Artoo Portrait - General Update

I found some old photo equipment that I had packed away so I decided to do Artoo's first portrait shot. I received my 1/4" styrene sheets that I'm going to make the legs from, which came in handy and a reflector for the photo.

Parts update - I now have all of my leds for my front logics. The leds from the rear logics are still stuck in transit from West Florida Components, but the staff is awesome at keeping me updated.

So... between the logics and leg construction, I have my work cut out for me for the next couple months.

More Dome Work - Almost There...

It's almost done!!!

I haven't had much time, but I've worked here and there over the past week or so and I am almost done with the dome. I ordered my leds for the front and rear logics. I expect the rear logic leds to arrive any day now. Front leds are coming from China and shipped last week, so it will be another week or two for those to arrive. My pic flashers arrived already and I have the bezels for both front and rear.

I picked up some Plumbers Goop this weekend to mount the HP's and they're holding solid. Thanks to Cole for the tip!!

I also finished off some unpainted areas and ran into issues with the chrome paint. Go figure. First layer went on pretty good. Second layer stripped the first layer, so I resorted to hand painting and it turned out pretty well. I'm not adding the ROTJ red led panel to the side of the dome at this time. That may be a future upgrade, but for right now, simple is fine.

My front HP is movable and the motion is smooth. I plan on lighting it and adding at least one servo for motion.

I've also started work again on mounting the skins. I don't want them to be permanent and I'm taking Calvin's recommendation for the variable depth push fasteners from Lowes.

Here's some updated pics.

Holo Projectors

I started working over the weekend on my holo projectors. Got them sanded nicely and started to prime and paint them... and then I ran into a little snag. I have been using Rustoleum's plastic primer for all of the paint that I have done so far and have not run into any issues at all. After my paint coat on the HP's, I noticed that some areas were not taking paint as well as I would like. The paint appeared splotchy (yes, a technical term...) in areas. I can only figure that the mold release agent wasn't cleared all of the way, even though I felt I did clean the parts well with alcohol and soapy water. The paint, however, is not flaking off of the part.

In either case, I felt the silver needed to be toned down anyway, so.... I gave it some weathering. It has always been my intention to weather my droid since prior to actually starting my build. I just didn't expect to start that process right away. I am happy with the results, although there may be some touch up needed once the rest of the construction is complete. I'm sure "Uncle Don" would approve! Here's some pics.

I also started work on the panel where the rear PSI will be mounted. The blue panel for the front PSI is also ready to be mounted.

Front PSI

I received my parts from Keith on Friday!!!! 2 static Holo Projectors, 1 movable Holo Projector for the front of the dome, and my PSI housing kits. I took some time last night to work on one of the PSI kits. I used a circle cutter and my drill to rough cut the holes for the lens and after some detail cutting, I was able to mount the lens and glue it in place. The panel isn't yet painted, so I haven't attached it yet. It's all taped inside and I need to eliminate some light leaking out. I'll mount the housing permanently tonight and start work on the rear PSI as well.

General Update

I have parts on order for the dome, and already started receiving some of them. My PSI leds from Fiber Optic Products came in yesterday and tested out good. PSI kit and HP's are on order from Keith and the HP lens' are ordered...just waiting for them to ship.

I found carriage bolts that did not have any branding on them - totally by mistake! I had previously purchased a couple bolts for my dome "buttons", but the only ones that I could find had the company initials raised on the surface. I had planned on removing the stamped letters with a sander. Needless to say, a dollar sixty-something later, and I saved myself the hassle of having to remove unwanted writing from a steel bolt. If you need them, check out your local Ace Hardware.

Well, I'm off work for a week, which gave me a little more time with my pal Artoo. This past Saturday, I cut the support ring for the dome to allow me to mount it to the frame. I used some scrap plastic tubing that worked perfectly for spacing. I would still like to test fit the skins on this week, but I'm happy with the progress with the dome.

I managed to clean up the cut outs on the inner dome and was able to mount my resin pieces. They're not permanent yet, but they do give the dome a more finished look. The spin on the rockler bearing is very smooth. I had been planning on getting styrene to make the legs, but I'm thinking of putting off the legs for a little while and spending the money on a motor and mount kit to get the dome running... or at least a jump in that direction.

Continued Dome Work

Winter weather and storms cancelled my plans for the weekend, so I found a lot of time to get work done on the dome. I mounted the radar eye to the dome and also installed the lower section of the inner dome and mounted the majority of the panels to it. I still have some trim work to do to get everything evened up. Of the 4 panels that still need to be mounted, two of them need circular cutouts and are awaiting parts so I can size up the cuts properly. One just needs trim work on the inner dome section prior to mounting. I'm also deciding whether or not to add the red led panel on the side. I have the panel, just undecided at the moment if I'm going to do it or not.