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Collin Royster wheels the lifesize Darth Vader figure he made into the Preston Arts Center on Dec. 26, 2019, in preparation for an exhibit, titled Collin Royster: Out of His Mind, that will be open Jan. 9 through March 7, 2020, with a special public sneak preview Jan. 3-4.(Photo: Photo by Chuck Stinnett)

Pity the fool who somehow finds himself lost at night in the bowels of a certain factory on the edge of town.

If he stumbled into a toolroom seldom seen by visitors to Roysters Production Machining, the beam of his flashlight might shine onto scenes of unspeakable horror: A helmeted alien warrior with a menacing expression, reptilian dreadlocks and clawed fingers.

Or, over there, a 10-foot-tall masked and robed figure clutching a pair of ornate sickles that look like they could disembowel a man.

And if the poor fellow managed to escape into the next room, he might find himself staring into the face of an evil, grinning clown. Its enough to cause a tender soul to lose ones mind.

Heres the good news: You can see all this and more for yourself, although in the relatively safe confines of the Preston Arts Center on the Henderson Community College campus.

They are the work of 32-year-old Hendersonian Collin Royster, a science-fiction movie and videogame enthusiast who isnt content to merely view monsters and space warriors on a screen; he recreates them as life-size and highly realistic figures.

Approximately 50 of his creations will be on display as part of a free exhibit, titled Collin Royster: Out of His Mind, that will be open to the public from Jan. 9 through March 7, 2020, with special public sneak peeks this coming Friday and Saturday. There will also be a free lecture and demonstration of how he creates 3D-printed objects on Jan. 25.

As for the alien creature described above, thats Roysters rendition of the predator from the 2004 Alien vs. Predator movie.

Collin Royster sizes up the Star Wars B1 battle droid he created using software and manufactured with a 3D plastic printer over 1,100 hours. Ohio Valley Art League Executive Director Jordyn Myracle, who curated the upcoming Collin Royster: Out of His Mind exhibit at the Preston Arts Center, particularly admires who realitically he weathers and distresses his creation to reflect the toil of the battles they wage in science fiction movies and videogames.(Photo: Photo by Chuck Stinnett)

The 10-foot-tall robed figure wielding the deadly blades? Thats Malthael, the fallen Angel of Death from the "Diablo III: Reaper of Souls" videogame.

And that diabolical clown is the bust of the murderous Sweet Tooth that sits atop his ice cream truck-turned-battle wagon in the "Twisted Metal" videogame series. Royster created the clowns face from CNC-machined Styrofoam creating a computer image of Sweet Tooth that guided a milling machine to precisely carve it into a 3D image.

Those creations arent alone. Royster has created a full-size stormtrooper, battle droid, speeder bike and Darth Vader from the Star Wars movie series as well as creatures from other movies and videogames, plus some creations from his own rich imagination.

The exhibit is presented by the Preston Arts Center with funding by the Henderson Area Arts Alliance. I was made aware of Collins work several years ago by multiple people who felt he should have an exhibit locally, center Director Eric Kerchner said. When I met him, I found him to be a great example of local talent.

I asked Collin to do an exhibit because I wanted to present something completely different in the galleries and foyer, Kerchner said. I feel that exhibits are best when they engage the viewer on different levels, and are accessible to everyone.

Collion Royster reproduced the extraterrestial predator from the movie Alien vs. Predator. The creatures are warriors who come to Earth to hunt dangerous alien creatures as a rite of passage.(Photo: Photo by Chuck Stinnett)

The Arts Alliance is proud to support and promote local artists every chance we get, said Alex Caudill, executive director of HAAA. Collin is exceptionally talented and certainly works in unique mediums. Weve awarded nearly $15,000 this year in affiliate grant funds so were honored to support this exhibit at the Preston Arts Center. The exhibit will be a great tie in with George Orwells 1984, presented by Aquila Theatre, on Feb. 21

Kerchner began recruiting Jordyn Myracle, executive director of the Ohio Valley Art League, more than a year ago to curate the exhibit. She and Grace Henderson a year ago curated a National Geographic exhibit of animal photography called The Photo Ark at the center that drew more than 3,000 people.

I wanted to follow that up with an equally exciting exhibit that captured the viewer visually but also opened a door to a world they might not be aware of, Kerchner said.

Honestly, Im not into it, Myracle said of the sci-fi movies and games that inspire Royster. But I have mad respect for the amount of work hes put into it.

Its been interesting and very cool to get to know him, she said. Hes passionate about it; thats very respectable to me.

Many of the shows that Myracle curates for OVAL feature paintings, many of them lovely.

But with Roysters creations, shes working with, well, monsters.

I think its cool that its dark, she said. Its different. Its nice to kind of mix it up. Its not just your typical paintings, even though I love them as much.

Myracle is particularly attracted to the battle droid, in part because it doesnt wear a robe or other costume so you can see all of its robot parts in detail. I think its very cool and well done, she said.

Royster is a member of a community known as makers artisans whose creative process involves technologies such as metalworking, 3D printing, computer numeric control machining, electrical systems, robotics and more. Many such hobbyists must rely on special workspaces known variously as makerspaces, hacklabs and hackerspaces, often operated as nonprofit enterprises or sometimes university labs that provide access to technology that few hobbyists can afford.

