THE chance to compete in the latest series of Robot Wars was a dream come true for one fan.

Will Thomas begged his father to help him build a robot to duke it out in the arena.

Now he’s the captain of one of the battling bots taking to the hallowed arena on Sunday night.

In just five weeks the duo created Shockwave, a 110kg titan with interchangeable weaponry.

Shockwave is fitted with a rotating lifting arm along which can be fitted with wedges, spikes, or a snowplough.

“I started watching the original series when I was 10,” said Will.

“After watching that I badgered my Dad into building one.

“We made one from an old remote control car when I was in primary school, and we started with bigger and better things.

“The day was a fantastic experience, one that I’d wanted to do since I was young and having the chance to compete was great.

“The arena has been beefed up and so have the house robots, to get to stand along them was great.”

The Sibley Park Road man Shockwave went into the first battle, against Thor, with just five minutes of testing in a Gravesend supermarket car park.

The duo have been competing on a live-action circuit for 10 years but this was their first appearance on Robot Wars.

24-year-old Will and his 52-year-old Dad Ian had just five weeks to build Shockwave. They used spare parts from other fighting robots and got Welldox armour specially cut by a laser manufacturer.

The robot’s weapon spins entirely around the robot allowing it to flip out of danger. It’s strong enough to lift 200kg or pull a car.

However, this impressive arsenal means the behemoth has an unprotected top and belly to fit within the weight limit.

Will, who is training to become a DT teacher, said the robot was only five grams off breaching the weight limit.

Find out how Shockwave got on by tuning in to Robot Wars on BBC 2 at 8pm on Sunday, July 31.