DAY 12 - Standing on all by himself

Well - today was an interesting day.  I had really wanted the option to remove the center leg so R2 could stand on 2 legs, and somehow attach or slide out the third leg for moving this little guy around.  Not to mention, he looks VERY different in two leg and three leg mode.   I researched, read a number of blogs and posts, bought a number of things that I thought would work, and finally decided that the static 3 legged mode would be best for my first outing.

My wish to have a non-automated 2-3-2 droid is above my current skill set - but it will certainly lurk in the back of my mind for the remainder of this build.

I started the day by completely disassembling the motor holders, and re-assembled them with new spacers for the motor mounts.  I also did a bit of work on the center foot, and the caster mount now fits nicely inside the center foot housing.

I have to tell you, the tolerances on these parts is TIGHT.  A bead of glue on the inside of a foot shell may throw off the entire assembly.  Sanding and fitting and sanding, and grinding and fitting and sanding are all part of this game.  This build is literally a game of fractions of an inch.  Removing 1/16" of material from a joint may result in 1/2" - 1" of variation on the back of a foot shell.  It is a tedious process of sand - assemble - critique - disassemble - sand - assemble...... you get the idea.

After a couple of hours, here are the results.  Standing proud on his own three feet.

Pink Bondo can only mean one thing.... nearing the finish coat - and on to priming and painting !  I still need to work on the position of the utility arms - that may come tomorrow.

Here is a nice side view.  I think he may need the center foot dropped another 1/2" - this will level out the back of the foot shells.

A little lower angle to show off the skirt.

Below is a photo of my totally budget solution for mounting the center ankle.  The nice think about this mount is that the aluminum L channel is drilled to accept the bolt for the skirt, so I did not have to drill additional holes in the frame - which would have required complete disassembly of the body.  Certainly not something I am looking forward to, but I suppose it will happen sooner or later.

Another angle from the front on the D.L.  The side doors on the center feet need some additional sanding to sit flush.

Steeper angle from below.  Taking this photo got a good chuckle from Dad.  I could have used a mechanic's sled for easier access.... not to mention the floor is a long way down these days.

A view from the top.  Battery boxes need to be fixed in position.  Currently, they are taped on.

Ankle Cylinders sitting on the outer legs - still need to get the aluminum shoulder hubs installed.

A closer look at the ankle cylinders.  I am waiting to receive another set of these in shiny aluminum with the corresponding aluminum spacers.

Another shot of the leg - sexy.  (Although the buttons are all jacked up, and I think the hydro is on upside-down).  Apparently, there is a builder's preference to whether the buttons go in front or in back. In the movies, these switch from front to back.  I will most likely try these two positions multiple times before finalizing my decision.

I drilled the hole into the bottom of the cylinder a little deeper to get a reveal on the leg hydraulic.  A spring has been inserted to hold the top portion up against the leg  housing.  Dang - them aluminum parts is just the bees knees.  They look great and fit without question.

I did receive a wonderful package from Al E. over at the Astromech boards this week.  A set of aluminum power couplers and aluminum holo projectors.  Probably the most expensive part(s) on the entire droid, but they are true works of art.  I will try remember to get a photo of those up in the next post. 

Tomorrow will be a BIG day.  I am planning on getting some the power and RC to the legs to see if he will actually move around.  Wish me luck.  This is something I have read up on quite a bit, but I am still scared to death about what lies ahead.  I figure I should get some of the unknowns out of the way at this stage, as I don't want to have a complete droid that looks pretty, but does not move.

Keep your ears open for expletives coming from the basement tomorrow... it could get ugly.

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....

Day 9 and 10 - Round, Shiny things in big boxes.

Thanksgiving weekend - unfortunately, I was sick the day after Thanksgiving, but I got some good progress done with the day and a half that I worked on R2.

Wednesday before Thanksgiving brought a nice package from the friendly UPS man.  I have been talking about this piece for a good month and a half now.  When  the package arrived, the suspense was too much, and Dad made sure it was what he thought it was, so he opened......one of Crash's Fiberglass domes !

