DAY 11 - More stuff.....

Let's see, what did we receive this week ..... ?

    - Aluminum LDP (Large Data Port) - something for the kiddies to put PBJ's into
    - Aluminum Shoulder hubs from RussRep.  These things arrived from the UK in RECORD time.  
      THANK YOU RUSS !
    - Aluminum Leg Struts and a single Aluminum Octagon Port - need to find a twin for that one.

Do we notice a theme here ?  I am really digging the Aluminum parts.  They are just so nice and clean, no finishing required.  Part of the fun in a build is prepping resin parts and doing the filling, sanding filling, sanding mambo, but these aluminum parts are just too pretty to pass up.

Dad and I made our own Skin mounts out of 1/8" aluminum/  Drilled and tapped the mounts, and inserted the screws on the side of the skins.  Dad commented on how tight the tolerances were inside of the body with all of the hinges for the doors resting a mere 1/8" from the inner support struts.  Kudos to Jerry Green for his outstanding craftsmanship in developing this system.  You will see the results of the skinned body in the following photos.

Before final sanding on the foot shells, I need to know if everything is going to fit together properly.  I did some work on the center foot assembly, and that is almost ready to test mount.  I still want to have the option to remove the center foot, so R2 will stand up on two feet for photo ops and storage and transportation.  I am in no way trying to do an automated 2-3-2 build - that is WAY beyond my pay grade and skill set.  More on that as the build progresses

In order to mount the center foot, R2 needs to be in his reclined position.  When everything was fit up last week, I noticed the motor holders inside of the foot shells made the fit between the ankle and foot mighty tight.  I was concerned about the angle that the feet would sit.  A little research on the Astromech boards let me know that I was not alone in this conundrum.

Many builders have plugged the existing hole at the bottom of the ankle and re-drilled a new hole nearer to the bottom of the leg.  Some posts said all that was needed was 1/8" lower... I did not think that this would offer enough room, so I reset my hole about 1/4" lower and the results were to my liking.

Here is another angle showing the ummmmm.... angle.

The test fitting continues with more parts being mounted in the body and legs.  R2's left foot shell is a little wonka-doodle in this photo.  You can see that the motor is not fully seated in the correct position.  This is not final - it was a case of me being lazy.  On the other hand, the utility arms need some attention.  They simply do not sit in the right position - this will be rectified with some additional drilling, spacing and the inevitable curse words.

LOOK MA - NO TAPE.  Ahhhh yes, these parts are coming together nicely.  Currently, there is no glue being used to hold all of these detail parts in place.  The Aluminum leg hydraulic is sunk into the beefy ankle, and held in place by the booster cover.  The booster cover has screws mounted in the back, and the entire unit is held in place by using the key-hole slots in the legs.  Aluminum hydraulic (questionable N/S orientation) held on with the 3/32" brazing rod.  This will be replaced by a couple of screws once I find out which end is up.  Resin shoulder hubs in place for the time being, I have to do some assembly on the shiny new aluminum hubs before they are mounted. 

Higher angle of these sexy gams.  You can really tell the difference in the aluminum parts vs. the resin parts.  For those who can't Aluminum is on the bottom and left - cold cast resin on the top and right.

Here is the other side - did I mention NO TAPE ????

Another shot of the right leg.  Everyone say it with me... "aluminum gooooooooood".  You may notice that I drilled through the front of the booster cover near the bottom of the leg.  This is where the curse words happen.  I need to create and follow a simple rule - No drilling after 8 hours of work.  Filler and a little sanding will take care of that little mishap.

The skirt got a test fit today as well.  It fits nicely and is built like a tank.

Here is my lonely aluminum octagon port.  He is lonely, because he needs a twin.  In case you have an extra one sitting around - please let me know.  I do have some cold-cast resin octo-ports, and may use one in the rear, as it is not in the direct line of sight

A closer look.  It is not mounted, just resting on the frame.  It needs to be shimmed a little, but it fits like a glove.

Center vents and coin slots dry mounted.  Pretty.

Center vent photo #2.  What can I say, digital film is cheap....

So, there you have it. another build day posted to the webisphere.  The project will be final assembly of the center foot and trying to figure out some sort of method of removing the foot for storage.  Wish me luck on that one - I don't think it will be easy.

I have a good number of aluminum paints that I am going to try on some of the cold-cast parts.  I have done a good bit of research on these paints, and the results and opinions vary.  Of course, I will never know until I try.  The results will be posted here.  Ultimately, I have to get the dome all shiny-aluminum-like.  I have used a product called rub-n-buff that is a colored Caranuba wax.  It has served me well on my Jango armor, but does have a tendency to dull and fade over time.  Stay tuned for my findings....