Foot drives and motors

The JAG foot drives have arrived and here I have just fitted the 12v NPC 2212 motor
Fantastic piece of engineering



The foot shells should be ready in a month so then I'll at least be able to get R2 on 2 feet
I also still need to shave the top of the motors down a little so that they can fit neatly inside the battery boxes

Rear skins

I have cut the rear skin panel and started to test fit them onto the frame



The trouble I had last time was not getting the door to wrap around the frame correctly so this time I'll make sure I bend the aluminium into shape before glueing

Periscope

I've been playing around with fitting a periscope in the dome
I have the DD lifter and a resin periscope - DD ran off with my aluminium persiscope a couple of years ago :-(

Here you can see the lifter on the right and periscope housing and pie panel on the left



I have fitted it to my JAG dome plate although it still needs adjusting to make it fit perfectly





I am waiting on a better periscope housing from Marco which will have a real lens in it and I'll hopefully add some led lights inside

Horseshoe and the wonky button

Here is a completed shoulder horseshoe and I've made the top button stick up at an angle as its seen on a lot of screenshots but I'm unsure and may take the wonkiness out

Utility Arms

The resin utility arms arrived from Marco and they're really good
I just needed to file down the back edges to make them fit the skins better to enable them to open and close fully if I ever go down that route
This was expected and was a simple job to do

Next I just fitted them into the COM8 arm holder and they look a really neat fit - nexst up I'll need to paint them but what with time being short due to theAdelaide Festival this month I'm not sure when I'll get to do that!

Ankle and leg progress

Over the past few days I have managed to spray the aluminium ankles from JAG and the cylinder holders, cylinders and wedges from Russ Brown





I then screwed the details into place on the ankles - well I tried but my chubby hands and fingers are too big to fiddle around inside the ankle so I got Caroline to help out



I then bolted the ankles onto the legs using 4x 1/4"x38mm bolts - I still need to get some washers for that



The legs are coming along nicely and all I need now are the shoulder details, ankle side details, boosters and booster covers



With Christmas coming up we're pretty busy but I still hope to make some progress on the skins and dome over the next few weeks

R2 Blue

I've finally chosen the blue spray paint for artoo and have started to paint the various panels...




It's a much darker blue than my first droid and is more like that used in empire. There are various methods of getting the R2 colour right using a mixture of paints etc but that seems like a lot of hassle and can become a nightmare trying to match damaged panels later down the line

Skins and bits and pieces

I have started work on the skins
They are 2 piece aluminium skins from John Sherrell.

Front skins (outer on left )...


I had these on my old droid but in my eagerness last time I glued them together and then had to glue the parts on like oct ports, power couplers etc on after using liquid metal. This time I've screwed them on through the inner skin and the outer skin will hide the countersunk screws - much better solution.

Here is the octagon port screwed into place....





and the coin slots....


coin slots, octagon port and power coupler screwed onto skins and outer skin attached temporarily....


and just a quick shot showing R2 coming together nicely...

Painting

I have been busy paniting various parts white over the past couple of weeks and have found some handy props from Bunnings



Here is one of the painted JAG legs including the horeshoe....



The big rectangular hole in the centre is the new design for the boosters that JAG will be making later in the year :-)

and the completed TWD skirt.....

Rear Logics

Having no experience of using a soldering iron I have started work on assembling the rear logic boards from the JEDI controller run

There are over hundred LED's that need to be soldered into place.....



This is quite a daunting task but I will stick at it!!

Here it is with 2 LED's in place

Dome progress and a little help

I have spent a bit of time today sorting the inner dome out.

The outer dome sat too high on the inner dome leaving a gap between the bottom and the bottom ring so I started to sand the inner dome but after a while this didn't seem to be working and my arm was aching despite getting a little help from a lego y-wing pilot





I then decided on a more drastic course of action - cutting the dome in half which should at least make the outer dome sit 1mm lower and thus make it seem right

Here's me cutting the dome



It also may have the added bonus of making working on the dome a little easier in the long run

Here you can see the cut inner dome with the outer dome



The Y wing pilot has also helped make the holes for the holoprojectors in the inner dome

Dome work

I've started work on the dome
Its a 300mm laser cut dome from Daren Murrer

The dome consists of an inner complete dome and an outer with the details. I have started cutting the detail pieces out and cleaning the slag left behind in the laser cutting process.

Here is the outer dome with the lower panels cut out...



This is the little saw I'm using to cut the panels out and then I use a small file and emery board to get rid of the slag



This is the size of the dome sitting on the frame

Droid number 2 frame complete

I finished building the frame today and have also received our shipping crates from the UK which included several astromech parts

Here is the completed Com8 frame....



and here is the skirt from Totally Wired Droids....



Hopefully next week I'll get some time to start work on the 300mm dome

Droid Number 2

I have now started to build my second droid and this time it will be an all aluminium unit where possible

Starting with the frame I bought a Com8 from James in Texas and what a piece of machining this is - anyone looking for the perfect frame then this is it as far as I'm concerned

Here is the kit of parts you get with the premium package....



It goes together quite easily

Here are the holders for the utility arms...



The really neat thing is the thought that has gone into the build of the frame and includes a lot of extras....

door latch



shoulder flanges


battery holders



side panel


At this stage I've still not decided upon what designation of droid I'm going to build

Meeting the Australian Garrison

I met the Australian Garrison and Rebel Legion today at Marion shopping centre in Adelaide





Hopefully soon I will start to receive my first parts for my second droid so I can join in the fun

R2's proud new owner

R2's proud new owner
Originally uploaded by mick.pell@btinternet.com

Simon from the UK Garrison came and collected my R2 unit today
Now its time for me to start planning the new build down under

R2 is now for sale - email for details

R2 is now for sale - email for details
Originally uploaded by mick.pell@btinternet.com

We are moving to Australia soon and I'm having to sell off my R2 as shipping is quite expensive
Email for further details mick.pell@btinternet.com

Movie Music at Nottingham Royal Concert Hall

Movie Music at Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
Originally uploaded by mick.pell@btinternet.com

Last night I took R2 along to the Movie Music eventwith the Rebel Legion at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham
This was the last event for my R2 before I put it up for sale as we are heading down to Australia

More photos and video can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mickpell/sets/72157614332330074/

SOLD Nissan 350Z 2002 JDM Import FSH

FOR SALE Nissan 350Z
Originally uploaded by mick.pell@btinternet.com

As we're moving to Oz I have just sold my beloved Z

:-(

R2 and 3PO at ICAP Charity Day

R2 and 3PO at ICAP Charity Day arriving for work
Originally uploaded by mick.pell@btinternet.com

Today I took R2 along to the ICAP Charity Day as part of the UK Garrison
Brilliant day was had driving R2 around and meeting celbrities and Prince Harry
£11 million was raised worldwide during the day by ICAP
more pictures can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mickpell/sets/72157610989472379/