Horizon Models ED-209 from Robocop (1987)

[Reelyator]

Moving Forward with the Detail upgrade of ED.

Cutting of some strips from 0,3 mm Aluminum sheet. I do not like the structure coming from the teeth from the tin snips. Hope this will nit be visible after final application.

Test fitting......not too bad. But final installation will not take place before painting is done.

....to be continued.

[Escaflowne]

Thanks for the tip for the ammunition.

Great work, a mithical robot.

I looking for an ED-209 but a little bit less tall

 

[Reelyator]

On 27/05/2021 at 18:22, Escaflowne said:

....I looking for an ED-209 but a little bit less tall

 

Hi Escaflowne!

In this case the new version from Good Smile could be interesting for you....not sure if you have already heard of it.

 

Article Number is 131095 (Source: Scalemates) and as far as i remember the information  on HLJ, it should be around 20 cm tall...

[Reelyator]

Now that infection numbers go down and Shops are reopening again, i was able to get me another pair of tin snips, now with a smooth blade. This leads to a visibly better shape at the edges of the Alu Strips.

Next Steps will be to move forward with the painting and start the first trials with printing the custom decals on decal paper.

 

...to be continued.

[Reelyator]

Moving forward with the painting of Mr. Ed. As i do not like the blue-ish colour of the original i used the light grey Valleyo Primer for the Base Colour. The Metal Parts are Valleyo Gunmetal, Steel and Aluminum. Currently i am struggling with finding the right combination for the Head-Dome. Difficult to work out the structure with black washing and Crome Dry brushing for the highlights.....

Next Steps will be to Panel-Line the Surface details, Detail Painting and the first attaempts on printing the custom Decals.

 

....to be continued.

[spruecutter96]

"You have ten seconds to comply!".

 

Your ED-209 is coming along very nicely indeed. 

 

Cheers for sharing with us. 

 

Chris. 

[Reelyator]

Thank You Cris!

 

I will definitely need more than 10 seconds, to bring my Kit into compliance (=finish it)...

[spruecutter96]

"Dead or alive, you're coming with me!".

 

I bought a cheap-and-nasty Thailand recast of the Horizon kit a few years ago. When it finally arrived, I REALLY wished I hadn't wasted my money on it. Fortunately, I managed to sell it on E-Bay (even though I was very honest with my description).

 

Cheers. 

 

Chris.   

[Thom216]

"Dick, you're fired!"

 

Great work on the paint. Even Murphy would give it a nod - before blowing it up...

[spruecutter96]

"Come quietly, or there will be.... trouble".

 

Isn't this one of the most quotable films in history?

 

Chris.   

[Reelyator]

On 03/08/2021 at 19:09, spruecutter96 said:

I bought a cheap-and-nasty Thailand recast of the Horizon kit a few years ago. When it finally arrived, I REALLY wished I hadn't wasted my money on it. Fortunately, I managed to sell it on E-Bay (even though I was very honest with my description)....

Hy Chris,

i had an eye on the Thailand Recasts as well before i found my original Kit on Ebay. Often these are the only options for Kits who are discontinued since ages. Unless you want to spend a ridiculous amount of money. Don´t ask me what i paid for my original Halcyon Nostromo from Alien.....

 

Sometimes the Thai recasts are not too bad and worth the money. e. g. the 1:1 Scale Face Huggers from Alien are pretty close to the detail Level of the original. I have both, one original Halcyon Face Hugger from Alien (1) and a Thai Recast of the Alien 3 Face Hugger. Just looking at the surface details i cannot see much difference. But this Kit is not very detailed in general.....

[spruecutter96]

Hi, TomTom. 

 

Yep, I know what you mean about the very varaible quality of Thai re-casts. I've also bought the "borrowed" Thai castings of the Predator (pretty good) , Boba Fett (poor) and Ghost Rider (the best of the lot, only minor details lost / hazy). I've kept the Predator and sold the others. I go and look on E-Bay at the Thai listings occasionally and then remember what the quality tends to be like... If you can find the original kits on E-Bay, the prices are WAY more than I would ever pay for a figure. 

 

Chris. 

[Reelyator]

Usualy i like the painting step of Panel Lining because it is a quick and easy way, to point out the surface details of your Kit. Here some positive examples:

 

Before

After

 

The bad part is, that this technique is not selective. It points out the bad properties just as well as the good ones. In this old Kit, the detail level is a bit inconsistent. @Chris: You might want to revise your attitute towards the Thai Recasts of this Kit after reading this😉.