Wow - what a piece of art.  These domes are formed from fiberglass from a mold of an aluminum dome.  These things are really well made - and surprisingly light weight.  I feel more comfortable working with fiberglass - so I opted for this dome.  (Although, I have to admit that working with the aluminum pieces is not nearly as frightening as I thought it would be.)

I placed the dome on top of the skinned body, and it fits without a hitch.  

A little higher angle to show the pie panels that will eventually be replaced with Carbon Fiber panels.   Mmmmmmmm Carbon Fiber.  Some of the panels on the top of the dome will open to reveal a periscope.... and maybe something else in the future.

The circle in the top pie panel will be removed for one of the holo-projectors.  There are three total holo-projectors on his dome.  My brother, Kris and I both admitted to remembering only one - possibly two on the dome.  These are the kinds of details that you don't really pay much attention to unless you are actually building one of these guys.

So begins the process of cutting out all of the slots, spaces and windows for all of the wonderful gadgetry.  Having cut a number of holes in my boat over the past decade to mount electronics, speakers, fish finders, gauges and rod holders - this was relatively familiar territory for me.  

The process starts with drilling a number of holes as close to the edge as you feel comfortable.  This rectangular section will house the rear LED light array on the back of the dome.

After the holes are drilled with a standard drill bit, I move on to a roto-saw bit.  Beware, these things are devastating, an accident waiting to happen.  They are the equivalent to using a reciprocating saw - destruction is their primary purpose - and they should be used with respect.  I have marred many a finish with this tool.  A tight grip and a steady hand are required.  I stuck to the inner edge of the holes with this tool, always applying pressure towards the center of the cut-out.  This way, if the tool got out of control, it would not damage the finished edges of the opening.

Flash forward a couple of hours.  After using a combination of Fast-Cut Dremel bits, Sanding Flappers and good old files and sandpaper, almost all of the cutouts have been finished.  This is truly the unsung part of these builds.  There are countless hours spent prepping and sanding parts so they fit, and look good when complete.

I really like the results of static electricity and dust that formed some Sith Lightning on the dome.  Fortunately, a brief rub with a towel got rid of this pattern.  All the same - it looked pretty cool, when it was on there.   Now If I actually WANTED to create a finish like that - it would never come close to looking this way.....

Here comes the fun part.  There are three layers to the bearing that allows the dome to spin.

   - The Rockler Lazy Susan Bearing

   - The Acrylic A&A Gear

   - The Dome Plate for mounting internal goodies beneath his head

Here is a photo of the pieces dry-fit.  Of the hundreds of dollars I have spent on Screws, Bolts, Washers & Nuts, I did not have nuts to fit on these bolts.  Off to Sun Hardware to see Gordon and get what I need.  Sun Hardware is about a 5 minute drive from the laboratory, and has saved my bacon on numerous occasions during this build.  Gordon is getting used to the fact that when he asks me "Metric or Standard ?" - he gets the same "DUH....." look from me every time.

As long as I have the piece available, he goes directly to the bin that holds the nut, washer or bolt that I need.  As we all know, places like these are few and far between.  Men like Gordon actually want to HELP you as opposed to being bothered by pesky customers constantly interrupting their text sessions.  Thank you Gordon, the big box stores should hire you to outline and implement customer service programs nationwide.

(Old guy rant complete - resume Building blog)

The tricky / perplexing thing about the dome ring assembly is the fact that you have to get the height of the three rings exact for the dome to spin true with minimal clearance between the bottom of the dome and the top of the body.

I also needed space between the gear and the mounting plate to allow for the hub and drive gear to pass underneath.  After a few variations using washers, nuts and thin nylon spacers, I finally got it right.  There is an inner "shelf" inside the dome that sits on the dome plate.  This required a bit of sanding, as it caused the dome to wobble when it rotated.

Here is the drive gear that I installed a hub in.  The hub itself needed some grinding on the bottom side.  It also has a shaft extension that fit after a little grinding as well.

Top view of the drive gear.  Keep in mind that the bolts need to pass freely underneath the mounting plate, hence the spacers in between the plates.

Here is the drive gear mounted on the Pittman motor and motor mount.  I scored this a couple of months ago, and I am very happy with the results.

