# COMPLETED - The Moebius 1:24 Robot B9 (paragrafix) 2nd build



## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Starting on a second build of the little Moebius 1:24 Robot B9. This time planning to use the paragrafix PE/decal set and possibly include some LED's or FibreOptics. I have never added electronics to a kit so looking forward to the challenge. Think a trip to my local JayCar (similar to US Radio Shack) may help with this.

Have ordered the Paragrafix PE/Decal set from CultTVman early January awaiting it. Being in Australia looks like it may take a while so this maybe a slow build. Trying to work out things I can do before it arrives. Will probably work on prepping parts based on the online instructions. Will also teach myself how to use my new airbrush.

I previously built the same model as a practice to learn how to paint and build (previous model was a spitfire which was the first model I have built in 30 years or so). Planning that this new rebuild will also give me an opportunity to learn airbrushing, electronics, decal placement and PE.

Below are a few pics of my first build. Some of the colours are incorrect and there are way too many paint strokes (use the paint neat and did not dilute).


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

*Stage 1: Cleanup and prep*
So far I have removed all parts from the sprue and washed them in warm soapy water. Rinsed the soap off in clean water and then placed outside to dry. Slowly going through each part cleaning the leftover excess sprue.










All clear parts have been removed from the sprue and dipped in pledge/future. Worried that they have a yellow tint to them just as the pledge does. Grrrr!!! Below the parts are just drying off in a box with a shower cap over the top to prevent dust. Will leave and examine in 24 hours. Thinking that I may have to use soapy water possibly to remove the tint if it is still there. Sadly noticed whilst cleaning up the crinkled round collar part I had split the plastic around the bit where it joins the sprue. Hope this will not be too noticeable in the final build.









Glued the bottom part of B9 together. Will go through and attempt to sand back the join. Hoping I can do this particularly round the raised up/down middle rubber part. Did not attempt sanding too much in the previous build.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

*Stage 1 cont: Clean up and prep*

An issue with this kit is that B9's neck base has a hole in one side to put its ears (protruding red and yellow oval bits) and not on the other side. It has a protruding piece of sprue. In my first build I drilled the hole with a large drill bit and made a small mess of it. This time I have managed to source a smaller drill bit 1mm and drilled a much better hole. You can see I still need to clean up the edges of the hole along with improving my drill placement skills.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Stage 1 cont - sanding

Just sanding back a little on B9's legs using sandpaper and one of my Dad's medical instruments. One end I use for applying (small amounts of) glue and the other for major filing/sanding.









The file fits perfectly between the grooves and bending the sand paper to form a edge allows easy sanding. Hoping the seam line itself will completly disapear once I put a primer down. Wait and see


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

*Update on Clear parts*

Just looked on the clear parts and wiped them down with a tissue. All the yellow tint has gone and now I have some very clear glossy parts. Very happy with the pledge, just need to remember to wipe the excess off after 24 hours.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Lighting circuit

Picked up from the local Jaycar today some components for the lighting. Not too sure how they will fit into B9. Have not played with this sort of thing for a while. Have never used a bread board. or a soldering iron (not below). Lucky I found a decent shop assistant who helped pick all that I needed. Plan to have B9's chest flash using the red LED and the clear light brighten its buttons. Also have a push button switch.









After a little fiddling around on the breadboard worked out that I needed a parallel circuit in order to ensure that there was even power for all the LED's. Next step once I have more of B9 built will be to work out how to solder and place all of this inside B9 and the black base above (will probably paint and make it look like wood somehow).


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

*Airbrushing and waiting...*

I just used my airbrush for the first time (a Sparmax Max-3). Wow, did not realise how complex using it is. Will need to spend a bit of time practicing on it before I do a initial primer on B9. Onwards and Upwards. Lucky I still have plenty of time to go till I can really get into the full on building of B9 as I am still waiting for the Paragrafix Decal/PE parts to come from CultTV. It has been only 2.5 weeks since I placed the order.

Plan to shave off B9's Torso Hooks to replace them with the Paragrafix PE parts. Will do this tomorrow night.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

*Removing B9's Torso Hooks and dry fit with a problem*









As there are more accurate replacement parts for B9's Torso Hooks (yellow above) within the Paragrafix PE set I removed the original ones. The replacements have actual hook holes in them. I used all of the above except the chisel blade.









Tosrso hooks removed with a tiny saw and a little knifing along with a bit of sandpapering. I may have lost a little of the roundness to the edge. No biggie will fix with some putty once I glue the back half of the torso on on.









