Mr Patrol: Rebuilding Mr. Patrol

[robobob]

Well, this week I started working on the Mr. Patrol I brought home

from Stans booth at Botstock last week (see first pic).

The torso, legs, feet and all mechanicals are now repaired, cleaned,

touched up, and reassembled. So far, so good...(see 2nd pic)

[robobob]

However... I was pretty sure this guy was also supposed to make some

sort of an irritating siren sound, and if so, I see nothing inside of him that

appears to be noise-generating. Is there something missing from this empty

space on the top side that would be driven off of the motor shaft ? (see pic)

Any info (or pics) as to the siren function would as always, be much appreciated.

[robobob]

Also, if anyone has a lead on a replacement (vintage or repro) clear chest plate,

feel free to drop me a line. After three attempts at casting one, my best effort was

borderline at best. Otherwise I will just buy one from Classic Tin, but thought it

couldn't hurt to ask around first.... :)

[laserman]

robobob,

on mine, the upper lens was ok but the lower clear plate over the guages was partially broken away. I sent it to Classic Toys where he repaired and made a mold from mine. If no one else has one, you can pick one up from Classic. I realize he charges a bit, but its like new.

edit: after re reading your post, I see you already mentioned Classic. My bad. By the way you mentioned no sound. There is suppose to be a white plastic sound unit resting above the motor with a metal plate atop attached to the arms. This plate rises and lowers when the siren is going. I see yours is absent

[9tobor9]

:) I did just finish rebuilding mine ! The pieces you miss are a plastic round tank in which a wheel with fin is turning fast, making a siren noise. That noise is modulated by a tin cover that goes forward & backward, as it is affixed to the walking mechanism, and changes the noisy sound.

I'm seriously in love with the box of that robot !!! One of the best of the Horikawa line !!!

*Finished product & Yummy box !!!

[H.I. Gosses]

At the fast end of the motor, the top, there is a sort of fanblade made of white nylon.

This is surrounded by a cage with slots with the appropriate distance. That forms the sirene.

The "Once-ever-so-often"-gear arrangement makes a lid move over the top of the sirene

so it changes pitch.

The absence of the sireny bits in your robot need not lead to blind dispair.

You can easily improvise something. The plastic cover of an aerosol could give you the outer cage.

A gear with some vertical panels would do for the inside.

All of this is not too critical.

If you want to atempt sirene -making I will give you some more dimensions. An/or some pictures.

[robobob]

Thanks everyone, for the pics and descriptions !! Looks

like I am going to be doing some engineering here...I think

tomorrow I will have to visit the dollar store in search of

one of those cheap plastic siren/wolf whistles.....

Henk, if you want to send any more pics and/or dimensions,

that would be lovely. Either post them here, or send them to

me directly care of "Bmoline AT frontiernet DOT net"

:)

[Andyman]

Nice work so far Dr. Frankenstein! ;)

[robobob]

Just realized it's been 3 months since I last updated the post.

So as Paul Harvey says, here is "The Rest of The Story" !!

The back half of the body had more rust through than I thought, so

I did some soldering and filling around the battery door area. Not great,

but it turned out OK. I also had trouble getting a good paint match on

the back, but after sitting around for 2 months, I was tired of looking at

the poor guy lying around in pieces, so he went back together as-is.

I ended up using a siren from an old Dick Tracy car to replace the missing

one. Not original, but it has a great sound to it. Unfortunately, it took up too

much space to add the rising/lowering sound flap, but it does change pitch

up and down as the load on the motor changes, so everything worked out.

[attachmentid=10786]

After my horrid clear casting attempts, I had a brainstorm, and ended up

vacuforming the clear chest piece. Amazingly, it came out darn near perfect

on the first try, so I stopped there.

[attachmentid=10789]

Naturally, once he was all back together, he decided to be difficult, and not

always start walking after the arms cycle, but oh well...Robots are so moody !!

And so, here he is, my little souvenier from Botstock III,

cleaned, repaired, and proudly displayed...

Now, on to the NEXT project !!! :D

[Robotnut]

Bob, when I saw that Mr. Patrol on Stan's table, I didn't think

it was worth the effort, but you are proving me wrong. I

can't wait to see the finished product... :)

P.S. It was nice to see Henk's comments again...

[robert]

WOW!

Now that is beautiful. great work Mr B.

[bartzenegger]

congrates bob!!! i had this robot as a kid ... so im lurking in the backround for one. -seems the value on this robot continues to climb!!

damn that box is amazing!!! i dont think i have ever seen it before .( as an adult)

[Robotnut]

Did you guys see this Patrol Robot, $2200 has to be a new

record ??? These Horikawa robots are certainly enjoying

some well deserved respect... :)

eBay Patrol Robot !!!

[Morbius]

ROBOTNUT, I followed this one all along as it was an interesting auction to watch. These minty right-from-the-factory unused toys are astonishingly beautiful to see and to have, especially with the box just as new-looking. A finer example couldn't be bought I'm sure. You should know Darryl since picking up that minty Blink-A-Gear with nary a mark! :) I'm so glad you nabbed him and for a price I had to do a double-take on as I thought the dealer had missed saying one thousand when asked the price!

You lucky 'NUT!! B)

[Dirk]

Uuuuh .... 2.200 $ DARRYL ( my dear cab driver ).... thats indeed a very new level for this toy. I wonder to know, if my robot face style Mr. Patrol could also reach that price / ...or would double it ... ;)