Here's the rear Octo getting prepared for the blue paint. It will be a couple of days before I can do the blue, The white has to cure.
Once I get this part done I'll add the doors and the rear skin will be almost complete.
The other pic is inside R2. The panel I showed a month back is now installed in R2.
It's made of clear/black Plexiglass, Once I get all the electronics together I'll add them to this area.
Remounted the front Holo, So now there's no hole in his head.
I also mounted the Restraining Bolt. Now most builders attach this with a magnet, But this R2 will be around a lot of children and I figured if I plan to keep him in one piece it better be bolted down.
So I drilled and tapped the Bolt and screwed it to the skins for safe keeping. My R2 will be a family treasure after I'm gone and I'm building it too last. I don't ever plan to repaint R2. So if it becomes damaged or scratched, At that time it will get weathered and look even more like the real R2.
Now that the front is finished, I will complete the rear skins.
The front is all closed now.
There is some fine tuning to do, But it will have to wait until I get most everything finished.
I knew once I got him together, I would have to go back and fine tune parts for a better fit. The doors I temporally tape them into place so when I get the hinges I can get them moving.
The Large Data Port had to be mounted after the skin was installed.
I don't know if this is normal, But it fits so tight that the skin won't pass the edges of the port. This will be a pain if I need to remove the skins, But it's all bolt on parts.
Sorry the pic is kinda crooked, But I had to lay on the floor to get the pic.
You'll start seeing a lot of pics like this one as I make progress on finishing R2. This pic shows the installed vents and the Power Coupler. Behind the 2 vents, I have 2 nice speakers for the midrange/high sounds. The bass will come from the speakers I have mounted under the large side vents on each side of R2. (Yeah!!!, Booming R2 and his lead tune will be: Lowrider from the 80's)
I will be painting the doors today and will tape them on the backside as to close up the front skins.
Once I get the hinges for the doors, Then I will get them swinging and down inside the door pockets I will cover this area with styrene and paint the styrene white to give it a nice finish.
He's starting to look more like the real thing.
Once I can handle the skins better, I will add the Large Data Port to his chest and install the Vents in the surrounds.
Well, This is where I'm at so far with the build.
Yep, It's still wet!!!
It was alot of fun doing the tape work, But here's how it turned out.
I got 1 Boo-Boo at the tope of the Octagon Port so I'll have some touchup paint to do, But all and all I guess I'm happy with the results. Once it dries the shine will fade to the Satin finish.
It will be 1 week before I can paint the blue around the Octo. I need the white to be completely dry so I can tape it up and paint the blue.
I countersunk 4- screws into the skin to hold the Octagon Port in place and then I used Glazing putty and Bondo to smooth the edges and hide the screws. Now I know this is a permanent way of mounting the Octo., But I studied the pics and the blue around the edges is suppose to come all the way out to the skins instead of stopping just before the skin area and having a white ring around the Octo. Right now your seeing the primer and as soon as skins dry from sanding I'll start the painting.
The Coin Slots, I decided to go with the blue around the sides and bare aluminum on the ends. Someone told me since I have a shinny dome that my R2 looked more like the Empire Strikes Back version and from the pics this is how it looks. There is some loose paint from edging around the ends down inside the gaps, But this will be behind the skins and won't be seen so I didn't worry about getting the droppings out.
I'll post more pics as soon as I get the skin painted and hopefully it turns out nice.
I installed that 3rd panel near the rear Logics and that finishes the panels.
The blue on the ring sure made R2 look different with the dome mounted. Yeah I guess you noticed I knocked the front Holo out. I was moving him around and my big behind made contact with the Holo and it was on the floor. J.B. Weld don't have nothing on my rear end.
More work to come, SeeYa soon!!!
Ok, I finally painted that dreaded ring!!!
I was not looking forward to this part because it was the biggest area for a mistake to happen.
It took a while to tape and I also used liquid tape down in that tiny groove so the blue stayed where I wanted it to stay. I've seen some of the rings painted down in that groove and I didn't like it.
The only thing that might bite me in the butt is:
I was unable to prime the ring before painting. I was worried about paint build up and getting the liquid tape out of the groove. I plan to seal the edges with some clear fingernail polish, That stuff sticks to about anything. Hopefully this part will never get painted again, If it gets banged up then it will be time to dirty up R2 all over and he'll look like he's been in battle.
Finally the paint cured and I was able to install a few more dome parts.
Below the rear logic I installed the thin blue ring. Now I left the split between the panels silver, Because there are different opinions about this area being all blue or having the silver splits and I like the silver showing. The other part for this area, I will install after I fix that little bad spot with some paint.
The front logic bevel and the parts on each side I also installed today. I have the Logic's that the club built and I have the same problem about mounting them. They're suppose to stick out more than what mine are showing, But the Logic pc boards are too large for this tiny area and they bump into each other. Some of the other builders have solved this problem by reworking the boards, But I don't have the soldering skills to go this far into the logic's. So I'll have to settle with how they look.
I got some more parts painted and now I will complete the front skins and then I'll post some more pics.
The painting process takes time and I'll be glad when it's over.
Anyway, It's starting to come together and hopefully be complete soon.
You'll notice in the pics the paint has a little orange peel look to it, But once it cures for 30 days I can polish and buff it smooth.
These are the Jag mounts for the Center Foot wheels. The pic probly does'nt show the texture paint I used, But it looks GREAT!!!
This is the 1st time I've used texture paint and I really like it. These mount up inside the Center Foot and the Omniwheels mount to these plates.
Look Ma, I aint got no rust on me!!!
I got a chance to get some work done today and I took care of that Rust problem.
I can't put the Ankle on the foot yet, Because the paint is still tacky. So I'll wait about 1 week for the paint to cure and then I'll show the finished product. I did have a couple of Boo-Boo's on the blue area on the cylinder and when I can I'll do some touch up in this area.
The only thing I'll hate, When I put the 2 together they will rub in the Ankle area and that pretty white paint will get scratches.
I got Watto mounted , But I still have some work to do to this project.
I also managed to get the Center Foot painted and I'll post some pics soon.
Brenda got a lot done to her R3, But you'll have to visit her Blog for the updates.
Ok, Now the updates will start happening again.
I don't have alot to show right now, But some parts have started coming in and I stuck a few together for this post. I need to get the Jag foot sanded and painted soon, Because you can see the surface rust starting.
I will be posting more regular from here on out, So seeya soon.
Just doing a little fitting on the legs.
