Radar Eye Redo

At long last I 3D-printed a new radar eye. The first I printed had a flat back on it and would not sit flush against the dome. Doh! This second one I reengineered to be hollow and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will fit adequately. I will install it tomorrow in time to finish up the dome for the Milwaukee MakerFaire on Saturday.

New Radar Eye Lens

I 3D-printed a new radar eye lens for the new dome. It turned out great, up until I left the primed lens out in the sun and the heat caused it to shrink and dimple.

Attempts to smooth out the lens with putty failed, so I printed a new one. I added a larger flange around the the base and it fit beautifully.

A little sanding, some priming and several light coats of gloss black and BOOM! Shiny new lens!

I love doing everything twice. Makes me feel like I am at work.

Blue Clear Coat

I got some DupliColor Clear coat for the blue dome parts and I have to say that the results were very impressive. The clear coat evened out anything that looked a little mottled and did not diminish the color at all. It gave them the subtle, glossy finish that I was hoping for!

I plan on redoing the chrome on the dome with DupliColor Metallic Silver and then clear coating that, with the hopes of recruiting the same results that I had with the blue pieces.

Wish me luck!

Painting the Blue Dome Parts

I started painting the blue dome parts using the Dupli-Color Sonic Blue Pearl paint that was recommended by the Builders Club. If the weather cooperates this weekend, I may be able to get all the blue parts painted, including repainting the booster covers so they match the dome.

I am very happy with the color. It is a nice purply blue, with subtle metallic highlights.

Chrome Dome Painting

After some filling and much sanding, I finally got the dome ready for chrome painting. I used Krylon Aluminum/Metallic Cover Maxx from Wal-Mart, which was recommended by the R2 Builder's group. My first coat turned out dull and splotchy, which I discovered was due to the fact that it was too cold outside when I painted it. Fortunately, the next weekend was warm and sunny, and I let the dome sit in the sun for a while before I started painting. That, along with shaking the crap out of the can of paint helped the next coats turn out quite well. I may do another coat to get a few spots that need a little touchup.

Dome Prep and Prime

Well, it has been a busy month but I was able to glue the two parts of the new dome together and to fashion a dome ring from the floral MDF rings from Michaels.

I then cut out the holes for the holoprojectors, the psis and the front and rear logics.

I primed it today and later in the in the week I will do another pass of fine sanding and then a little more primer.

I have front and rear logics on order from Hyperdyne and am super excited!

Laser Cut Styrene Dome

I was able to procure one of the fine laser-cut styrene dome from Astromech.net before Christmas.  Even with the laser cutting, it required a fair amount of cleanup and sanding.

The dome has three parts. A whole inner dome, the laser-cut outer dome and the bottom dome ring. I used Brian Munger's excellent website that detailed his styrene dome build as a guide for assembling mine. You can check his build at http://www.bmunger.com/R2/gallery/dome-3/.

After the initial trimming of pieces and sanding, I used Weld-On to glue the inner and outer dome together.

























I bought some 18" MDF floral rings from Michaels to use as the inner support for the dome. I am going to attach that to the bottom dome ring with bolts and then glue the floral rings to the inside of the inner dome. I used 3M tape to put some temporary foam board blocks inside the dome to help me find the correct placement of the MDF ring.

I want to cut out the holes for the holoprojectors before I mount the dome to the floral ring so that I have more room to work. So far I am really happy with how everything has come together!