Coin slots arrive for droid 2, adhesive check on skirt and battery harnesses

Today the coin slots for my second R2-D2 arrived today. Thanks to Oscar for producing these!


Next up was seeing how well the Loctite Silicone worked. As you can see below, it survived my "tug test".


With that 48 hour cure time behind me, I figured I would silicone the bottom portions. I put a dab under the strap piece itself, then put a dab all over the bottom of the battery box. With that done, I basically mushed the "U" piece into place. Its a bit messy, but will be easy enough to trim away the excess in 48 hours. When I have a bit more free time, I'll start on the other battery box and silicone those battery harnesses into place.


My inspection of the Skirt slabs left me with a "Well whadya know" kind of expression on my face. This super-quick-drying-adhesive was still wet around the outside of the part. However, the clamping seems to have helped, along with the 48 hour cure time. The slabs seem to stay in place. The big test will be once I file down the tops to be flush with the skirt. (I suspect slabs will pop loose, especially those front two)

I used the end of a thin file to scrape up some of the larger blobs...my hope being that if the puddle is thinned out, it will congeal/dry/magically go away!

That's it for tonight...til next time!

Battery Harnesses and found some liquid latex paint masking

First and foremost, I hate silicone.

No matter what brand, type, model or mix I buy, I manage to get the lousy batch. Call it karma. It hates me, I hate it. Those are the rules and I'm fine with it!

Others have used GE brand with great success. Mine did not. The Liquid Nail did an "alright" job but I had so much "re-do" to do after, I wish I had used something else. Loctite had worked decently on another part, so I decided to give that a go for the battery harnesses.


One of my first concerns was how the battery harnesses lay on the battery box. Only two portions make contact, the top piece and the bottom "U" piece. Being that the piece will stand up vertically, plus being an aluminum piece which has some weight to it, I just am not 100% certain silicone will be able to stand up to the rolling jolts R2 will take.


So, viva the experiment! I've decided to silicone the top pieces onto the battery box and give it 48 hours to cure. If it seems secure, I'll silicone the bottom piece on and do the second box.

I put a healthy dab on the top piece....


...and then made sure they were flat, flush and gently dabbed away the excess. I wasn't too worried about getting it all, it will peel off easily enough when dry.


While that stuff was drying, I went off to my local Hobby Store that's served me so well as of late. Warren, the owner, stocks so many awesome parts, it was no suprise he had the liquid latex material I have seen Victor mention.

For being out in the middle of no where, sometimes this guy lucks out!

One thing I noticed is that the inside of the power couplers are "beveled", so I'll be using a good deal of this masking stuff to paint all the right areas.

Attached the rear skirt slabs

Today I took on a few small projects.

First up was attaching the rear skin slabs to the skirt. My intention was to drill and tap in the the slabs but I had some LocTite adhesive I wanted to try out.


As per the directions, I took some 60 grit sandpaper and roughed up the smooth surface of the slabs.


Then I started using the syringe to apply the adhesive and gently place it on the skirt.


However, the adhesive sets so fast, by the third slab, it had dried and clogged the syringe. So I had to cut away the syringe tip until I could get some flow out of it again. Sadly, then resulted in some over-application of the adhesive, as you can see below....


I cleaned some of it up 30 minutes later once it had hardened up some, but it was still very much in a syrup-like texture. I also noticed the two middle pieces were not sticking very well, so I found some large clamps and put those on. I'll leave that overnight and hope that makes it set into position. (I originally drilled out the holes in the skirt and as you can se below, mis-measured two. I'll have to fill that in with something then paint over it.)

I'm not a big fan of adhesives on metal, but if this works, I'll file the top pieces flush with the skirt. If these things just do not work out, its either JB Weld or go with the original thought....drill and tap.

Found a great deal on a Spektrum DX6i

After checking out online retailers for quite some time, I decided to call my local hobby store about his prices on the Spektrum DX6i setup. According to Spektrum, he's an authorized retailer. I spoke to him on the phone and his price for the full setup was cheaper than RobotMarketPlace and other on-line shops. Their price was $179 + Shipping and Handling. His was $164. He also gave me a discount on other items I'd need in the future. While there, I also picked up a 47 ounce ST47BB JR Sport Servo. He suggested that model as they would work perfectly in the Spektrum receiver.

That's what I call local service!

There's a bunch of other things I'll need, such as the receiver power cord, on/off power switch and other things. And he is going to order up a BR6000 receiver that is the preferred receiver for this system, as it has the failsafe on all channels.

So for under $200, I have a small step in controlling R2-D2. I would have loved to have spent more but I had other parts I am committed to. You know how it is...so many great things to buy, so little play money!


Also, this model came with the charger and rechargeable batteries included.

Now its time to crack open the manual and do some reading. After enduring this terrible stomach flu yesterday and today, sitting back and reading sounds fine. If I feel really wild, I'll try eating more than toast and applesauce today! Hopefully the icky feeling and muscle aching will subside by tomorrow....hope none of you folks catch this bug!

