Utility Arms and Large Data Port

I spent a good portion of last night installing the utility arms. Yesterday I found some nylon inserts for the utility arms to protect the screw hole from wear from the threads. I built up my hardware and....

It failed.

The nylon insert fit with a number #8-32 screw - the only size I could find with an OD of 1/4", which is the diameter of the hole in the utility arm. Although it seemed like a good fit in the store, when installing it, there was a little bit of play within the insert, and the arm would dip at the unhinged end. I had built the lower arm assembly with standard machine screws, nuts and washers. Problem was, when all was tightened, the arm was evenly horizontal. However, when the arm was opened several times, the components would loosen, and the arm would slump down.

I used a different method on the upper arm, using a modified t-nut at the top. I had to remove the prongs to get it to set as low as possible as the Large Data Port (LDP) needed to sit on top of it. This arm, once tightened, stayed in place. After several attempts at correcting the lower arm, the lightbulb clicked on and I replaced the assembly with one similar to the top arm assembly and.... well, it worked!!

The skins will need some modifying to allow the arm to swing out freely, but otherwise, fit pretty well.

If you look at the unhinged ends of the UT arm carrier, you can see a small bumper on the side wall. This will allow the arm to come back into the proper position and also protect the tip of the arm from colliding with the plastic wall of the frame. They are not visible with the skins installed.

The LDP is installed with double sided tape, left over from my skins. I used a layer of .040" styrene to even the frame area with the t-nut. It's a very strong bond, but I have been able to pry the tape off of styrene with very little damage. The mount is very secure, but in emergency, I can still pry the dataport off if needed.

Buncha Stuff...

I've been working a little at a time over the last few weeks. I'm spending time studying to up my certification level for my job and Artoo is part of my quiet time to take a break. I have a bunch of parts on order either due to ship or due to arrive. Keith is back - and the budget builders are rejoicing!!! I've already ordered and received some resin from him while waiting on other parts.

So, here is where I stand...

- Second leg construction is complete. Skins are mounted around the shoulder, but I still have to skin the front, back and sides.

- I have a start on the first ankle. Most structural parts are cut and I have started gluing some panels together. No pics of this just yet.

- Resin Large Data Port is finished, and the resin Utility Arms are sanded and partially painted. I have yet to work on the power couplers that I purchased (one is pictured below, the other one is attached to the frame to test the fit)

Leg Progress and Dome Panel

I started work on R2's second outer leg. I should be able to finish the construction this weekend, time permitting. Again, I am foaming the open cavities to make the leg more solid. I am also reinforcing the structure for additional strength.

Yesterday, I decided to repaint one of the dome panels from blue to aluminum. I made the mistake of painting it incorrectly at first and it has bothered me since. I switched from using the chrome paint and this time used Rustoleum's Metallic Aluminum. It coats so much nicer than the chrome and doesn't take a week to dry. I still clear coated as it brought the metallic color down a little and made it closer to the rest of the dome. Once I weather him, he'll look much more uniform, although, after looking at the color on the panel vs. the rest of the metal color, I'm very tempted to just mask off and repaint the entire dome.

Must resist temptation....

Here's the pics.

General Update - Sound System

Not much new on the building scene as I have parts on order, or am waiting to order parts. Keith at Resin Parts is still setting up shop in his new home and has a line of parts orders waiting, so I want to give him time before I bombard him with my wish list.

Foot motor holders are due to deliver today. Shoulders are on order from the most recent A&A parts run, and my 12v power distribution board is in process, due sometime in June.

There has been alot of buzz around the R2 community regarding a much less expensive CFIII soundboard, or rather a knock-off of a CFIII. Thanks to Andy S. for his research on this!!! I did order and receive the personal soundtrack t-shirt from thinkgeek and it works great!!! I still need to order my 12ch wireless remote to trigger the sounds, but that will have to wait. I didn't really expect to order the soundboard so soon, but couldn't pass this one up. I have 6 banks configured for voicing based off of the CFIII sound files. I'm still converting the files to mp3 format, but since many of them are short files, I have taken my time to combine and edit some of them into longer clips.

On a side note, I have finally set up my own space in the house to display my Sci-fi stuff. For so long, the wife has dominated the decor of the household, and the lightsabers, action figures and other fine collectibles have been pushed to the Outer Rim - or at least in boxes in the basement... But now, I have space and together we will rule that room as builder and droid.... (queue vinyl record scratching to a halt!)

Well... at least I have shelving.

Thanks to my wife and her mad decorating skills - it looks awesome. I took some quick shots, but it doesn't do justice. There are framed posters on the walls and furniture that I didn't include in the shots.

One Leg Done

Well, that's down... I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I still have to finish a couple coats of paint sometime this week, but other than that, I'm calling this part done. I'll be ordering parts this week, including the layered shoulders. I'm waiting to hear on a resin supplier so I can order the booster covers, among many other parts needed for the body. I have styrene left over, and I'm still deciding if I should work with plywood for part of the ankle or layer styrene and follow Dave E's plans. It's going to come down to what material is stronger.

Here's the updated pics.

More Leg Work/PIC Flash

I continued a little further on the legs. The shoulder area is skinned as well as the under shoulder detail and part way down the leg. There is a break in the skins for some detail and I think I'm going to stop at that point until I order and receive my boosters. I'll get the front and rear skins mounted to those details and call it quits on this one. Time to start the other leg, now that I know what I'm doing.

As requested, here is a photo of the PIC flasher board. This was taken prior to testing and only one power source is connected (2nd 9v power was added later during testing - one to run the LEDs, the other powered the PIC) When testing, output was working on 4 of the 8 outputs (I think r1, r2, r7 and r8...). I'll have to test again and document prior to calling Carl's - if it comes to that.

More leg work and electronics

I was holding off on this post until I had something more complete to show. I've been working and continue to work on the first leg. Ran into a minor problem as I followed some plans for the styrene build, but didn't take into consideration that the weight of my frame would be somewhat heavier than a styrene frame would be. I've been debating back and forth and bouncing questions off of other builders (thank you Calvin and Cole for your help!!) to get a direction. I've decided to move forward with my existing part and try to strengthen it, rather than start over. I've started reinforcing and filling areas of the leg to beef up potential stress points and make the leg more solid - well, literally.

I doubled the bracing around the top of the shoulder and added additional bracing to create pockets within the leg to fill with spray foam. By feel, the leg has some more weight to it and the foam adds considerable reinforcement to the bracing. Here are some pics:





After letting the foam set for a couple days and noting that the expansion has stopped, I was able to mount the top (outer) panel to the leg and let is sit under weight for several hours until the glue set. I then glued up the first styrene strip around the shoulder. I'll let that set over night and continue tomorrow on some of the other skins. I will need to spot putty this when done to correct some cutting mistakes, but so far, I'm happy with how it turned out.

I assembled my first pic flasher and ran into issues there too. I have proper voltage throughout the pic but I'm only getting output from 4 of the 8 traces. I've only connected a couple LED's and tested with a meter. Not sure if this is at all related to the defective crystal issue that was going on, but I may be calling Carls.