New Year Catchup

I'm sorry I haven't kept this blog up-to-date for the past six months.  2012 was somewhat crazy for with starting a new job at the beginning of the year, the Midwest Builders Gathering in the spring, Celebration VI in the summer and a lot of RL issues that kept popping up.  As such, I haven't made a lot of progress since C-VI, but I intend to make up for it this year.  So without further ado, let's build!

To start, some catching up.
Star Wars Celebration VI, August 23rd-26th, 2012, Orlando, Florida.

I didn't take as many pictures as I did last time.  This time around i wanted to focus more on enjoying the event than just documenting it.
I did participate in the Droid Races this time and had a blast.  Of course it would be this time around that they revise the course and make it more difficult.  Instead of just running around through a maze of turns, they added obstacles to avoid and 3 small cones that need to be pushed by your droid's foot into a small square before making for the finish line.  First droid to do all this wins.  I won the first round, but was beaten in the second round.  Oh well.  I did learn a lot about how well R6-C9 handles and will need make a few adjustments.  I discovered he's very quick on the throttle so will need to adjust my controller for a smoother speed adjustment.  Also there was some wobble in the feet that I'll have to find a way to tighten up.  I think I'll have to revise and replace the legs/center ankle so they'll attach to the feet more securely to eliminate the wobble.
Look around on YouTube and you'll find plenty of videos of the droid races.  You'll see me there somewhere.

GL sells LucasFilm with rights to Star Wars to the Walt Disney company.
I was in shock for a good two days I think when I heard the news about this.  As first I thought the world had ended.  But after thinking about it and reading other people's perspectives plus watching the videos on starwars.com explaining all this, I felt better about it and am hopeful about the future of Star Wars.  So now the long awaited Episode VII is coming at last.  My only fear all the years of expanded universe story and plot development might not be honored.  I'm a big fan of the novels and I hope the story told thus far in them will be maintained and built upon in the coming movies.
I think what Yoda said to Luke sums this up well, "Pass on what you have learned."  I think in a sense that is what GL is doing.  He's told his story, now it's time for  someone to get some play time is the Star Wars sandbox.  The next chapter awaits.

The past six months...
Now for the progress I've made since returning from Florida.
I haven't done much, but the progress I have made is on the skins.  The paint on the skin panels I painted a long time ago had faded some so I resprayed them and then clear coated them to help preserve the color as I have done with the foot shells.  Then I started to attached the panels one by one.

I haven't finished yet.  But it's a start.

This year in early August will be the second annual DroidCon and it is being held at the same hotel as before.  My goal is to have the head finished by then (3rd times the charm right?) so wish me luck.

I'll try to keep up with posting my progress this time.

John

Fasionbly Late

Wow.  Three months, no posting.  That happened.

Sorry I haven't made any new updates until now.  My job got busy and other things so I kept putting off posting any kind of progress.  So now it's catching up time.

I'll start with the Midwest Builders Gathering in early June.

Good food and good friends.  Two things of note happened that day.  One, I installed the lens into the rear HP but when I tried to test fit it into the head, the hole I had cut for it was a little too small.  So now I have to make it bigger some how.

Two, while driving R6 around, the threads on the U-Bolt got stripped somehow (too much stress?) so the leg pipes wouldn't stay secured.  Replaced it when I got back home but might need to find a more secure alternative.

Fast forward to one week from today.  The good news is I was able to save enough money for Celebration VI!  The bad news is, I didn't get everything done on the head like I wanted to by now.  Oh well.  I still got a lot done.  In addition I decided to finally mount the aluminum skins to the body, and of course I decide to do this one week before I leave for Florida.  But the results are awesome!  I even decided to paint them.

I used #4 wood screws to secure the skins to the body.  You'll notice how the screw heads are flush with the skins.  I used a special tool for that, the name of which escapes me at the moment.  I'll tell you when i remember.

So currently I'm in Georgia at a Hotel.  Tomorrow I finish the trip to Florida and Wednesday is setup day in the Droid room.  Now I must say good night.  I drove for 9 hours today and I want to sleep.

Painting HP's, Logic Woes

Today I sprayed on a third coat of paint onto the body skin panels and a first coat of aluminum paint onto the Holoprojectors.  Very happy with the results.

I'm having trouble getting the fiber optic strands to stay put in the templates.  The silicone idea didn't work out so I'll need to do a little brain scrubbing for a better idea.  Maybe you have one?

John

Holes and Paint

Yesterday I accomplished drilling the holes for the PSI's and the Holographic Projectors (HP's), and started priming the HP's and the two remaining skin panels.