Last item for the weekend: Octoports painted!

Finally, the last thing I got done today....


...Two weeks ago I painted these up and left them in the garage. I removed the sticker that covered the inset and bolted back in the center piece. They are pretty dusty and could use some cleaning....but that's for another day!

Skirt work and figuring out the battery harnesses

Two years ago I used JB Weld to adhere the "slabs" that hang on the outside of R2's skirt piece. What I forgot to check was if any of the slabs hung below the bottom piece. The first time I set R2's body down, I heard "clang clang clang clang"...as if I had pulled a "Lucky 7" on a slot machine. In short, all the metal slabs popped off, leaving behind lots of JB Weld.

I have since fixed the front part of the skirt, by drilling holes into the skirt, drilling and tapping a hole in the slabs and bolting them in from behind. I also used a cutting disk to make sure all the slabs were level with the bottom of the skirt. I have not finished the back part, which you see in the picture below. I have drilled out the holes so that once the JB Weld stripes are gone, I know how to precisely line up the pieces. (Every now and then I have a good idea!)


I initially started with a 90 grit sanding sponge. It was the perfect size and did well for a while, then it started to crumble apart on me. So I took the skirt off the lower frame ring and went at it with the mouse sander.

God bless the mouse sander! This made really quick work of the JB Weld. I also decided mid-way through to completely sand the lower ring, and the skirt, so both could be primed and painted. (I forgot that the bottom of the droid is rather visible in three leg mode! )

So here's the end result of some 220 grit on the pieces...

As with the skin pieces, I used two coats of the Rustoleum white primer ("Clean Metal"). I seem to have a small divot on one slab that should cover up with some paint later on. I must have over drilled a hole when I tapped it.


And finally, I had a riddle going on for a few days.

Sometimes when we order parts from members, we just leave them in their zip-loc baggie, put them away and ask how they go together later.

Such was the case with the Battery Harnesses. I knew what had to be painted blue and did so a few weeks ago. But I had no idea how the bottom piece was supposed to fit. Thankfully, once again, Victor Franco saved my sanity by showing me how its supposed to all go together.

Now that I know how it should go together, I'll wait a few days and sand away some paint and JB Weld the pieces into the battery box.

Building, for me, is like a battle. Once you've made some serious gains, its time to stop, regroup and attack again!

Rear skin work and Door Trim fix

Well I tried to make the most of a nice Sunday. Thunderstorms are sweeping in now so I have had to cut short my day. I was really on a roll too!

One of the first things I had to fix was one of the large doors. There is not a lot of overhang for the panel itself to glue into the trim piece. I had one area where the silicone coverage wasn't very good. I squeezed in some Super Glue and clamped the problem area.


The rear skins is something I have dreaded for a long time. The way the front skins clamp together is quite easy. However the rear skins do not have nearly as many openings as the front, so when it comes time to adhere them together, I will have to be quite creative.

But that is a problem for another day. Today I simply wanted to work on all the trim pieces and file them down and get them ready for priming. I will paint them once they are attached...I think. I still haven't sorted out the best method in my mind yet (Help! Victor! Mike! Chris!)



As you can see below, I tried to remember to label everything before I removed it. And, you can see the little notches I'm filing smooth...

I had done the outer rear skin a few weeks ago, but just in case, I went over a few spots that looked to be in need...


And then it was time to lay them all out...and put on a mask, so I don't wind up with white nose hairs again!


I used the Rustoleum white primer (Bare Metal Primer). I gave it a gentle spray, waited 20 minutes then gave it another coat. This primer goes on nicely and covers the metal quite nicely by time you have the second coat on.



I'm out of 400 grit sandpaper but that's what I will use in a few days to smooth out any bumps and imperfections.

With those guys done and drying...see my next blog entry...because I kept right on going!

Battery woes

Just a quick post today.

I have misplaced one of my 12 volt 7amp batteries. I have one but need two to generate 24 volts. The satellite motors used in the shoulders unlock when 24 volts is applied, then the motor can move freely. I need to do this to align the holes for mounting the legs.

I can assure you once I buy a replacement, it will turn up!

There are a few other things I would like to work on but will probably wait until the weekend. I am now working days, so I have a somewhat normal schedule!

The foot strips will probably be next on my list to mount up and adhere. Then, more skin and detail work!

Looking at the 300mm dome and Plastic Lenses arrive

With my flurry of activity earlier in the week focused on painting and re-assembling, I had a chance to day to gawk at the new dome that arrived Tuesday.

The finish is a lot shinier than the other dome and I'm realoly debating whether or not to even bother sanding out the spin lines that are there. I think I am going to see what other builders are doing to theirs and simply observe the results of their efforts.


Yesterday the plastic lense pieces arrived from Andy. These cover the blink "processor" lights on the front and back of R2's dome.

