So yesterday I got this crazy idea after rewatching One Piece – what if I could make Luffy’s Gear 2 arm? You know, the steamy red one? Figured it’d be fun to mess around with some junk I had lying around.
Digging Through My Pile of Crap
First thing – raided my garage boxes like a pirate looking for treasure. Found:
- An old phone power bank (dead but might work?)
- Broken fog machine from Halloween three years ago
- Cheapo plastic Halloween arm cast (the white one)
- Random red spray paint can (half empty)
- A crapload of wires and duct tape
Making This Mess Work
Sprayed that arm cast red – looked terrible. Paint dripped everywhere and now my patio looks like a crime scene. Then I cut open the fog machine to rip out the pump and tiny heater thingy. Tried connecting it to the power bank… nothing. Cussed out loud. Realized the stupid power bank was totally dead – plugged it in overnight like an idiot.
Next morning, soldered wires from the fog parts to the power bank. Taped it all inside the painted arm cast. Looked like Frankenstein threw up inside it. Used hot glue like a madman to stick everything down – burned my thumb. That hurt like hell.
The Big Test (Spoiler: It Didn’t Work Right)
Held my breath and pushed the fog button. A tiny sad puff of steam came out. Not the epic Gear 2 effect at all. More like Luffy farted. Played with the wires and gave the whole thing some shaky smacks… then suddenly STEAM EVERYWHERE! Got way too excited, knocked over my coffee. Stupid. Now my table’s wet AND foggy.
Kinda Worked, Mostly Broke
So it sorta worked for like ten minutes. Then smelled burning plastic and the stupid thing shut down. Took it apart – wires had melted together. Probably shouldn’t have used duct tape near heat, huh? Now it’s a steaming pile of junk again. But hey, it looked semi-cool for a hot minute!
Honestly? Total waste of a Saturday. But watching that arm spew smoke made me grin like an idiot. Might try again if I ever get paid from that YouTube thing. Still waiting on that damn check…