I'm using a different primer than before.  This time I decided to try using an automotive wet-sandable primer.  It's also very fast drying so I can sand and prime it after only 4 hours where before I had to wait 48 hours.  Today I'll give the parts one more layer of primer then when dry, a first coat of paint.

Other work I did yesterday was sand down the PSI LED caps to fit the inside curvature of the head.  To do this I taped 150 grit sandpaper inside the head and then started rubbing the PSI LED cap against it.  It took a while, but I finished both caps.  Then I cemented the PSI lenses to the caps.  The PSI lens material is from a gallon milk jug.  The MacGyver way to built a droid, hehe.

The resin Radar Eye was designed to fit an R2 shaped dome.  My R6 head, however, is shaped a little differently.  Do to this, I have to modify the Radar Eye to fit my R6 head's curvature using the same method I used for the PSI's.

I spent over an hour last night rubbing the Eye and it's close, but I realized I still need to fit the lens for the eye behind it.  Will be examining the fit of these pieces to ensure proper look and fit.  Work in progress.

More updates to come.  May not post them until next weekend.  Stay tuned.

John

Time Flys

I just noticed I haven't posted anything since January. Please pardon my absence. I've been busy getting up to speed with a new job I started in January.

Sadly I haven't done anything new since my last post. I'm planning to real soon. Just dealing with a lot of work and little money to spare.

Speaking of money, my "Funds for Celebration VI" progress is $0.00. Though I've been trying to save money since last August, stuff keeps happening requiring money. At this point it's not looking promising I'll be able to put aside enough money. But there is still a chance. As long as nothing happens within the next five months, I should be able to put aside just enough money for the trip. Fingers crossed.

Coming up soon (I hope): I still have two body skin panels to repaint plus painting the main skin panels themselves. Also finishing the head. Just one more main piece of styrene (plus the two top pieces), paint and lights and it's done.

Spring time is building time.

John

Peek-a-boo

I'm Not Dead Yet!!! Really! See? I'm feeling much better.

Sorry I've been MIA for the past two months. Lots of Real Life stuff such as moving to a new apartment and busy working, and with Christmas around the corner, probably won't be doing any updates until sometime in January. But let me give you a sample of what you can look forward to once I do get back into the grind.
I messed up and put waaaay too much clear coat on the last two skin panels so I'll have to sand, paint and clear coat again. Still need to cut a hole in the bottom of the head and still need to buy more Styrene to skin the head.

On another Star Wars related note, I recently got to beta test the Star Wars: The Old Republic for three days and OH MY GOSH! That game is awesome and I can't wait to play it when it goes live (launch date is Dec. 20th). I pre-ordered the game so I'll get early access which I believe starts one week before launch date.
Of the different classes I tried the Jedi Knight, the Smuggler, the Trooper, the Sith Warrior and the Sith Inquisitor (I didn't get a chance to try the Jedi Consular, Bounty Hunter or Imperial Agent). Of those five I did play, I liked the Smuggler and Jedi Knight the best. If you call yourself a Star Wars fan, you should play this game. Period.

And Let us not forget to give an honorable discharge to the original Star Wars MMO, Star Wars Galaxies. Sadly, SWG will be discontinued this month about the time SW:TOR launches. SWG has been online for about eight years and has seen many good and bad times. Many players, past and current, are very upset about the game being shut down and all kinds of accusations towards Lucas Arts and Sony Online about not caring about the players have been thrown back and forth for the past few months. Regardless of the motivations for the shut down, SWG had a great run and will be remembered for years to come.

Until next time,

John

Final Skin Pieces and Midwest Gathering

The 2011 Midwest R2 Builders Gathering was a lot of fun last weekend. We had six droids, of which only 3 were mobile, including mine. Funny thing happened though. When I assembled R6, I found I had forgotten the two bolts that hold the leg pipes to one another. Without them, the right leg had too much movement in it to drive R6 around without the right foot catching on the ground. And so once again R6 had to stay stationary. When I got home I found the two bolts and did a test drive in my living room. I'm happy to say R6 handled well being on carpet. Only thing I still to work on is the body tends to drift to one side on the leg pipes and sometimes the legs will rotate if too much pressure is applied (such as pushing R6 manually). Will need to find a way to better lock down the leg pipes.

One of the attending builders made a 2-second time lapse video of the gathering. It's only a couple of minutes long, but I think it sums up the event well.


Another builder took a lot of photos of the gathering.

