01x06 - Migs, Tig and Automobiles

[bunniefuu]

[zapping]

[Seven]
I'm super grateful for the experience.

[Leah]
I feel really inspired by the artists.

[Frank] I've got no regrets.
Proud of what I created.

[Lou] It's been an honor to be here.

[Rae] I'm 100% proud of myself.

[vibrant music playing]

[Ivan] The challenge today
is just one versus one.

One winner, one loser. That's it.

I think I've got a good shot
to win this competition

and walk away with the prize money.

[Tom] I feel good I'm in the final two,

but I already kind of
feel like the underdog,

knowing the abilities
that Ivan has going into the final round.

This is for all the money right here.

[upbeat music playing]

[Jo Koy] Ivan, Tom.

Final two!

Now my apologies, I have no idea
where Stephanie and David are.

They're supposed to be here.

This is embarrassing.

This is the biggest moment
in Metal Shop Masters,

and our judges are nowhere to be found.

But the show must go on.

I'm gonna be the judge.

I'm messing with you.

[suspenseful music playing]

Where are the judges? Look to your sides.

[Ivan chuckles]

Oh, wow. [laughs] What? Yeah. Oh man.

Doesn't this make me look good?

What? Oh, wow.

It's the championship round, you guys.

You guys want to apologize or...?

-Sorry gentlemen, we were doing donuts.
-No, no, no, not to them. To me!

Oh, sorry.

-Been standing here covering for you.
-[Stephanie] Sorry.

We started off with seven
of the country's best welders,

and now we're down to the final two.

Now for your final build,

we've saved the toughest challenge
for the last.

It will test every ounce
of your design and fabrication skills.

We want you to take
these cars and some scrap parts,

and we want you to create
a post-apocalyptic escape vehicle.

Something capable of outrunning zombies,
and ripping through victory laps.

Yes!

I dressed for the occasion here
in my Mad Maxattire, and I want

to see you, guys, really push your
fabrication skills in an artistic sense.

I want to see spikes. I want to see
something gnarly and straight up wicked.

All right.

I know what you're thinking.
Jo, seriously, the championship round?

How much time do we got
to build these badass cars?

You get ten hours.

[Tom] We have ten hours
to build a post-apocalyptic car.

I don't know if ten hours is enough.

[Jo Koy laughs] Ten hours.

But look, you're gonna get help.

After one hour of designing,
you'll each get two helpers,

to help you build this,
for the remainder of the time.

The person who's gonna end up shining
in this competition will be the one

who really utilizes
those two extra helpers they get,

and figures out how
to properly manage their time.

It's time to fire up these engines
'cause your 10 hours starts now.

For the final challenge,
we've asked our welders

to build a post-apocalyptic
zombie escape vehicle.

It must be capable of outrunning zombies,

showcase edgy,
artistic fabrication details.

They also must manage
two assistants efficiently.

And they have to be able
to drive their vehicle.

And they will have
ten hours to complete this build.

What is it about this design
that's gonna grab your eye? What is it?

I want to see hard, aggressive lines.

I want to see their fabrication skills

to create texture
and design from that sheet metal.

We're looking for just rugged and gnarly.

You want something that,
when you walk up to it, it might cut you.

-Yes, Jo!
-Yeah, okay.

I would do spikes all around the bottom.

And the top would just be
this really rad skull thing.

Anybody comes, it would be mechanical,
and it would crush zombies

as it was driving. [chuckles]

Did that not scare you, guys?
That's in her mind.

[Ivan] When I saw the cart,
I got an idea for something to build

but they tell us
what they wanted us to build.

They want something post-apocalyptic.

But I really like this idea I've got
and I don't wanna let it go.

Obviously it's already a car. It's a cart.

I want something different to a car.

And also, I want it
to be kinetic in some way.

Kinetic artwork is something I do,
something that I love to do.

For my design, I want to build
a post-apocalyptic bison.

It will have armor on him
with spikes sticking out,

and I want the legs to move.

