Close Shave

* AWS 7
* AWS 3
* AWS 2

> *"As I was constructing GB, I was already beginning to think of some ideas for my next ant. Again, I turned to the heavyweight robots of Robot Wars for ideas. Many robots stand out with really good weapons. The axe of Killerhurtz, or the flipping rams on Cassius, or the cutting wheel of Nightmare to name but Three. Another robot with an outstanding weapon is Razer, a steel wedge with a large crushing arm. I thought that if I could simplify and scale an idea like that down to antweight size, I would have something quite good""*
>
> - Alan Parkin

**Close Shave** was an antweight built by Alan Parkin who was also responsible for such machines as Grassbox and Plod. It made its first appearance in AWS 2 where it became Champion. It fought across six Antweight World Series, being relatively successful, coming Third in AWS 3 and reaching the quarterfinals in AWS 7. The robot last appeared in AWS 7.

## Robot History

### AWS 2

In its debut, it first fought Pants, where it won.

The next fight was against Ickle Xno. The battle only lasted six seconds before Close Shave won the match.

The third fight was against Cannon Fodder where it won once again.

The final fight was against Bodge which it won, making Close Shave unbeaten.

### AWS 3

The reigning champions returned to face Pants again and Osiris where it qualified for the next round after Osiris was eliminated.

In the second round Close Shave fought TyrAnt. It won and progressed to the next round.

In the third round it fought Pants again, but this time it lost and as a result went through to the Third Place Playoff.

In the Third Place Playoff, Close Shave faced Cannon Fodder again where it won and got third for the competition.

Close Shave also fought in a series of side events. It fought in a melee against Get Out Of The Way, Diced Carrot, Cannon Fodder (again), DragStar and Little Nipper. Not much is known, except that Diced Carrot eliminated one of the robots by pushing them off. In the end, both Close Shave and Get Out Of The Way won.

It then fought in a Team Battle against Pants, Get Out Of The Way, Little Nipper, Combat Ant and DragStar. Close Shave won alongside Pants, Little Nipper and Combat Ant.

The last side event Close Shave fought in was the Tag team, where it was partnered with Pants. Their first battle was against Little Nipper and Combat Ant, where they lost.

The second battle the team fought was against Little Nipper and Combat Ant again, where they lost once more.

The third fight was against Cannon Fodder and Grassbox. Here the team won their first match of the Tag Team.

The fourth fight the team faced was once again against Combat Ant and Little Nipper. Unlike their previous fights, this lasted the full two minutes and went to a judges decision, who awarded Little Nipper and Combat Ant the win.

The fifth fight they faced was against Cannon Fodder and Grassbox again, and once more they won.

The last fight the team were in was against Get Out Of The Way and DragStar, where they won once again. Overall, Close Shave and Pants came second.

### AWS 4

In the first round, Close Shave fought A.P.C. and Buzzant. The battle started off well for Buzzant who managed to rip one of Close Shave's wheels off before turning attentions to A.P.C. and attempted to damage it. After around five hits with the flywheel the impact had caused Buzzant to flip onto its back where it was unable to self-right, a close call for Close Shave.

In the second round, Close Shave faced TyrAnt and Ickle Xno again where both TyrAnt and Close Shave qualified for the next round.

In the third round Close Shave fought A.P.C. again, where they lost.

Close Shave once again fought in the Tag Team, partnered with Odyssey. Their first battle was against FlipANT and Antagonist where they lost.

The next fight was against Pants and Combat Ant where they won.

The final battle was against Ickle Xno and A.P.C. where they lost.

### AWS 5

In the first round it fought Pants yet again and Buzzant again, Close Shave lost the match and was eliminated.

### AWS 6

In the first round it faced Anto 3 where it lost.

### AWS 7

In the first round it fought War Pog, Tank Top and Type-0 where it qualified alongside Type-0.

In the second round it fought Anteater and Last Chance Saloon. Not much is known about the fight in general other than Close Shave's crushing claw was slightly damaged during a brief chase with Anteater. It qualified alongside Anteater.

In the third round it faced Pants (again) and Phantom. Not much is known about the fight, except at one point Close Shave managed to get behind Pants and grab hold of it before pushing Pants off the arena, eliminating it.

In the fourth round Close Shave faced Psycho Ant and Resurrector. Psycho Ant seemed to have had issues and didn't seem to move as the battle began, this left it open for an attack from Resurrector who slammed in and wedged underneath. Close Shave then attacked Resurrector as Psycho Ant sprang to life and accidentally drove off the edge.

In the quarterfinals, Close Shave faced Anteater again, and Anticyclone. Close Shave and Anteater attempted to gang up on Anticyclone by performing a pincer movement and attacking from both ends. However, Anteater pushed Anticyclone and in turn Close Shave towards the corner and the edge of the arena. As a result, Anteater pushed Close Shave off the arena.

## Wins/Losses

* Wins: 19
* Losses: 10

## Outside AWS

Close Shave had won an event at a Robots@War event. The robot was also meant to appear in Extreme 1 of *Robot Wars*, but it never appeared for unknown reasons.

Alan Parkin would later become an active competitor in the British featherweight scene, regularly attending Robodojo events in North Yorkshire. He first competed in these events with Plastic Fantastic, a four-wheel driven invertible wedge made entirely out of HDPE. With no active weapon, Plastic Fantastic was a purely defensive robot designed to withstand blows from spinners and achieve victories via recoil damage or pittings. Plastic Fantastic competed in all Full Combat Robodojo competitions throughout 2019, winning one of the five outright. Its consistent attendance and high placements in each competition gave Plastic Fantastic enough victories to win the 2019 Full Combat competition overall.

Following its Robodojo 2019 victory, Plastic Fantastic was retired in favour of its successor Velocity, a similarly designed machine retaining all the key strengths of Plastic Fantastic, with new wheels and added reinforcement. This has competed at a number of Full Combat Robodojo events in 2020 with relative success. Velocity would also on occasion compete in the Sportsman division as a reserve under the controls of younger drivers when other machines withdrew.

Also in 2019, Alan Parkin would build a featherweight robot armed with a hydraulic crusher, scaling up the design of Close Shave, known as Pressure Point. Its crusher weapon is among the most powerful in the modern day circuit and can easily pierce the armour of many featherweight machines it has fought, although Pressure Point mainly participates in Robodojo sportsman competitions with its weapon reduced in power or disabled entirely to comply with event rules.

## Trivia

* Alan Parkin still owns Close Shave today..

## References

1. ↑ Private correspondence between ToastUltimatum and Alan Parkin