styrene

Another quickie..

I realized that a post without pictures is not as fun as it may seem…

Following last night’s update, I have glued and screwed the metal housing to my shoulder hub in to place

The aluminium sheet has been stuck in place with E-6000 glue and screwed down in the ends. This should definitely hold! The seam is also on the least visible part of R2. You’d have to look straight up into R2’s arm pit to see the joint, and you’d only see two of the screws anyway.

Once this has set, I will need to adjust the right arm opening slightly to allow for the slightly larger hub to fit into the socket.

And I’ve also glued the skin almost all around the Battery Box.

See? Looks MUCH smoother and better than the first time around! I know where I went wrong. I was in a building frenzy and didn’t have the patience enough to take things slow, one small step at the time. I wanted to finish everything NOW NOW NOW!

So.. In the end that has caused me a lot of extra work, fixing up small things that I was not 100% happy with. Tis was one of them. Now, I’m starting to feel much happier about the battery box!

There are a few other small bits and pieces I may go back and look over one more time, but on the whole, this is really starting to look good!

My paint plan is as follows:

  • prime right leg
  • prime right foot shell
  • prime right horseshoe
  • prime right battery box
  • paint right leg
  • paint right foot shell
  • paint right horseshoe
  • paint right battery box
  • paint groove in right foot motor holder
  • paint ankle locks
  • touch up center foot detail plates
  • touch up center ankle
  • touch up back side of left leg
  • paint inside of long door
  • clear coat body
  • clear coat left foot shell
  • clear coat left battery box
  • clear coat left leg
  • clear coat center ankle
  • clear coat center foot
  • clear coat center foot detail plates
  • clear coat doors for body (4 of them)
  • clear coat ankle locks
  • clear coat ankle cylinder holders
  • clear coat right leg
  • clear coat right foot shell
  • clear coat right horseshoe
  • clear coat right battery box

This may look like much, but really, the clear coating is relatively quick, and the touch ups is just that.. A few sprays and it’s done!

Really, it is only one more leg to prime, sand, prime, bondo, paint white, let dry, sand, paint white again and finally wet sand!

That is the time consuming procedure when it comes to the paint job! It’s worth it, though!

 

By |2016-12-06T00:00:59+01:00November 1st, 2012|R2-D2|Comments Off on Another quickie..
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Just a quick update…

… to let you guys know that the work is progressing!

I have no pics to go with this, sorry, but here is where I’m at since last time!

I’ve fixed up the second power coupler as per the first one.

I’ve removed the aluminium tape from the second shoulder hub and started skinning it in aluminium. I need to glue the aluminum outside tomorrow and screw in place then this is finished!

I also decided to remove the skin on my right battery box and sand the uneven bits on that one down, to make it nice and smooth. This has been done, and tomorrow, this will be skinned again! Last big part in styrene! Woohoo!

I’ve also been working on fine tuning the shoulder shims some more, and looking in to mounting them more precisely, so I can switch the horseshoes around, should I want to. These are now more snug, and I’ve fixed some irregularities in their shape as well.

I’ve got a little touch up to do on some of the painted parts: a few sprays of paint on the center ankle, the center detail plates, and the inside of the left leg. After this is done, they are ready for clear coating!

The body is ready for clear coating, as is most of the painted parts!

The idea is that this weekend will see the last of the bigger construction of the droid, so I can clean up my office/work space! Once the bigger tools are away and order is restored, it will make the small work with detailing and weathering, as well as working on the new controller electronics so much easier!

I feel confident and happy that I may only need 3-4 more paint sessions, and my entire droid is finally painted and clear coated!

The idea is to get the last leg and foot primed so I can bondo and sand and fix over the weekend, and get the rest of the droid clear coated before friday!

The last few steps is really something I’m looking forward to, as it is these steps that will really give R2 his personality!

By |2016-12-06T00:00:59+01:00October 31st, 2012|R2-D2|Comments Off on Just a quick update…
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First painting done and new acquisitions!

Hey, what do you know!

A third blog entry today! Well, I had to try out the paints I got!

I’ve got 7 cans of satin white sitting in my room, and had to venture out on the balcony to try it out a bit!

After an initial colour test on a scrap piece, I decided to paint a horseshoe!

Naturally, I made a few mistakes initially that had to be sanded and fixed, but after a few reattempts, this started to look pretty good!

I simply had to try it out with the aluminnium inside as well!

Since taking this picture, I wet sanded the last layer with some 800 grit sandpaper so it is nice and smooth. Only needs a bit of lacquer and it is finished!

What’s your suggestion, by the way: glossy or non glossy?

Lastly, I just want to show off some of the good stuff that arrived as well:

First off my aluminium shoulder hubs from England..

Second, my Ewok Zapper, also from England, but this is made in resin and PVC:

This will be mounted inside my droid at some point, but that day is far ahead! First I’ve got to get all this painting done! I made a quick run to the hardware store just before they closed and bought a foldable small work table that I can use as a base when painting the droid!

Now it’s time to sleep, or pac-man will eat me!

By |2016-12-06T00:01:08+01:00October 11th, 2012|R2-D2|Comments Off on First painting done and new acquisitions!
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