Working on Droid 2

Today was a fun day. I had to chance to attach several of the duplicate parts I've bought over the past few months. As you can see from the photo below, the frame is assembled, LDP is installed, legs attached as well as shoulders, shims and aluminum boosters all in place...


Another shot, showing off the leg, shoulders and booster cover...


And finally, tonight I put a little bit of Mother's Polish on the top ring and used a buffer disc on my orbital sander. It looks REALLY shiney now. I'm half tempted to shine the other rings...but caught myself asking "Whose going to see the work I've done once I have the skins and dome on?". So...I declined to go further!


Tomorrow is another off day, so I'm not sure what I'll start on next. Maybe some more skin work...maybe work on the skirt and attach the slabs to it.

Either way, its fun to have two droids at or about the same level of construction. My other frame has a sort-of functional 2-3-2 in it. This frame doesn't, its more setup for bolt-in 2 leg or 3 leg mode. I think I can mount in my satellite motors fine, I just need to locate a motor hub for them.

Anyways, that's todays progress!

Shiny new toys

As I mentioned earlier (I hit the image limit per post)...I received my new JAG v5 Frame from Jerry. I couldn't wait to see how the aluminum Large Data Port from Daniel would fit in. Daniel had indicated it should bolt right in. Well, he's right. One 10-32 screw lines up with the center hole in the utility arm carrier. Add a lockwasher and its a super snug fit. It has a little lateral swing, but no enough to be an issue...


...another shot of the frame...

And finally, the new JAG legs. These are some improved from the set I bought in 2004. The cutouts are there for installing the under shoulder details plus all the mountings for the shoulders and aluminum boosters are precut. Nice!


Droid # 2 is off to a good start!

New Hampshire Gathering!

Saturday was the eagerly anticipated R2 New England get together, hosted by Kevin Helmig.

He's three hours away and with all the R2 goodies packed, plus the kids stuff, the minivan I rented even had room to spare. Thanks to a Garmin GPS unit, we had no problems getting there on time. When we left Maine, it was a dreary day....heavy downpours. Not your ideal 3 hour drive fare. But an hour into the trip, the weather slowly cleared out to just overcast...then sunny...by time we hit Kevin's home.

I lost track of home many people were there. Jerry Greene, Tm Doucet, Kevin Helmig, Chris Simmonds, Dana Powers, Ethan Aho, Mike Velcheck, John Endres, Jon Lyna...and I'm sorry, several others who...after a long day of driving...I can't recall!

Jerry Greene brought his brand new frame up, plus several boxes of them, for those of us who purchased them and opted to pick it up there. I also picked up my second set of aluminum legs.

Pictured below: One of Kevin's children shows off her stormtrooper costume. Behind her is John Endre's daughter, then moving right, Jerry Greene's wife, Jerry Greene and John Endres. His droid (unsure the designation) sprays water from the vents and he has a device that shoots silly string from under a dome panel.


Kevin Helmig's R2-D2 (made of wood)

One of the group's newest member is Dana Powers (pictured, left), just started in October (he may have accidentally spammed you asking if you wanted to sell your frame). As you can see, he's made quick progress. He was also very generous, providing several gifts for a Yankee Swap. An engraver by trade, he gave everyone a "R2 Builders Club" mini-plate that looked outstanding. Next to Dana, to the right, is Mr Jerry Greene.

Droids! Whose...no idea. I know the unpainted one is Tom Doucet's.

And alas, the assembled JAG v5 Frame. I installed the aluminum large data port.

Jerry had suggested sanding the plates and what a superb idea that was. I started with 90 grit, then 120, 150 then ending with 220. My orbital sander did a nice job.

Center foot arrived!

I was a bit surprised to have a love note from UPS on my door the other day. I knew I had a new printer coming in, so I was expecting that to arrive. But the note UPS left said I had two boxes.

What was number 2?

Well, it turns out to be a brand new center foot! I thought I'd just get this from Jerry when we met up next week for the New England R2 Builders get-together. When I emailed Jerry to inquire, he wrote a rather short (yet funny) email reply: "My house is full of shipping boxes, its one less to trip over." (Jerry is in the midst of shipping out lot's of frames over the next few weeks!)

Like my other center foot I bought 2 years ago, this thing is just as nice. With the warm weather starting to come back, I need to get this thing cleaned up and primed. We don't want any rust taking hold!

At the get together next week, I'll be picking up my new JAG frame and a new set of aluminum legs. I'll have two R2-D2's well into production! I already have doubles of some of the parts from the runs over last winter.

As to why two....I really don't know. Perhaps I want one to be my trial-and-error droid with the second being the refinement of lessons learned? Who knows. Its just such a fun hobby, I couldn't resist. And I seem to be in good company!

I finally sent my deposit in for the 300mm dome. They look outstanding. My R&J will be going to the polishers after the New England event to be shined up to a similar result.

That's all for now. Photos next time!

Alas some pictures

Well, poor R2 is all apart again...I was doing some work on the Lamber 2-3-2 and a few other odds and ends. I also need to pull out the shoulder motors since they do not have brakes on them. Silly me removed them as originally suggested and threw them away. Silly rabbit. Turns out...you need those. $90 down the drain.

Here are the Home Depot Casters that Jerry C. referred me to. They are the 2.5 inch model, the sku I have, give or take a few zeros, is 039003093931. Two will set you back a whopping $9.94 ($4.97 each for the non-mathmaticians). The holes are 5/16th of an inch, so I bought several small 2 inch hex-head bolts and lock washers to evenutally mount them.

I have yet to saw into the existing axles and remove the plastic wheels. I also need to check the pictures from Jerry to make sure I am positioning them in the right spot before drilling into the mount plate.

Below are the 2.5 inch rubber wheels from McMaster Carr as well as the 3/8th inch axle & bolt. Its a close fit, but I might have to shim them a bit to fit properly.

And finally, the betls from SDI for the JAG Foot Drive.