Sunday, October 7th....


So here it all begins.  Parts had been washed last week.  Now the assembly / gluing and screwing begins.  I got my Father into the act - and his help was invaluable.  I found a couple of the assemblies were much easier to get together with at least one extra hand.

Foot Shells test fit.  I am still amazed by the engineering that goes into the making of these parts.  It is a real pleasure to assemble.  The manuals available online are helpful, but for the most part, all of the pieces go together only one way.  I primarily use the manual to find out where difficult pieces/parts belong.

Bolds, Nuts and threaded rod.  I really dislike Home Depot's selection of fasteners now... you have to purchase these items in individually sealed bags with 3 or 4 bolts each, instead of a box at a time.  I would rather have 26 left over bolts than have 1 too few.  (Which happened at least twice)

Believe it or not, there is a part amongst all of the clamps.  This is the center foot support.  Found out that the Oatey "All purpose" glue does not work on the ABS parts.  Used Locktite two part quick-set epoxy on the ABS - I have used it to secure magnets to various armor projects with no issues.  The 1/4" brass rods are left-overs from my father's career in the Brazing industry - they proved invaluable for lining up the assemblies for gluing.  Once dry, I will apply the bolts. 

Here are the shoulders, glued, clamped and looking pretty.

Another angle of the shoulders.  Once you get past the fact that the PVC frame is going to get roughed up during assembly, things are much easier.  The parts look so nice when they are removed from the box, but the laser cut side is dulled because of the heat applied while cutting.  Most of the parts that face outward on the frame are on the underside of the cutting - so they are nice and clean.  Again - I have to believe A&A planned it this way.  (Thank you Gentlemen !)

Shoulders and main torso glued and screwed.  Note how nice and shiny on the outside.  I will do my best to make sure it does not stay that way... hahaha

Here is The rear door assembly being held together with my patented "Ghetto-Clamp" method - AKA - painters tape.  Again, a hold-over from my armor assembly days.  Some surfaces are just not fit for clamping due to the angles involved.  A few wraps of way-expensive blue tape holds them together fine.

G-Clamp method applied to the arm box assembly.

Test fitting of the final center leg assembly all glued and screwed.  1/4" brass brazing rod sitting on top - again - big thanks to my Dad for keeping this stuff around 15 years after retiring.  You will see a baby gate in the background - this is for my 18 month old Nephew.  He stands behind it and watches the assembly like a teen at a H.S. Football game.

Slightly different angle, sans baby gate.

Here is the frame pretty much complete.  I have a newfound hate for threaded rod.  While it was not extremely difficult to do, there were some tight spots to get in and around.  I ended up removing one of the internal shelves in order to get the nuts tight.  Not a huge issue, as it can be added back in later.

Here is the next project - the legs have been dry-fit.  These will be glued and screwed next.

Another angle.

That is it for today.  I am very happy at the progress made in a day.  I am still a mega-noob at this stuff, but the invaluable resources at Astromech.net have helped ease the pain.