Scraptosaur

Scraptosaur
Participation Information
UK Series	7
Dutch Series	1-2
Other Names	Scrap-2-Saur (Dutch Series 2) Scraptosaur 03 (UK Series 7)
Team Information
Team	FFR (Fierce Fighting Robots)
Team Members	Marien van der Meer Edwin Koene (Dutch Series 1-2) Michel Brabander (Dutch Series 1-2) Mario "Maddox" de Jongh (UK Series 7)
From	Capelle aan den IJssel, the Netherlands
Robot Statistics
Weight	96kg
Dimensions	0.55m x 1.10m x 0.82m
Top Speed	15mph
Drive	1x 3000W electric motor
Weapons	CO2 flipper
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Scraptosaur was a series of heavyweight robots which competed in both series of Dutch Robot Wars, alongside the seventh series of the UK Robot Wars. After falling in the heat semi-final of Dutch Series 1, the second version of the machine Scrap-2-Saur competed in Dutch Series 2. Scrap-2-Saur won its heat over the likes of Tough as Nails and Gravity to reach the Grand Final, where it also defeated Meshuggah and finished third after being eliminated by PulverizeR.

In its UK series debut, Scraptosaur advanced over the fifteenth seed Ming Dienasty before falling in the second round to St. Agro in a long-fought battle. Scraptosaur also fought for the right to represent the Netherlands in The Third World Championship, but it was avenged by Tough as Nails in its qualifier.

Versions of Scraptosaur

Scraptosaur (Dutch Series 1)

The original Scraptosaur

The first version was a green robot with a face painted on the front. Its weapon included a sharp blade at the front, and a narrow rear flipper, powered pneumatically. This version of Scraptosaur was diamond-shaped, but had no self-righting mechanism, and was relatively slow. The team boasted mainly of Scraptosaur's strong defence in its original version, putting more belief in their solid structure and armour than their weaponry, although said armour was not enough to resist the flywheel of PullverizeR.

Scrap-II-Saur (Dutch Series 2)

Scrap-2-Saur in its heat

Scrap-2-Saur in the Grand Final

The second version of the robot, which was seen in Dutch Series 2, was known as Scrap-2-Saur. It featured a full-pressure flipper which fired directly upwards, the only robot in the Dutch Wars to do so. Its paint-job was somewhat psychedelic (also swapping for a different design entirely deeper into the competition), and the flipper was now powerful enough to allow the robot to self-right, positioned at the front, featuring a face. The robot was quick and well-controlled for good performances, although its armour was quite thin.

Scraptosaur 03 (UK Series 7)

Scraptosaur in its first round battle in its Series 7 Heat

Scraptosaur in its World Championship Qualifier

The version of Scraptosaur seen in the UK series was known as Scraptosaur 03 by the team, but simply 'Scraptosaur' on-screen. It was similar in shape and weaponry to Scrap-2-Saur, but had a stronger coat of armour in direct response to the level of damage Scrap-2-Saur sustained in battle with vertical spinners during the Dutch series. However, the robot's length was extended, which reduced its self-righting ability. Like Tsunami, a red mouth was painted underneath the flipper.

"It was OK but not as good as Scrap-II-saur, the year before."

— Marien van der Meer, referring to Scraptosaur 03

Etymology

The name Scraptosaur is largely derived from the original Scraptosaur's dinosaur-like design.

The Team

The team with Scraptosaur in Series 7

Scraptosaur was entered into Robot Wars by a Dutch team known as FFR, which stands for "Fierce Fighting Robots". Scraptosaur's team captain and builder was Marien van der Meer, who also drove the robot in battle. For both of the Dutch series, he was joined by teammates Edwin Koene and Michel Brabander. In the seventh UK series, Marien van der Meer was joined by an unidentified younger teammate, and also Mario "Maddox" de Jongh, who had competed in Dutch Series 1 with Project One, and co-formed Team KODOX to enter Dutch Series 2 with Tough as Nails.

Qualification

All incarnations of Scraptosaur successfully qualified for each Dutch and UK series they attempted to enter. The original Dutch Series 1 incarnation attended the Eindhoven rehearsals in June 2001, complete with a fully-painted bodyshell, and its appearance documented in clips aired during Robot Wars: The Kick-Off.