In order to beat Tom,
I have to pull this off,

and do it in a way
that it doesn't look cheesy.

I'll be riding in on a giant bison.

It depends on what the judges think.
It's subjective. It's artwork.

They might see what I do
and think it's kind of goofy and silly.

They might see what he's doing
and think it's what they were asking for.

It will depend on how the judges feel,
and how it looks when it's done.

[clinks]

[Ivan] To start,
I want to just build a frame,

that goes around, that gives me my body.

I grab a bunch of rods
and start bending them into place

to make it look like
a full body of a bison.

Then I can build off of that.

[zapping]

[Ivan] I came up with a backbone,
and MIG welded that on,

and that was
my basic structure, my starting point.

Look at that.

Eyeballed it. Spot on.
Within a thirty-second of an inch.

Right off the bat with this one,
I've got a very ambitious idea.

I'll make the head hinge,
so the head will move

as you're pulling on the reins,
that part will make this more complicated.

They didn't ask for it
to be kinetic in some way,

but I've swung for the fences
in all these challenges and pulled it off.

I'll do that once more time.

[vibrant music playing]

[grunts]

I knew he'd grab the wheelbarrow.

First thing I saw was the wheelbarrow

'cause I thought the shape would be cool
to be a canopy over your head.

-Don't whip me with that.
-[laughs]

Honestly, I don't even
need to draw out a design.

I think grabbing the parts and pieces

and building it in my head,
I'm gonna get it as I go.

Weighs as much as I do.

There's a huge bumper
I thought would be useful.

Spare tire, need a toolbox in there
'cause you gotta still fix things.

I guess the design I do have in my mind
is make it low, sleek to the ground.

It's gonna have a BAG,
which stands for Big a*s g*n.

It'll have a real nasty
sharp point on the front.

Just evil. You know, a lot of blood.

The concept is just to be safe
from zombies,

but look like you're going fast.
Still sexy.

The plan is to lower this beast.

Get the steering low,
make a spot for me to sit right there.

The lower I get, the better
'cause golf carts always just look stupid.

[buzzing]

[upbeat music playing]

[grunts]

Feels like a race car.
Super cramped, tight.

To make the seat,
I kind of followed the frame rail,

which had a nice radius slope.

So I bent another piece of sheet metal,
beside it, to hold the seat in place.

I connect that to the frame,

and then I just wrap it in metal mesh.

I used the mesh on the seat
because it forms very nice

for my butt cheeks.

What does Tom have?
I'm pretty sure a cool race car.

He was talking about having
saw blades for fender, wheel well things.

Very smart.

-Zombies on the side will get sliced.
-That's how you k*ll zombies.

He said, he's putting
a big a*s g*n he's making.

So that's a lot of work in a little time.

Yeah.

After seeing what Ivan
has decided on what he's gonna build,

clearly we said it has to be
a vehicle to k*ll zombies.

-Yeah.
-And drive through them.

I don't see yourself on top of a buffalo,
k*lling zombies. They'll eat you up, man.

When we told him that it needed to be
something post-apocalyptic,

-[Jo Koy] Yeah.
-He thought buffalo?

[David] I don't get it,
but it's how his mind works.

But we also said it has to be
fast enough to take a victory lap.

So it's got to be a fast buffalo.

We don't want him to fall off.

In my head, I see
Ivan on top of a buffalo.

-[Stephanie] Yeah.
-And hold on.

And they just ate him.

It's been one hour!

Release the helpers!

I usually prefer to work alone
when I'm building something.

I don't know. This is gonna be, uh...
This is gonna be interesting.

What is it about
this particular commission

that's gonna really test these welders?

One thing that will really test these guys
for this particular challenge

is that they're each getting two helpers.

Communication is gonna be key in this one.

You have somebody like Ivan,

who in the past competitions,
he's almost made it right to the wire

with even being able
to bring his piece together.

So if he doesn't utilize those
two extra set of hands he's get,

it could be
devastating for him, whereas Tom,

who's always been so
structured and organized,

Tom's used to being part of a team.

