legs

More mini pieces…

So, at the moment, I am really juggling three different builds: I am doing updates on my full scale R2-D2, I am working on a dome for BB-8, even though I am definitively #NOTBUILDINGBB8 .. and then I’ve got this 50% scale build.

The biggest drawback of changing from 40% to 50% build, is that the pieces I had done for my 40% build is now totally useless, so back to scaling up (and fixing some issues with the model) and printing.

This is what the last couple of days have rendered:

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These under shoulder details are really tiny. They have been printed with a layer height of 0.05 mm and was printed in two halves, that was just glued together.

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This image is taken through my magnifying glass. Building really wreaks havoc on your fingernails and dries up your hands.

Check out the detail on that print, however…

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Not printed quite in the same detail level are these shoulder hydraulics. They will look great when sanded and treated with rub and buff though.

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The booster covers now in correct scale. The leg struts that I printed last week fits great!

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To get a comparison to the full scale: Here is the newly made Large Data Port … or should I say the Tiny Data Port?

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The new ankle details.

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The new ankles. See that little crack..? That is a small crack when printing in ABS…

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Another small crack on the other side..

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But no where near as bad as this big one that went half through!

I will do a post about how to fix these things in the future without having to do a totally new print.

 

 

By |2016-12-06T00:00:09+01:00August 31st, 2015|Building, Mini-R2|Comments Off on More mini pieces…

Fixing a wobbly leg

Hurrying a build will always come back to bite you later!

When I originally built my R2, I was in a building frenzy. In a way, it was almost therapeutic for me, as I needed to get my mind off things, and really focused as much as I could into the build.

The legs was one of those first things I made, and I did not let the fact that I did not have a drill press stop me!

So, instead of .. I don’t know .. ask any of my friends if any of they had access to one, I basically drilled the holes in my ankles freehand. I know for a fact, that these holes have not been straight.

The symptoms of this, has been that my R2 always drifts towards the left when I drive him, and even though I can compensate, as soon as the drive power stops, and he rolls a few decimeters, he always steers off to the left. This has really been a pet peeve of mine, even though it is something only I was aware of, but isn’t that the definition of a pet peeve anyway, more or less? 😉

So, armed with a plan, I took R2’s legs to my friend Anton’s work (where they have a proper drill press) and got to work.

This is the problem area: (and no it isn’t dirty. It is only painted that way)

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A few years ago, I did have the foresight to protect the existing ankle holes, so I had drilled the holes slightly larger and inserted a piece of aluminum tube to not let the threaded bolt eat into the plastic. When the foot was removed, I got proof that my ‘protection plan’ had worked as it should: The threads from the bolt had really eaten into the aluminium bolt! Just imagine what could have happened if it had gone straight into the plastic ankle?

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So, the force has been strong enough to not only impress the threads into the aluminium tube, but also to slightly deform the hole!

My plan was to make a new hole, a straight hole this time, and rather than the existing tubes, I would insert some sort of bushings into the hole.

I had these linear ball bearings that will do just fine for the job at hand:

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First step was to affix the leg to the drill press… and slowly drill through both ankle and the existing aluminium tube to straighten up the hole..

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Since the aluminium tube was only fixed with E-6000 inside, it soon pushed out the other end, while the drill made a straight hole through..

My friend Anton did the first one:

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.. and I drilled the second hole. Scary but a VERY quick fix in the end. The new bushings were pushed in to place …

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A much better solution, and a more solid contact area towards the plastic!

I also took the opportunity to attach the new motor holders (as seen in “Fixing a hobbled droid” and “Fixing a hobbled droid, part II”). Yes, even though I had made these new motor holders way back, I had to abandon them due to a motor dying on me, but this has since been fixed, and this seemed like a great opportunity to put them in action!

Since fixing this, I have not yet had time to do a proper event with R2, but I’ve got a two day event in September that will be a perfect test. I will bring along my backup motor holders just in case… you never now.

 

By |2016-12-06T00:00:14+01:00August 25th, 2015|R2-D2|Comments Off on Fixing a wobbly leg

I’m so close to the finish, I can smell it!

So, these last days of core building is nearing its end.

More and more small fixes are taken care of, and the droid is getting more and more finished!

Construction wise, all that is left is filing 3 pieces of metal for the foot strips, building two end caps for my ankle cylinder, and dress those in aluminium tape!

After that’s done.. well . I need to file down my battery box harnesses a bit, glue them in place, and also glue in the under shoulder details at my left leg!

Once those small things are done.. construction of “phase 1” as Valisk_61 put it… is finished!

Naturally, I’ll need to weather the legs and skirt..

So: What has happened since last time then?

[box type=”info”] I can’t believe it’s not aluminium![/box]

Wrapping aluminium tape around something, working hard with a glove (or you’ll cut yourself, I know) to smoothen it out, then finally sanding with 400 grit sand paper, gets you a pretty good looking solid aluminium look!

This is actually one of two resin ankle cylinders that I had, and these were used for my center foot, where they are so close that any minor discrepancy is a lot easier to notice! =)

Center foot construction is 100% complete!

I just need to add a bit of weathering to the cylinders and the wedges and it is a done deal!

The wedges are scratch built from styrene, if you wonder.

Here’s an example of one of my PVC/styrene ankle cylinders in action:

Looks fairly decent as well, I think!

My, after weathering the droid’s body and the center foot, the main foot and leg looks so plastic and fake without any grime! This cannot do!

Foot strips are also on the way.. I got pre-cut 3mm aluminium strips from the Mighty Sigge

[tm] (Thank you, much obliged!) and started to drill and file and all. Once done, it looks like quite an improvement from what I started with, or what do you think?

It takes a little while, but end results are really good! =)

Once this was done, it was time to reattach the hoses..

Now where do this one go? top or bottom hole, I can never remember..

There… All done!

There’s been more bits and pieces done today as well, small tidbits, painting of the second booster cover took place (Why don’t I paint them both at the same time to begin with?), built and painted the rest of the ankle wedges, mounted the ankle cylinders, the holders, well .. in fact, most things!

I did glue then ankle details in with E-6000. First I planned to use double stick tape for them, as it really seems to hold up well, but… why not. They’re not going to be removed anytime soon anyway =)

Stuff to do:

  • file 3 foot strips
  • attach foot strips
  • attach hoses on second foot
  • glue under shoulder details on second leg
  • weather both main legs
  • weather skirt
  • weather cylinders in main leg
  • double check wiring
  • charge battery
  • have fun!

So close.

SO close!

By |2016-12-06T00:00:47+01:00November 8th, 2012|R2-D2|Comments Off on I’m so close to the finish, I can smell it!
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