j_holtslander
Well-Known Member
I was starting to feel guilty about all my chatter about my own build in other people's threads so I figured I should start my own thread.
This all snowballed for me after I accidentally stumbled upon some replica HAL lenses for sale on eBay and then got curious about building a HAL 9000 replica.
As I weighed the thought of buying the lenses I started to research the Moebius models HAL 9000 kit that I'd never heard of before and were referenced in the lenses product description. Building a super realistic HAL 9000 suddenly seemed in reach.
Then I remembered that my best friend is a huge 2001 fan and thought "Hmm this might make a good gift idea for him." which then turned into "I should buy two of each so I can build one for him, and one for myself!"
So I bit the bullet and bought two of the replica lenses off eBay (Now sold out) and two of the Moebius kits off of Amazon.
Then I discovered other people's HAL 900 builds here on RPF.
I looked at what other people had done and then decided that maybe the plastic kit wasn't good enough and maybe I should replace much of the kit with upgraded parts (including metal)
Related threads I've participated in so far:
This evening I meticulously cut apart the Moebius plastic lens ring to accomodate the glass replacement lens and it went extremely well but it still needs more sanding. The glass lens fits into the original part extremely snugly and definitely won't be falling loose as I had initially feared.
More to come soon. This thread will be peppered with pics.
This all snowballed for me after I accidentally stumbled upon some replica HAL lenses for sale on eBay and then got curious about building a HAL 9000 replica.
As I weighed the thought of buying the lenses I started to research the Moebius models HAL 9000 kit that I'd never heard of before and were referenced in the lenses product description. Building a super realistic HAL 9000 suddenly seemed in reach.
Then I remembered that my best friend is a huge 2001 fan and thought "Hmm this might make a good gift idea for him." which then turned into "I should buy two of each so I can build one for him, and one for myself!"
So I bit the bullet and bought two of the replica lenses off eBay (Now sold out) and two of the Moebius kits off of Amazon.
Then I discovered other people's HAL 900 builds here on RPF.
I looked at what other people had done and then decided that maybe the plastic kit wasn't good enough and maybe I should replace much of the kit with upgraded parts (including metal)
Related threads I've participated in so far:
- HAL 9000 Panel (2001:A Space Odyssey) by AP 333
- Hal 9000 Panel by Valor
- HAL/SAL 9000 Lens options by NKemp
- Build the kit as-is (painted plastic) with the replacement lens. (Not likely at this point.)
- Upgrade the kit with a new faceplate that is either:
- Vinyl wrapped polystyrene in a brushed anodized black aluminum finish (I've ordered and receieved the vinyl and it's "ok".)
- Actual metal brushed anodized black aluminum finish. (I've order a plate and it's enroute to me now.)
- Upgrade the kit with a new faceplate AND an aluminum frame, AND custom machined aluminum lens enclosure rings. (I have requests for quotes in progress.)
This evening I meticulously cut apart the Moebius plastic lens ring to accomodate the glass replacement lens and it went extremely well but it still needs more sanding. The glass lens fits into the original part extremely snugly and definitely won't be falling loose as I had initially feared.
More to come soon. This thread will be peppered with pics.