Prometheus Rising Studios   Ben Mininberg's models, toy customs, and design work.

Cris Rose is a UK-based artist that is into analog photography and robots.  His resin robots are functional, yet cute.  There are back stories to all of his designs.  Cris imagines a world where robots are ubiquitous servants, everywhere from industrial labor to childcare.  I had a great time painting up a pack of his recent Bits and Bytes mini-sized (1/24 scale) DIY ‘bots, each with their own background.  Keep in mind each of these minis is around an inch tall, and check after the fold for pics of each!

Rotunds were designed as childcare robots, with the Mk2 model being designed as a companion for teenage years.  Robots functioning as childcare machines of course begs the question, what happens when the child no longer needs the robot?  Some might be kept as general household helpers, or go along with their now adult chargers, but what about a family that no longer needed or could not afford to maintain their Rotund Mk2?  Some might end up cast out on their own, or traded second hand, or even abandoned.  This sad little Rotund, named ‘Rob’ (short for ‘robot’) by its previous owner, has seen little use since his charge moved away.  The once shiny white and blue kid-friendly colors have faded and chipped, and Rob is starting to rust.  Fortunately for Rob, he still has his multi-purpose projection and sensor head, so he can still be useful.

I went with something a little different on the second Rotund Mk2 than my normal military heavily weathered colors.  I painted the mini Rotund with more of a ‘theme’ than just ‘army’.  He ended up looking like a pretty emo bot.

Rigels are general, all purpose Sprogs.  Sprog is a term for a variety of helper robots for different functions.  I envisioned this guy working in a chemical plant surrounded by all manner of pipes and vats, doing work that humans could not.

I wanted to do something a little more flashy with this Rundle, so I thought this guy might have been a service robot at a nice resort on the water.  As the years went by, however, the resort went under and the water dried up, leaving this Rundle to keep watch over the desert that was once his home.

Where would a batch of robot customs be with out least some military-inspired figures?  I painted this Rourke as a veteran officer’s assistant that has seen better days.

You HAVE to follow a green army robot with a tan one, so here is a desert-campaign Rundle officer’s assistant.  The skulls on this guy were hand-painted, and I’m quite proud of them.