When working in the race industry,
you are under immense pressure.

Because if something goes wrong,
they need to be able to fix it,

figure it out, and verbally communicate

in a serious amount of crunch time.

Do you really think they need helpers?

Are we giving them too much?

-No, they need them. Definitely.
-[Stephanie] Yeah, this is a big build.

That's a lot of cutting,
a lot of forming, a lot of welding.

Physically, for one person to do that
in ten hours, it's gonna be tough.

This is the ultimate quick challenge.

-Yeah.
-Mm.

[Ivan] So, in terms of the steering wheel,

we get two rotations in each direction.

The first thing I'm having
them do is create a pulley.

It'll go on top of the steering wheel.

I don't want a steering wheel
sticking up out of his back.

I'm going to wrap a rope around a couple
of pulleys like on a chain saw.

-How will it go the other direction?
-[Ivan] Put it around the pulley.

You pull this way, you go that way.

I'll draw something up for the g*ns.

I'm actually gonna do...
I want to do three g*ns.

We'll do one big one and two smaller ones.

The first thing I put them
in charge of is the machine g*ns.

There's a lot of little parts in it.
I made templates for them already.

-One inch tubing will be what we go for.
-Okay.

-Try to get that more of a flat line.
-Right.

Stephanie looks at the details.

I made sure that
Stephanie had nothing to pick apart.

I wanted to make sure
everything was to her spec.

I didn't want any loose doors
for them to go through.

[vibrant music playing]

[Ivan] Grinders at your station.
Cutoff wheels, sanding disks on the rack.

We'll only have eight and a half hours
to build an entire buffalo.

It's gonna be tight.

All right. Off and running.

Just make three g*ns.
Those g*ns will go on the side.

-Okay. Roger that, captain.
-[Tom] Oh, I'm a captain now!

-[Tara] I'll start taking apart that.
-[Tom] Okay, awesome.

Now that the g*ns are being built,
I get Tara started

in disassembling the wheelbarrow
because I need the top of it

to be part of the roof of my car.

Okay, so that doesn't touch my head.
Okay, I think that'll be good.

-[assistant] Seem right?
-Almost. You just gotta turn that way.

-There we go. The opposite direction.
-Yeah.

Let me understand this
from an engineering standpoint.

He's gonna be on top of a buffalo?

How's he gonna steer it?
How's he gonna turn?

The golf cart has
old school rack and pinion steering,

which is a hand-over-hand mechanism.
You have to turn a lot of turns

to get it to turn a little bit.
There's no power steering.

So he has to come up with some type of
spring-loaded, almost coil effect

on the steering column,
and he'll put it completely vertical,

so that he's able to use
some type of reins basically,

to get this to turn from the top.

That would be impressive,
if he were able to do that.

So he's reconfiguring
the whole steering wheel system.

Yeah.

[Ivan] Should be good.

How are you gonna weld this
thin strap to that really thick thing?

I'll turn up the heat on the welder,
dump my heat into that and wick.

I'll get that to where
I'm melting the shaft,

once the shaft's melting,
I let it wick up into the...

-Think that'll do it?
-Oh yeah.

Once I've got the pulley put together,

I'll weld that up onto
the top of the steering wheel.

Yep.

[assistant] That should be good.

[Ivan] And then to test
the way the pulleys will move,

I can pull on the rein, it'll zip zip zip
zip, and I'll get the wheels to turn.

[assistant] Yeah, look at that. That's...

-Come on, that's it.
-That's better. I think we'll be fine.

[zapping]

Oh lordy.

How much poster board am I going to use?

It's a lot of stuff.
I was nervous when I started,

thinking all these panels...
That's the biggest thing,

if it's not finished,
it don't matter how cool it is.

There's so many panels,
so many templates to have to cut out.

Wrapping this in sheet metal,

putting g*ns on it
and getting the details done.

It's just time.

Starting to work on the head of the bison.

