feet

Skirt, dome, feet and skin work!

So..

Looking under the skirt…

A lot of time over the weekend has been spent with just going over fine details. Sanding, tweaking, that sort of thing. I did start proper work on the skirt two days ago, but nothing to really show for it, but as of now, I guess it is about halfway done.

I’m going to add inner walls to the skirt, to make it look nicer, even though it is only for myself… This piece needs a good sanding before I continue working on it.

 

We’re Domed!

Today, I actually got around to debarring and filing the tabs off all dome panels. They have been sitting in a box for a while, and since the cut in my hand (which was way worse than the image I posted) is preventing me from doing any advanced stuff, I spent a few hours in front of the tv filing away…

Once done, I had to test fit the rear Logic Display, and it needed a little extra filing to fit, but it fits like a glove now:

I still need to sand these to get rid of some of the bigger marks from the manufacturing, but that will be at a (much) later date .. 😉

 

Footwork:

So, I had this idea of how I should attach the bolts that holds my main feet in place, and since I use foot shells that are hard to get off, and also slightly difficult to reach into, I decided to use T-nuts on one side, thus leaving plenty of room on the battery box side, and that being the only place I need to do anything on when attaching the feet!

Since the feet is such an important area, I really did not want to do something that would weaken them, but I still have 9mm of styrene on each side of the foot “trench”, so I think I should be good =) Can’t wait to try them out for real!

 

Legging it!

I just had to try … get a feel for what they will look like! horseshoes is the next area where I will start constructing after my skirt is done… I think… unless I actually make the second foot shell first. This will look so much better once I get the aluminium leg strut, that should arrive in a few days! I’m also thinking about having someone make me an aluminum version of the plate that the booster covers and leg struts rests upon.

Anyway, Since I had skinned my ankle all around, the resin tube that goes across the ankle is slightly too small, and I either need to scratch build one (easy) or dremel it up a bit. I’m leaning towards scratch building!

 

Thinking outside the Box

Yesterday, I also completed my arm boxes, and made some extra bulkheads inside the skin to stiffen up the utility arms are, and also to really hold up the LDP. I still have no idea how that will be fastened yet, but some ideas spring to mind. I may need to add something to my LDP build as well …

 

Skin Deep

The outer front skin is now glued in place, and should hopefully be taped well enough over night to fasten securely. I’ve already identified several areas where I will need to cut out more from the skin after they have set, but It’ll be fine, I’m sure.

Back outer skin will be glued tomorrow, but since I have no opening doors on the back side, I might go around a different route how to glue it in place… We’ll see =)

Me in “glue mode” .. Don’t want to get too much of them fumes… gives me a headache!

All in all, a good weekend, and I had a lot of fun just temporarily attaching the feet yesterday to get my droid on all three for the first time…

By |2016-12-06T00:01:54+01:00February 19th, 2012|R2-D2|Comments Off on Skirt, dome, feet and skin work!

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…

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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