Here is a view of the motor and drive gear from below.   The spring would offer tension if I were using a rubber wheel to drive the dome.  The spring will be removed and some kind of fixed arm will be inserted to hold the motor in a stationary position.  No need for tension with a gear - just need to have the proper spacing.

I did receive my batteries this week.  I am still not sure if I am going to go 24 Volt or 12 Volt.  The little gem below is a DC power converter that allows you to set voltage from 0 - 24 volts and bench test motors and electronic assemblies.  Doing projects like these lets you buy an item like this, that may never be used again, but dang if it aint cool to have one.

The dome spun well at 12 volts, but really cranked at 24 volts.  Not TOO fast, mind you, it just spins with more authority.  I feel that I will find the same once the scooter motors are hooked up.  If so, I have a 24 V to 12 V converter saved in my wish list on Amazon.....

Back to the dome.  Cutting out holes that are pre-marked is one thing, but drilling holes for the radar eye, is something completely different.   I got out the Ipad - did some research to see what position the eye needed to be.  Surprisingly, there are a number of different positions of the eye from the various movies.  I found a post via google that compared something like 16 different positions of the eye over the course of 6 films.  Wouldn't you know it, I can't find the photo for the life of me now.

I grabbed the Dewalt Cordless drill, held my breath, and drilled away.  A few washers and wingnuts on the inside.....

... results in - BAM !  Radar Eye.

You can see the 100mm half-globe cutout for the radar eye here.  My plan is to coat the radar eye lens with an automotive headlight spray that darkens the plastic, but still allows one to see through it.  The fast-and-furious crowd uses this product to "black-out" their clear head lights and tail lights.  Many builders paint the inside of the lens black.  

Ultimately, I want to cut an access hole behind the radar eye lens and mount a Go-Pro camera for taking video.  Go-Pro recently released a Wi-Fi backpack that will stream video to a Wi-Fi enabled device.  I think it will be really cool to "see" what R2 is seeing, and capture some video along the way.

Mounted the foot shells complete with the motor mounts inside.  Things are coming together nicely, but I still have NO idea how to get the bolts tightened inside the foot shells.  Thankfully, this will be (hopefully) a one-time process. 

Right. Face.

I took some time to re-configure the stock A&A center foot.  The A&A center foot assembly does not allow for use of the "beefy ankles".  As my confidence grows with this build, I am starting to go "off the chart", relying on my own ideas on how to assemble certain pieces.  Although these may never be seen, I felt that I wanted to have the beefy ankle details (the tan colored resin parts below) on the center foot as well.

This is also my first foray into using Weld-On.  I had read a number of posts about how messy this stuff is.... believe every one of them, they are all true.

Even in this state - it looks like he awaiting a command.

 Hero Shot.  (Battery box fail)

Next week should see the arrival of the LDP (Large Data Port) for the front center above the arms.  Once I have this piece, it will be time to find out how I am going to attach the skins.  Wish me luck.

No doubt, more sanding and filling on the legs and feet will be in store next weekend.  I feel that if I do a little work on the legs every week, before too long, I will be surprised (and very happy) that they are complete.

DAY 8 - Legs and Feet

Today started out with less packages in the mail than I have received in a few months.  This is a good thing - it means I am closing in on having all of the parts to complete the build.  (Although that is a ways off at this point).

Worked on sanding and filling the legs, no photos, as that is a really boring, and tedious, topic.  I believe after the two part wonder-clay called Magic Sculpt dries and gets sanded after this application, it will be time to prime the legs and find out how much I really missed.  I have always filled and sanded parts to a point that I believe they are ready for paint, then I lay a coat of primer on them.  That is when I realize that I will have at least three or four more sessions of filling and sanding ahead on me.  Hopefully, tomorrow, I will have a chance to get the primer coat on.

Worked on the scooter motor mounts and the scooter wheel assembly after filling the legs.  The axle that came with the wheel was WAY too long - over 6 inches.  Fortunately, Dad had some perfect sized hex bolts - the right diameter and length for the wheels.  YEAH DAD !  He found these in record time. It would have taken me three trips to Lowes or Home Depot to get the correct length.

We had to cut down the spacers that ride against the bushings as well.  Inserted the scooter motor next and test fitted the chain.  Got really excited - the drive system is actually coming together !

