Machine screws arrive for resin booster rockets

Today a box full machine screws arrived from McMaster Carr. 

One piece, the spring plungers, will be interesting to install since the mounting blocks were molded with them installed.  

A hacksaw should be sufficient to cut the ends of each side, allowing me to drill and tap a hole for the metal ones to go in!

That's the latest!
 

Turning the resin boosters into functional parts!

Tonight I had some free time to do some more work on the booster rocket assembly.

After examining and identifying many of the pieces and where they belong, I started working on one subset at a time.  One of pieces I knew would be a challenge was the slide assembly.  The Pivot Shaft, which goes horizontally across, would be a piece I would need to either fabricate or go on a treasure hunt for something that would replicate its function and fit.

I managed to find some aluminum light duty binding posts.  They come in various lengths and 3/4 inch worked perfectly.  Since the holes were filled in, I could cut as big or small a hole as needed.  As it turned out, I found a 5/32 drill bit to be just right.

Next is making sure the pieces can slide into each other...and as luck would have it...no!   Note to self, don't get carried away painting so quickly!

 After some filing and sanding, away goes the paint!  I was very careful not to be too rough on the resin pieces, we sure don't want anything to break.  After a lot of trial and error, the piece fits.  

 And now, with both inner pieces filed and sanded to fit, with the threading binding posts installed on each.

A box full of machine screws of various sizes and head type arrived from McMaster Carr yesterday.  With that here, I can progress a bit further into this.  However, one of the big challenges is going to be the mountings, since the resin pieces, as molded, do not have the holes showing.  I also need to fabricate the "box" piece that goes inside the leg and the rockets attach to.


Many challenges ahead but this will be fun to see how much of the resin pieces I can use....and how many will require more inventive treasure hunting at the local hardware store!  We're in McGyver Mode!

Resin boosters painted now on to sorting it out

Remember that this resin booster rocket set up is a molded copy of the aluminum one.  That said, when the buyers received their aluminum pieces, everything bolted and screwed together with excellent instructions.

Well, now I have to identify each resin piece, figure out what size holes to drill, tap them to the appropriate thread size and see what will work in resin...and what will need to be fabricated to function.

Oh and did I mention its my "hope" to make this setup with servos and motors to open/close?  Why not go all out, right?

So here's the results of the paint job...

The next part is looking thru the many detailed drawings and begin sorting out what piece is what...

So after sifting through all the machine screws I am going to need, it was off to get what I could locally...and an order to McMaster-Carr.

Looks like more fun work ahead come the weekend

 

Painting the resin booster rockets

Today it was time to paint the booster cover pieces blue, using what we call the "Krider Blue" formula.  This blue uses a Rustoleum Metallic Purple / Duplicolor Anodized Blue and several coats of clear coat to really bring up the color.  Thankfully I bought a case of the Metallic Purple from a local retailer and still have two cans or so left!

I'll just let the pictures do all the talking and add notes to the captions....

I figure some of the silver may come off when the tape is removed...but that's easy enough to touch up.

Two coats of purple, waiting 15 minutes in between.  Spraying evenly until it looks "wet"

Then the blue 15 minutes later....two coats...

Here's where builders worry....THAT doesn't look blue!

Then a coat of DupliColor Clear Coat

Spray til it looks wet.  And yes, it will seem very un-nerving....but 24 hours later, it'll look great

4 coats later, left to dry overnight

 

Working on the resin booster rockets continues!

With good weather here, I didn't want to waste a painting day, so it was back to work this afternoon.

Yesterday I put adhesion promoter and a coat of black primer on the resin pieces.  Today when I examined the pieces, the black primer really aided in showing which pieces needed some sanding and which weren't too bad.  

Armed with a bucket of water and two sanding sponges (220 grit and 320 grit), I started wet sanding each piece for a smooth surface.  Many pieces weren't in need of much sanding but some had some prominent seam lines that needed to be sanded flat.  The boosters, which are in three pieces, needed the most work.  The middle and base pieces required the most sanding, with the actual rockets having a prominent seam too.  Once they were smooth, it was time to let them dry.

After the pieces had dried for an hour, I applied another coating of the black primer to them.  I let the parts dry for 90 minutes before I prepared to paint the pieces silver.  I had done a little research on what paint would most resemble the aluminum look.  Chrome, metallic and other types I had bought in the past really didn't have the right look.  However another builder had recently posted photos of the paint he used for the holoprojectors.  Valspar Brilliant Metal Silver is what he used and found the finish was much better without a clear coat, as it dulled down the finish on his sample pieces.

Since part of the booster has the leg strut on it, I had to do some careful taping ...and then it was on to spray painting the silver!

10 minutes later I gave them another quick coat.  I'l let these dry overnight and finish the silver painting tomorrow...several pieces need to have the opposites side painted too!
 

Latest news and some fun upgrades underway

As I mentioned in my last post, R2's frame is in need of upgrading.  With Celebration 6 coming up at the end of August, I think I might need to get a bit inventive.

