R2 Test Drive

I rebuilt the feet and have the Jaycar motors mounted on the styrene mounts according to the blueprints. I had to to bolt some third-party wheel hubs onto the Banebots wheels, but they seem to be pretty sturdy.

The 12V 7Amp motor is plenty powerful. It is going to take some getting used to the controls because it is easy to go too fast and jerk all around.

It was a good test because I discovered that I really need to reinforce the connection between the ankle and the feet. The right foot especially was way too wobbly.

And, I have to figure out how to keep the wheels from falling off the drive motor shaft when the set screw works it way loose. I can only get about 10 minutes of drive time before a wheel falls off. :(

LED Belt Buckle

I was reading the posts on the Yahoo! R2 Builders forum and someone posted a link for inexpensive LED belt buckles that they found on eBay! For ten bucks you get a programmable, scrolling white LED belt buckle that is just the right size to go behind the logic surrounds. Put a backlit film printout of the PSI lights in front and you've got yourself one tasty flashing logic display served up cheap!

The Mighty-Mite!!

I got a Chicago Electric 4" Mighty-Mite tabletop table saw for my birthday. Thanks, honey! It is just the thing to zip through styrene and sintra. I set up a guide and was able to cut several 3/4" strips for fabricating the shoulder horseshoes lickety-split. The only drawback is that is has a tendency to tip forward, so I had to shim it in front to keep it stable. This will definitely help keep the tennis elbow at bay!

Radar Eye and Lens

I found a nice blue spray paint at Douglas Hardware that matches the dome vinyl I got from Tim almost exactly. It is Valspar All Purpose Gloss Blue. I was using the Rustoleum Deep Navy initially, which is probably more spec accurate, but it was way too dark next to the vinyl.

I also fabricated a lens for the radar eye out of a 2 liter bottle. I used the radar eye to mark the rough size and then trimmed it down. I painted the backside with Testors Gloss Black model spray paint. Viola! Instant lens!

Dome Vinyl

Tim, my friend from work, cut some dome vinyl for me on his most excellent 24" vinyl cutter. I did the layout in Adobe Illustrator and initially made a paper template to check the fit.

Once I tweaked the layout, Tim did his vinyl magic. He also included some nice guidelines to help aid in aligning the vinyl along the dome bottom.

I cut 1/2" strips for the dome ring. They went on without a hitch and it is difficult to see where the pieces join together.

Dome Ring Strips

After a building hiatus, I finally made some time to put the styrene dome ring strips on the bottom of the dome. I was going to put one layer of strips on, but decided to add a second layer to bring them flush with the thickness of the dome.

Weather permitting, I hope to prime it this weekend. Then early next week I can paint it chrome.

Also, I got the masking frisket this week from Dick Blick. My test was successful to see if it would not pull the paint off. It worked beautifully, much better than blue painters tape. With any luck I can start masking out the blue areas next weekend.

Chrome Dome

After lightly sanding the primer, I gave the dome the first coat of Rustoleum Chrome Shiny Metallic paint. I am very impressed with the results. I am going to lightly sand it tomorrow and then give it another light coating.

I have noticed some stippling on some of the resin parts where maybe there was still some releasing agent on them, despite a thorough washing and cleaning with alcohol. I will sand those spots and touch them up again.