One thing to note - there is a lot going on in the motor holder assembly.  A LOT going on with little room.

After grinding down the heads of several bolts and inserting a couple of Tee nuts to make the motor holder fit into the foot shell - finally got the motor holders to fit inside.  This was a real chore, the tolerances are so tight that even a bead of glue on the inside of the foot shell will cause the motor mount to not seat properly.  This is the kind of work that has no value for the casual observer, it is all internal, and no-one will ever see these parts, but it takes a long time to get the fit correct.

Once the motors were mounted, and the wheels in place, it was time to cut out a little access door to fit the back side of the motor that overhangs the motor mount.  I have held off final finish on the feet because of this.  Since they were going to be cut up anyways - no need finishing something that won't be seen, or will be cut off later.  Marked the spot for the cut - took a very deep breath and used the Dremel Multi-Max tool shown here:

This is a great little tool - albeit rather pricey.  It oscillates a blade or a sanding pad.  Invaluable for tough cuts, and it sands like a dream.  The cutting blade is really handy for plunge cuts like the one needed here.

Another angle before I cut - so I can see what it looked like before I pull the trigger....

Here we are - access window cut.  I purposely cut this shy of the actual size, as I did not want to have too large a hole.  The battery box will cover this hole and the butt end of the motor, but I was horribly aware of the fact that I could have cut the hole too far forward.

After completing the first cut, I needed to label the feet, as I was getting confused about what direction they needed to face.  It took me about 15 minutes to figure out what foot was left, and what foot was right.  You will also see the battery box cut to accept the back end of the motor as well in this photo.

A little test fit with the motor removed.   Looking good....

 Motor mounted and inserted in the foot.  Needed to cut an additional access window for the tee nut above the motor.  Again, this will be covered by the battery box, so it is no big deal.

Flash forward a couple of hours, and you see the motor mount sitting pretty within the foot shell.  Picked up some metric nuts for use with the OmniCasters.  As stated before, there is a lot going on in this little area. 

Another angle of the complete assembly.  You can see the aluminum spacers on the left hand side of the motor.  Some of you may be asking... where is the chain ?  As I am sure the motor mounts will be assembled and disassembled 15 times before now and completion, I have not put the chains on yet.  They were test fitted earlier, and fit perfectly.

Big thanks to Ted (with the unpronounceable screen name buhatkj) and his posts on the Atromech board.  #25 chain with 66 links ordered from electricscooterparts.com fit the bill without a hitch.  I must put a HUGE shout out there to Ted.  His posts on the boards have been spot-on, and his wisdom has been invaluable during the course of this build.  THANK YOU TED !

Here is a shot of the foot sitting pretty.  Hmmmmm... mouse droid anybody ?  

Higher angle, because it looks so darn pretty - even with the wonky door.  The doors can now have their magnets installed.  I waited (thankfully) to put the magnets on, because I was not sure where they would fit once the motor mounts were installed.  The PVC battery boxes look really nice.  They still need to be mounted with screws from the inside.

One of the pleasures of building something like this is the exposure to new items and vocabulary.   Today's word : Cabochon (from Wikipedia) from the Middle French caboche (head), is a gemstone which has been shaped and polished as opposed to faceted. The resulting form is usually a convex top with a flat bottom. (Now to find out what "faceted" means....)

The cabochons are used as the lenses in the holo-projectors.  Shown below is one of three holo-projectors made with great skill by Wayne Orr.  I honestly had no idea or recollection that R2 had three holo-projectors on his dome.  We all know there was at least one - it projected Leia's "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you are my only hope" speech so many moons ago.  These are the cold-cast resin style.  The resin has aluminum powder included in the molding process which gives a great metallic looking finish at a fraction of the cost of the real deal.

So there we have it - another day of toil and trouble on the little guy.  So much of the work is uneventful - satisfying, but not much to show.  Soon - the externals will all start coming together, and it will start to look more complete.

I can't tell you how excited I am, albeit nervous, for next week to arrive.  My fiberglass dome from Crash is set to arrive.  It was the first part I actually ordered when I set out on this journey.  I feel that the dome is the most iconic part of the droid, and I can't wait to get my mitts on it !