It's an important part.
I don't want to leave it for last

because it might not look as good.

It's gotta have a good head.
If it looks like a bison in the head,

the body will be obvious.

You can make an animal's body
that's weird, abstract and arbitrary.

Put a beautiful head on it,
everyone will recognize it.

[vibrant music playing]

[buzzing]

I'll have you jump on making legs.

And I want them to look like this.

I still have to put the legs on this.

While I'm working on the artistic touch
and working on the face of the bison,

I've got Mike and Brett taking
the mechanical components,

the legs and pieces, and they're gonna
be putting that stuff together.

After this,
get the rear legs on and working.

[clears throat]

We'll do our best.

While they're doing that, I'll plasma cut
more of the perforated steel.

I can layer them on there.
It'll look like fur.

Everything will be fine.
I'll get it finished out.

Pull it off in the last second.

We need to mount
the two g*ns pretty quick.

So, urgency.
Urgency is the magical word right now.

-Yes.
-Don't hurt yourself.

Hey, boss, where do you want the g*ns at?

The triangle will be on top.

We'll put two squares, maybe the middle.

But yeah, just make sure it's parallel.

Now that the g*ns are built,
I'm getting a little excited

because it's starting to look like
something zombie-k*lling, military.

post-pop-poc f*cking-lyptic.
How the hell do you say that word?

Post-pop... Po...
I've said it a thousand times.

Post-apoca... Apocalyptic.

Nice.

Golden.

[zapping]

There's only two hours left.

I'm getting a birds-eye view
of where Tom's at.

Way ahead of schedule,
and then once again, like clockwork...

-Ivan is down to the last hour.
-Oh, man.

-It's beautiful to look at.
-[Stephanie] It is.

If he's able to finish,
it's gonna rock our world.

[Ivan] Based on where I am now,
and the amount of time that's gone by,

I'll find a way to get it done.

but I'm gonna have
to start cutting things out of my ideas.

just to make sure that I can make it
look the way I want it to look.

I'm gonna take some more perforated steel,
put that up on the sides,

that'll be the shaggier parts
of what you would see on a bison.

Oh yeah, this has to pivot.

No, maybe it doesn't.

[Ivan] You having any luck there?

[Mike] I don't think
we need another hinge.

We can make it with two rigid pieces.

[Brett] No hinge in the back.
This one's rigid.

[Ivan] It doesn't matter
what it looks like.

If it's not a mechanical component,
make sure it's strong enough

to handle what's thrown at it.
It doesn't matter, we have to go.

Fast is the only way to get it done.

What the...
What's going on here?

I'm rushing over to the sculpture
to start adding sheet to it,

and I get to the sculpture, and I realize
everything they have done doesn't work.

Guys, what did you do here?

What did you do? What did you do here?

Did you chop this all down and stuff too?

-Take it off?
-Doesn't look like the other side.

This won't do anything like that.

Does it do anything?

No, it's gonna bind.

f*ck, and it broke right off. Oh, sh*t.

At this point in time, not only do I not
have the luxury to explain it again,

but because I have to redo it,
there's a good possibility

that I won't have enough time
to finish this thing.

[producer] Ivan, what's happening?

I'm busy. Leave me alone.

I think with Ivan's build,
for the two people that are helping him,

it's very conceptual
and in his mind, and you know,

to be thrown into this mix, and
you have somebody who is very artistic,

just looking for shapes
and form and tack welds,

it might be something outside their realm,

and if Ivan's not communicating that,

or really being specific
on what he needs cut and fitted

and where it needs to go,

there's nothing for them to help with.

-With Tom, it's all about mathematics.
-Yeah.

Dimensions, the precise measurements.
So these guys are like,

"20 inches over here,
and 15 inches on top."

-"Okay, I can do that easy."
-Yeah.

The mesh is good and see-through,

but when you put it
two feet away, and it's on an angle,

it's harder to see.
So I'm gonna cut nice slots through it.

Keep the zombies out, but you still
need to see where you're going.

