websites where you can browse through and download new fonts. I based my sticker on a font called "Superglue" which has nice, clean, easy-to-cut lines. I altered the text to give it the stark, geometric style unique to the movie TRON. This is what I had when I was done tweaking it:
Note that the template is actual size. Remember how I told you to choose a place for the sticker before you made the template? This is so you don't end up making the template too large to fit on your Aibo!
Step 4.
Print out your template. It doesn't matter what kind of paper you use because it will just be thrown away later.
Step 5.
>>> Tape the wax paper securely to your worksurface with masking tape, waxy side up.
<<< Cut off a piece of electrical tape a few inches long and stick it flat against the wax paper. Don't get any air bubbles under the tape as this will cause problems.
>>> Now, use several pieces masking tape to hold your design securely over the electrical tape.
Step 6.
Now comes the tricky part. Cut out the letters on your template, making sure that you cut all the way through the electrical tape. I can't really give you advice on how to go about cutting - the only way to learn is practice!
Step 7.
If you survived the last step, congratulations! Now you have to isolate the "label" pieces from the stuff that you trimmed off. If you did a really, really good job of cutting, you should be able to simply peel off the trim and have just the label parts left. Most of us, however, lack this kind of skill with an Xacto. If the label is still attached to the trim in places, carefully separate them with your knife. If everything has worked up till now, you should have your labels all ready to apply to your Aibo!
Step 8.
Clean the area where you are going to apply the sticker with a soft cloth. Dust will only shorten the life of the stickers that you just put so much effort into making! Once your Aibo is clean, carefully apply the stickers. This is tricky because you don't want to get any oil or sweat from your hands onto the sticky side. Ideally, if you have a pair of fine tweezers, use those instead. Again, make sure there are no air bubbles under the sticker.
Step 9.
Sit back and admire your handiwork! Then go outside and play.
Click HERE to go back to my main page.