The second R2-D2 might get taken over...one thing I could do is just use that frame and attach everything to it.  The second R2 is my Uber Model, essentially a better version of the first.  The first one was going to be re-painted...all the blue would be replaced by pink, giving us a "girl" R2.  All of this depends on how quickly I can get the frame pieces replaced.  More on this thought path later!

Now I'm working on something fun that I have high hopes for.  

About a year ago (or more), Jerry Greene designed and produced a limited run of the Booster Rockets, as seen in the STAR WARS prequels. These are beautiful pieces that took Jerry's machinists quite some time to produce in aluminum.  I couldn't afford these beautiful pieces of aluminum goodness but I had hopes that someone would cast these in resin at some point.

Well, Wayne Orr has done just that.

And its amazing...and...a LOT of pieces that will require a lot of work to make function like the metal version.

The aluminum JAG Booster Rockets

The Resin version

My box full of individually bubble wrapped pieces arrived Friday and today I began the work of unpacking them.  Once the bubble wrap is removed, each piece gets a bath in warm, soapy water to remove any remaining release agent that is used in the molding process.

Lots and lots of small pieces

Once all the pieces were washed and rinsed, it was time to bring them outside to dry.  I used an old window screen and placed all the pieces on it.  This way both sides would dry quickly in the afternoon sun.

Drying time....note there is also a radar eye there on the right...may as well do them all at once!

Since we are dealing with resin, prepping for paint is a bit different.  After cleaning the part thoroughly and drying, you should use adhesion promoter.  Otherwise, most paints will chip or begin to fall off.  Many sites will suggest many things but the Duplicolor videos on YouTube were very informative.  I also checked what Smooth On, the makers of the resin and molds used for these pieces, suggests.  The steps I am going to go with is the adhesion promoter, dry for 10 minutes, spray primer rated for plastics, sand, prime again as necessary and then paint.

Be aware that Ultra Cover primer goes on very fast and heavy!  

Once I had all the parts laid out, it was time to apply the adhesion promoter, which goes on clear...

As I mentioned in the caption to the spray primer, the stuff goes on FAST and HEAVY.  Thankfully I planned on sanding as a few areas got blasted a bit heavier than intended! 

I'm letting this all dry overnight and then I'll start the task of sanding!  The bigger pieces won't be bad but those small ones...well, I think I'll be sanding for a long time!

Some downtime for an overhaul

As you have noticed from following my blog, R2-D2 and I have been on the go for several months straight!  During that time, we've ironed out a few kinks here and managed to make many modifications to R2 as the ideas kept coming to mind.

While transporting R2-D2 to my last two events, I kept hearing a squeaking.  The high pitched type, like an old mattress box spring.  R2 is strapped down using three tie down straps, the same I used to use to tie down my motorcycles when I had to transport them in my truck.  I also heard a machine screw rolling around in the center ankle.  I also noted R2 was swaying a bit more than usual when moving around.  All of these things went into my "To Do" list of things to check when it was tear down time.

As it turns out, the squeaking has been caused by some play in the ankle.  The bolt that secures it to the center foot has worked itself out.  It was still held firmly in place with the plastic ankle lock holding the position firmly.  But, every bump in the road gave just enough jiggle to make the noise and get that loose washer ratting around.

The male and female halves of the ankle bolt have worked themselves apart.

 Another area of concern I have had is the frame.  I had a replacement frame but had an opportunity to sell it to another builder who was eager to get a fast build rolling.  Back in April of 2010, I made several modifications to the frame, removing two vertical rod pieces that were blocking access for several of the doors and panels.  The early frame design hadn't taken any of the door, panels and other clearances into as much consideration as later designs did.  However, being our clubs first aluminum frame, it gave many of us builders the foundation we needed.  

To add vertical support to the frame, I used thick aluminum rods under each shoulder.  This allowed for R2 to have doors and panels that opened, plus ample room to accommodate the CPU Arm and Gripper Arm assemblies.

Frame as seen with skins removed

Frame with top ring , shoulders, utility arm carrier and center vent rails removed.

Over the months, the support under the shoulders has developed some slack.  The machine screw and lock washer loosened up from the twisting loads.  As those did that, the bottom of the shoulder structure did the same.  That said, as I was dismantling R2, one side had 2 of 3 screws about ready to fall out while the other was a bit better.  That's the cause of our swaying!

Now none of this is the fault of the frame's design.  The modifications I had are.  Thankfully there is no damage or failures to report.  Actually, I could just insert some thread-lock such as LocTite and put everything back together.  However in light of the advances and mods made to the newer frame, I am currently planning to replace this frame.  I have some quotes out on having the materials fabricated, so we'll see how competitive those are...and how they work with my limited budget of ...well...what's a robot budget?  (*chuckle*)

This R2-D2 has a lot of miles logged on it, a testament to the many little systems inside that have worked so well.  With this downtime, I plan to keep tweaking a few things!

More soon!