Blog update

So in the last couple of posts I made, I had to find a new way of sharing my photos and videos and possibly a new home for this blog.  Here's an update on that topic.

Years ago when I moved from my original blog host, the late Yahoo!360, it was a lot of copying and pasting around 100 blog post to Blogger.  Now I have over 200 blog post and no easy way to export and import them onto another blog platform.  So never mind.  It's too much work relocating.  I'm stuck here I guess.

As for the videos and photos, I already mentioned Google Drive will archive all the photos I insert in Blogger and it seams it'll work the same way for videos, provided the video file in 100MB or less per video.  No problem there as my videos in FLV format are around 10-20MB's each.

I was trying to ditch Google altogether, but all the alternatives are too limiting, for free.  So my plan is to use my Google account only for Blogger.  I'll use a different email service for personal use.  Now I just need to convert all my videos in FLV and reupload all my past photos and videos.  You'll see I've already redone a few posts, but it'll take me a long time to fix all of them.  I'll start with the most recent and work my way backwards through time.


John

YouTube, COPPA, The World Gone Mad

You may have noticed that now the videos don't work.  That's because thanks to YouTube trying to throw all the content creators under the COPPA bus, I have decided to stop using their service.  I don't think I had to worry about my videos being thought of as "directed at children," but the way YouTube was handling the whole thing was irritating me.  I'm even considering going as far as moving my blog and email from Google to something else, although I don't know where that would be.  Remember that this blog started on Yahoo's platform before they shut it down.

In the mean time, I'll be looking for a new video hosting service.  Shoot, at this point I might as well rent a private server.  But $$$$$.

Lots to think about.

Stay tuned.

John

Photobucket Links

Long time.  So you may have noticed all the picture links are now broken.  That's because I deleted my Photobucket account where I was storing them.  Apparently, a free account on Photobucket only gives you a 25MB max bandwidth and I was going over that limit by 300% and over a storage limit too..  As such all the photo's had a watermark added and were low rez, plus I couldn't upload any new photos unless I started paying a subscription.  I don't know when these new restrictions started, but I wasn't having these problems when I last made a blog post.  So instead of paying $5.99 or more a month (which I can' afford right now) I decided to delete my account with them and find an alternative solution....which I'm still looking for.

One idea I've been mulling over is switching from a Blog to a Vlog using my YouTube channel.  This way I wouldn't need a new online storage for my photos but would make slideshow videos for all my existing photos and then new content would be in video form.  Of course that could mean no more updates here except maybe a post with a link to my Vlog video.  Still mulling it over.

Anyway, I've been very busy in real life and have had no time for Droid building, or anything else really.  But I have recently acquired a LOT of free time so I might just try getting back into things here.

Stay tuned,

John


UPDATE Nov. 12th!!!  I just learned that Blogger will store photos and videos using Google Drive.  Wish I knew that a long time ago.  So I'll be updating the photo links over time, starting with the most recent posts and work my back through over 200 posts....oh joy.

Droid-Con 4 Is GO!

Well as luck would have it, I am able to attend all four days of this years Droid-Con after all.  Cya there.

John

Celebration Orlando (or Celebration 8)

Yeah.  So Lucasfilm recently announced "Celebration Orlando" in April of 2017.  Yes, of course I'm going.  R2 Builders Club is all ready buzzing about it and making plans.  Maybe I can win the Droid Races this time.

John

Over Due Update

Yeah.  Long time since last post.

I've had a lot on my plate lately so my Droid building hobby has had to take a back seat for a awhile.  Main issue has been a little water leak in my workshop space in the basement when it rains.  I've had to completely dissemble my workshop so I could fix it.  I think I have it temporarily fixed so all that's left to to everything back together again.
Second issue is after assembling the new legs I found flaws in the measurements.  So back to square one with that.  Will have to make a new template again and get a new miter saw.  Current one is decades old, slightly out of alignment and can't be realigned.  Once I get the shop put back together again I can start on Legs version 3.

Droid-Con IV is this June, but unlike last time I'll only be attending one day.  Need the vacation days for something else.

One new project idea I recently thought of is making the head of the droid HK-47, the assassin droid from the RPG video game Knights of the Old Republic by Bioware.  Haven't figured out how I'll make it yet.  When complete I want him to have glowing eyes, servo-controlled head tilting and voice track playback.  He'll be automated so when you get near him he'll start twiching his head and say a phase from the game.  I don't think anyone else has done this before...that I can thus far find anyway.

[Closing Statement] "Will try to give another update soon....meatbags."

John

The Circle is Nearly Complete

Saw the new "Official" full Trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.   YEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm excited.

Just bought a ticket for the early showing and for the next day at my local 3D IMAX.

