2015 August

#NOTBUILDINGBB8

I’m not building BB-8!

Nope!

I really didn’t like that droid when I first saw it.

Who’s Bb-8 you might ask?

Well, he’s that little round fella from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer.

The little round one.

Yes.

THIS one:

There’s only one small problem:

As soon as it rolled out on stage in Anaheim during Celebration VI my jaw dropped.

Up until then, I thought it was nothing but a CGI robot made for comic relief, but to SEE this on stage (even though it was on youtube) blew my mind!

But … still … #NOTMAKINGBB8!

At least not as far as my fiancée is concerned…

The story of BB-8 started back in 1974, when George Lucas still wanted to make “The Star Wars” as it was called back then. Having the Legendary (capital L deserved) Ralph McQuarrie on board to do his visuals, they started an epic journey that… well … I digress.

One of the early designs for R2-D2 by Ralph featured the droid balancing on one wheel.

Something not possible at the time. Fortunately for us, J.J. Abrams took the AWESOME decision to stay true to much of Ralph McQuarries ideas and designs when designing the forthcoming Star Wars films, and so, BB-8 was born.

After seeing it on stage in Anaheim (unfortunately not in person, I watched it on youtube at home), my mind started thinking… how would I build a droid like that… and I soon came up with a blueprint that would explain it all:

Or … well … maybe not. But a fan online had looked at BB-8 and like me (I guess) compared it to the size of R2-D2 and extrapolated and calculated and … guessed.. and came up with this:

Not completely accurate, it was still a very good start.

Thanks to a few very resourceful persons, M & T, you know who you are, I have started on a new journey with this little droid. At the moment, I am content with just doing the dome, but who knows… in the future maybe? I think I have a solution for how it actually works…

It all started with printing a lot of parts on my trust Makergear M2:

A box of parts, really.

The first piece I printed was the front third of the dome: I used PLA for this, as it warps a LOT less and less chance of cracking, like ABS.

I was VERY surprised about the support towers showing in the back. They are standing on nothing (since I forgot to add a helper disk where they start), and was really sturdy!

Thanks to the BuildTak, they managed to stay put the entire print, and made me this lovely piece:

A few more pieces followed, and..

.. we have something that already looks like a dome!

The (almost see through) red PLA was the roll I had that I’ve used the least. I figured if I was going to paint this anyway, why not use a colour I would never use for anything else…

A bit of sanding and some putty..

… and some more printing…

… and gluing … and sanding… part after part..

.. and tweaking the firmware of your 3D printer and modifying layer heights… and print speeds.. and making the best prints you’ve ever made..

…and reprinting…

realizing you just printed something that has a layer height of 0.05 mm.. 1/20th of a millimeter…

.. so I guess … that when almost all parts for the dome are done … like now..

.. i guess that I AM building BB-8 … after all

But still…

If my fiancée asks..

or if anyone asks..

Remember:

#NOTBUILDINGBB8

By micke|2016-12-06T00:00:11+01:00August 26th, 2015|BB-8|Comments Off

–What do you mean “my parts are showing”?

In addition to making the odd compad and some special request, I am also doing some parts for friends.

I am not doing any “runs” of anything, so please don’t ask me. I only have one small printer and I make good use of it for my own projects and do the odd part for friends in need when time allows.

Parts that I’ve done recently: (click for better view)

: LDP (Large Data Port) For R2-D2. This one was made specifically for people using the most excellent Dave E instructions, where the gap for the LDP is somewhat different from the old, legacy specifications.

: Just look at the quality of this LDP. I’ve done nothing with it after ir finished printing! I really LOVE my 3D printer!

: I printed this beautiful Obi-Wan light saber made by Valcrow from redicubricks for a friend who got married.

: The full assembled saber.

: Every part is interlocking..

: Every parts fits precisely..

: I really learned a lot about FDM tolerances and interlocking parts when making this.

: I used the Valcrow Pummel and changed it for a friend who needed an Obi-Wan pummel. This is the rendering

: .. and this is the pummel after print, acetone vapor treatment and sanding

: Looks pretty good!

: I have also experimented with making compads out of flexible filament (rubber)

: Bendable: yes. useable? not for this!

: The best thing I have done with rubber filament is printing out new corner guards for my 3D printer!

: I’ve also made a compad or two..

: The Scout Blaster is something I have spent a LOT of time and effort with perfecting. I’ve got a box full of failed prints at home.

: This, however is a deluxe print from Shapeways that I made!

: A Hollow print. light weight and no need to paint.

: Other side of the blaster

: All parts that makes up this hollow blaster. It wasn’t cheap!

: A quick rendering of my earlier attempts at modelling a Sterling L2A3 Sub Machine Gun. This is the gun that was used when making the Stormtrooper blasters, which is really what I was after. Looks pretty ok, I think. One day I will buy this renderer.

: Naturally, I have done a few renderings of my R2 parts… This is a test render and not a photo…

: A test rendering of my R2. The digital model is still incomplete, but I have made all parts for 3D printing.

: Remember the mini.. ?

: This is the original 40% ankle. A new one will be made in 50%!

: Ankle Wedges and an early version of my ankle cylinders that are made in 5 parts.

: Detail of printing the v2,0 of my ankle cylinders.

: This is the ankle cylinder when the 5 parts are press fitted together.

: I just love my 3d printer. I also realized I have to get Maxwell Renderer. I just can’t afford it at the moment though, but I really LOVE it!

: … and here is a box of goodies… more on these later, but I can definitely say that I’m #NOTBUILDINGBB8 …

By micke|2016-12-06T00:00:12+01:00August 26th, 2015|BB-8, Building, Mini-R2, R2-D2|Comments Off

A working Computer Interface Arm…

For a while, I’ve really wanted to make a working “computer interface arm”. I had one made in aluminium a while ago, but this proved to be way too heavy for my styrene droid, so I decided to sell it.

When looking at the movie, R2 “flips up” his arm, then the tip extends, and it rotates as it is inserted into the computer interface.

Image from starwarsscreencaps.com. (c) LucasFilm / Disney.

Most likely, this is accomplished by some sort of magnet lock, and it is actually the wall panel that rotates, and the tip of the interface arm only “tags along”. It is a hundred times easier to make, and this was after all done in 1976, so most likely, That is what happened.

That is not what I’m planning. I’m planning to make a computer interface arm that can both extend AND rotate!

I plan to accomplish this through a simple method:

The thick part of the interface arm is a hollow plastic tube. The tip is 3D printed and mounted on an aluminium tube.

This tube is inserted into a smaller aluminium tube that is fixed within the hollow plastic tube with 3D printed parts.

Inside the aluminium tube, I mount a stiff cable on a holder from a tackle shop, that can rotate as much as it wants.

The stiff cable goes through the assembly to the back end, where a servo can either push out the tip, or retract it. Pretty much the same way an electric car antenna works.

The tube in which the cable resides, has gears glued on to it, and can through a 360 degree servo rotate in either direction. The stiff cable inside, which controls the extension/retraction movement is still in place, and the small tube with the tip attached to it, rotates around it.

Sounds complicated, and to some degree it is: Have a look at these images and see if it makes more sense:

These pictures have the rear servo taken out for clarity, and also the inside tube removed for clarity. The inside tube would have slots cut out to make contact with the outer gears.

Now that my 3D printer is upgraded and make better parts than ever, it is time to set this all into action! 😀 Stay tuned!

By micke|2016-12-06T00:00:13+01:00August 25th, 2015|R2-D2|Comments Off

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Monthly Archives: August 2015

#NOTBUILDINGBB8

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Parts!

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A working Computer Interface Arm…

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