So now that that is over and done with, back to building.

I've started working again on the aluminum skin panels. I have primed the remaining panels already J.B. Welded and have J.B. Welded the last two panels.


I'll prime those last two panels and then paint all the them together. When that's done, I'm going to get the others out and apply clear coat to them as I've done with the feet. After that, all that's left is to paint the main pieces and install. Maybe I can have that done before New Years?

John

Painting and Wiring

It was a nice day today so I was able to get a little more painting done. The three panels I've been working on are finally done and I put a third coat on the two blue panels.

I also started to wire up the legs for the foot drive but ran short of those Anderson Power Pole (APP) connectors. More are on order. Since I'll have to remove the wiring later when I'm ready to paint the legs, I'll be using temporary connectors on one end of the leg wiring so I don't waste any of the APP connectors.

Still saving up for new wheels for the foot drive. Hope to be able to have them in time for the Droid-Con.

I need to make one final adjustment to the foot drive brackets before I install them. For some reason they don't line up right inside the foot shell for the motor to fit. I've determined if I cut off one corner on the wheel end then I can make it fit. Will try to do this on Sunday. I also need to get a caster wheel for the center foot.

So much to do, so little money.

John

Painting Begins Anew

Today's weather proved to be perfect for painting. The three panels I already started I gave another coat of Satin White. Once they dry I will lightly sand them and give them their final coat. I also took the two pieces I already primed and gave them their first coat of Blue Metallic paint.


I have just a few more panel pieces to JB Weld and then I will start priming and painting the remaining panels. I could start the main outer skin halves except I don't really have a good place to place them while they dry. Once I figure that out I will start them too.

New motors, chains and wheels on order. Will retackle the foot drive once they arrive.

John

Painting of Feet - Complete

Finally! The feet are completely painted. They turned out very nicely I think. I attached the detail pieces to the outer feet, but the inner foot's detail pieces can't go on by itself. For that I need two additional pieces plus other pieces to complete the feet. But for now I'm done with them.




Here's the skin pieces I also finished. These are done. I'll keep them in storage until I'm ready to assemble the skin onto the body. In the mean time, I still have other skin pieces to finish painting. The fun just doesn't stop :)

John

....and even more painting....

"Will this never end?" C-3PO, Ep4 ANH

Truer words were never said. The painting just keeps going.

Today I sanded smooth some of the skin panels for their final coat of paint. So they are DONE! YAY! I then painted the bottom half of the feet. Next time I'll paint the top half once more and then that should be it for the feet....I hope. Only 3 skin panels left to finish painting; one more coat, sand, then final coat. After all that I can start the remaining skin pieces and maybe the skins themselves.

The clock is ticking. Four weeks left until convention time. Sadly I didn't get as much done as I wanted, but in the least I'm going to have him standing....hopefully.

....and more painting....

Happy Fourth of July, celebrating Independence from high taxes....wait a minute.

Today I did some more painting. I lightly sanded the feet to make them smooth and then gave them a fresh coat. However, the spray can I was using was nearly empty so I don't think much paint got on them. Should have sprayed them once more with the fresh can. Guess I'll have to give one more coat next time. Besides the feet, I also painted the skin panels which makes 3 coats now I think. They look very smooth so I may stop here and move on to other pieces.

I've also been continuing work on the electrical system. Thus far I have the wiring to and from the power switches ready for the switches, but before I connect them I need to devise a mounting plate or something to put the switches into. Also I still need to devise a way to mount the battery.

John

Still painting

Yesterday I finished applying the 2nd coat to the foot shells, gave the final coat to the detail parts, and gave the 1st coat to the skin panels.


Recently however, I have noticed a problem when the paint drys. A sponging effect appears in spots on the feet and detail parts. I inquired about it at the Club's forum and they said it sounds like it's too humid outside when I paint. They suggested waiting until the humidity is less than 50%. So now I have to sand the parts smooth and paint them again in the correct conditions. Painting stinks.

In other news, I recently bought different kinds of blue paint for those blue areas on R6. I've primed a spare piece of metal and will paint small parts of it with each blue variation to compare them. I'm looking for a dark blue but not too dark. Hopefully one of these will be the blue I'm looking for.

One more thing. This week I also ordered the nuts and bolts needed to attach the foot shells to the wooden legs. But it turns out I didn't make the mounting holes in the legs big enough for the correct sized bolts. I can fix this but I need a drill press to do it properly and the Shop Smith Mark V is currently awaiting transport to it's new home, which looks like my brothers house for the time being. Hopefully I can use it before C5.

