Space Whale

[Phil R]

I recently got the bright idea that I wanted a robot/space project for restoration. As if I needed to add to the 60 or so pieces I have as a backlog of work.

I saw this SPACE WHALE on ebay, and since I've always liked this bizarre item it seemed a likely candidate. I bought it hoping it wasn't as bad as the photo, but knowing it probably was that bad. I was challenged.

I received the whale and got the bad news. It had a lot of rust on the one side and bottom as well as randomly on the body, both wheels were 1/3 missing, which I didn't expect. The good news on taking it apart was an unrusted mechanism, the red gel and eye domes were very good, everything was there and no rust through.

you can see all of this on the photos. Now to contemplate repairs. ;)

[duxastrogirl]

Big chanlenge there Phil...especially with so much of the litho missing under...So have you started repainting??

[robert]

I'm highly impressed to see you take this on Phil. I am also hoping that you will continue to photo-document the process of restoration for all of us less skilled wannabees to enjoy, and maybe learn something. Looking forward to more.

[Phil R]

Enough wasted time. I'll do this in the evenings after the paying work is done.

Starting work on the SPACE WHALE mistaken "water toy". Remove all rust with a dremel using various attachments, but mostly with a fine wire brush wheel and very fine 320 sandpaper. Also cleaning rust from chrome trim.

Now to tackle the wheels. I decided to use a thick quick drying, clay type epoxy putty, applied to finish the missing wheel sections. After drying I removed the excess by dremel and sandpaper. I then applied a liquid black tinted clear epoxy to color and bond the two surfaces, then a glue to give the wheels the original matte look. I'm showing the treated interior which stabilizes the rust. These usually turn the area black. The repaired area of the wheels look light gray until I apply the epoxy. One wheel is complete. I also painted the rust treated red area, the red nose and the top of the tail with the three stars, as well as touchup to the left side of tail where needed.. :)

[Phil R]

Forgot the angled photo. Also painted his square fins. :P

[Andyman]

Nice work so far, Phil.

[Tinman]

Amazing!

[MaxPower]

It would never dawn on me to even TRY to fix a toy in that condition! You are as brave as you are talented, and thank your for sharing your progress with us. Fascinating! :)

[Phil R]

Now to mix my metaphors, we're heading into the final turn with the Space Whale " water toy".

I now have to tackle the hard side of the Whale. He must have been beached on that side.

The first order of business is to smooth the cleaned rusted areas with fast drying clear epoxy. Next I'll carefully airbrush a white primer over those areas and seal it with a clear krylon. Next I'll copy and transfer the tail graphics and PX-3 and stars to the panels. I noticed that the Saturn design on the tail is reversed on the opposite side. Now the hard part , paint both panels and adjoining areas and the metalllic blue and finally adding the silver pinpoint stars and medium blue rivet trim. I then sprayed it several light coats of satin clear krylon on the painted areas after masking the eyes and red gel.

I use Badger opaque (actually they're translucent) paints for both airbrush and hand painting. Then I reassembled the whale after inserting a new flint on the sparker and lubricating the windup mechanism.. The final step is to coat the entire piece with polycrylic gloss. It's actually semi-gloss and dries a perfect match for older toys.

Notice how neat and clean I keep my drawing board when work is in process. The wooden bridge at top has a concave bottom and used for straight edges. that's pretty difficult on curved and bent surfaces. I also use my opposite hand to grip the wrist area of my drawing hand to stabilize it . Other people use a dowel rod with a rubber ball attached. I usually breathe shallow or hold my breath to steady myself when working on fine areas. No, I don't hold my breath for minutes.

This baby will make a fine addition to my collection. Jay has a NMIB example for sale at Robot Island. :P

[MaxPower]

It's just astonishing what some people can do! :blink:

What a beautiful job, Phil. So have you nicknamed the whale?

I think "Lazurus" would be appropriate.

[Phil R]

Max, that's a good point about Lazarus! here's the whale showing off next to Santa trying to take a bite out of Apollo. He'll probably attack the Disney characters next. :lol:

[steve]

Wow!!!!!!

[tinluver]

YOU GOOD! Congrats!

[duxastrogirl]

Wonderful work Phil!!!

Question, what kind of pencils do you use? (material, size etc) and also, do you draw first over the primer the details? What do you use to draw?

[Phil R]

Dux. I first trace the design on vellum, a very transparent tracing paper, available at Ben Franklin, Michaels, etc. Sometimes I use carbon paper in between so that I can transfer the image very lightly without pressing hard.. Or I just scribble pencil on the back of the tracing paper which works well on paper surfaces. I use various pencils. Hard pencils work well for transferring the design, a mechanical pencil( I'm always breaking the lead) or a fine point pen so that you can see what you have already done. By the way, I'm anxious to see you efforts for the Henk memorial in ATW :)