Meet the Shermanator and the mad scientist-mechanic who built it

If you dare to step into Mike Fobes’ garage in Auburn, you’ll find the workspace is filled with outlandish, somewhat spooky mechanical creations.

But beware: Not all of them are entirely safe.

“I get a little crazy at times,” laughed Fobes, an automotive instructor at Renton Technical College for nearly 17 years. “I don’t like being normal. Normal is boring.”

Fobes custom built a 12-foot long, three-wheeled motorcycle named Twisted Evil, complete with a chrome devil’s tail.

“She is powered by an RX-7 rotary engine,” he said. “Way more power than the bike can handle. Way more power than I can handle.”

Related: Seahawks’ Richard Sherman expecting first child any day now

Not far from the motorcycle was the MonoWheel – basically a large motorized tire. The driver sits inside and steers by leaning.

Fobes only took one ride in the MonoWheel. “I started going down hill and I got a little too fast. I tried to tap the break, and my buddy who was with me said I made one-and-a-half revolutions before I got thrown out. I refuse to ride it again. It scared me, and it takes a lot to scare me.”

The road-legal Coffin Car is a huge hit at car shows. Its headlights are life-size human skulls.

Working with mechanical things came early to Mike Fobes.

“Ever since I can remember, when I was a little kid, I’ve always enjoyed taking things apart,” he said. “When I was young I couldn’t always put them back together. But I did have fun. It’s just something I’ve always been interested in.”

His father was an artist and builder, and Fobes said craftsmanship was important in the Fobes household.

“We have so much more than we did when my parents were growing up. We had just enough money to pay the bills. For other things, we would build.”

That’s why he also enjoys teaching.

“I enjoy passing along the skills,” said Fobes. “Quite a few of my students have that same passion for mechanical things. You’re always going to need a mechanic. When times get tough, we’re still working.”

Fobes began his transformation from mechanic to mad scientist when he used to create haunted houses at Halloween. At first, he and his wife Karen had trouble attracting visitors.

“For that first week, it was kind of dead,” Fobes joked. “We got a total of three trick-or-treaters.”

That’s when Mike was inspired to pump up the volume on the decorations. He started by building a mechanical dragon, named Puff, for his roof.

“He spurts about a 10 to 15 foot flame every 12 seconds. I almost had rear-end collisions out in front of the house,” he said.

The popularity of Puff and his coffin car took Mike in a new creative direction. He did less car restoration work, and began building more “wild things.”

He’s created a bevy of oddball robots and vehicles since, including mechanical bar stools crafted from a re-purposed power chair, outfitted with an electric motor, offroad tires and a joystick.

But it’s hard to miss the crowning jewel in this garage full of oddities. You certainly notice its booming mechanical voice:

“Belichick? These are not the droids you are looking for. I am the droid you seek. Shermanator, class 4 battle droid. Super Bowl series, model 25.”

The Shermanator robot is a little over eight feet tall. It can move its head and arms, gesturing with a large prop Gatling gun. Lights where its ears would be flash as it speaks.

During last year’s Super Bowl run, Fobes took a robot he built for a haunted house and transformed it with Seahawks colors, jersey number 25, and Richard Sherman’s signature dreadlocks.

The Shermanator’s parts are mostly scavenged from old vehicles. The sheet metal came from car hoods.

“The electrics are mostly power window motors, wiper motors, door motors,” said Fobes.

This is no cute C-3PO or WALL-E droid. It’s more like a cross between a Decepticon from the Transformers series and a T-800 exoskeleton made famous by the Terminator movies. The Shermanator is an intimidation machine.

Just like the real Richard Sherman, this droid likes to talk.

“Warning: Patriots offensive line with deflated projectiles approaching. Scanning. Zero threat.”

Fobes currently does all his own voicework for the Shermanator. But he’s hoping that could change.

“Sherman, if you’re listening, stop by and we’ll do some custom tapes for this thing,” he said.

Fobes plans to continue his wildly creative projects. There could be more on the way like the Shermanator:

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” he laughed. “I’ve got to build a Wilsonator and a few others.”

If you want to learn more about automotive mechanics, Fobes suggests checking out Dave Parker’s fab class Tuesday and Thursday nights at Renton Technical College. Or stop by for a tour of the school and check out their latest projects.