Robot History

Dutch Series 1

Scraptosaur's first battle was against Alien Destructor.

Alien Destructor rams Scraptosaur into the arena wall

Scraptosaur spikes the side of Alien Destructor

Alien Destructor tried to drive around and attack the side of Scraptosaur, but Scraptosaur drove past. Alien Destructor turned and tried to attack with the spike, but Scraptosaur swerved to avoid it. The two robots turned and charged at each other, with Alien Destructor hitting the side of Scraptosaur with its spike, but it merely glanced off. Both robots turned around again, with Alien Destructor driving into the side of Scraptosaur, but Scraptosaur merely turned away. Scraptosaur got at the side of Alien Destructor, but Alien Destructor drove away up the arena. However, as it turned, its tail hit the wall, and it drove forwards, straight into Sir Killalot's claw. Sir Killalot lifted it up as Sgt. Bash came over, and although Sir Killalot dropped Alien Destructor, Sgt. Bash grabbed it by the tail with his jaw, and pulled it away from the wall. After pushing and pulling Alien Destructor around for a while and blasting it with his flamethrower, Sgt. Bash let it go. Alien Destructor drove around, charging at the side of Scraptosaur, but the spike went over the rear wedge. Alien Destructor tried to drive around and attack the side of Scraptosaur, but Scraptosaur drove past. Alien Destructor turned and tried to attack with the spike, but Scraptosaur swerved to avoid it. The two robots turned and charged at each other, with Alien Destructor hitting the side of Scraptosaur with its spike, but it merely glanced off. Both robots turned around again, with Alien Destructor driving into the side of Scraptosaur, but Scraptosaur merely turned away. Scraptosaur got at the side of Alien Destructor, but Alien Destructor drove away up the arena. However, as it turned, its tail hit the wall, and it drove forwards, straight into Sir Killalot's claw. Sir Killalot lifted it up as Sgt. Bash came over, and although Sir Killalot dropped Alien Destructor, Sgt. Bash grabbed it by the tail with his jaw, and pulled it away from the wall. After pushing and pulling Alien Destructor around for a while and blasting it with his flamethrower, Sgt. Bash let it go. Alien Destructor drove around, charging at the side of Scraptosaur, but the spike went over the rear wedge. Time ran out and the battle went to a Judge's decision. And the judges went in favour for Alien Destructor.

"The pneumatic part has gotten a lot stronger, indeed. And for the rest, it’s just solid as a rock, so it’ll be alright."

— Team Scraptosaur speak of improvements to the robot before their Losers' Melee (translated from Dutch)

In the losers' melee, Scraptosaur faced only Pyramid of Chaos, as RCC had been forced to withdraw due to electrical problems.

Scraptosaur drives into an immobile Pyramid of Chaos

Pyramid of Chaos being shredded

At the start of the battle, both robots charged at each other, but neither could get an advantage in pushing the other, so they both reversed for another charge. Pyramid of Chaos drove at Scraptosaur, but drove at the wrong angle, so it completely missed with its sword. Scraptosaur reversed away, then turned and drove down the arena to open the pit, whilst Pyramid of Chaos turned around at the top of the arena. Pyramid of Chaos stopped moving beside the angle grinders, and Scraptosaur drove back up the arena and rammed Pyramid of Chaos, pushing it against an angle grinder. As Refbot came over, Scraptosaur turned around and reversed under Pyramid of Chaos, but could barely lift it because Pyramid of Chaos had no baseplate. Shunt came out of his CPZ and tried to axe Pyramid of Chaos, but the axe failed to puncture. Shunt lifted the shell, then reversed back into his CPZ.

Shunt pulls Pyramid of Chaos over

Shunt puts Pyramid of Chaos on the flipper

Refbot counted Pyramid of Chaos out, and with Pyramid of Chaos officially immobile, the House Robots closed in. Shunt missed an axe blow, and Matilda reversed into Pyramid of Chaos, hitting the shell with her flywheel, nearly ripping it free from the rest of the robot. Shunt pushed the immobile competitor onto the flame pit, where the shell caught fire. Shunt then axed it, puncturing the shell. As Shunt pulled back, he nearly toppled the whole robot over. Shunt axed it again, piercing the shell, and this time he managed to pull the whole robot over as he pulled back. Shunt axed Pyramid of Chaos again, pulling it back with his axe, then pushed it onto the floor flipper, which threw it across the arena, straight into Matilda's flywheel. Shunt finally finished Pyramid of Chaos off by pushing it into the pit.

