Latest Rebuild ... Mighty Athlete

[robobob]

Martijn, (and everyone else interested)

Had a little progress to report on the Mighty Athelete.

Here are a couple before pics ...

[robobob]

And here are some after pics ...

Tabs all fixed, painting is done, decals printed and applied.

Just need to fix some rough edges on the decals, then its

clearcoat time again ... And off to re-assembly !! Wont be long now !!

( And the Space Explorer is finally back together ! ) B)

[robobob]

Had two straight days with low enough humidity to paint,

so I hurried and got him finished !!

[robobob]

A couple closer shots.

The black edges of some of the front decals bled a little, but that was my fault,

just in a hurry to clearcoat while I could, and didnt give the decals long enough drying time.

Also realized at the last minute that I was out of clear decal paper, so the Y logo looks horrible,

but I wasn't going to make a trip back into town and lose another whole day...

The clockwork is working fairly smoothly now, although the mech for the arms skips a tooth

evry once in a while, now that there is a load on it...Oh well, he's NOT coming back apart !

Thanks again to Martijn, for making it possible to finally have my own Mighty Athelete !!!!!!! :)

[Andyman]

Nice work, RB!

[Phil R]

Great job on restoration. So, you redo all decals? Do you recreate them on computer or copy them and clean up the art? How do you get them to contour to embossed surfaces? So many questions! :D

[roboz]

Nice Bob

Ditto on the decal question

Who creates the art for the decal ?

tough to scan I would imagine

[robobob]

Thanks, Thanks, and Thanks !! :)

Regarding decals ... Usually, (including this one), I just

take close up pictures and clean them up with a paint program.

I used to use PhotoSuite, but lost it when my last computer died.

This time it was mostly with Picasa and Gimp (both free, you see.)

If I'm trying to replace litho its waterslide paper, but if I'm making an

original I sometimes use vinyl, as it's easier to work with. Both of them have

enough give to work with embossed surfaces, as long as they aren't too complex.

I was a little worried about the cross on the front, but it formed right in to shape.

Then lots of clearcoat to try and blend the edges in.

I know it's not going to replace the litho, but I get a huge kick out of taking a

well worn robot and just trying to recreate the look ! And since I'm making them

just for me, I really don't care about the originality aspect... To me, it's more like

restoring old cars, I just can't stand seeing one lying around battered and beaten,

when I can fix up like new, and see it shining like it just left the factory !!! B)

[martijn]

:blink: :blink: was this my athlete???

WOW

amazing piece of work bob!

[Roboto]

What a great finish . I love seeing the before and after pics. It is sooo much fun to do this and the results are fantastic. :)

[Tinman]

Great work! Was the torso repainted and all the litho replaced with decal?

[robobob]

Yep ! :)

[nasa]

Cool work Bob....congrats...Mark/nasa

[astrogonza]

5 stars job !!!!