So close...! Hung up on motor wiring

Well I was pretty excited at all the work I got done today. I put the legs together and was going to attach them to the body. However, a few weeks ago I installed new shoulder motors. Right now, they are in a position I can't attach the legs to. And I can't remember the exactly wiring schmatic to power them into position.

And maybe that's all good, after all, its been a very busy day. Heck I've already put a few good dings in some of the new paint! R2-D2 is starting to show some wear already!

So, as I sign off for the evening, here's where ole R2-D2 is all. Sitting on the floor, in pieces, waiting to stand again!

Ankles done, feet almost!

Time for the evening update.

Boy its been a busy day. My goal was to have the ankles done and I've met that goal. The ankle details (front/back pieces) are painted and installed. As are the cylinder wedges, cylinders and the ankle cylinder holder.

I just have to sand away some paint and silicone in the details foot plates on the front and back.

My battery boxes ride "high" because the foot curvature is a bit off. As a result, you see that gap. I may try to find a way to cover that up, but they may make gaining access to the motor a real pain.

Next up is getting the legs assembled! I need to get some model paint so I can paint in the grey linees on the booster covers.

More details done! 300mm Dome arrives!

Well its still afternoon and I have more to finish up on...but here's this morning's progress.

The ankle cylinders came out really good, the blue masking tape came off very easily, leaving the paint on the part!


...and here's the painted pieces installed on the ankle...


Here's the finished coin slots and pocket vent. (I had my biggest worries removing the tape from the coin slots, but just pushing them off from behind with a flat head screwdriver was all they needed)


And on the left, the newest arrival, the 300mm dome for my second R2-D2. Both could use some spin line work, but this new dome's finish is pretty close to what i want for the end result.


Gotta run, got more parts drying!

Quick body shots...

I couldn't resist starting to piece together the dried blue parts.

Naturally there were a few issues. I've managed to ding a few of the newly painted parts already...whoops! I also tried to cheat and hot-glue gun the center vent surrounds...looked good for pictures but won't work for the real thing. Just dries too quick.

Here's the new pics!

More painting! Coinslots, Ankle Details, Harness tabs and cylinders.

Boy, I wanted warm weather, I sure got it. Phew! 87 degrees and 60% humidity...good for painting, not so good for a fella used to cooler temps! I was melting like a snowcone outside!

While in the nice, cool basement, I began to tape up the detail pieces. The battern harness pieces are easy, that whole tab gets painted. The cylinders required more careful taping as did the ankle details and coin slots. I hope that tape comes off as easy as in the commercials!


The purple went on great, as did the blue...getting the spots in between required some careful aim...


And finally, the clear coat went on. Somehow I didn't hit on small area on the side of one cylinder, so that will be one that gets the crescent white piece under it to hide it!


And here's the final result on the battery harness tabs and the coinslots.


While that stuff dried, I brought everything white I had painted from yesterday into my basement.

I still have to paint a few more detail pieces blue, then the only blue stuff remaining is the dome!

We're slowly starting to get there!

Painted boosters, pocket vent plus one more coat of white

Today was high 80s with a 15-20mph breeze! Not a perfect painting outdoors day, so the garage had to suffice.

First on my list of blue pieces to tackle next were the aluminum booster covers and the "blue" part of the pocket vent. I wiped them down with some acetone then let them dry for 20 minutes. I also tried to de-clog any of the grooved areas of the boosters of any dirt or debris.


As luck would have it, primer really amplifies any dirty spots. But thankfully, a once over with 400 grit makes getting rid of it easier!

The middle section of the booster is a real challenge to get paint into. I'm also learning that as a computer person with some carpal tunnel issues, repeatedly tapping the spray paint nozzle can hurt after a while! I was begining to really feel the pain!

However, after using the Krider Formula, followed up with 2 coats of clear coat, here's how they look...

...and of course, with the day being so windy, somehow some debris managed to get on the wet paint between coats. You know what? I'm just going to leave it. Only myself and a few zillion R2-D2 Builders will ever notice that being there. Perfection is a lofty goal...for the SECOND droid!


With the blues outside drying, I had the garage clear to resume the white parts.

I needed to go over each and every part with some 400 grit to clean up things. It was dusty work and in highsight, maybe wetsanding would have been better. Or if I had an air compressor to blast the dust clean. I seemed to spend a LOT of time wiping the dust off the parts. Areas like the sides of the feet were just tough to keep clean.

That said, I used my last 2 cans of Satin White to give everything a good once over.

My gloved fingertip managed to get into the spray stream twice, so the ankles each have a little blob of paint on them. My solution is to gently take some 400 grit to those. Then, after picking up another can of Satin White, I'll give the outer legs a thorough final coat. No gloss on the white, as I plan to weather the droid in the near future. So enjoy him while he's showroom clean....R2's getting dirtied up!

Tomorrow's forecast looks decent so perhaps I can get the coinslots painted.

For some reason, my utility arms simply will not fit the rods that mount them into the carrier. I tried them when they were unpainted and can't understand why they wont fit. More debugging tomorrow!

For my good friend Boubacar....Go Celtics!