Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Haro-Shaped Speaker

I love all versions of Haro and when I saw the white one in GQuuuuuuX that doubles as a speaker, my reaction was "gimme that.”

After I built it I learned that there is an official one released by Bandai… mou, dou natte mo iiya.

1. 6" clear plastic ball
2. Sony SRS-5 speakers (purchased from a thrift shop, any unpowered speaker would work)
3. counterweight (I used some spare bolts in a plastic bag)
4. painter's tape
5. sandpaper
6. cardboard
7. plastic mesh canvas
8. 5mm craft foam
9. adhesive vinyl
10. acrylic paint
11. hot glue
12. Gorilla tape
13. isopropyl alcohol
14. optional: cabled knit beanie with giant pom-pom of your choice

Tools:

1. rotary tool for cutting the plastic
2. hot glue gun
3. scissors
4. awl
5. Sharpie/dry-erase marker

I first used painter's tape to mark out on the ball where I wanted to place the cutouts for the speakers/Haro's "ears." I then used the center hole of the painter's tape to trace out the shape of the cutout with a Sharpie/alcohol marker.

The Sharpie ink will wipe off cleanly with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, but you could also use a dry-erase marker if you don't have a Sharpie or rubbing alcohol available.

On the top half of the sphere, using the rotary tool, I cut out the circles where the speakers should go. I then used sandpaper to even out the cuts and remove the plastic burrs.

On the bottom half of the sphere, I cut out a rectangular opening large enough for the plug of the speakers' auxiliary cord to pass through.

To attach the speakers to the outer shell, I cut out "frames" from cardboard that could be folded up against the curved surface of the shell. The inner circle was small enough that the speaker would not fall through, then notched to fit against the curvature of the speaker shape. I cut the outer circumference slightly larger than the hole in the shell so that it could be attached around the edge.

Looking at Haro's concept art, I think the speaker is actually a paper cone with a yellow interior circle, but I wanted to instead use a cover painted to look like the image instead. I traced circles out of plastic mesh canvas that would fit inside the shell cutouts, then painted them black with a yellow interior circle.

Paint the inner circle of the cardboard frame black, so that the brown cardboard is not visible on the finished project.

Using a very small amount of hot glue, I secured the speakers to the cardboard frame, making sure the cable was routed through what would be the "bottom" of the frame.

Then, on top of the speaker, I again used hot glue sparingly to attach the plastic mesh cover to the cardboard frame. I didn't want to apply glue directly to the speakers to avoid damaging them.

Using acrylic paint, I painted the inside of the plastic ball in order to preserve the shiny finish on the outside.

You can see in the photos that I ended up painting several layers of white, followed by a blue-gray. This is because the white was not perfectly opaque, so the blue-gray on the inside blocked more light from entering the plastic ball.

Since the paint job was on the inside, it didn't need to be particularly neat.

To prevent the end of the aux cord from falling inside the shell, I cut a rectangle of 5mm craft foam to put over the hole where the cord comes out of the Haro. I used an awl to poke a hole in the center of the foam, then cut a slit to insert the cord. With the cord threaded through, I used hot glue to attach the foam to the inside of the plastic shell.

This way the cord can be pulled out and retracted back into the shell for storage, and the plug will not fall into the ball.

In hindsight, I should only have used the Gorilla tape to attach the cardboard speaker frames to the inside of the shell. The speakers I used are very lightweight and a few pieces of tape would have been enough to secure them firmly.

As it was, I used a combination of PVA glue for a more secure hold and then hot glue for a temporary hold, but this actually damaged the paint on the inside of Haro's shell such that it was visible from the exterior. I don't particularly mind the end result (it ended up looking like subtle weathering), but if you want the “brand-new” look for your Haro, just the Gorilla tape should be sufficient.

Even though the speakers are light, you will need to add a counterweight to the bottom of the Haro so that it won't roll away or try to turn itself upside down. In my case, I used a small plastic bag filled with old bolts. Initially I wanted to secure it to the shell, but leaving it loose actually lets you "pose" Haro depending on where the counterweight sits at the bottom of the sphere.

I did some minor cable management on the speaker cords, then assembled the two halves of the sphere together.

For the eyes, I used adhesive vinyl meant for making decals. Typically Haro has oval-shaped eyes, but the GQuuuuuuX Haro has circular eyes in some scenes and art; this is the one I went with I cut out the vinyl shapes by hand with scissors.

For the mouth, I sketched in the line with Sharpie, then used the rotary tool to carve the line. I filled it in with black acrylic paint. (I did not draw the line all the way around just because I did not think I could keep it symmetrical all the way around; and besides, this Haro wears a hat, so it would be covered up in the back anyway!).

Plug in your MP3 player of choice, add the optional beanie, and enjoy!