Nothing new about R6.  Various things had to be prioritized time and money wise.  Will resume when able.

John

Droid-Con 4

Droid-Con has just been announced for June 16th-19th, 2016.  The con will be held at a different Hotel this time because Droid-Con has gotten too big (head count wise) to fit at the previous place.  The new Hotel is actually brand new and across the street the other one.
Of course I'm going.  Already signed up.  I'm thankful they do this in Indiana every time.  Once I'm done getting the legs usable I'm going to focus on finishing the head.  I have a full year to do it so wish me luck.

As always go to www.astromech.net or www.droidcon.info for more information.

John

Glue part 3

Started first two pieces of right leg and added another piece onto the left leg.

Started work on a detail piece for the legs that I never got around to making for the first set.  But I'm going to need buy the band saw attachment for my Mark V before I can make any head way on this piece.

John

Glue part 2

Glue the next piece on.  Wait another 24 hours.  Repeat.

John

A spoon full of Glue?

Today I did final prep on the legs and glue together the first two of several pieces.

Left leg pieces glued together.  Only have enough clamps to glue one leg at a time so it'll be a slow process as I have to give each piece 24 hours before removing the clamps.  But that's ok because it'll be over 24 hours by the time I come home from work tomorrow.  And if I feel up to it I'll remove the clamps and glue the next piece on.

Just before I glued them together, I routed little indention's on the leg rod side of the piece where the leg rod attaches.  This is to allow the leg rod assembly to fit flat against it.

That's about it for today.
One thing I forgot to mention in the last post is the Star Wars: Rebels season 2 trailer was also released the same weekend as the 2nd teaser for Episode 7.  The second season looks AWESOME!  Check it out as soon as you can but I recommend getting caught up on the first season of Rebels first or some details might get spoiled for you.

John

Stuck at Home

There's a Star Wars party on the west coast and I'm not there!  Waaaaaaaaaa!

Sadly, I couldn't get transportation to Anaheim arranged so I'm stuck at home.  But it's not like I'm missing everything.  For the first time, StarWars.com is Live Streaming Celebration Anaheim which includes some of the panels.  Over the last three days I got to see the Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and The Force Awakens panels plus the cosplay contest and various interviews.  Plus all the photos and videos people are posting on YouTube and other sites.  So it's almost like being there, but not.
Rumor has it the next Celebration might be in Orlando again in two to three years but I'd like to see Indianapolis get it again.  Fat chance though because Disney now runs everything and they'll likely keep this close to their theme parks for that extra $$ factor.

NEW TEASER TRAILER!!!!!  So Excited!!!!!

Haven't done anything new with R6 yet.  Been distracted by other things needing done.  You know how it is.

Speaking of R6, I found out yesterday that the R6-unit, which originated in the Extended Universe, is now official cannon.  You'll see R6 heads in the new movie in use by the X-Wing pilots.  They look pretty much exactly like mine.  So very pleased with that.

Since I never posted anything about my trip to Celebration 6, I'm going to take this chance to link the photos I took at that time.  I'll also link my photos of Celebration 2 and 5 while I'm at it.  You can find these photos and more anytime by using the link to my Photobucket page.

Star Wars Celebration II, Indianapolis 2002

Star Wars Celebration V, Orlando 2010

 Star Wars Celebration VI, Orlando 2012

Will try to do some more work on R6 soon.

John

Pits and Shoulders

Yesterday I worked on the arm pits and drilled the mounting holes for the shoulders.

I wanted to use a 1/4" diameter router bit with a top mounted pattern bearing but couldn't find one to save my life.  All I could find was bits with the bearing on the bottom or both top and bottom but not top only.  Weird.  So I had to settle for using a 1/2" diameter bit with the bearing on top.  It worked, but the inside corners are a little more rounded than I'd like.  Later on after I get everything glued together, I'll try using a wood chisel to fix that.  The bit I used was a little too long so I had to add more thickness to the arm pit template.

Next, the mounting holes for the shoulders.  Not wanting to have to remake the shoulder hubs and pipe attachments, I needed to drill the holes to match the ones on the old legs.  To do this, I had to cut open the old legs so I could use them as a template.  No going back now.

Next weekend I might be ready to start gluing the pieces together.  Will carefully examine everything I've done thus far.  Don't want to forget anything.

John

Continued Leg Work

All right, so it took me a little longer than I thought to find an opportunity to get back into the shop.  But finally I was able to get a little time in today, so here we go.................

Today I cut out the hole for the shoulder hub detail.  I made it 1/16th of an inch smaller than the piece itself to obtain a snug fit (honestly it measured really close to 3-3/8ths at the widest so I made it 1/16th smaller for good measure.  You can always sand off more, not less).  Of course I had to test fit the detail pieces that will go there.  Fits like a glove.