Also did a dry fit of the whole of B9 to ensure everything looks right and nothing is missing. Not all parts have been placed in the above. Still need to smooth out the Claws.

All fitted well except the the collar and Torso which was a problem in the first B9 I built. Will need to remove the top of the torso so that the collar can sit flush. If you look closely below you can see where the break on the collar is in the middle just above the indent on the of the torso.










Still waiting for the Paragrafix Decal/PE set to come. Next steps I can do whilst waiting will involve:

remove the top of the torso so that the collar sits flush
improve my airbrush work

Not sure what else I can do. Anybody got any suggestions?


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

Fine work so far, bro!


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Sadly I have stopped working on this. Will get back into it once I receive the extra parts through the mail. Meanwhile I am working on building a Bandai 1:144 X-Wing


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

The parts I was waiting for have just arrived and just in time as I managed to finish my x-wing. Will be able to continue working on my B9 over the next couple of days. Yippee!!!!


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Back at work on B9 now. Have just smoothed down the side panels in the tread section all ready to apply the replacement photoetch. Using the tools in the photo I was able to get a extremly smooth surface. Had no trouble cutting the photoetch out of its sprue (cut with my chisel blade on a glass plate).


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Tonight I glued on my first piece of photo etch. Used Zap-a-gap brush on. A little scary as I was worried I may end up gluing my finger to the model. I also noticed that the edge of the photo etch was a little too proud for my liking. I shaved it down using some 240 and 600 sand paper. Hoping that the edge will disapear once I put a coat of primer on the model.










Managed to get my hands on a bottle of Mirco Kristal Klear that will be used to create the see through buttons on torso of B9. Tested it out on some rubbish plastic


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Over the past weekend found a little bit of time to airbrush a neutral grey primer over the majority of the robot. First time airbrushing photo etch. Think it turned out well. Did have a little incident with the airbrush in that I ended up pulling the whole thing a part and not having any idea on how to put the trigger back together. Eventually got it working and all good. I need to also look at getting better lighting into my spray booth. Very hard to see where you have sprayed the grey primer on when you base plastic is grey already.









All so managed to squeeze in a little red paint on B9's claws and ear.









Very slow progress but that is what you get when you have to work full time. Wish I had more time.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Ah, the old adage of when I retire! By then you realize how did I ever have time to go to work at all!


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Removed the masking tape from around the red parts. Decided to paint the yellow bits without any masking or priming to see how the yellow would go with the PE. All seems go. Only did one layer straight from my wet pallet. Happy. Also masked out some of the lower chrome bits allowing me to paint the rubber bits and B9's arm's. The above only shows the first layer of paint. Using Valejo tire black. Will probably use about 5 layers to get a nice even look.


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## Pygar (Feb 26, 2000)

I'm looking forward to more- I have the kit and PE on order, and want to find out more about the colors you are using! TIA for any help!


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Apologies been a bit slow on the "updating the forum part" of this build. Had quit a busy month with work and have only just started to slow down. Still had time to sneak in a little modelling so the following update is going to be quite long.
















More masking work to keep the chrome paint off the black rubber. Also used a little of the Vallejo Liquid mask.. Painted this and then slowly painted the other chrome bits. No need to paint the base as I will be mounting this B9 onto a plinth.









After painting the chrome I masked the base part to work on the black tires. More liquid masking also. There was slight bleeding with the masking and I had to touch all up using a fine brush.
















Glued the little plastic bits into the torso using Micro Kristal Klear. Note the black dot indicating the front. This will be replaced with a PE panel here. Painted these plastic bits with Vallejo Orange Rust just as I had in my original model. Makes the torso look a little more interesting and provides a nice contrast.









Painted some of the other PE parts. 1 & 6 was painted using a mixture of Vallejo Chrome, Ferrari red and yellow. PE parts 2 and 3 were painted with black and tire black. 10 & 13 were painted with Chrome and a slight black wash.
















Removed PE 2 and applied the decal to it. Think I got it into the right position. Found this decal very difficult to apply. Instead of having the sides black/grey I ended up painting them chrome to hopefully bring out extra detail. Still not 100% sure weather this looks better recessed so far or just putting one of the orange bits in. Still this is what the instructions say so I followed them. Note the pencil marks in the torso part. These are there so that I have the center marked for drilling a hole for cables to go through.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Added Kristal Klear buttons to PE 6. Decided not to use the decals for this part. Painted from the backside each one of the buttons. Happy with the result although the picture above makes it look far more messy than it really is. Glued PE6 into the middle torso. Allso added the PE 10 &13 buttons on top of freshly smoothed surfaces.









