Saturday, July 31, 2010

One Leg Done!


Finally got to assemble the rest of the first leg. There are some parts that need sanding to make them flush then I can put the 1mm skin around the edge. I have all the parts cut out for the second leg and hope to get started on it tomorrow.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Shoulder Hubs



Finally got the hardware to assemble the shoulder hubs. Gotta love Douglas Hardware! They have a whole aisle of bins of nuts and bolts in a bewildering assortment of sizes.

Note to self: Pay more attention when using the drill press. One of the hubs got stuck on the bit and it chewed the hell out of one side of the hole. That side snugs up to R2's body, so no one will see it.

Tried a test fit to the body and discovered that the body holes are a little snug. May be a good thing, though.

Bonus Tube for Battery Boxes


Got a scrap plastic tube from a used-up roll of Xyron adhesive at work. A few well-placed cuts and viola! Perfect rounded tops for the battery boxes. I'll save these for later!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

First Leg


The boys were behaving nicely tonight after dinner so I was able to get cracking on the first of the legs. Using the Weld-On 16 worked quite well, though it has a tendency to come pouring out once you get started, so be careful! I discovered accidentally that it good for glueing Sintra to cardboard, too. I went to move my piece only to discover some excess glue had adhered it to the cardboard protector on my workbench! A little trim work with the Xacto and some sandpaper and I was back in business!

Body Frame Complete


I have to reinforce the top shoulder panels and add some more glue to a few uprights, but overall the body frame is complete.

I was using Krazy Glue with a brush-on applicator for assembly, but now I have switched to Weld-On 16 (in a tube). It bonds quite well and sets up fairly quickly while giving you some time to adjust things before they set up. And a 5 oz. tube is reasonably priced at $6.75 from Tap plastics (www.tapplastics.com). I bought some Weld-On 4 and have had no luck with it working on the Sintra.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Body Work Continues


Got some more of the uprights glued in place along with the shoulder plates. Started to glue the top ring in place.

I used the drill press to get pieces ready for the legs. I hope to finish the body and start on the legs this weekend.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Styrene Body Assembly



I started assembling the body frame last night and made some good progress. I am hoping to finish the frame this weekend. Used the cutting attachment of the Dremel MultiMax to cut out the coin slot notch. On the fastest speed to cut throught the styrene like butter, but left the edges kinds blobby. A little sandpaper took care of that.

Styrene Body Frame



After much rumination and planning I finally got started on the styrene body frame.

I had printed out the plans at work off of our old wide format onto some plain HP paper that I bought. I Spray-mounted them onto the sheet styrene and sintra and made all of the straight cuts during my lunch hours.

I used two Dremel circle cutters that I jury-rigged together to allow me to cut the 18" circles. While I had it out, I also made the circle cuts for the leg pieces and for the shoulder hubs. Also used to drill press to put the holes into the shoulder hub pieces.