Mr.Zerox Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 Hi,Please could the Alphdromers help a novice out in his moment of need, and cast there expert eye and show me were I am going wrong? I would be most grateful for any help my fellow collectors can give me.I bought this rather beat up Horikawa Robot off ebay, purely because I have never seen one like it before with a Fly Eye head, and to see if I could fix it up. The paint work is quite pitted and there is mild rusting all over the body. Surprisingly the lithography inside the doors and on the body dials are very good, almost immaculate in places. Please see attached photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Zerox Posted March 23, 2005 Author Share Posted March 23, 2005 photo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Zerox Posted March 23, 2005 Author Share Posted March 23, 2005 I have stripped down the tin body and head into separate components, leaving the bare working on the body. Please see photos. Now I am stuck at this stage! :( I have no idea what to use to clean the paint work down and stop the rust from spreading? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laserman Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 Mr.zerox. I have this particular robot. You need to determine how bad it is. I had one similar a year ago, and I decided to buy a better astronaut version and swap the heads. Now if you decide to repaint it, I had a local paint shop identify a very close lacquer blend for this standard Horikawa color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Zerox Posted March 23, 2005 Author Share Posted March 23, 2005 The black plastic battery box is split and bits have broken off. Would Super glue stick this type of plastic?The brass gears and cogs of the mechanism have gone green with age and are a bit gummed up, having said that they all move freely when turned by hand. Should I use WD-40 or is that a no, no?The "ON" switch is not coming into contact with the brass plate, should I bend this so as to make contact with the switch?All the solder contacts on the wires have gone green and a white power-like residue has built up over the years. Should I take off the wires clean them up and resolder into place, or just clean up the contacts?As a novice I am wondering if I have taken on too much, I can fix plastic Robots, but these tin ones are all new to me. Can I bring this Robot back to life or was he a trash can job from the beginning? :huh: I hope he is retrievable, and hopefully with your help and tips I may be able to do it. I thank you all in advance and hope that you can help. I very much look forward to your replies.Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laserman Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 In looking at your followup pictures, I would keep it for parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartzenegger Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 painting will be a problem. ( unless you dont mind rust or sanding down the rust and trying to touch up or compeletly repainting)as for workings......... there is many things to do . everything can be restored it just depends on what you are willing and what you are able to do. good luck. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe K. Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 Perhaps, Volker's experience with his Mechanized Robot may point you in the right direction:http://danefield.com/alpha/forums/index.ph...ct=ST&f=8&t=215And, keep this thought in mind, Mr. Z.:"If it was made, it can be fixed." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.I. Gosses Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 It is not a rare robot. So if you spend the time it would take you to restore it to a vague semblance of it's original glory, delivering newspapers or babysitting, you will be able to buy a mint in the box robot. Tinkering with robots is fun, and as you do not run the risk of destroying a unique,historical piece here, I would go for a "Special". If you sandblast it, or sand it completely clean, you have two options. Either you spray it in a flat, glossy colour, -dark red would be nice-. In that case you will have to use endless amounts of filler, resanding, more filler, base coat etc etc. Or you go for the structured paints. Both wrincle/crinckle finish and hammer finish,are designed to diguise the imperfections of machine castings. They will do equally on pitted tin robots. I would do nothing to the mechanism if it works. If it doesn't do what is necessary to make it go.-no more, unless you like it as a hobby. Nonfunctioning switches should be cleaned and severely spoken to. If need be bend etc. In a case like this there are no rules, (as for ex. in case of very rare robots:every restoration or interference should be reversible).This robot is dead and gone, anything that can be brought back from Hades should be seen as gained. And after all, if everything fails, you can throw it away. No great loss. However if you make it into an exclusive: great gain. Best of luck!PS Photo of something similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartzenegger Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 hahahaha! :blink: aaaaaahhhrrrrggghhhhh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Zerox Posted March 23, 2005 Author Share Posted March 23, 2005 Henk, You have a wicked sense of humour! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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