DAY 44 - Battery Boxes and Assembly of Painted Legs

First order of business: Making better battery boxes.  The batteries were kinda strapped to some support rods within the body with the help of a velcro strap.  Ok for testing purposes, but this would not fly when R2 is laid on his back for transportation.

1" square aluminum to make the support frames for the batteries.  Anyone will tell you that the most difficult shape to make with wood (or any other material) is a square.  I cut the angles on these aluminum pieces with my compound miter saw.  I am still surprised how nicely the aluminum cuts with what you would use to cut wood.  Of course, I know I am greatly diminishing the life of my blades, but that is why they sell replacements.

Angle brackets and rivets are used to hold the boxes together.

Originally, I planned to put the brackets on the underside of the cage only.  After a little thought, I placed them on top and on bottom which made these things rock solid.  I could have put the angle braces on the inside of the aluminum tube... but that would have prompted me to use foul language.

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Test fit with some 1/2: aluminum tubs as spacers / risers.

Looking good from here.

.... and here

Knowing that some of the detail pieces on the skins will take up space within the body, I angled off the outside edges of the mounts.  Drilled the holes for the bolts and...

You are only as good as your help.  Here Nephew Kaden gives a hand with assembly.  While I was in the workshop fabbing pieces, he sat quietly on the floor putting different pieces together.  With a little coaching, he got them in the right place.

(hoping the video gets uploaded - google blog is having troubles communicating with youtube since a recent update)

KADEN helping

Mounted the batteries in their boxes .  A single strap of velcro is used across the top of the batteries to keep them snug in their new corral.

I drilled and countersunk the bolts for the center vents.   PRAY with me that they are in the correct place.  Prior to these being countersunk, I had some pan-head bolts holding the center vents in.  When I pulled the skins off, it broke off the data port from the left side of the frame....D'oh.  That has been epoxied back into place, and I will soon test to see if the skins fit with the center vents in place.

 Here are the legs after the paint and clear coat was allowed to dry for a week.

Closer detail of the shoulder.

From the other side.   The inside of the pockets that hold the hydraulics and buttons look really great with the bare aluminum.  The inside of the shoulder is also left bare.  Just another one of those details that may be missed by the casual observer.

Close-up of the outer ankle.

A little wider shot showing the foot with the battery box in place.

Center foot all mounted up.

Looking good from here.  I am still not 100% happy with the blue color..... It is too much on the aqua side for my taste.  You can see 4 different blue samples in this shot.

- Radar Eye

- Dual logic surround

- PSI plate (under the main eye)

- Utility arms

I like the color of the PSI plate...  I painted this about 2 months ago, and I have to try to recreate that cocktail in order to achieve the blue I am looking for.

DAY 43 - Mo' paint

One of the more fun "exclusive" collectibles from this hobby is the name badge.  Proudly displayed while at events or cons to further identify oneself as the uber-nerd in the hizzy.

I've got one of these for the 501st and now one for the R2 Builders.  These are made by a fellow 501st member in Las Vegas named Damien Metz.  Thank you again Damien for an outstanding tag !  (Even the main radar eye is raised and made of a transparent blue material)

After painting so much white stuff the past couple of days, I wanted to get some blue paint on.  Without going into all of the details, R2D2 blue paint methodology is as wide and varied as the opinions as to what, exactly, it is.  The blue paint looks different in all types of lighting conditions.  It is very difficult to get a good representation of what is on the part with a camera.  

I am not going to stress out about being fully "canon" with the paint color.  Picky builders would certainly disagree, but my thoughts are, as long as it is close, and all of the parts on the R2 unit are painted the same blue, it really makes no difference.  For the vast majority of the viewing public, the wonderment of the droid will not be diminished because someone thinks the blue is "all wrong".  My goal is to get a blue that I can easily recreate in case I upgrade parts or have to make some touch-ups along the way. 

Don't get me wrong, I think the blue can be done wrong, but I hope to get as close as possible without beating myself up and repainting 30 times.

First order of business, strip the old paint off of the aluminum parts I bought second hand.  I started with the booster covers, and wanted to wait on the utility arms until after I was satisfied with the blue that I was laying down.