Drilled a hole in the base for the wires to a internal globe. Used files and a pin vice









Did a dry fit to see how everything was fitting and to test the light inside























Did some lighting tests to see that all was working well. Though I would try a red flashing globe also to see how it went. Not well. Finished B9 will have a white light. Note that the top plastic clear part is clear here. Decided to make this orange as I had in my original build giving it a bit more contrast and life.









Painted the upper torso clear bit in orange rust. Had to do 2 coats as the first just seemed to be too thin.

Added the silver strip decal to the triangle head part (66). Had a lot of troubles these decals on. In the end painted the edges with chrome. No photos, sorry.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Removed PE 1 and 6 and placed them into the dome in the suggested places. Glued the dome together Note that the bottom knob on part 63 has been removed. No need for it. Plan to paint this part silver in order created more reflective light as this sits above the light bulb in the model.

















Glued the 2 parts of the upper torso together and noticed the really horible seem. This was an issue that I was not happy with in my original build. Using Perfect Plastic putty I was able to smooth over and clean up the seem. Painting over the putty and you can not see the seem.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

All up to date now. Will be working on B9's ears with PE annealing (new thing for me) and some soldering (never done this before) for the led light.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Pygar said:


> I'm looking forward to more- I have the kit and PE on order, and want to find out more about the colors you are using! TIA for any help!


Pygar have fun building B9. It is a great project. I am learning and improving my skills heaps with this. All the paints I am using are mainly Vallejo Air and include the following:

Orange Rust
Red
Yellow
Tire black
Black
Blue
Olive green
Metallic Chrome

Look forward to seeing your progress.


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## Pygar (Feb 26, 2000)

I'm having trouble picturing where some of those colors go... Olive green? And what are you using for britches and arms gray? And how tall is the model?


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Pygar said:


> I'm having trouble picturing where some of those colors go... Olive green? And what are you using for britches and arms gray? And how tall is the model?


Orange Rust - used for the plastic front part of the robot. Painted on the inside. On my original model I painted this in yellow - See post #18
Olive Green, Blue, Red and Yellow is used for the buttons on the robots chest - see post #19
Tire Black - used on britches and arms. Applied with a number of coats.

The finished model is about 80mm (3 inches) tall.

Once I finish the model I will do a diagram showing the colour scheme. Please bug me if I forget.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

This evening I did another lighting test using my phone and noticed that there was light leaking through the back of the robot. Could have been caused by imperfections in the plastic or me accidentally scratching it. Fixed this by painting the inside black. Above you can see the torso lit up. Note that the top part has not been glued into place yet.









Painted the robot's ears (part 61 & 62) in Chrome and drilled holes so that I can put the photo etch ears in









Glued the claws into the arms. Probably one of favourite parts of the robot.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Added B9's ears tonight. Initially I was going to use the plastic parts from the kit with the Photo etched ears glued at the ends. Proportions did not look quite right. Decided to use the full Photo etched parts which tend to look a lot better.


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## Pygar (Feb 26, 2000)

Great choice! Uh, what is "PE annealing"? How/why anneal it?


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Pygar said:


> Great choice! Uh, what is "PE annealing"? How/why anneal it?











PE annealing is a heat treatment that you can do to the photo etch (PE) parts. The purpose of annealing is to soften up the metal so that it is pliable for bending into a particular shape.
According to the Paragrafix instructions you are supposed to anneal part 5 (the handles on the top of the robot). As you can see Part 5 is only 4mm (0.157 inches) in length. 
Not too sure how you go about safely heating up such a small piece especially if you have already painted it. Luckily Paragrafix supplied me with 2 sheets of PE so I have a spare if need be.
I plan to just bend this small piece tonight. Will report back tonight a bit later on how I go.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Done. Did not do any annealing. Will leave that process for another day and another model. Ended up bending the photo etch part using a photo etch bender. Below you can see me bending the part using a razor blade and the bender. Next to that is Part 5 placed onto the robot surface. Looks like I will have to put another layer of paint on here to clean things up a little.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Glued the Robot's claw arms and hooks on tonight. Getting close. Will glue the torso onto the bottom half tommorow.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Getting close to the end. Started work on the base that B9 will be on. This base will have a switch and battery in it also. Base is made of smooth black plastic. Plan is to make it look like a mahogany wooden plinth of sorts. 