And while I was at it, I also drilled the 3/4" ankle bolt holes.

Next weekend I will focus on finishing the arm pits.

John

More Leg Work

Did some more leg work this weekend.  Made a template out of 1/4" plywood for cutting out the arm pits.

 

I then used it to cut out the arm pits on the two 3/4" center pieces using a router with a pattern wheel.  In addition I also cut out the center of the both 3/4" pieces.  This provides room inside the leg for the bolts that attach the shoulder hubs to the legs, space for the wiring to the foot motors and helps make the legs lighter.  You don't want to remove too much however or the leg might not be durable enough.  Leave enough material for structural integrity and to glue the other pieces too.

 

Next I routed out a 4-1/8" circle out the two 1/2" pieces that face the body.  These holes provide clearance for the shoulder hub pipe bolts.

All of this is just like with the original legs only last time I hand drew and cut out each arm pit on each piece independently.  This time around I'll use the template to ensure all the arm pit cutouts match up.  As a side note, despite not having used this arm pit template last time, I still somehow managed to get them practically identical to each other.

No updates next weekend.  Will be too busy with something else.  Hopefully the week after I can get more done.  Until then,

John

Pass Me A Leg

Got a lot done today.  The template turned out real nice once I finished trimming and sanding it.

I then proceeded to cut out all the pieces for both legs.

They're mostly ready now.  All that's left it to cut out the arm pit pockets. hollow out the center piece for the wiring and drill holes for the ankle bolts and shoulder hubs.  Will tackle this next weekend.

John

Happened To Be In The Neighborhood

No, you're not imagining things.  This is an actual progress blog post.

Got bored today so decided to try doing a little something in my work shop.  As I've stated before, I'm wanting to make new legs for R6 due to some minor imperfections occurring over time.  I still have the original template I used for the first set of legs but it has become a little too worn out to be useful anymore.  So I'm starting by making a new template.  Now the template's purpose is to be the master cut that is used to make copies off of.  Think of it like the piece of paper you scan on a copier or as a cookie cutter.  I've tried making a new template a couple of times last year actually but they didn't turn out well so I never mentioned it.  But today I think I finally have drawn the perfect (or near enough) template.  Next trick however is cutting it without altering the outlines I drew.  That has always been the trickiest and most troublesome part.  I have already rough cut the template with a jig-saw and tomorrow plan to use a scroll-saw to fine trim the rest off.  If that goes without a hitch, I can then use my router and a pattern bit to cookie-cut more pieces for making the legs.

The process will be the same as the first set of legs.  Only difference will be better quality measurements and cuts.

I'll post again tomorrow if I get anything more accomplished.

John

Status update 2015

I know, I know.  I completely dropped the ball last year with any new news or old news.

So here's the deal.  First, I have not stopped wanting to finish building R6-C9.  I even started making new legs for him but made a huge mistake in making the new template that I didn't notice until I had already made several pieces....all of which I had to scrap and at that point I had to walk away and regroup.  Second, I have my own house now so while that means I finally have space for a proper workshop, I also have the house itself that needs some TLC which must take priority over any hobbies.  Plus the long hours at my job and you get little time and little money left over.

I hope to get started doing something with R6 this year, even if it's little steps at a time.  Try to focus on one detail at a time.  And if I can manage that, I'll post something about it when able.  No promises when that'll happen.

As for back logged updates like Droid-Con's 2 and 3, I'll try to get those posted before I do any other postings.

BTW, the Episode VII teaser is released and looks AWESOME!  Can't wait.  Only 12 months until the new movie is in theaters!  I plan to take vacation that week so I can get the earliest showing.

John

Life Goes On

Happy New Year!!!  May people be wiser than last year for once (not holding my breath).

Anyways, long time no see.  I apologize for not posting anything about Droid-Con 2 or anything else I've done since.  Just got preoccupied  with various things that had to take priority.  This weekend I'll try to make the time to post about Droid-Con 2 and a few other important things concerning my droid building.  But be assured, I'm still in this to the end.  R6-C9 will be completed.  Though at this rate it may be the last thing I do.

See you later,

John

CELEBRATION VII and Episode VII News

Almost forgot to mention.  Last weekend Celebration VII (7) was announced to take place in Anaheim, CA April 16-19th 2015, coinciding with the release of Star Wars Episode VII (7).

I would very much like to go, but California is twice as far as Florida is and will also be a more expensive trip.  I have over two years to plan and save so I might be able to pull it off.  I might even be able to find some travel buddies this time.
I also find the timing perfect being the 7th celebration convention for the 7th movie.

In other news, it has also been confirmed that John Williams will once again compose and conduct the music for Episode VII.  It just wouldn't be a Star Wars movie without his musical touch.

John.