Don't tell the zombies how to get in.

[grunts]

Can you get a magnet and hold this for me?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Right there.

[zapping]

Lots of little light in it.
It's kind of cozy.

I'm gonna do a little plasma graffiti.

This stands for how many
zombies we've m*rder*d.

The graffiti or tattoos will help break up
the flat panels all around my vehicle.

You're gonna trace this.
I'm gonna hold this.

You're gonna make half cut saw blades.

In order to make this thing k*ll zombies,

I'm putting saw blades
on the front of the vehicle.

I make like a orange slice template,

and I tell Fernando to just go crazy.

Make some really sharp, dangerous teeth,

while I'm working on the door.

I think for me to beat Ivan
in the final challenge...

I'd probably bend it up a bit more.

Yeah, right there. Okay.

...I simply just have to complete
my post-apocalyptic design

the way I see it in my head.
That could win me $50,000.

And I'm feeling like this is...
This thing is evil.

[Jo Koy] One hour to go.

They put it backwards.

They put one leg on in one direction,

and the other
in the other direction in the rear.

So I have to cut that apart and change it.

I can't. I can't.

-He's pissed.
-[Stephanie] I mean, what did he expect?

He's looking at two welders
with unknown skill sets and backgrounds,

and he asked them to do kinetics.

Why didn't he tell them
to cut sheet metal?

Instead of focusing on the artistic touch
and working on the face of the bison,

I wish I would have been
paying more attention

to them welding the legs up in place.

You put the leg on backwards.

-Leg came off?
-No, it was definitely on backwards.

[laughs]

[Ivan] What I need to do
is get this doing what it's supposed to.

If it binds up and doesn't run,
doesn't do what it's supposed to,

that'll be worse than
not getting some sheet on it.

So I just gotta fix
what needs fixing so that it will move.

And then do whatever I can
with whatever I have left.

[suspenseful music playing]

Oh my God.

-Can we do anything else?
-No, man, I don't think so.

Just got done
having to redo that whole thing.

Making sure it works now.

I get that done, and it works.

Thank God. Just a little bit of time left,

to finish the sheet metal.

[Jo Koy] The clock is ticking. Hurry up!

The most important part of this challenge

was team management
for the two helpers that we gave them.

They're over by this table doing nothing.

-And Ivan is taking over.
-[Stephanie] I think he's shutting down.

-There was no explanation, communication.
-[Jo Koy] They don't know what to do.

Ivan wasn't able to explain himself enough
and let go of the reins.

They're not working well as a team.

Welders, 30 seconds left.

I guess I should make sure
I can even get in and out of it.

I love my design so much,
and I think it's gonna be so strong.

You can actually see! Holy sh*t!

[Ivan] I don't really have quit in me.

I'll do the best I can to get there.

Even if it seems impossible.
I'm not gonna stop until it's over.

[Jo Koy] Five!

Four! Three!

This stuff doesn't jiggle.

[Jo Koy] Two! One! Tools down.

Time's up, tools down.

[exhales sharply]

David, Stephanie,
this is it, the final showdown.

Are you ready to see these mean machines?

-Oh yeah.
-I am.

Tom? [imitates static noise]

Tom. [imitates static noise]

We've got zombies here about to
make the boat, so bring it in here.

That is rad.

[Jo Koy] That's amazing.

-Man.
-[Stephanie] So rad.

No way! Wow.

-[Stephanie] Oh my gosh.
-[David] Oh, man.

[Jo Koy] I love it.

[David] Hey, no way!

All right, zombie k*ller.
Tell us about your build.

[Tom] Honestly, when I first started,
design wasn't really in my head.

I'm just gonna go with the flow.
I'm gonna go a little artistic, right?

-I went a little crazy with claw marks.
-[Stephanie] I like the claw marks.

-[Tom] Then I gnarred it with a plasma.
-[David] That's great.

[Tom] All three of the BAGs,
the Big a*s g*ns.

