Plan B

So here's some pictures of the fiber optic cables being glued in place. Each plastic tube will have different amounts of cables put in place (some will have two, some will have as many as six).

But a problem acured. One of the Zip-Tied bundles came out of its plastic tube. I guess the Gorilla Glue isn't going to work very well in this case.
So I decided to try Heat-Shrink tubing. This stuff is very useful for covering exposed wiring and electronic component links. All you do is get a piece only slightly larger in diameter than what you're covering, fit it over the part, and then use a heat gun/hair dryer (either one works) to heat up the tubing and then it will tightly shrink around whatever is inside it. And it worked like a charm.The Zip-Ties are for good measure.
Unfortunitly, I have run out of Fiber Optic cable. I just ordered more today, but it'll take a few days before it arrives. I get my fiber from http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/.
These pictures are a long time coming. They are diagrams of how the fibers will be arranged in the Logic Display bezels. Please note that these diagrams came from the R2-D2 Builders Club and where made by one of its members. These diagrams are NOT how the Real R2-D2's Logic Display lights work. ILM is keeping that a trade secret.

Laterz,

John

can't think of a title

Just wanted to show another thing I just did. This picture shows the Gorilla Glue I just put on to keep the tubes in place. WARNING: Gorilla Glue is the strongest glue out there. USE GLOVES! USE OLD CLOTHES. IF YOU GET THIS ON YOU, IT WILL TAKE A CHISEL TO REMOVE. Just FYI.

Front Logic Display nears completion

You are going to love this. I just finished (mostly) the Front Logic Display LED blinking assembly. I've got pictures and a video of the LED's in action. The only thing I did not take pictures of is how I made the circuit the LED's are on and how they are mounted in the black box. But fear not. I have to make another one of these for the Rear Logic Display so I'll take pictures of that. The only difference between the Front and Rear is the colors.

This picture shows the holes I'm starting to drill. I used a 3/8" drill bit.

A closer view. Note the scratch marks. The point where the lines intersect is where I drill. I used a simple hobby knife to make the marks. They line up with the LED arrangement.

Holes drilled. Not as even as I wanted. Better luck next time I guess.

All the holes are drilled, the LED's are mounted inside, and the plastic tubing is in place. The frosted plastic tubes you see are sitting over each LED inside. This is to diffuse the light from each LED so they don't bleed over into another LED and to keep the fiber optic strands positioned over their respective LED. I'll be using Gorilla Glue to glue the fiber in place.

I'm putting plugs on the wiring coming from the PIC Flasher circuit and the LED box. Each plug has 9 pins (the plugs are just like the 4 pin power plugs in a computer), and each pin is soldered to each wire. Since the PIC Flasher has 8 channels, I used premade Heat-Shrink tubes with numbers printed on them to mark each wire. The green (+) wire I left unmarked and put in the 9th position in the plug. The picture above shows the wire crimped in the pin before I added the solder.

The video below shows the lights in action. I now need to take this setup to the R6's head to plan its mounting inside so I know how to cut and arrange the fiber.