Royster, though, has a special advantage: He is a third-generation member of a tool-and-die production family that owns Roysters Machine Shop and Royster Production Machining (aka, RPM) in Henderson. Much of his craft has been performed in the toolshop at RPM, where he works as the process manager.

In past years, I would get off the night shift at 12 (midnight). I like to stay up, so I would stay up until 3 or 4 (a.m.) making my own stuff.

Hes grown up around making real-life objects out of dreamed-up things; the family has made its living doing it for customers. But in his spare time, Collin Royster does it to express his passion for pop culture.

I know metal, he said. Its all I know since the foundation of Roysters Machine Shop is creating molds from metal.

Well maybe. To be sure, he started working in metal. But when he turned his attention to creating the gigantic axe used by the executioner in the Resident Evil franchise, metal turned out to not be his friend.

A 10-foot-tall rendition of Malthael, the sickle-wielding Angel of Death from the Diablo videogame series, towers above a shop at the Roysters Production Machining plant here. The creature stands upon a modified electric wheelchair; creator Collin Royster can disappear inside the robe and drive it around using a foot pedal and toggle switches.(Photo: Photo by Chuck Stinnett)

I made a metal axe, and it ended up weighing 90 pounds, making it nearly impossible to wield, he said.

It was a stupid idea, but it was all I had. Thats when friends taught me about foam. After he learned how to work with such a lightweight material, he re-created an axe that stands taller than a man but weighs only 20 pounds, making it eminently wieldable.

For such reasons, Royster has had to master a whole suite of talents. I dont even know how many skills he employs to make the props and costumes he enjoys. They include design, mold making, machining, welding, 3D printing, painting, airbrushing, automotive paint spraying, electrical and mechanical work, working with fabric and leather and a metal casting process known as sand casting.

A very talented dude, Darrell Littrell, owner of Sunrise Tool & Die and Sunron International as well as a Royster family friend, said admiringly of Collin Royster.

Royster began in 2006 by creating a life-size re-creation of Darth Vader and has been creating ever since.

One key is using software for design. He leans on a software program called ZBrush for producing what he refers to as organic designs, such as for sculpting faces. But for industrial-strength computer-aided machining, he turns to Mastercam.

After perfecting the design, much of what he creates is made using 3D printing using a machine to work from a computer-aided design (CAD) model to apply layer after layer of plastic material to create a three-dimensional object. He got started in the technology in 2015.

I got heavy into it, he said. His largest 3D printer so far measures 20-by-20-by-20-inches.

Creating the numerous components for the Star Wars B1 battle droid involved 1,100 hours of 3D printing with hard plastics. I took him to Dragon Con in Atlanta and posed him by the pool at the hotel sunbathing at a cabana in a tropical-themed shirt.

The Malthael figure isnt a mere reproduction. The creature stands upon a modified electric wheelchair. Royster can climb inside the robe, strap himself in, insert his arms inside the creatures sleeves and drive the towering monster around.

He did just that at a Dragon Con show in Atlanta. He emerged from a freight elevator and paused a short distance away. His Malthael drew a crowd of curious onlookers maybe 200, Royster guesses.

They couldnt decide if I was a robot, he said. But when he raised his rams menacingly and began moving toward them, the crowd melted away in terror. Its a fond memory for him.

Royster works with other mechanical contraptions as well. The Sweet Tooth battle wagon is modified from a second-hand Fischer-Price Power Wagon a battery-powered plastic vehicle that kids can drive. It was originally designed to travel only a few miles per hour.

But Royster and his father, Robby, soup up such contraptions, upgrading them with 36-volt electric motors that he said can propel than at up to 30 miles per hour. We have a racing team called Twisted Plastic, Collin Royster said.

While Royster is known to others who attend conventions and fairs around the country for like-minded makers, the exhibit here will be something of a hometown eye-opener.

This is going to be weird for me because this community has never really seen this side of me, Royster said.

Collin Royster modified a Fischer-Price Power Wheel into the dingy ice cream truck-turned-battle wagon that the evil clown Sweet Tooth drives in the Twisted Metal videogame series. Royster also souped up the sleepy childrens toy with a 36-volt motor that he said can propel the vehicle at up to 30 miles per hour.(Photo: Photo by Chuck Stinnett)

Despite the wide variety of his work that will be on display, he hasnt exhausted his creative energy or imagination yet. I want to get into BattleBots, the televised combat between armored, remote-controlled robots that are typically built low to the ground (think murderous Roombas) and equipped with various weapons hammers, spinning blades, even electric shocks to battle in an arena featuring its own hazards.

It could open a whole new arena for his creative output.

Whatever you can dream up, you can make, Royster said.

Or, at least he can.

What: Collin Royster: Out of His Mind exhibit of reproductions of creatures and items from science-fiction movies, videogames and other inspirations.

Where: Preston Arts Center, 2660 S. Green St., Henderson.

When: Jan. 9-March 7, 2020, with a special public sneak preview from 5-8 p.m. this Friday, Jan. 3, and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4.

Also, a free lecture by Royster and a demonstration of his techniques and 3D printing will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25.

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Hendersonians creations inspired by sci-fi, games to be on free exhibit here - The Gleaner