Brainiac idea #223.  Instead of masking these difficult recesses, I decided to fill them in with plumbers putty.  It worked great, but once the paint dried, it skinned over and I had to cut the paint with a razor blade in order to remove the putty.  Removal of the putty was not the issue, it simply did not offer me the time savings I thought it would.

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Super shiny radar eye scuffed up a little with sandpaper to promote adhesion of the self-etching primer.

A myriad of test pieces with the self-etching primer applied.

First coat - Rustoleum Purple Metallic.  This is a good base coat, although it runs like a sum-bitch if you are not careful.  Note the piece on the right, it has a little goober about 2/3 the way up...   The second coat is a Ford Sonic Blue that has a nice metallic sheen and sparkle to it.

Radar eye with the purple base coat.

I was too concerned to get the parts inside and unmasked - that I did not really take any more photos, save the one below.  I wanted to illustrate how the recesses and inside edges on the shoulder horseshoe are left raw aluminum.  In turn, I got a little sneak of the radar eye with what is the final blue paint.  "Final" meaning done until I decide to try something else.... You can see the difference in my blue and the blue on the utility arms below.

Next week will involve re-assembling the legs and all of the freshly painted parts.  Scrapes, dings and  dangs are sure to be in order, but that will only add to his "character".   Keep in mind that George envisioned a "used future" for the Original Trilogy, one that things were not perfect, and certain got some wear and tear  along their lifespan.

DAY 42 - Paint ???? Yep - Paint

Painting on this project can signal only one thing.... nearing completion (yeah, right).

Now that all of the foot drive pieces parts are in order, the wires are run through the legs and the foot drives tested with the new aluminum setup, it was time to get some white pain on them gams.

A little sanding on the bare aluminum horseshoes, and masking the recessed ports for the shoulder buttons and shoulder hydraulics.  The inner, fluted, surface of the horseshoes is also masked off, so these parts will be bare aluminum.  It takes every fiber of my being not to pull the tape off ....

These bare aluminum parts were prepped with self-etching primer.  I copped this explanation from an automotive message board:

Self-etching primer is composed of an acid and zinc. The acid, usually phosphoric acid, forces the zinc down into the top couple of molecules of the steel. Chemically impregnating the steel like this cannot reverse the rust but it can stop in from getting worse.

OK - so this is aluminum, so the rust thing is not an issue, but the Duplicolor Primer I bought works on steel and aluminum.

Here is one horseshoe complete ... maybe.  I used a Rustoleum Satin finish, and although I like the looks of it, it simply does not have the sheen of the body (which is already painted).  I picked up a couple of cans of semi-gloss to see how that matches up.  If I am still off, it may mean roughing up the body paint and re-painting with what I have on the legs and feet.....

A shot from the back - R2 has not been this bare in a very long time.  All said, with no legs, feet or dome, I could (ahem) comfortably lift the body with the batteries inside.  I figure the configuration shown below weight in at 50 - 60 lbs.

90 degrees to the West....

A shot from the front, showing some cool wiring in the dome.

A couple of Anderson Powerpole quick disconnects added to the legs - you can see one peeking out from the frame in the background.  I found that all three legs can be completely removed in about 10 minutes.  This will, no doubt, come in handy in the future in case he has to be packed up or torn down for maintenance.

Smoothing out a couple of rough spots on the center ankle.  The center ankle comes off of the main body with 4 bolts.  Nice and easy.  Removing the ankle cylinders, casters and the pivot of the ankle.... well that is a whole different story.    That process takes about 45 minutes.  One I hope not to repeat for a good long while.

Outer foot roughed up a bit with sandpaper.  The hole in the top is where the wires will lead from the ankle to the motors in the foot drive.  The holes in the channel - well, one is for mounting the ankle, and the other was for the wires, but will not be used, and it will be hidden once the ankle is in place.

One last look at the feet before they get a shiny new coat (or 4) of white paint.

An assortment of parts painted.  You may notice the holes on the bottoms of the center ankles.  These are the holes that the wires will feed through from the legs to the feet.  Again, when everything is assembled, no wires or holes will be visible.

