Rain doesn't stop play....yet!!!!!

A very damp day and work that night mean't some time was allowed in the DMW.

OOOOH! Nice

I decided to start trying to finish all the unfinished parts which kinda makes sense.
The detail pieces on the side of the main feet were cut out and glued on and a half moon
was finished off. Its starting to look so much better with theses little bits done.

More tape than you can throw a stick at.

The 1mm side pieces on the centre foot were cut out rather easier than the same bits on the main feet. Once suck to the 2mm pieces they were filed to fit and glued in with masking tape to hold position.







That was it for the few hours in the DMW, and it was a bit chilly out there due to the heavy rain, but it could have been worse. The main thing is it got me away from Monopoly (normal and Star Wars vesions) with Skye. Winning all the time can get boring.

Look at my skirt!!!

At long last I have managed to work out the skirt. It's taken a while but looking at Jerry Greene's schematic I worked out the angle for the curved skirt pieces. From this, new support triangles were cut out and glued in. The curved skirt pieces were then duly stuck down and left while I went to work.

Today, after beating Skye at monopoly, I was allowed (!) into the DMW (Design & Maintenance Workshop). All the skirt ribs have been filed to the same size and then it was a case of where abouts they went on the skirt. A few cups of tea, a look on the computer and I realised there were marks on the base plate - DOH! With the centre line marked as soon as one side was completed and symetrical, the other end was a piece of cake (or another cup of tea).

Before today I did manage to put the curved 1mm piece on the other foot. This did take 3 attempts though as the plastic kept splitting but perserverance paid off.

Tomorrow may see the other battery box made - but who knows!!

More Bank Holiday pleasure

It never rains, it pours.  How true is that statement. A planned trip out was cancelled due to the weather and saving up for our vacation (Skye's wording) to Florida. So after a morning on the kinect and playing twister with Skye made all the more interesting with the wife not spinning the wheel but pre-determining the movement. it was time to venture to the D&M centre.

If only everthing was this simple!

On the agenda today was, the 1mm curved piece on a foot for the battery box. Using ideas from another builders blog on using aerosol cans to hold the curve and away we go. After a few hours the clamps were removed and the cut-out made.

WOW! what a difference that makes.

Where's Eddie the Eagle?

TA-DA!  Nearly finished foot












The end is nigh!

While the foot was drying, a further section was stuck on the skirt support pieces. This went a whole lot better than the first time with no splits occurring and all of my clamps used up. As the hours rolled by the only pieces left to glue was the final ends.

Looking good

Just to have something else started and not finished, I decided to have a closer look at the excellent Deetoo Skins. As I want the doors to open I started to remove the scrap panels on the outer skin so I can line up the skins and draw around the door frame onto the inner skin. A blunt chisel was used on the tags on the scrap piece to wear the aluminium down so that the scrap could be twisted out. A small pair of side cutters removed the tag which will be filed at a later date.

 Once the skins are lined up and the door frame marked, it will be a case of removing the frame and marking the opening. The worst bit will be dremelling in between the two lines to make the lip for the door to sit on. Gulp! Do I really want opening doors? This will be blogged when I summon up the courage to do it an dwhen I have full use of all 10 digits. The skin does look a bit better with the scrap parts removed though.



A little Bank Holiday pleasure

A busy Easter weekend but still some time to visit the deveolpment and maintenance centre (garage).
The skirt had been drying to the body when I thought the curve section should be 1mm - so I cut the 3mm stuff off. Put some 1mm styrene on and started tidying up the detail edges on the feet with my lovely brand new very sharp scalpel and guess what?  Yep, I managed to slice the tops of two fingers. No swearing occurred but instinct cut in and the thumb held the worst wound together while I clamped the parts together.
A visit to the kitchen saw a plaster and micropore tape put over both fingers to hold the cuts together.


A clear plaster, it was

Back to the D&M centre with blood oozing through the covers and I decided to go indoors and research. Few minutes later and the wife noticed and cringed, Skye went "cool! canI see".
Worst news was to follow though - while researching I could see that the curved sections are in fact 3mm - NOOOOOO!!!!!!



The day after the day before

Back outside and 1mm parts off and 3mm parts stuck/clamped on and left to dry overnight.
That's better than first time too!!!

A Blown motivator????

This is'nt to do with R2 but I went to pick up Skye from school in her Toylander, no problems. Then on the way home we went to go gently up a kerb and - no power and a electrical burning smell. That was it power off push up the kerb and see if it would reset.
No such luck so lift the back by the rear suspension and a 600m carry home!!

Closer inspection reveals this -




Spot the burnt out resistors!!!! - 3rd repair job on this motor controller.

BIt of a ponder!!!

I should have updated this a few weeks ago but not a lot was achieved so I didn't bother.

Centre ankle plates drying together.

The middle ankle was built and the main part of the centre foot. I stopped there for a bit while I thought about what wheel set up to have. Obviously 2 is better but what size will fit?  People are using castors and changing wheels to inline skate type as they turn in better due to their profile - makes sense. I may go down this route but perhaps at a later date. After all it wont take long to knock up another foot - will it?

Curve sections taped in place

Centre Foot underway

Starting to look better.

The wheel set up was another reason I hadn't finished the main feet either. Dave's plans call for a single wheel in each foot, but I was thinking about the 2-3-2 situation down the line and relieving the stress on the parts.  Again this was something that could be done at a later date so I started to fix the final parts to these.

Hands up, who sees the splits?

While all this was going on I started on the skirt. Blinking 'eck thos 3mm curved sections are difficult too do. Perhaps I should have followed the plans and done it stage by stage and not in one go. They have all split where they curve round but some styrene/glue paste has sealed them and they seem to have stuck on well.






It was now a case of stick this part of the skirt on to the frame before commencing further action, mainly because it was like Christmas as a child - THE SKINS ARRIVED.
Fantastic!
 I waited for Skye to come home and open the box with me and couldn't help but have a big grin on my face all afternoon. Thanks to Deetoo from the UK R2 Builders Club for arranging this. The next few evenings were spent looking at domes and alternatives aswell as the cutting out of the door sections. In order to have some of the doors open on the body, I'm going to have to take a dremel and cut out the inner skin in order fot them to open. Only 4 on the front section, but it could be a case of just doing one for the charger and perhaps on the next droid having an all bleeping, all shaking one!!!

Mind the gap.

A lightshade from B&Q is very similar size to a proper dome was purchased but its about 6mm smaller in diameter. This is the ponder bit. When it comes to it do I try and hide this difference somehow and use this as a temporary measure or save for a proper dome?  The jury is still out at the moment but with the skins round the frame and dome on top it looks better.

Can you guess what it is yet?

Yep, an oversize trash can.