Roberker and Juggerbot – 1970’s Archive Star Rovers Robots for my Warbot Platoon

I was fortunate enough to get a couple of Archive Miniatures robots from the Star Rovers line that I could add to my Mark III Warbot Platoon for use in Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi games.  The first was “Roberker”, a Giant Robot (Archive #2010), which I had only seen before on Lost Minis Wiki and on David Wood’s blog.  It is nearly 3½”/85mm tall, and was supposedly one of the largest robots on the market in 1978.  It is armed with nozzles on its arms, so I think it is more or less a giant flame-throwing robot.  Nevile Stocken commented on FaceBook that it was his creation, and inspired by Fred Saberhagen’s Berserker novels.  The second was another late 1970’s Stocken creation,  “Juggerbot” (Archive #2009 or Archive #2331), which I had a version of already, but only one, which I use as the platoon leader.  I decided to make this one the assistant platoon commander/platoon sergeant.

This same good friend, David Wood (UK version), knew that I was on the hunt for these and graciously provided them so that I could augment my Warbots.  Additionally, Azazel’s blog had put out an “April Assembly” challenge, that these two could certainly be participants.

The models are both challenges for assembly – so I needed to make sure that they were structurally sound for the tabletop.  First, I will review Roberker, then Juggerbot.  I list the paints I used at the end of this post for those interested.

Roberker

I trimmed and sanded the mold lines as best as I could.  Roberker was described by David and Nevile as “a swine to pin”.  I now know the truth of that very British expression.  I spent most of a day drilling and pinning the arms, legs, and head.  Using Gorilla glue, I made initial connections of the parts.  Then, I used kneadatite (green stuff) in several places.  Specifically, I needed to have strength for the spindly arms and legs.  I augmented the pinning by adding a superficial kneadatite belt around the chest and shoulder areas, and by making sure that the legs and hips were married.  Lastly, I made a strong base connection with the green stuff.

I then based the figure on a 2″ steel washer, which is relatively heavy and will protect the model from being prone to tipping over.  I then primed, painted, and varnished the model similar to the way that I did the Mark III Warbots.  I did however want the figure to look like it had flames coming out of its head, and that it had a sooty appearance having torched many of its victims over the years.  Also, for the hand nozzles, I went with a copper and verdigris look.

I am very happy with how Roberker came out – and he will be a terror on the tabletop I am sure.

Juggerbot

As I said, this is my second Juggerbot.  My first is the platoon leader and he is basically golden.  This one was to be similar to the Mark III Warbots in color scheme and treatment.  Here as well, I trimmed and sanded the mold lines as best as I could.  I did also need to do a bit more work with the pinning and the green stuff here as well.  That is because I wanted to have a slightly different positioning of the arms, which necessitated making a “vest” of green stuff that covered the shoulders and the top conic section of the robot.

This model met my expectations – now the command and control of the Warbot platoon will be more robust.

Thanks for looking – please let me know what you think in the comments section at the bottom.

PAINTS AND FLOCKING USED:

1. Citadel “Imperium Primer”
2. Vallejo “Surface Primer – White” (airbrushed)
3. Createx “Wicked Aluminum – Metallic Pearl” (airbrushed)
4. Citadel “Imperium Primer”
5. Citadel “Nuln Oil Gloss”
6. Armory “Red Brown”
7. Vallejo “Black Grey”
8. Vallejo  Model Air “Copper”
9. Vallejo “Red”
10. Citadel “Retributor Armour Gold”
11. Citadel “Fire Dragon Bright”
12. Citadel “Yriel Yellow”
13. Special Weapons Washes “Red Black”
14. Special Weapons Washes “Red” ink
15. Vallejo “Black”
16. Citadel “Nihilakh Oxide”
17. Craftsmart “Sapphire”
18. Craftsmart “Festive Red”
19. Citadel “Martian Ironcrust”
20. Citadel “Martian Ironearth”
21. Army Painter “Black Battlefields” flocking
22. Citadel “Nuln Oil”
23. Army Painter “Anti-Shine” varnish (airbrushed)
24. Vallejo “Matt Acrylic Varnish” (airbrushed)

Thanks again  – please share your thoughts in the comments section!