Robby the Robot & GUNTER Robot B9 double bill + surprise (maybe)

[hendie]

Here we go again....

In an effort to appease some one of our numpties illustrious fellow members, and to prove that I can (or cannot) multi-task, I have been baited (against my better judgement I may add), into creating another thread, yeh, even while my DB5 build has not yet come to fruition, in order to satiate aforementioned members appetite and polymeric addiction.

I shall not mention georgeusa's name for I am certain we are all well aware that his reputation far precedes him, like a serpent, slithering through the undergrowth.

So, that being said, welcome to the thread. In this chapter of my BM life, I am attempting to build not one robot, not one and a half robots, but two, yes, that's two, (II, 2) robots, both of whom I am sure everyone is fully aware - Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet, and Robot B9 (a.k.a. GUNTER, a.k.a. YM3) from Lost In Space.

And to make matters worse, there are some pretty awesome builds of both robots out there on the interwebby.

And so, georgeusa, who's name I shall not mention.... not only am I multi-tasking but I with these two builds in tandem, I am multi-tasking² !

Both are Polar Lights releases, some years old I believe, and I actually started both of them a while back, way before I even contemplated building Periwinkle the Dalek. Since then, they have both languished in my build bin, stuck on a shelf, never knowing when or if they were going to be completed.

Well, now the time has come. I am reaching the end of my DB5 build (I hope!) and need something else to occupy my wayward hours with.

Although I had started them both, to be honest I hadn't really got that far with either of them.

Here's B9, or GUNTER...

and here's Robby... (sorry I couldn't help but announce that in my head in some crazy American accent!)

Assembly began, and there are some pretty nasty seams to take care of, especially on the arms. The body wasn't too bad although I think I may revisit the seams on B9 here.

B9's legs for some reason appeared to be a bit easier.

I think I managed to get this seam taken care of...

Along with his legs. (well, almost...)

.. and with this post, I have now apparently committed myself to building a couple of robots and finishing of a DB5 - Oh the humiliation if I fail to deliver.

Okay, now for some thoughts: I have no idea how to continue with these builds. Originally I had wanted to add a lot of detail, however, there is an etch set for Robby, but the only etch set I can find for B9 is for the smaller, teeny weeny version. Even with the Robby etch set, the only parts I think I would use are the radar circley things that are inside the dome. I know the kits parts are absolutely awful, but I hate the idea of spending almost $30 just to get those two parts, so who knows where this is going to go.... stay tuned

At some point, I plan on getting the newly released 1/6 B9, but there's a slight moratorium on my spending habits (- still waiting for the in-house chancellor to set me free again).

oh, and the surprise will be announced later - if I can pluck up the courage to commit myself to yet another build... any guesses?

Edited February 22, 2014 by hendie

[Carts]

I do like a good robot twosome...................Oh err missus. Just be careful that you don't end up turning backwards and forwards,flailing your arms about and shouting "Danger,Danger Will Robinson"

[BrianI]

Strangely, I just watched The Forbidden Planet on bluray last week - still a great film despite it's age! Looking forward to seeing the finished builds, hendie!

[Pete in Lincs]

polymeric addiction

That's fighting talk. Go for your Laser, Boy!

I only ever heard the L I S one called Robot.

(Danger Will Robinson!) So that's me educated before you start.

I've seen other builds of these online, Try starshipmodeler.com

There may be some ideas there for you.

Good luck

Pete

[hendie]

that the quandary I am in Pete. I know there are some fantastic builds out there - super detailed, LED and fiber optic illuminated, with audio etc. - even motion activated.

Do I try to incorporate all of that into some mega detailed super build? My skills aren't up to that level and to be honest, after Periwinkle and the DB5, I think I am looking for something relatively easy, soothing and cathartic. So these builds may be much closer to OOTB builds with maybe a few tweaks here and there, but of course, that may well change as I get further into the build.

