Crow's final paint begins

I started on Crow T. Robot's final paint today.  He's going to be much more difficult to do than Servo.  The lime gold metallic is harder to work with, and has these weird pockets of black in it.  It's also lighter, so imperfections show up a lot more easily.  I've done three base coats and I've used the two cans of paint I thought it would take to finish him.  I knew I'd need more, since Servo took one a half cans.  I'm going to let these coats cure for a week, and then I'm going to have to do some sanding, and give him at least two more coats.  I've not even started on the arms.  Crow's going to take a few weeks to finish up, me thinks.

UPDATE:  I've started on the arms.  This base gold sucks ass- but since the arms are mostly covered in foam, it should be ok. 

Ladies and gentlemen... Mr. TOM SERVO!!!

I pretty much finished up Tom Servo this weekend.  To be honest I think I went a little overboard with the multiple coats.  He looks great- the color is deep and smooth with a really nice sheen- he shines even- but he is a little on the maroon side.  I know the screen used Servos did change, but they tended to a more true ruby tint.  Maybe instead of 4 base coats and 3 finish coats, next time I'll go with 3 base, 2 finish.  The paint was a lot more forgiving than I'd anticipated though.  He could use another coat of silver on the beak and the engine block, and I have to do the inside of his beak (black), but he's pretty much done.  To display him, I have to take the head control rod off, and use a small tube, because the control rod extends past the hover skirt- I think I may do a mod on that.  He is fully functional though!  Also, the dome is held on by upside down cap that sits on top of the lower head piece and gravity.  I think if I ever take him out and about, I'll throw a couple of small dabs of hot glue down there to hold it down better.  All and all though, I am PSYCHED!

Here's the final paint, before silver.  See.. just a skosh over the line.

And there he is!  I'm going back into the front room and have another look!

Denver Comic Con and more Bot stuff

I've sort of wanted to keep this blog about my house and geek projects and what not.  But...  I had the best time at the Denver Comic Con this last weekend- June 16th and 17th.  It's the first one and I signed up to volunteer.  I was assigned to registration on Saturday, but ended up watching a line in the afternoon.  I saw a lot of the con in the morning, but wasn't able to get to any of the panels.  Sunday, I was assigned to the Kids Corral- the area for crafts and things- with my friend Alisha.  We were there for about 30 minutes when Beth, the volunteer poobah, asked for a couple of people to work crowd control.  Beh, we said, whatever...  and ended up in the celebrity autograph area!  Alisha worked the VIP line, next to Billy West- the voice of Ren and Fry, while I ended up working the line for... wait for it... Aaron Douglas!  I love Battlestar Galatica, and of all the guests at the con, Aaron Douglas is the only one I really knew much about and was at all interested in seeing. Add to that, he is just damn cool.  I would have also liked to see Wil Wheaton, but he had to cancel- hope he makes an appearance in Denver soonish.  He talked at length to everyone who came up, he took pictures and was really patient for a couple of people I'd have had less patience for.  His line wasn't terribly busy, so we got to chat a bit- mainly about politics and beer.  I also met his wife Jenny, and she was great as well.  So, at the end of the con, I got this taken.  Just loads of fun.  Oh- and when Mr Douglas was doing his panel I sat at his booth watching his stuff, between Bruce Boxleitner and Kristin Bauer.

On to the Bots!  I got the base coats finished on pretty much everything!  The metallic gold I used for Crow is a bitch, and I'm going to have to do a little spot sanding before I get to the final paint.  I am afraid to death of laying down the final paint.  I've heard it's thick and tends to run.  I'm going to give these a week or two to cure before I sand and do touch ups.  I began Crow's arms as well, but there are a lot of little pieces and they take a lot of space.  I'm going to tackle them separately- once final paint is finished on the other pieces. 

At least I got started...

I got the paint I needed to start on the Bots.  Primer for both the Bots- although I need to get some more- Satin Colonial Red for Tom's base coats, and a cheap gold for Crow's base coats.  I thought I'd be clever and use a thin coat of Fusion on Crow's beak to help adhesion... yeah, that didn't go to well.  I did get 3 primer coats and 1 base coat on Tom, and 2 primer coats on the top half of Crow- before the sky's opened up and the rain started falling like arrows from the gods.  Crap.  I was so pleased I was motivated to get started and everything.  Oh well, it'll give everything a chance to dry.