The wires protruding from the center hubs of the legs are the power feeds for the foot motors.  They are taped off, and conceal the Anderson Powerpole connectors.

There we go - all of the leg goodies in one place, all white and happy.  You can see the body skin color is a bit off from this photo.  I will see how the gloss paint matches up.  Regardless, I am going to weather the little guy in the end, so I can make the parts match during that process.

Here is a sample of "weathering", or a gratuitous plug for Razor and Stak (AKA Sean Baumgartner and yours truly of the Ohio 501st)

Back on topic.  Battery boxes - these are the PVC boxes I picked up a few months ago.  I decided to go with these boxes, as the aluminum ones I purchased had the inside holes already cut out to allow access for the foot drive motors, but I felt that the openings were too large.  Once these are complete, I challenge anyone to tell me that they are not aluminum....

Overall, I rather productive day.  (As productive as watching paint dry will allow).  The next update will show whether the new gloss paint is a closer match.  I will wet sand some imperfections from these parts, then apply the final coat of gloss.  Wish me luck !

DAY 40 & 41... (I think)

I am starting to lose track of what day(s) I have worked on R2.  Some have been more productive than others, and some results don't seem like all that much, based on the time spent on a particular project.

After my recent divergence posed by the dome electronics, it was time to get the little guy back up on his feet and moving around again.   I switched out the wireless relay for the periscope once again, as the previous version had a very difficult time picking up a steady signal once the dome was on.

Ebay and a Chinese supplier to the rescue.... Here is what I settled on.  This remote is dedicated to one channel forward, and and another in reverse.  Actually two channels that perform this trick.  One set of channels is being used for the periscope and the other will be used for the telescoping LFS - Life Form Scanner.  (Still waiting on the parts from a club member for for that assembly)

Here is a photo of the relay board on the dome electronics panel.  A separate 12V 9ah battery sits inside the dome now.  This is used to power the periscope and will also be tasked with powering the LFS which will be a converted power antenna from a car.  I just had too much trouble with the main power / drop-down regulators / current draw of the periscope.  Everything else in the dome will work off of the main power supply.

In case you are wondering what the LFS is - her is a photo.  It will come out of one of the pie panels on the dome, and will require some tricky hinged panel servo coding that will, no doubt, prompt me to use some colorful language.

The dome power panel setup from the other side (complete with the hole I cut for the old wireless relay).  

Not the most flattering photo of Dad, but his help has been invaluable getting this project together.  Whether it is an extra set of hands to hold something, or pull wires in places where wires don't want to go... he is willing to sling a wrench wherever a loose nut is found.

In an attempt to keep things fresh, I decided to concentrate on getting the aluminum legs and feet mounted.  First up - center ankle with the ankle cylinders.  Here are the cylinders mounted on the outside of the ankle.

A shot of the inside of the ankle.  Small spaces that require special tools.  This little thumb screwdriver accepts various bits, and works in places a normal stubby screwdriver would not.  I picked these up at AutoZone a couple of months back, thinking that I would eventually use them... and I was not let down.  The screws inside the ankle are used to mount the cylinders, and this nifty little tool performed without a hitch.

Next up - the mounting plate that will hold the center ankle to the main body.  4" X 6" X 1/2" aluminum plate.  This is mounted to the center ankle via angle brackets inside the ankle.

I can't believe that I am running out of bolts.... It never ceases to amaze me that I am scrambling to find 4 like-sized bolts practically every day I build.  I blame the big box stores, you can only buy bolts like these in packages of 4.  Remember the days of buying 50 bolts for $5.00 when you needed 6 ?  Yeah, those days are long gone.. now you get to buy 4 for $1.29.  So here are a couple of mismatched bolts just to test fit the mounting bracket.

A shot of the ankle and the foot shell with the bushing in the center.  R2's center of gravity all rests on this bushing (shared by a similar setup in the outer legs).

Here is the first test fit.  You will notice that the center foot is a bit askew.  This was due to the fact that even though I measured 15 times, and drilled once, I did not hit the mark (or did not drill where I marked).  Regardless, there was a major change to come with the center foot mount.