[S5 modeller]

I'm sure which ever way you go, the results will be spectacular hendie.

Personally I think out of the box, with a few small detail additions, would look good.

I think sometimes the level of detail some people on here go to is insane, and sometimes detracts from the overall feel of the kit, especially when the heavy weight rivet counters get going.

Edited February 22, 2014 by S5 modeller

[Kallisti]

Robots, two of, for the observing of construction, seat and popcorn acquired.

[hendie]

Episode II, and he who shall be named has not even bothered to make an appearance - after all that threatening and cajoling!

This installment sees me fall further into the madness that is modeling, and further and further from OOTB which was my original intention.

On picking up the model again after several months sabbatical, the first thing that struck me was just how bad the tracks are.

It seems that everything that can go wrong in molding has gone wrong with these tracks... sinks, ejector pin marks, A & B mold misalignment... pretty much a mess.

It should also be noted that not only are the track halves misaligned, but the tracks are a completely different design than the ones on the original B9. They have to go.

And to rub salt in the wound.... the detail is very soft with fillets everywhere.

You can see how soft the detail is when a couple of the tracks are dry fitted.... Even when painted up, I think these tracks would still look like they were just stuck on the front of the base here.

So, it was out with the sandpaper and the files. You can see the misalignment between the mold A & B plates better in this photo below.

Original part at bottom. Modified part above - the treads have been removed from the track, as well as removing what passed for "wheels" on each side of the track. So far so good.... only another 7 of these little blighters to go!

And here is the cleaned track, with my cheap version of tracks fitted.... little strips of styrene left over from Periwinkle. (There's a little bit of Dalek in everything!)

Sore fingers later... and all remaining seven tracks are in process.

And here's one almost finished, dry fitted to the base...

As you can see, I still have to fit the ends of the wheels to the side of the track, but I think this looks a lot better - at least the tracks look something like the original. Once they are painted up and the wheels are on, I think it will be reasonable.

In case you are/were wondering... I removed the "wheels" on the kit tracks as the edges were too rounded and I wanted a sharper edge. I have punched out some styrene discs, which I shall cut in half, then stick to the outside of the tracks in the hope that they look like wheels.

I would have liked to remove the plastic between the top and bottom wheel, but there just wouldn't be enough meat left in the plastic on the outer edge to allow me to use that method. It would also mean that I would need to use full 360° wheels to wrap the tracks around... maybe I'll just paint the area black instead. - this was supposed to be a relaxing, easy, OOTB build after all.

[hendie]

Nothing much to report today.

I've been working on the treads... they were relatively easy to glue together but the cleanup is a beast.

I was sanding the treads down to width tonight and a couple of the tread pieces broke off... now glued back on and left overnight. Wasn't two bad though - only two little pieces from the eight tread sections - I can live with that.

The biggest issue is removing all the burrs that are created when sanding as these things are so small.

It's probably going to take another few nights of clean up (it's mind numbing at best) before they're ready.

Here's a shot of 4 of the treads dry fitted. To be honest, it's not wonderful, but it is better than the original kit parts.

To help alleviate the boredom, I decided to remove the shoulder loops - I will replace these later with some scratched parts made from stainless steel wire

The quality of the molding on some of these parts is awful - soft detail with little or no definition. I can definitely see some more areas where scratch building will be required.

[hendie]

Well, there's been a little progress on what has been a total disaster of a weekend.

I was all set to get down to this modeling malarkey on Friday evening after work, but as it turned out, I didn't get there Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday Afternoon, Saturday evening, or even this morning. Domestic abuse I call it, making me go shopping, and cooking the dinner.

Anyway, it was this (Sunday) afternoon before I got anywhere near the basement for modeling.

I began by giving the tracks a quick hand brush of primer.

I then turned my attention to the lower knee joints or whatever they're called - I mean the little brackets that go from the knee area down to the track area.