Rob Kamphues: "Well, to say "Gosh, what an aggressive lethal weapon."

Marien van der Meer: "Well, it wasn't necessary. Look, we have one strength, and that is our armour. That worked miracles."

Rob Kamphues: "Do you see my disappointment?"

Marien van der Meer: "I can't do much about that."

Rob Kamphues: "Somebody telling me: "Yeah, at Robot Wars, you don't need a weapon." Hello. Hey, hello!"

Marien van der Meer: "Hello."

Rob Kamphues: "Whack it with that thing, right?"

Marien van der Meer: "Yeah, we'll do that next time."

— Post-match interview between Rob Kamphues and the Scraptosaur team (Mech+ subtitles)

Reinstated, Scraptosaur fought Pullverizer in Round 2.

"These boys look a bit nervous, but they’re surely looking forward to this."

— Eric Corton (translated from Dutch)

Scraptosaur pushes Pullverizer

Pullverizer throws Scraptosaur over

At the start, Scraptosaur charged at Pullverizer, which turned away to avoid its charge. Pullverizer started driving across the arena, but Scraptosaur chased after it, prodding it with its front spike. Pullverizer turned away, and with its flywheel now up to speed, turned around and hit the side of Scraptosaur. The force of the flywheel overturned Scraptosaur, and it tried firing its flipper to right itself, but couldn't due to its long shape.

"It's like watching Ali vs Frazier!"

— Eric Corton speaks of Scraptosaur being outclassed by PullverizeR (BNN broadcast, translated from Dutch)

Scraptosaur being attacked by the House Robots

Matilda cuts a gash in the side of Scraptosaur

Refbot counted Scraptosaur out, and the House Robots closed in. Sgt. Bash grabbed it with his claw and Matilda charged in reversed into Scraptosaur's side, cutting a huge gash in it. Matilda pushed the overturned competitor up the arena to Sgt. Bash's CPZ, who blasted it with his flamethrower as Matilda turned around, then reversed into Scraptosaur, flipping it onto Refbot. Scraptosaur landed on its wheels, but was immobile, and Matilda hit it with her flywheel again, cutting a gash in the other side, before cease was called.

"There he lies, the poor creature. It almost looks like a rowing boat, lying upside down on it’s little head like that!"

— Eric Corton (BNN broadcast, translated from Dutch)

This eliminated Scraptosaur from its first attempt at a Robot Wars title.

Rob Kamphues: "Scraptosaur... it was one dull blow and you were upside down and it was over."

Marien van der Meer: "It was a little more than we expected, actually. But... it did stay reasonably intact. That's the one thing I can say."

Rob Kamphues: "Hello? We're not here to stay intact. We're here to ruin others. I'll explain it once more."

Marien van der Meer: "Oh yeah."

Rob Kamphues: "You take a robot and you crush it."

Marien van der Meer: "Then we misunderstood."

Rob Kamphues: "Okay."

Marien van der Meer: "We thought defense was best."

Rob Kamphues: "Offense is the best defense."

Marien van der Meer: "Ah, okay, okay. We'll remember that."

— Team Scraptosaur reconsider their design philosophy in the post-match interview (Mech+ subtitles, adapted)

Dutch Series 2

Scrap-2-Saur flips Tough As Nails

Scrap-2-Saur returned to the Dutch Wars with a new design and a more powerful flipper. In its first battle, it was drawn against Team KODOX's new robot Tough as Nails. At the start of the fight, Tough as Nails grabbed hold of Scrap-2-Saur, but it threw Tough as Nails through the air. Due to a thermal cut-off from the speed controllers, Tough as Nails's motors shut down, giving Scrap-2-Saur an easy victory.

Scrap-2-Saur flips Cyclone onto its side

In the next round, Scrap-2-Saur faced newcomer, Cyclone. It flipped Cyclone repeatedly, but Cyclone was invertible, and was hardly affected. However, Scrap-2-Saur managed to get the upper hand after it flipped Cyclone gently enough to just to get it onto its side. It finished off the round robot by pushing it into the pit.