You may get some zombie guts in there
from this setup right here,

-[Stephanie] Yeah. [chuckles]
-[Tom] 'Cause you can sling bodies.

This was my only real critical thing.

The roof height. My goal was to have
two to three inches of head clearance.

Everything else was
a frame built off of that.

All the tubing, the subframe where all
the body panels, just go where they go.

This is your side right here.

Straight edges, obviously nice fit.
I was trying to make you both happy.

[David] It just looks like
a zombie apocalypse. Straight up.

-[Stephanie] Thank you, Tom.
-[Jo Koy] Thank you, Tom.

Ivan, bring in that zombie apocalypse
escape vehicle you were making earlier.

Let's go!

[imitates static noise]
They're attacking. Ivan!

[dramatic music playing]

Look at that!

Look at that. That is crazy!

[Ivan] It's not the best work I've done,
but I think I've got a good shot

to win this competition
and walk away with the prize money.

[judges laugh]

[Jo Koy] Yeah.

Ivan, you're up next.

My man Ivan.

Tell us about your piece.

All right, well.

When I think post-apocalyptic,
I think old B films from the '80s.

So that's what I was thinking.

[Stephanie] It looks like a buffalo,
when you're looking at it.

There's no like, "I don't know
what animal that is." That's a buffalo.

Tell me how it works.

Basically what it is,
is I took the steering wheel off.

It's a double-ended pulley,
so it pulls like a yo-yo,

then you can actually get it to steer.

Then I just took the head
to the front wheel,

so I could get movement in the head.
So when you pull the reins one way,

it's like pulling on the bridle.
He turns his head that way.

-Holy cow.
-Ivan invents sh*t. He's an inventor.

This thing was so impressive.
The size alone, but the fact that you

rode in on it, not inside it
like everybody thought you would do.

You took this to another level
with your kinetic mastery.

-[David] Thanks again, Ivan.
-Thank you, Ivan.

[Ivan] Thank you.

[Jo Koy] Ivan, Tom.

Only one of you will take home
the trophy, the title Metal Shop Master,

and the $50,000 prize.

Tom, you delivered on
this challenge requirements to a tee.

As you do on every challenge.

You have a very analytical
and focused approach to all your builds.

For this challenge, when I close my eyes
and think about a post-apocalyptic vehicle

what you created
is what I would've envisioned.

And all the details
and personality you added to your build

speaks to who you are as an artist.

-Thank you.
-Ivan, the detail on the head

riding up on top of the bison,

in addition to
all of your building skills,

you ex*cuted your vision perfectly.

If you had a little
more time on this build,

you would've gone from
epic to legendary, my friend.

Judges, the entire season
rides on this next decision right here.

And the $50,000 prize.

[sighs]

I did my best, but I know
what happened in the end

and Tom built one hell of a car.

I still don't like sounding
like a complete dickhead,

but the goal here is to win.

The first ever winner
of Metal Shop Masteris...

[suspenseful music playing]

Tom. Congratulations, bro.

[Ivan] Well done, man.

-Woo.
-[laughing]

-Are you weak in the knees?
-No, I'm just... I'm just taking it in.

[Jo Koy] I love you, man.
Congratulations, you deserve this.

You crushed it in every single challenge.

You deserve that 50,000 bucks.
You deserve this.

Bro, you're the first ever winner
of this... of this show.

That's amazing.

[Tom] Mm.

It could be a rock right now,
and it would be special to me.

This is way cooler than the money.

Yeah, man!

Ivan, you have no idea, man,
no idea how highly I respect you.

I had an absolutely
wonderful time doing this show.

I mean, I wouldn't trade a day of this.
It's been great.

I've made a whole new family

I'll be keeping in touch with
the rest of my life. I know that.

Every season after this?

-It'll be harder to follow.
-They'll only get better.

Yes!

[Tom] This is my first trophy.

For someone who only
makes trophies and doesn't win them,

this is my first trophy ever,

[producer]
Is it bigger than trophies you make?

No, I make way bigger trophies.

[upbeat music playing]