Yearly Archives: 2012

More work on main ankles…

So, I spent the evening with fixing my ankles!

I started construction before my vacation, but now it was about time to continue work on these.

Basically, most of the construction is done. I just need to let the glue set before joining the beefy curve bits with the ankles, and they should be done. Since I did go “off-spec” and added a 1mm layer of skin around the main ankles, which Dave Everett’s nice blueprints doesn’t have, it means that I may need to add another 1mm layer around the curved bits to make them join up nice. I don’t mind since the extra layer does make this part much more stable and durable than it would be otherwise.

So, the evening has been spent according to the following program:

10 glue pieces together
20 tape them up good
30 sand it down to be real smooth
40 goto 10

You who once owned a commodore 64 know what I’m talking about … 😉

Anyway, got some pics of todays progress, and I must say that the ankles look REALLY smooth and nice, and there’s no way to spot that they were just a small piece of styrene pieces not long ago…

see how nice and smooth them ankles in the background look…

Close-up of the ankles. Note the placeholder cable I had placed inside the ankle to help me route the actual cables later on… it may be a challenge, but I have a plan..

These aren’t glued together yet, but they look nice and beefy, eh? =)

Once these are done, I will mount them onto the legs and screw them together so they are forever joined…

I must say that I’m really looking forward to when I can put all pieces of the leg together for the first time, if nothing else for my own amusement! =)

//Micke

By |2016-12-06T00:01:57+01:00February 10th, 2012|R2-D2|Comments Off on More work on main ankles…
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Back into Building!

So, after a two week hiatus on my R2 build I am finally back.

Well, to be honest, things have been pretty ok with me in the past few weeks, since I have been in the Maldives and relaxing and diving.

Naturally, I have been thinking about my R2 build, and seeing shapes and forms everywhere that reminds me of the droid at home, waiting.

It all started on the lovely little Twin Otter sea-plane out to the resort: When looking up inside it, I had this staring down at me. I know I was doomed.

I couldn’t even walk on the beach without noticing things…

The shape looked familiar… and I had to draw what was missing around it.. Quickly, of course to keep the girlfriend from noticing 😉

Yes! The center foot detail plate!
This lessened the withdrawal symptoms somewhat…

All joke’s aside, I had a great time, and really needed the break!

So: What have I been up to the past few days when I’ve been back?
Well, waiting for me was an envelope containing some under shoulder detail base plates that my friend Sigge made for me (Thanks so much!)

After a bit of filing and tweaking to get them into the spots, they fit like a glove!

With these plates superglued into position, I could finish off skinning the legs, and write that off as done. All that is left on the legs now is going over the edges with bondo, some light sanding and of course painting them. In any case, the construction phase of the main legs are now COMPLETE! Woohoo!

Just look at how nice they look!

So, when the legs done, I resumed work on my main ankles. Not a lot done, but some fitting, some gluing and some cutting. Looks good so far:

Yesterday, I didn’t update the blog, since there wasn’t really anything to show, but I did file all the tabs from the dome, and debarred the outer dome. I also realized that the outer dome is a bit too large around the inner dome than I’d like it. It also feels like the inner dome has a slight dent, which could explain why the outer dome is not sitting flush all around it.

For now, I just taped the main holo projector, the radar eye, and couldn’t help to add a few blinking lights as well just to have fun. R2 is starting to emerge!

No, it did not give me goose bumps. But it did bring a smile to my face! =)

Lastly, I went to a local store (Clas Ohlson) that has just about everything and bought a storage box, for putting my finished parts in. I figured it would protect them better than just having them stacked in my tiny office =)

Looks good, right?

So, it is with a box full of R2 that I leave you readers for the night and wish you pleasant dreams.

With blinky lights.

//Micke

By |2016-12-06T00:01:57+01:00February 8th, 2012|R2-D2|Comments Off on Back into Building!
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D-Day (Dome-dagen in Swedish…) (and ankles…)


So.. Today was D-Day!

One of the first items I ordered for my R2 build arrived.. in this small package:

Opening the box gave me this view:

Removing the plastic and paper gave further info about the mystery contained within..

Yes, it is my laser cut dome that finally arrived! It will sit on my shelf for two weeks before I can start working on it…

After the joyful feeling of receiving this box, I started working on my main ankles.

I realized that I had forgotten to add the ankle locks built into my ankles, as I did with the center ankle. I may fix this before skinning the ankles or not, but for now, I’ve left them as is.

Main ankles are mostly glued together and are not going to harden before doing any further work with them.

Note the cables running through, which is just a placeholder for trying out the cable channel. The pinpoints are not yet sanded, and are therefor still a bit uneven, but I have plenty of time to fix that! =)

Finally, I also unravelled the blue Mummy inside my work area, and it turned out to be my left foot shell, now complete. Needs a little bond and sanding on the lower parts, but other than that, looking good!

Now, I take a little break from R2 building. I’ve had a few intense buildweeks, but for the next two weeks I have other plans… I’ll tell you more on that later!

I’ll see you with more updates in February!

//Micke

By |2016-12-06T00:01:58+01:00January 18th, 2012|R2-D2|Comments Off on D-Day (Dome-dagen in Swedish…) (and ankles…)
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