This started as an old toy item, made by the Hong Kong firm Lik Be. It probably dates back to the early 1970s. Lik Be had at least six robot designs molded in different sizes and materials. This is one of the 2” clear styrene figures.

I made no changes to the pose or detail on this robot. I sanded off the parting line and cut off the hang ring from the head and the plain base from the feet. Taking advantage of the clear plastic, I left the eyes and “mouth” transparent. Before painting the final color, I primed the back of the head with bright silver, hoping that it would reflect light through the eyes. This didn’t work too well, as the head is rather thick. Still, the eyes look pretty good if the light strikes them just the right way.

The Bub-L1 is mounted on one of my standard small scale figure bases. These are IV bottle rings that my sister used to save from the trash when she did hospital work. The center pad (transporter platform?) is some typewriter tape/ribbon cartridge component; there are transparent orange and chrome plastic sheets under it for a more successful light reflecting effect.

Completed in 2006.