Just thought this deserved a small update:
I went out to home depot and brought some plexi glass and some 3/8 plywood.
I'm going to build a prototype on a piece of plywood and then transfer it onto plexi glass.
Here's the base so far. I just started, and I'm trying to get .step files to import to autocad

(For vex motors and such for prototyping purposes.)
(found an add-on that imports .step, but i can't get it to work)
After I can get .step to import I can get a proper prototype, for now this'll have to do.

Any suggestions?
I need suggestions for the motors, I need 3. Right now I'm looking at buying the vex motors mentioned earlier in the thread. I was wondering if anyone else has a better suggestion.