After drilling a hole for wires and a switch at the back, I sanded the base using 100 and 150 grain sandpaper to give a wooden texture. Sand was all done in one direction. After sanding a coat of grey primer was applied.

















3 layers of Vallejo Mahogany was applied to give a dark patina. Used a rough brush and always painted in the same direction as the grain.
















1 layer of Vallejo Wood was applied and then another layer of Vallejo Mahogany was reaplied over the top. Very happy with the final result.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Come in @Zarniwoop. Your status report is over do! Hobbytalk base to Zarniwoop. Over 🙃


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Wow. Time flies. Did not realise it was 2 months since my last update. Apologies @Milton Fox Racing. Here is my current status on the little robot remake.

After playing around a little and feeling very chuffed with my wooden looking box I had to caste aside as the family pointed out that Robot did not look quite right on top of the box. What do you think?









Hmmm!!! The proportions just did not look right. This is the point where I stopped looking at the model and just was not sure what to do next.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

No apologies needed but good to see your finished model. I used a finger against the screen to block out 1/2 the block and then 2/3rds and neither really changed the appearance of the model. Like I tell others if you are happy with the end result then it is perfect! 🤙


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Next I had the idea to take a plastic box and to paint it with Citadel Leadbelcher but first the plastic had to go through the pledge routine. Prior to the pledge I put 2 holes in the base, 1 for tubing into the robot and the other for the light switch









After the pledge I painted the inside of the plastic with Citadel Leadbelcher. Did this with a couple coats and a rough brush giving a bit texture.









Once painted I had the idea to put the "Lost in Space" onto the top of the base. Working out how to get a nice crisp mask of the logo for painting really stumped me for a while. Below is a print of the logo and hand cutting it out of printed card. This kind of worked but did not get give the best result. Got a lot of bleed on the edges of the mask. At this stage I thought the logo would look good in red with sparkles. Achieved this by mixing Vallejo Red with Vallejo Metal Medium.
















Unfortunately the red sparkly logo did not look great and just did not mix the model well. No finished photos due to my disappointment.

Next I decided to approach the mask a different way and hopefully not have problems with mask bleed. The next method which I found on a youtube video (link forgotten) was to place the logo on the back of some glass/plastic and then put some masking tape over the top of the logo. So you have a sandwich of logo print, plastic and masking tape. Next cut the logo out of the masking tape. Below is a shot of the cut masking tape (tamiya) transferred onto the top of the box already for airbrushing. Decided to airbrush this newer version of the masked logo in Vallejo Black (71.057). Felt that airbrushing over tamiya masking tap would be produce anywhere near the amount of bleed that I had previous got using just hand brushing on top of cardboard.
















A way better result for the logo was created this way. Long live the airbrush. The only drawback that I had was the there was a slight build up around the edges of the logo. I probably sprayed a little too close and heavy. My bad. Dropping the airbrush and ruining the needle (subsequently replaced and working soooo much better now) probably did not help.









Fixed the edge build up and small bits of bleed that can be seen above by lightly sanding. The "i" in in was lightly hand brushed back I also sealed the whole base with vallejo mecha satin varnish (69.703) which smoothed out any issues with the logo. There is still a slight lip on the logo edges but no where near as bad as before.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Here is the completed version of the model on the base. The base is large in order to accomodate a battery and button. Still have not resolved how I am going to glue the (replaceable) battery into the base. Want to move on to my next model. Will leave The Robot like this for a while.









On the whole I am very pleased with this model and the lessons I have learned. The firsts on this model include:

using and manipulating photo etch
first use of an airbrush
first use of electronics in a model
learnt a new way to create masks using masking tape and plastic
got a better understanding about how the Vallejo acrylic paints work

Onwards and upwards.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Looking forward to the next build. The bond on elmers white (school) glue is easy to break later on.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Milton Fox Racing said:


> Looking forward to the next build. The bond on elmers white (school) glue is easy to break later on.


Did not use any white school glue on the model so everything is well stuck except for the torso and the base. No glue on the base so easy to open. As a test I used Micro Liquitape on the torso that seemed to work well. The Micro Liquitape is probably the same stuff as the white school glue.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Most likely but my suggestion was for holding the battery in place.


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## Zarniwoop (Jan 17, 2021)

Milton Fox Racing said:


> Most likely but my suggestion was for holding the battery in place.


Great suggestion. Will explore it once I get a little more time.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Looks great! That's making a silk purse out of a sow's ear of a model kit.


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