Weld-Dor

"I'm a welder...first of all we were going to call it 'Raptor', and then someone said, well why not 'Weld-Dor'? So that's where we got the name Weld-Dor"

- Phelim Lundy

Weld-Dor (also spelt as Wel-Dor or Weldor) was the name given to three different robots across Robot Wars history, it competed in Series 3, 4 and 6, plus the second series of Extreme. The original Weld-Dor, which competed in Series 3, was a dome-shaped robot with a pick-axe and lifting forks, painted in camouflage design. It also competed in The First World Championship, where it lost to 101 in the quarter finals. Weld-Dor 2, which competed in the Fourth Wars, was a clear bodied robot with a front-hinged flipper and an axe that wasn't actually seen in action. These weapons replaced the forks. This version of Weld-Dor was very similar to Cassius 2. Despite being seeded, it lost to Sumpthing and Little Fly in the first round. Weld-Dor 3, competing in Series 6 and Extreme Series 2, reverted to a simpler wedge, added a spinning blade to the rear, and repainted the camouflage that was originally on the first Weld-Dor. Weld-Dor had no huge deal of success, losing three times in the first round of all competitions, but was a seasoned competitor nonetheless.

Series 3
Weld-Dor's first match in Series 3 against The Iron Mask had a slow start, Weld-Dor shunted its opponent, as The Iron Mask tried to use its axe, but it had no effect. Weld-Dor managed to lift The Iron Mask, but it escaped. Weld-Dor then used its own axe, but it didn't make much of an impression, so Weld-Dor spun around and used its forks to lift The Iron Mask and flip it over, eliminating it from the competition. In the second round, Weld-Dor met the Series 2 Semi-Finalist, King Buxton. In this battle, Weld-Dor couldn't do much as King Buxton was much more agile and repeatedly rammed Weld-Dor around the arena. Weld-Dor's weaponry created little damage throughout the battle. Soon King Buxton slammed Weld-Dor into the arena wall, where Weld-Dor suddenly stopped moving. The house robots moved in on the immobilised machine, where Sir Killalot then snapped Weld-Dor's axe head off. Cease was then called and Weld-Dor was eliminated from the competition.

Weld-Dor returned for the First World Championship, where it represented Northern Ireland. Weld-Dor went up against the American robot Prometheus in Round 1, Weld-Dor didn't have to do much as Prometheus drove into it once and went hurtling across the arena and into Sir Killalot. It then drove into the arena wall and it looked like Prometheus was stuck in forward drive. Weld-Dor then lifted it with its lifting forks, but Prometheus' back wheels were still on the ground, meaning Weld-Dor had trouble directing Prometheus towards the pit. Eventually Prometheus was dumped on top of Shunt, causing Shunt's armour to come away. However Prometheus then stalled and was immobilised, thus sending Weld-Dor through to the Quarter-Finals. Weld-Dor then went up against 101 in the Quarter-Finals. Weld-Dor immediately lifted 101 with its lifting forks, but 101 kept on pushing and Weld-Dor almost went down the pit, it teetered on the edge, but managed to get away before 101 shoved it down. 101 then pushed Weld-Dor towards Sergeant Bash, but Weld-Dor retaliated by hooking one of its forks on 101's tracks. 101 got away and in doing so bent the fork of Weld-Dor. Weld-Dor tried to use its axe as it was pushed across the arena floor, but 101 was unaffected. 101 then rammed Weld-Dor around the arena and into the arena walls. The battle ended in a judges' decision, where the judges decided that 101 had won, thus sending Weld-Dor out of the World Championship.

Series 4
Weld-Dor 2 entered the Fourth Wars as the 28th seed, went up against Sumpthing and Little Fly in Round 1. Weld-Dor 2 started by driving around trying to get its wedge under Little Fly, whose spinning blade kept scratching the bodywork, and severed a cable from Weld-Dor's battery. Eventually, Sump Thing got a hit on some exposed electronics, seemingly immobilising Weld-Dor. Weld-Dor 2 was then pushed and pulled around the arena by the house robots and suffered several axe blows from Shunt. It was eventually pitted by Sir Killalot and eliminated from the competition, Weld-Dor was the second seed to crash out in the first round of this heat as 12th seeds Evil Weevil 2 were already eliminated.

Series 6
Weld-Dor 3, which was armed with a front lifter and rear spinning blade, didn't last very long in Series 6, despite being feared by many of its opponents. In Round 1, it was put up against Cyrax, Tetanus 2 and Ruf Ruf Dougal. It was immediately grabbed by Tetanus 2 and was pierced by its claw. Weld-Dor was venting some sort of gas, but it was unclear whether this was for show or if its weapon had broken. Tetanus 2 continued to push Weld-Dor around the arena and then into Dead Metal's CPZ, who cut into Weld-Dor's flipper. Tetanus 2 then activated the pit and then grabbed Weld-Dor and pushed it down, sending Weld-Dor out of the competition in Round 1 for the second time in a row.

Extreme 2
"We just want to stay away from them (Corkscrew), so we can get the robot in one piece back to Ireland"

- Phelim Lundy's battle plan

Weld-Dor 3 fought in the Commonwealth Carnage competition, representing Northern Ireland. It came up against Firestorm 4, Bondi-Titch and Corkscrew in the first round. It was immediately flipped over by Firestorm, but self-righted spectacularly. Weld-Dor was then flipped over again, but as it went over, Corkscrew slammed into it which caused the rear blade to get in the way, the flipper then seemed to lose power. A failed attempt caused it to land on its side. Firestorm then rammed it over to the arena wall and after a couple of attempts, Weld-Dor 3 was pushed out of the arena and out of the competition. It was eventually followed by Bondi-Titch who was also flipped out of the arena by Firestorm 4.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 2
 * Losses: 5

Series Record

 * Series 1-2: Did not enter
 * Series 3: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 4: Heat, Round 1
 * Series 5: Did not enter
 * Series 6: Heat, Round 1
 * Series 7: Did not enter

Trivia

 * Weld-Dor was one of 22 robots whose final appearance on Robot Wars had them Thrown Out of the Arena.
 * Of all the robots that represented the UK, Weld-Dor was the only one to be from Northern Ireland. In fact, it was the only Northern Ireland robot seen in Robot Wars.

Similarities with Centurion
Several connections have been made between Centurion and Weld-Dor, particularly the original versions. In the original appearances, both robots featured forklifts on one side of the robot and an overhead bladed axe that came down with large force.
 * Both robots debuted in Heat J of the Third Wars
 * Both robots won their first battle by KO before breaking down against the arena's left wall in the second round. Both machines then had one of their weapons destroyed by Sir Killalot (Centurion's forklift and Weld-Dor's axe)
 * Both robots lost to 101 at some point in Series 3.
 * Both machines replaced their forklifts with true flippers for Series 4.
 * Both machines were seeded in The Fourth Wars.
 * Both machines lost in the first Round of Series 4 after breaking down and were pitted by Sir Killalot.