This is an example of a separation line that was pretty crisp on the left weapon arm of the kit but somehow vanishes in the same section of the right weapon arm.

i guess i need to do some re-scraping here.

...to be continued...

[Reelyator]

After making some progress on the painting i made the first attempts with the self printed Decals. First lesson learned is that they are VERY fragile.

Better use just cold water for not more than 20-30 seconds. Sliding them from the carrier paper works best with a wet Q-Tip. Next step wil be to check how they react on Decal-Setting Solution.

 

....to be continued.

[Uncle Monty]

Following this with great interest. Looks like you have multiple challenges here! I have to say I loved the film; I remember watching it in the cinema back in the day and alternating between laughing out loud and wincing....

[Reelyator]

1 hour ago, Uncle Monty said:

Following this with great interest. Looks like you have multiple challenges here! I have to say I loved the film; I remember watching it in the cinema back in the day and alternating between laughing out loud and wincing....

.....fully agree with you! Definitely a classic, but not aged very well when you look at the Special Effects.

[Reelyator]

Some crazy small details to apply.

[Reelyator]

I ruined 2 Decals before in finally was able to position the 3rd one correctly without breaking it.

[Carts]

Looking good,very informative build,and the decals look great.

[spruecutter96]

18 hours ago, Reelyator said:

Definitely a classic, but not aged very well when you look at the Special Effects.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. Although some of the stop-motion action in the first film does look a bit "clunky", I would say most of the special-effects have held up very well. One thing I can't really not laugh at in modern films, is how obvious the SFX sequences are. Yes, they take millions of dollars and months of effort to produce, but they STILL look pretty darned different to the live-action scenes. It feels like everything in the SFX shots is utterly perfect and pristine and - to me, at least - they just don't cut the mustard. I think they call it the "uncanny valley". 

 

Chris. 

 

When Dick Jones is falling down the building at the end, he seems to have suddenly developed six-foot long arms. Now, that one I will concede could have been MUCH better...   

[2lefthands]

Terrific build! Can`t wait to see the machine completed!

[Reelyator]

6 hours ago, spruecutter96 said:

...... One thing I can't really not laugh at in modern films, is how obvious the SFX sequences are. Yes, they take millions of dollars and months of effort to produce, but they STILL look pretty darned different to the live-action scenes. It feels like everything in the SFX shots is utterly perfect and pristine and - to me, at least - they just don't cut the mustard. I think they call it the "uncanny valley".....

 

  

Hi Chris,

i know what you mean!

 

The "Uncanny Valey" is the area between "obviously not real" and "looking Real" related to artificial human faces (Pupets, CGI, Robotics....). Nobody minds looking at a pupet because this is obviously not human. But some Things that come "close to human" but not close enough to mimig a real facial expression make the watcher feel uncomfortable.

 

My biggest problem with modern SFX is that they have become soo cheap and easy available. When they were expensive the Directors had to be mindfull were a SFX could best be used to support the overall story of a movie. Too much "Style over Substance" in modern movies.

Edited September 27, 2021 by Reelyator

[Reelyator]

23 hours ago, Carts said:

Looking good,very informative build,..

...Thank you! Glad you find it useful!!

[spruecutter96]

Another thing I object in modern, SFX-driven movies is the much-used "stop-the-story-for-five-minutes-we're-having-an-enormous-fight-scene!". You get this all the blooming time in recent films and every time I see it, it looks less-and-less impressive (yes, Marvel, I'm talking to you!). 

 

I understand that film-producers are always trying to beat the latest, big blockbuster in the major fight-scene stakes, but sometimes more becomes "less". The stuff they're depitcting is just getting ridiculous now. It might appeal to a hyper-active, computer-game obssessed teenager, but it is a very long time since I fell into that category. Also, stop editing your fight-scenes with three cuts a second - it can be very difficult to tell who's doing what when the editing is so frenetic. 

 

I've always believed that the script is the most important part of any film - SFX, explosions, film-stars, hype.... they all come a very distant second to the script. Most Hollywood producers couldn't care less about the script and just look at the forgettable, cookie-cutter dross they churn out...

 

Chris.  

[Uncle Monty]

I always felt that Robocop worked brilliantly as a dark satire first, then a crime drama, then a fx movie. In other words, even if the fx had been much better, it wouldn't have been a better movie. The ED209 sequence worked flawlessly because it was very funny (in a sort of cartoon road-runner style) and it also mattered to the story. The fx were just right - not intrusive or gratuitous. Ed is still my favourite robot from the movies (even better than c3pio and Robby).