Booster Painting

I painted 1 Booster today, Yeah BIG PROGRESS!!!

Anyway, It's showing some orange peel but I think when it dries it will be better.

I tried to leave the Aluminum showing where it's suppose to show the 1st time,

But it looked terrible, So I clean the booster and painted again. I'll have to hand paint the areas that need to be silver. :(

Remounting the Legs Update

These pics show the steps I went through to bolt on my wood legs.

I also changed the A&A leg mounts, You can see the different arrangement in the pics. I did this because, I was getting some slack in the legs and that's a No No.

The A&A leg circles mount inside the large aluminum ring and I also shimmed the circles with some nylon shims.

They're the white parts.

Next I bolted this area down tight, So there would be no slack.

Next I used a large washer between the frame mounts and the legs. This will provide a solid surface for the legs to mount.

Again I added more nylon shims to the leg. This goes through the frame to the inside. This also takes up any slack and allows the legs to position into the right spot.

The last 2 pics show the nylon spacer coming through the frame and again I bolted this with a large washer then a small washer and a lock nut.

I will get the legs into the right position and then I will put 2 screws into each of the large washer on the inside. This will keep the legs from moving, Since I'm not doing the 2-3-2.

P.S.

I did'nt show a pic of the outter A&A frame mount that bolts on top of the A&A circles.

But it must go on or you will have allot of slack in the legs.

Remounting the Legs

Here's the A&A mount assy.

Now I'm not sure if this is the way Andy has designed the mount to fit, But this is how it works best for me. After you bolt the ring and circle to the frame , You mount the outer blocking to the frame.

I guess you noticed I got the inner circle mounted wrong, So I'll have to pull it apart and turn the inner circle so the slots Aline correctly. This is a must, But I'm not feeling my best today and wanted to show the mount process.

I'll post more pics about this soon.

Allmost a Disaster

Ok, I've posted this before on my blog for people to always check back for changes I've made building R2. And luckily Brian questioned how I was attaching my wood legs to the A&A frame.
(Thanks Brian)
I found a flaw and have corrected it and R2 probably weighs about 20lbs. lighter and much stronger at the shoulders.
The satellite motors I was using in the frame only allows for shallow bolts, Even though I tapped them for larger bolts.
So, I removed the Sats. out of my frame and used the A&A shoulder mounts.
There was still allot of shimming inside this area, But I am confident this will hold.
If R2's shoulder bolts would have backed out, I would be back to square one and a damaged R2.
I'll post pics of the change this Sunday and I recommend everyone to stay away from the Sats.
Not only have they failed doing the 2-3-2, They are just not a strong way to mount the legs.

OMG!!! He's Standing

It's been a long 2 years to get to this point and I have allot to do, But he's standing for the

1st time and I'm so HAPPY!!!

Center Ankle Mounts

Here's how I mounted my Center Ankle.

I built it pretty strong for 2 reasons.

I wanted it to handle more than enough weight and It also adds strength to the A&A frame.

Leg Process

I just wanted to show the way I applied the Styrene to the wood legs.

I used Contact Cement and you wipe down both parts and wait 5 minutes then bond the 2 together. I left quite a bit of overlay, But all you have to do is use a Dremel to cut it down to size.

Once you have it cut closer to the leg, I used my sander to get it to the correct size.

The process is very easy and it leaves a nice finished edge around the wood leg.

A little more info on the Speeder

One more (off topic) thing, about the COKE ONE Landspeeder that has been listed for sale. It was built in Atlanta in about 1982, I was the person who was responsible for driving it for the Coca-Cola Company there, as well as the Cobot Coke Robot.Typically, I trailered it wherever it would go, for parades, store openings, etc. However, it WAS street legal, and had a GA license plate on it, and I personally drove it on a regular basis over a three year period. It was built by Bill Tolar, on a Volkswagon Beetle chassis, and was the scariest F'ing thing I've ever driven on the freeway.....bugs in teeth and all.Bill and his crew also built a second one from the same molds that became a river raft, and it did finish the now defunct "Great Chattahoochie Raft Race". The last time that I spoke to Bill, he still had the raft in storage in his warehouse. The speeder is MUCH larger than the original, and is way out of scale, but was still a real eye catcher in it's day.

Now I can't reveal who this info came from, But it is a member of the R2 Builders Group.

Local Find

Here's something you don't see everyday, It's the old Coke-Cola Land speeder.

I read an article about 1 month ago and it was somewhere down south in Florida.

The article read, The Land speeder was impounded and 1 of the officers decided to auction it off for charity. So I guess it made it here.

Looks to me it was built on top of a VW frame and it was street legal.

Trial Fitting Legs

We Trial fitted the legs today and it's not going bad.

Still got allot of work to do and allot of painting, But it

was nice to see him with legs.

You can see the 1 leg still needs the Styrene and we had a couple of problems with the A&A inner circles that are inside the large spacer that is in between the body and the leg.

But all I need to do is sand it A&A circles for a better fit.

Legs Almost

Well, I got 1 leg almost together. There's still allot of work to be done and painting.

My wife volunteered her A&A motor holders so I could get R2 standing soon.

I'll replace these for her R3 soon.

Those two holes on the back of the leg hold the Booster in place and I'll get a white cover for them.

Now if I can get the other leg this far, I can see R2 stand for the first time.

More to come soon.

ANKLES!!!!!!!

My Jag Ankles arrived today and I slid the parts together to see how they look.

Can't wait to get everything painted and complete.

More to come soon.

501st Meeting

1st, I want to Thank Redeye for inviting us to the meeting.

We had a wonderful time and it was very interesting learning about Trooper outfits.

After R2 is finished and I build my Landspeeder, I will then build a Trooper outfit.

Some of the people there, I remember from the Comic book meet and was glad to see them again. See you guys next time and maybe I'll have R2 finished.

Getting Better

The pics show the face I put on the legs and the pocket holes.

The pocket holes are not to spec, But it was the best I could do with what I had to work with as far as tools.

I put the Shim and Booster on the leg to show what it will look like after I finish it.

I'll have to do some putty work here and there to make the legs as smooth as possible.

I attached the leg to R2 to see what he looks like with 1 leg so far.

I've still got the skin the back of this leg, But I want to stop on this leg, So I can start on the other.

Leg Skinning

I started applying the Styrene to the wood legs today and it's starting to look much better.

I had almost gave up on the legs, But Johnathan gave me a good talking too and now I'm back at my work. Once I get the legs completely covered you won't know the legs are wood.

I'll post more pics soon.

Southern R2 Meet

I just want to Thank everyone for making this meeting WONDERFUL !!!!!
I had a GREAT time and I hope you enjoyed the BBQ and all the other goodies
that were brought to the meeting.
Next year I plan to host another meeting and it will be even bigger and better than
this meeting. I hope to invite the general public to the next meet and mix a show/meeting
together. We'll have a bigger building and will combine the local Comic book stores in with our meet to attract the public.
So, Shine up your droids and prepare for even more fun!!!

Some Short Vids

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