John

....painting....again....

This part of droid building is becoming a broken record (if you don't know what a record is, ask your parents or grandparents).

Today I started the 2nd coat of paint for the feet. For the detail parts, I lightly sanded them with 400 grit sandpaper to prep them for their final coat of paint (their 4th). The sanding tip I got form my father. The sanding only took a few minutes and then I painted them.

For the skin parts, I gave them their 2nd coat of primer. Next time will be their 1st coat of paint.

Since last Thursday, I started J-B Welding the skin panels together that need it. Once completed, I will have to sand down the splotches of J-B Weld. I used those fancy office paper clips to hold the pieces together and used a Q-Tip to wipe away any excess J-B Weld that was oozing out of the seems.


Once I'm done with the smaller pieces and the feet, I'll start priming and painting the outer skin layers.

John

Painting Feet and Skins

Today I gave a 2nd coat of paint to the top half of the feet and a 3rd coat to the detail parts. I also decided to start priming the skins. Left photo is before and right photo is after primer. The reason the parts are arranged differently in each photo is because it started to rain after I had gotten everything setup. Luckily I got everything back under cover in time. I chose these pieces because they don't need to be glued to other pieces before I can paint them. Also you'll notice I put painter's tape on the back of each piece. This is so no primer or paint gets onto the back of them. I'll put on a 2nd coat of primer and then paint them like the feet. Two of the pieces in the photos are going to be blue after I'm done priming them (the center vent bezel and the charging control access door (see Episode V)). I'll paint the main skin pieces once I have room and the other panels once I get them glued. Hope fully Sunday will be a good day to continue.

John.

One step forward, two steps back

I've been preoccupied this past month with other concerns so I didn't have any time to continue work, except to brainstorm what I want to do next and how. But today I had nothing but time so here we go.

A programming note: I am trying a different method for inserting my pictures into each post, thus why the images are smaller. I'm going the route of thumbnails instead of a large picture so just click on the picture to see the full size version.

First thing I did was figure out how to mark the holes for the shoulder flange pipes to go through on the body. I came up with a genius idea. First I clamped the skins onto the body exactly how I will mount them (there's another puzzle to solve later). Next I placed the body on it's side and then inserted the shoulder flanges onto the side of the shoulder supports. Now here's where I should get a medal or something. The six holes in the flange (for mounting to the legs), I used those to mark six points on the support, then using a small ruler I drew a line from one mark to the other creating a six point star. The middle of that star is where I center the drill bit. I'm so clever I amaze myself, LOL.


Now comes the sad part. I drilled the holes (1-1/4" and 1"), but then I discovered something I had overlooked....the inside diameter of the pipes are 1" and 1-1/4" but they are like 1/8" thick, thus they didn't fit at all. This means I must remake the shoulder supports again. For every part you make, half you shall remake.


Due to banging my head against the wall a few dozen times, I didn't remake them today. Instead, I tackled making the PCB tray.

The PCB tray, as I call it, will be a simple board of MDF I will use to mount most of the electronic components to. This will help with troubleshooting and keeping everything tidy and organized inside the body. But when setting this tray up you will want to make it easily accessible to install/replace/repair/troubleshoot any of the parts. I may have mentioned earlier that I was going to have a door on the back of my droid. While others have done this, I just can't bring myself to cut the skins in a way they weren't already made to be cut. So the way I will do this is by making the tray slide up out of the body. This method is actually quite simple.
The tray will be in the back of the body just in front of the head drive motor. After deciding how wide to make the tray (11-7/8" X 12-3/4" X 1/4" for those taking notes) I marked on the top disc where to cut a 1/4" slot on each side to fit and hold the tray.


Next I used one of my extra vertical body ribs to make a "support shoe" so to speak for the tray to sit on when inside the body. It is 1-1/4" X 12-1/8" X 1/2". The grove running down its length is 1/4" wide and 1/4" deep. This piece will be mounted near the bottom of the shoulder supports (once I have remade those).


Using a 1/4" router bit, I cut the groove into the "shoe" and cut the slots into the top body disc.


Once I have the new shoulder support pieces I can test the tray's fit.

So tomorrow I will return to the shop and remake the shoulder supports. I need to figure out how big to make the holes now to fit the pipes through. Something to ponder while at the hardware store in the tools sections.

John.

Skin work and new parts

Today I removed the panels and filed down the burs on the rear inner set or part "B".

I also ordered a new PIC Flasher kit from Carl's Electronics to replace the one that doesn't work anymore.

John