1993 LUNAR MODELS
LOST IN SPACE COMIC BOOK ROBOT
Built: Wednesday January 2, 2002 in 2 days.
The comic book story of (B-9) Robot, as I know it, is he was somehow badly damaged and rebuilt by Will Robinson. Much like Will Robinson, the goal wasn't to duplicate the comic book Robot, but meld him ever so slightly to his roots. For example: There are no hanging vains beneath his bubble. That would require drilling through the bubble lifter which is extra work and potential disaster. Compared to the original 10" Lunar Models "Lost in Space" Robot, the 10.5" comic book version is MUCH more difficult to assemble. Unlike his familiar B-9 brother, I could not identify many parts at first glance.
A Dremel tool is the quickest way to clean and trim larger parts ... period. BE SURE TO TEST FIT any joints. Wash only the larger non-fragile parts. In all, the satelite dish, a claw finger, and both radar wings on his shoulers broke - all repaired to perfection. His bowed legs can not be helped because the top of the feet are angled. His treads are spaced to fit the base's track marks, so he does not center well on his rubber knees.
His arms proved much too long to use and shorter arms are not included. Over estimate on a cut point, test fit, and trim again until you get the desired result. I intentionaly left one arm a tad longer to add some life. Some holes were still filled with resin that needed drilling, and cut marks made to hold his claw fingers. It was initially difficult to decide using my favored dark cuffs, or the sportier metallic ones. Fortunately, the new cuff design allowed melding the two.
I soon rediscovered that resin plastic does NOT let acrylic paint stick well. Using aluminum hobby paint I painted all the metallic parts in one coat. Except for a portion of the dome plate, I painted over it with one coat of my new Robot paint. I figure the slight bleed through makes his color more unique. You can see in the photos that his metal body isn't limited to one color. He is enhanced by painting the larger plate sections a lighter metal, and the small plates darker. Further enhanced by painting his attachments with similar metals.
This "Lost in Space" Robot does not need a myraid of glow paint. Above his mouth is a white filtered spot light. I was tempted to give the monitor a green glow, but it would conflict with his nicely glowing mouth. The question remains, when Will Robinson rebuilt the robot, did he use a monochrome, b&w, or color monitor? Considering the technology of the Jupiter 2 to draw from, my guess is monochrome. However, they all look the same turned off. I may enhance it with a mini monochrome photo one day. I considered glowing switches beneath the monitor, but that is a distraction in real life.
Unlike my other Lunar Models robots that consist of larger solid pieces, this Robot is held primarily with epoxy resin. The bonding strength is needed in the legs. The round disc can wobble during assembly, so it was adhered alone to the waist and let cure. The stone and creature are permanately attached, while Robot remains detachable in case of repair. Epoxy is a rather good filler for gaps. Wipe excess away with your finger and paint over the seams.
The base is done in a single wash coat over the resin. It naturally darkens in grainy spots and bleeds through thinner spots. The resulting soil is fairly realistic. The creature is a simple coating of some mixed paint and moderate dry brushing. The life in this beast is his face, so concentrate on the eyes. Painting the eyes with clear coat gives a living wet stare. Much better than just glossy paint, if you ask me.
Overall, not a bad model. Though at roughly 48 pieces it is intended for the advanced modeler, It needs more one piece construction in the legs to assemble straighter. Would be nice if the camera and satelite dish attached via peg, and not just glue. Resin plastic is just too fragile for thinner pieces. The arms are much too long to use as-is. Was glad to see the tire treads are molded into the feet. Perhaps my biggest complaint for these bubble-headed boobies shall always be having to cut the dome section out myself.
In all, Robot alone has 17 paints. Various paints were mixed for the earth, stone, and creature colors. At least 10 paints (including mixed) are visible on the completed base. As always, I added "signature chrome" to obscure but cool places. The entire kit is brush painted by hand - no spray paint, or air brush. "Oh, the pain. The pain of it all!" -Dr. Zachary Smith.
Frank P. DeCandia