Scrap-2-Saur's one-hit KO

In the Heat Final, Scrap-2-Saur faced WJ Dijkstra's new robot and future success story, Gravity. Scrap-2-Saur was pushed in the opening moments, but had the clear advantage, because its first flip proved that Gravity could not self-right. Scrap-2-Saur kept its distance, and advanced to the Grand Final while the House Robots destroyed Gravity.

Scrap-2-Saur flicks Meshuggah up

Meshuggah is caught by the descending Pit

In the Grand Final, Scrap-2-Saur's first battle was against Meshuggah. Right at the start, Scrap-2-Saur was flipped by Meshuggah's flywheel. It righted, and came on the attack, but its flipper had no effect on Meshuggah, who continued to inflict damage, tearing away one of Scrap-2-Saur's panels and stripping bits of its armour off. Scrap-2-Saur went for the pit release, and the pit descended just as Meshuggah drove over the pit square. Meshuggah was unable to get out of the way, and descended into the pit, making the heavily-damaged Scrap-2-Saur the unlikely winner.

Scrap-2-Saur forces PulverizeR to take a hammer blow from Mr. Psycho

A motionless Scrap-2-Saur sits on the Flame Jet

The team fixed up Scrap-2-Saur as best they could for their next battle, a rematch against PulverizeR. Scrap-2-Saur had trouble getting its flipper to work at the start, and when it finally did, the force sent Scrap-2-Saur onto its back. It tried to flip PulverizeR, but couldn't due to PulverizeR's invertibility, so it hit the pit release before pushing PulverizeR into Mr. Psycho. PulverizeR escaped, and Scrap-2-Saur stopped moving, so it was counted out by Refbot. After being dragged by Growler, Scrap-2-Saur sprung back to life, but since it had already been counted out, Growler pushed it into the pit.

UK Series 7

"Once a semi-finalist in the Dutch Robot Wars."

— Jonathan Pearce

Scraptosaur made its first appearance in the UK championships in Heat H of the Seventh Wars, and faced newcomer Ceros, veteran Metalis from the experienced Team Death, and the number fifteen seed Ming Dienasty in the first round.

Scraptosaur flicks Ming Dienasty up

Scraptosaur involved in the action as Ceros flips Ming Dienasty

Scraptosaur hunted down the seed straight away, but Ming Dienasty evaded Scraptosaur's first drive. Scraptosaur then came in with a ram on Ming Dienasty, which set it up to be flipped by Ceros. Scraptosaur then went after Metalis but mistimed its first flip, although its consistent nagging once again allowed Ceros to flip the robot Scraptosaur was tussling with, and Metalis was sent over. Meanwhile, Ming Dienasty had finally managed to right itself, so Scraptosaur targeted it once more, balancing it on its rear end with a flip before throwing it over completely and driving it against the arena wall.

"Scraptosaur, the Dutch entry, flying the flag for Holland, and the skull and crossbones - and a piratical gleam in the eye of Marien van der Meer, the captain, as they toss and torment Ming Dienasty."

— Jonathan Pearce

Scraptosaur tussles with Ming Dienasty

Ceros and Scraptosaur conspire against Ming Dienasty

Ming Dienasty found itself back on its wheels after a strong flip from Ceros, but wasn't allowed to breathe for long, as both Scraptosaur and Ceros chased it down and flicked it, with Ming Dienasty then deciding to activate the pit release tyre. Ming Dienasty found its feet as it fought back late on but failed to cause any damage of note to Scraptosaur, before Metalis was put out of its misery as it was pitted by Refbot. Cease was called, with the judges called upon to decide which two machines were to go through out of Ming Dienasty, Ceros and Scraptosaur, with the latter two given the green light to progress to the second round.

In the second round of the Heat, Scraptosaur was drawn up against St. Agro, which made its way past The Scrapper and Mega Hurts LT in its first-round melee.