On a side note, as Dad and I were assembling the outer legs, ankles and feet, we were scrambling around looking for one of the ankle bolts.  I am a big fan of putting important items in a "special place" so I have quick access to them when they are needed.  Apparently, nephew Kaden has developed a new hobby... tuning on the "ights" is still all the rage, but he now likes to "feed" R2.   "Feed" meaning something akin to sticking a peanut butter and jelly sandwich into the VCR.  While we were playing with the ights earlier, I noticed him opening doors in the body and putting various things inside.  Mmmmmmm... How cute.  Most of the parts he put in fell right through to the floor, so I thought nothing of it.  It turns out one of the parts he put in was one of the ankle bolts, and it did not fall through.  After about 30 minutes of searching for this part, I remembered that Kaden was feeding R2.  I looked on the bottom plate, and there was the errant fastener, perched on the plate - right where the little no-neck monster left it.

On all three feet again, including wiring for the foot motors complete with Anderson power pole quick disconnects.  This was one part where I did not plan ahead.  I was so excited to show Dad the power pole connectors, that we assembled the wiring before it was run through the foot shells... scratch four power pole connectors with awesome heat shrink.  Live and learn.  Plan ahead.  Blah, blah, blah....

As I showed before, the center foot was not lining up to my liking, so I made a decision to re-work the center ankle mounting setup.  This was a tough pill to swallow, as I was rather proud of the Pillow-block linear slides that I was using for the center ankle.  These would allow me to retract the center leg into the body.  Ultimately, the space inside the body was becoming more and more cramped as more and more items were added.  The rear linear slide was interfering withe the electronics panel on the back, and it was going to be a HUGE hassle to manually convert him from 3 leg to 2 leg mode.

After a little thought, I decided that if he needed to go into 2 leg mode for storage / transportation, it would be just as easy to remove 4 bolts from the bottom plate and take the center leg off.  This new mounting system offers me a TON of extra space inside the body.  I also noticed that after a day of sitting on three feet, the angle brackets on the linear slides had bent ever so slightly - a condition that, no doubt, would get worse over time.  A 12" X 6" aluminum plate was used to span the gap in between the existing cross members.  

Three bolts hold the mount plate in place on each end, and the four bolts near the center hold the center foot plate on.  All I need to do is remove the 4 bolts and the center foot will pull off.  While not as cool as the linear slides, in the end, this is much quicker, cleaner and more sturdy mounting solution.

Another view of the new plate.  The piece of aluminum in the center is something I laid there... no reason for it, other than it fit.

Here is the new look with the center foot, uhhhhh, centered and looking mighty fine.  I now have 1/2 a droid body to fill with other stuff.  I may invert the Bose speaker and drop that down into the new body cavity, as it REALLY puts a crimp on the space available beneath the dome.

Once everything was back together, I powered him up and drove him around a bit.  I am happy to report that he still moves !  A few tweaks will have to be made to the angle of the legs and feet.  It is surprising how easily the center of balance can be thrown off, causing the drive wheels to lift off of the ground.  I need to find the correct balance of A: what I think looks good, and B: what will actually allow him to move.

One more quick Kaden story.  As we were playing around with the lights and sounds, he was having a ball watching the blink blinky and the rotation of the dome.  Then I inched him forward...... WHOA - HOLD THE PHONE.  I really wish I had the video camera on him, as he was not quite sure what to make of R2 actually walking.  Kaden slowly backed up into the corner, not diverting his gaze from the tin can that just moved into his comfort zone.  Wide-eyed, and still oogling R2, he worked his way into Grandma's arms and most things were right in the world again... most things.

Later on that day - we were watching Episode IV, and I still get a kick out of every time R2 comes on screen.  Kaden will be sitting on the couch idly sucking a thumb, taking it all in.  As soon as R2 appears on screen, he sits straight up and says "TOO-TOO !!!" as to let us all in on the fact that he knows what is up in the Star Wars universe.  Keep it up kid, you have taken your first step into a larger world...