On the real B9, they are very thin, but of course on this model they are very chunky, and for some inexplicable reason, have a large tube thingy disappearing into B9's legs

I am determined not to go overboard on this model but had to do something with these. I decided to file down the round part to be more in line with the real thing at least. There were also three little indentations, on the real thing these are little rivets (I think) - see photo below

and then compare that to the kit offering.

I opted to drill out the 3 indentations and use some small 1mm rivets to provide a bit of detail.

Unmodified on right, modified (with only 1 rivet) on left...

As you can see, these parts are nothing like the real thing. I might revisit this and do some scratch building... who knows.

I then discovered during a quick dry fit, that they don't even touch the knee-plate, or the track box - they are just hanging out of B9's lower leg, connected to nothing.

So some scrap pieces of styrene from the Dalek came to the rescue (again)

Followed by a session spent re-scribing some *ahem* panel lines on the track boxes.

In reality, these panels do not exist, but I intend to paint the area around the tracks black, and these scribe lines will help the demarcation of the area.

Then the claws were given a quick once over. Yup! - they are incorrect also.

How many things can be wrong on one little kit?

A quick file on one side of the claws brought them more into line with the real thing.

[Pete in Lincs]

After this & the DB 5, I hope you have an easy one lined up!

I'll Fed Ex a box of Sympathy to you, If I can find enough bubblewrap.

Mmmmm bubblewrap.....

[hendie]

... this was supposed to be the easy and relaxing build!

[georgeusa]

I think you are progressing quite nicely. Don't you realize multi-tasking merely is a short hand term for doing multiple projects at the same time and moving from each disaster to the next disaster until you are completely shutdown and paralyzed by all the fires you must put out at once and all you have is a water pistol. Glad to see you have joined us in the looney bin. Quite nice here, walls are soft and most of the times all of your apothecaric needs are provided. Now doesn't working on the treads make you forget about the paint job on the DB?

[hendie]

thank you

I do now

not sure whether I joined or was sentenced

I do love the word apothecary... it conjures up visions of wizzened old alchemists hunched over dark and cobwebby wooden benches strewn with lots of fluorescent vials and bits of animals in jars.... like Professor Abronsiius (Jack McGowran) in Polanski's Fearless Vampire Killers (absolutely fantastic and hilarious movie)

... I suppose so

[Kallisti]

Relaxing builds are the lazy man's way of avoiding stress!

Get a nice easy kit then complicate it up the wahooey with scratch built detail, lighting and a diorama base - thats modelling for REAL MEN!

Or just add bar armour... everything looks better with added bar armour!

Edited March 3, 2014 by Kallisti

[georgeusa]

Relaxing builds are the lazy man's way of avoiding stress!

Get a nice easy kit then complicate it up the wahooey with scratch built detail, lighting and a diorama base - thats modelling for REAL MEN!

Or just add bar armour... everything looks better with added bar armour!

Or, just only build Mach 2 kits and pay for a horrible experience!!

[hendie]

and moving on, we now have both claws shaped...

There is some work going on with the seams on the arms - I may never get them perfect, but they are awful as supplied so something has to be done with them.

In between the filling sanding etc. on the arms I looked for some light entertainment...

Now, take a look at this photo... note the disc thingy immediately above the collar - the disc with the red and yellow whadjamacallits... see how there is a distinct lip both above and below the main body?

Also, note the next section up - that looks like lots of discs stacked together... and then look at the neck as it heads up into the brain of B9, there is a slight taper - yes? (slight being the operative word!)

Now take a look at Polar Lights rendition of the same assembly..... and I do apologize for my camera turning everything green and having a dodgy focus.

But does that look anything like the assembly shown above??? My a*se it does!

The taper of the neck is ridiculous. They have missed a complete section (the stacked discs), and the lower section is the wrong shape entirely. How do companies get away with this?

So my first plan of attack was to remove the crazy stoopid taper of a neck... like so...