Scraptosaur flicks St. Agro over

St. Agro and Scraptosaur push each other

Although it missed with the first use of its flipper, Scraptosaur started strong as it exploited the ground clearance at the side of St. Agro to throw it over twice in quick succession. After this, both machines tussled side-by-side next to the arena wall, before Scraptosaur missed with its next flip. Scraptosaur then darted across the arena and activated the pit release button. It then tried to flip St. Agro - which had only flipped once up to this point - in four successive attacks, connecting with three. Suddenly, St. Agro slipped underneath Scraptosaur and threw it onto its back, and with Scraptosaur using a significant amount of CO₂ throughout the battle, it was unable to right itself.

Scraptosaur is thrown onto its back and is out of the competition

Cassius Chrome pits Scraptosaur, ending its UK Championship run after only two rounds

"Can't self-right, because the CO₂ ran out. We envisaged those problems right from the start of this heat."

— Jonathan Pearce

After being counted out by Refbot, Sir Killalot placed Scraptosaur on The Drop Zone, where it had an ocean buoy dropped onto it, before Cassius Chrome pitted it, eliminating Scraptosaur from the tournament.

Scraptosaur also competed in a World Championship qualifier against fellow Dutch machines Tough as Nails and Gravity, two robots Scraptosaur defeated in Dutch Robot Wars: Series 2, as broadcast as the special event of Heat O as well as being the final qualifier for the World Championship.

Scraptosaur is pitted by Tough as Nails

However, Scraptosaur found itself in danger immediately after activate was sounded. Tough as Nails quickly grasped hold of Scraptosaur, activated the pit release button and dispatched of Scraptosaur into the pit of oblivion, ending its hopes of competing in The Third World Championship inside fifteen seconds.

"Now there is a form line here. Scraptosaur actually beat Gravity in the Dutch Robot Wars, but goes out of the World Championship eliminator straight away!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Tough as Nails ended up pitting Gravity as well, which sent it through to represent the Netherlands in the tournament alongside Dutch champion PulverizeR.

Results

Wins/Losses

• UK Wins: 1
• UK Losses: 2
• Dutch Wins: 5
• Dutch Losses: 3

Series Record

Dutch Series

Dutch Series	Scraptosaur Series Record
Series 1	Heat, Round 2
Series 2	Grand Final, Round 2

UK Series

Series	Scraptosaur Series Record
The First Wars	Did not enter
The Second Wars	Did not enter
The Third Wars	Did not enter
The Fourth Wars	Did not enter
The Fifth Wars	Did not enter
The Sixth Wars	Did not enter
The Seventh Wars	Heat, Round 2
Series 8	Not selected with TMHWK
Series 9	Did not enter
Series 10	Did not enter

NOTE: TMHWK competed in the main competition of Series 9 and Series 10's World Series under ownership of Team Dutch Robot Girls, which includes Marien van der Meer's wife, Annita van der Meer.

Gallery

The original Scraptosaur in the pits

Scrap-2-Saur in the Pits

Scrap-2-Saur in its first fight

Scrap-2-Saur in its second fight

Scraptosaur 03 in the arena

Scraptosaur being worked on in the pits during Series 7

Outside Robot Wars

Between Dutch Series 1 and 2, Scraptosaur competed at the Dutch Robot Games in 2001. Although it was eliminated in the first round of the Dutch bracket by Arena Killer, it did win grudge matches against Lizzard and a weaponless Pullverizer.

Scraptosaur at the Dutch Robot Games in 2003

Scraptosaur flips Hard

Scraptosaur also returned for the 2003 Dutch Robot Games event prior to the Seventh Wars. Its competition fight was a rumble against PulverizeR and Kan-Opener, where Scraptosaur was eliminated in the first round after being pitted by Kan-Opener. Scraptosaur also entered a six-way Flipper Frenzy, which was won by Hard, despite Scraptosaur managing to flip Hard along the way.

Trivia

Official Series 7 photo

• Scraptosaur is one of only four robots, along with Bamm Bamm, Hammerhead and NEAT Machine, to have competed in both Dutch Championships and the Seventh UK Championship.
  • PulverizeR has also competed in all three when including The Third World Championship.
• Marien van der Meer's wife, Annita van der Meer, was heavily involved with the build project of the original Scraptosaur, but could not attend the TV filming. She has built various antweight and 6kg robots in her own right, and entered Series 9 and 10 with TMHWK.
• In its battle against St. Agro and its Third World Championship Qualifier, Scraptosaur had slightly bigger eyes on it.