It may be snowing outside......

Despite the cold weather, I managed to wrangle a day in the DMW, doing a bit to R2.

A few bits were rubbed with scotchbrite and sprayed with primer. Hopefully the cold weather won't affect the drying process.

Perhaps an unfinished R2 will be better?

I was also trying to work out how to stick the skins together and then mount to the frame. A little research and I have decided to use clear silicone to bond the skins when I buy some. In order to fix the skins to the frame, as I want the skins to be detachable I will be screwing them in somehow. Clamping the front skin to the frame and seeing where the tabs were on the frame, I opted to mix a bit of P38 filler to screw into.

A little filler here...

While this was drying, some surplus P38 was used on a greased under shoulder section to try and make a mould so that some metal infills cane be made. If this doesn't come out it's going to be fun getting the filler out. Hey!Ho!

..a little filler there.

Before the cold reached to far, I managed to generate some heat by soldering my spare Charging Bay Indicator board with some violet/purple LEDS. AS R2-ST will be purple it may look good to have matching (ish) LEDS when the door opens.

Cat-dog (yes, I know its a toy)  mesmerised by the lights

To end the day, a quick set-up on the laptop to ensure everything worked and 'Hey, presto'

Work after Launch.

After the launch of the works FireBike (https://en-gb.facebook.com/EssexFireBike ) for the new season, it was home to clear the DMW floor space and work on the plan of action.

A little bit of sanding on the booster covers was followed by gluing some covers inside the skirt (just in-case the wind blows). A quick mix of P38 and the gaps were filled to make the skirt look a bit tidier. 

As the temperature was dropping and a steak was begging to be cooked, it took nano-seconds to decide that a few bits needed to be sprayed. 

Oooh!

So with one hand shaking the can, the other set up the spray booth on top of Skye's Toylander. A coat of grey primer was placed on the horseshoes and booster covers and a few coats of black on the rear section of the Data Port logic surround type bit thing!!!

Let's Build - well do a few bits

With the exam out of the way, I can crack on with building R2. This is a bit more urgent as Skye's school has asked me to take R2-ST in as part of their design and technology lesson after the Easter hols. So it would be nice to have a bit more done.

To start with and because it was a nice day, I thought I'd make the dome support ring. Copying an idea from  James ( http://astromecheadaches.blogspot.co.uk/ ) with his router to make the circle, I obviously improvised. A screw in the centre, a piece of string looped round the screw and router, and a router guide bar to help prevent the router from twisting.

Straight from the school of Bodge-it

 It looks crude, requires careful adjustment to make the diameter smaller BUT it works!!!!

Ta-dah!

It worked out that well that this was the end result. I quite please with how well it fits, but may need to make it smaller for the inner dome.










There was no wind this day, and the dust made a lovely cover over my van and my step-sons lovely Clio F1.  Hi-ho!