Finally! Some Work On R2

Finally had some time to work on the ol' boy, although for all the work over the past couple weeks, I can't say that I'm overly pleased with the results.

I had previously completed a battery box and it's been set aside for a while.  Recently, I completed the second box and it had turned out OK.  So I went over options on how to install this part on the side feet so as to still be able to get to the motors and cable connection that it would be hiding.  After several ideas and concept,s I went with the material that I had on hand and used industrial strength Velcro.  Good idea, right?

Well...  The first battery box showed some of the Velcro near the top of the foot.  Not terrible, but not quite happy with the result.  The second battery box construction wasn't as strong in the area that I needed it to be and it causes it to slouch inward slightly.  The positive spin...the Velcro stuff really works, and is holding the boxes in place. 

Then there are the hoses.  I first attempted with a clear epoxy, one that I use in construction of my saber blades.  It didn't dry properly.  I pulled the hose off and cleaned off the epoxy.  I then tried a 1 minute instant LockTite epoxy.  Same thing, the hose, even when left overnight, didn't dry.  I had been using JB Weld for some aluminum parts, however, it goes on and dries black.  Couldn't hurt, I tried installing the hoses with that and it hardened within minutes, dried completely within an hour.  So, after wrestling with my first pair of hoses, I decided to weld the connectors in first on the other foot, only to find out that two of the 4 ends would not adhere to the connectors.  Several hours of sweating, grumbling, cursing, tossing things around and walking away in frustration (several times....) I finally got blankety-blank things in place.  It's sloppy, but it's in place.

Again, I can get away with the storyline of he's been pretty beat up over the years, but really, I know that I can do a lot better quality than this.  I wasn't happy that the feet didn't really fit the motor holders like I expected they would and I had been patching them up continually after events until recently where I just got tired of doing the same repair over and over.

I've never been a fan of the phrase, "good enough".  If I ever use that phrase, it means that I've given up and not really done my best.  I have the biggest event of the year in just 11 days and I refuse to let this be "good enough".

However, I'm not opposed to using the phrase, "it'll do for the moment".  It's going to be extremely busy at this event and I expect that people will be excited to see R2 again, looking a little more complete this time around.  I don't think anyone will be looking so closely or critically at his feet, but just in case they do...

Well... that's why I carry a lightsaber.

Cheers,
Jon