styrene

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!
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Inner skins glued in place, center ankles just about finished!

So, apart from making the slip ring explanation, I did glue the inner skins in place.

It was a bit scary, as any mistake here can be hard to undo later on. Especially since I don’t have enough styrene to cut new skins!

Anyway, the whole procedure went well, took about 90 minutes in total with everything. I noticed that once the glue started setting, the whole construction is a LOT more solid than compared to just the frame with skins taped on.

These skins will now set overnight, and hopefully I’ll have time to add the outer skins in the next few days.

Once the skin was on, it was time to put some more focus on the main ankles. I sanded down the new layer of styrene on the beefy parts until they fit nice and snug, and glued them in to place.

I also decided to fasten the leg inside with 4 60mm long 6mm screws, countersunk from the inside. I will try and find white screws to replace these metal ones, but for the moment, these will do. It will also provide a good, solid fit for the legs inside the main ankles. As soon as my metal plates for the top of the ankles are made… or at least painted =)

As usual, tiny R2 is inspecting!

Now: time to spend some time into making the shoulder hubs!

By |2016-12-06T00:01:55+01:00February 15th, 2012|R2-D2|Comments Off on Inner skins glued in place, center ankles just about finished!
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Slip Ring explanation

I received a question about how my slip ring solution was, and I thought I’d explain it in unnecessary detail here:

 

These are the pieces I cut out and the slip ring on top. The tiny bit goes underneath the long piece with the circle in the middle on the lefthand side. It creates sort of a lip that will go down into the bottom left piece. That, together with the extra flanges on my top ring in the frame will keep this in place.

I have only one acre, that is screwed down in the bottom right piece, that is glued on the location where Dave Everett has placed his dome motor. I have tapped these to 6mm and therefor only need a screw to secure or completely remove the center bar with the slip ring.

Enough talk, pictures will explain better!

Here’s the bottom right part glued into the top ring of the frame.

Bottom left piece glued in place on the top ring. Note the extra flanges on the top ring, creating a nice trench for the center bar to run in.

Tiny piece glued on the long bar. It is glued on sticking out a bit, as it will help lock the bar into place.

Center bar with locking screw and slip ring in place. Since this is a test mount, I don’t know if I can keep the slip ring mounted on top of the bar. I may need to move it below the bar, but you get the picture =)

Close-up of the locking piece…

Slip ring on its center bar locked into place. This is steady enough and easy to remove for maintenance with only one small screw =)

By |2016-12-06T00:01:55+01:00February 15th, 2012|R2-D2|Comments Off on Slip Ring explanation
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