And then, the more I thought about it, the more it annoyed me, so I decided to make the entire assembly from scratch. Well. 99% of it - I may still use the two little brackets for the red and yellow rotating thingies. Then I at least stand a chance of having it look something like the real B9.

Thankfully, I still have a wad of styrene and other odds and ends left over from the Dalek build. I found a couple of washers that appeared the correct diameter. I then found a piece of brass tubing that fit nicely inside the washers.

Then, selecting a suitably thick piece of styrene, I drilled a hole in the styrene the same diameter as the brass tube, and sandwiched the styrene between two washers.

I then drilled another hole ( same Ø as the brass tube) close to the corner edges of a spare block of wood.

That allowed me to file around the edges of the styrene using the washers as a guide to keeping the styrene as circular as possible.

Quite successful as you can see here...

It's going to be close, but I think I can make these fit.

I then cut two discs slightly larger diameter than the washers, and sandwiched the core between them.

hopefully, when finished, the two larger discs will give me the top and bottom lip which is evident on the photo up above.

That was set aside for the glue to cure.

What next? Well, I was up at the neck end of B9 so thought I would continue up into the brain.

Polar Lights kindly supply this little monstrosity of a part as the lower end of the brain... it's full of seams, lacks definition, and once again, is the wrong shape... AAAAAAARRRRGhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

So as you can no doubt tell from the piece of brass tubing lying beside the plastic piece - I decided to build my own (yet again)

Starting with the center core, I drilled 6 holes around the circumference.

Next, using the broken side of my razor saw, I cut 6 tiny little pieces of brass tube for the end pieces on the stems. I had already checked that I had another brass tube which would slide inside these little end caps.

All six pieces cut, ready for cutting the stems

But first, I had to ensure that each of the six little end caps was the same length, and reasonably square. So. I drilled a hole in a spare piece of styrene which was the same diameter as the OD of the little end caps. The styrene was just the right thickness (depth) I needed.

That allowed me to plop the end caps into the piece of styrene, and I could then file off the excess, and filing down to the styrene ensured that the ends were square.

and here is one piece test fitted for a quick visual...

and a quick comparison against the kit part...

I still need to trim the length of the stems a touch, and then I can figure out how I am going to fix them to the center core. A bit of superglue with a wooden dowel inside the center core should do the job.

Now I just need to find something which has a SLIGHT taper that I can use for the neck

Oh, and of course, Polar Lights didn't bother to include the soil sampler in the track box... so it was out with the Dymo tape...

and the scriber - a few quick gouges, and we have a representation of the sampler panel. It's maybe a touch oversize, but I can live with it on this scale

and now it's time for our regularly scheduled DB5 update over in the vehicles section.

[Billydick]

Interesting job Hendie and starting to come together well - great stuff. Have you seen their 1/6th B9 ? I've got one on order but it's been ages - I thought it was going to be released last year. Hope it will address some of the faults.

BillyD

[hendie]

I have seen photo's of it, but not in the flesh yet so to speak. I believe it addresses some of the faults, but no doubt there will be a few little niggling ones left

It's on my "must buy soon list"

[marty_hopkirk]

Interesting job Hendie and starting to come together well - great stuff. Have you seen their 1/6th B9 ? I've got one on order but it's been ages - I thought it was going to be released last year. Hope it will address some of the faults.

BillyD

Mine came a couple of weeks back it's very nice indeed.

Marty...

[marty_hopkirk]

Here we go again....

In an effort to appease some one of our numpties illustrious fellow members, and to prove that I can (or cannot) multi-task, I have been baited (against my better judgement I may add), into creating another thread, yeh, even while my DB5 build has not yet come to fruition, in order to satiate aforementioned members appetite and polymeric addiction.

I shall not mention georgeusa's name for I am certain we are all well aware that his reputation far precedes him, like a serpent, slithering through the undergrowth.

So, that being said, welcome to the thread. In this chapter of my BM life, I am attempting to build not one robot, not one and a half robots, but two, yes, that's two, (II, 2) robots, both of whom I am sure everyone is fully aware - Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet, and Robot B9 (a.k.a. GUNTER, a.k.a. YM3) from Lost In Space.

And to make matters worse, there are some pretty awesome builds of both robots out there on the interwebby.

And so, georgeusa, who's name I shall not mention.... not only am I multi-tasking but I with these two builds in tandem, I am multi-tasking² !

Both are Polar Lights releases, some years old I believe, and I actually started both of them a while back, way before I even contemplated building Periwinkle the Dalek. Since then, they have both languished in my build bin, stuck on a shelf, never knowing when or if they were going to be completed.

Well, now the time has come. I am reaching the end of my DB5 build (I hope!) and need something else to occupy my wayward hours with.

Although I had started them both, to be honest I hadn't really got that far with either of them.

Here's B9, or GUNTER...

and here's Robby... (sorry I couldn't help but announce that in my head in some crazy American accent!)

Assembly began, and there are some pretty nasty seams to take care of, especially on the arms. The body wasn't too bad although I think I may revisit the seams on B9 here.

B9's legs for some reason appeared to be a bit easier.

I think I managed to get this seam taken care of...

Along with his legs. (well, almost...)

.. and with this post, I have now apparently committed myself to building a couple of robots and finishing of a DB5 - Oh the humiliation if I fail to deliver.

Okay, now for some thoughts: I have no idea how to continue with these builds. Originally I had wanted to add a lot of detail, however, there is an etch set for Robby, but the only etch set I can find for B9 is for the smaller, teeny weeny version. Even with the Robby etch set, the only parts I think I would use are the radar circley things that are inside the dome. I know the kits parts are absolutely awful, but I hate the idea of spending almost $30 just to get those two parts, so who knows where this is going to go.... stay tuned

At some point, I plan on getting the newly released 1/6 B9, but there's a slight moratorium on my spending habits (- still waiting for the in-house chancellor to set me free again).

oh, and the surprise will be announced later - if I can pluck up the courage to commit myself to yet another build... any guesses?

There are a number of after market kits for both kits that address a lot of the issues. Cult used to sell a kit for the B9 that had pressure cast seamless arms with more realistic arm pose and it had single piece gladed dome with the right proportions and new neck.

There is a resin breast insert kit, with moulded in LEDs to for the B9.There is a similar lighting kit for Robby too and Paragrafix do an etch brass detailing kits for both, or did do.

Jimmy Flinstone does better bases kits along with some nice ladies to adorn your robots.

http://www.jimmyflintstonestudios.com/viewitem.php?productid=709g with some nice ladies to adorn your robots

http://www.jimmyflintstonestudios.com/viewitem.php?productid=555

Marty...

-

Edited March 7, 2014 by marty_hopkirk

[marty_hopkirk]

Robby etch kit:

http://www.culttvmanshop.com/Robby-the-Robot-detail-set-from-Paragrafix-_p_1560.html

Robby lighting kit:

http://www.culttvmanshop.com/Robby-Lighting-Kit-BLUE-LEDs-from-MechaLabs_p_539.html

B9 Lighting kit:

I can't find the B9 accurizing kit so I assume it's currently out of production.

Marty...

Edited March 7, 2014 by marty_hopkirk

[Billydick]

Mine came a couple of weeks back it's very nice indeed.

Marty...

Just looked and mine's been on order since July 2013 with Forbiddenplanet.co.uk......

Good on ya Marty ... be interesting to get your thoughts on it.

BillyD

[marty_hopkirk]

Mine was ordered via Cult.

Marty...

Edited March 7, 2014 by marty_hopkirk

[hendie]

Thanks Marty. I am aware of the photo etch kit for Robby, but I think I would only use a few parts from the set and I really grudge paying that amount for the few parts I would use. That being said, they are way, way better than the kit parts and I may well end up buying the set (reluctantly).

Are you doing a WIP on the B9 kit?