Remember what I had said last time about getting sidelined? Well, life still has a funny way of doing that to you.
Currently I am just getting over the worst January on record, medically. I became violently ill on Jan 9th and it just went downhill from there. A couple of surgeries later and I'm back on the mend. Unfortunately I am also dealing with a family member's decline. My grandmother doesn't have much time left, which means I have to spend a lot of time helping out my father.
All this aside, I am still working on R5.
Thanks to a good friend, I'm locating resin detail pieces. I know it's kind of like putting the cart before the horse, but given the turn-around time on some of these things I would rather start looking before I need them than sit around waiting.
More as I get to it...
Monday, February 6, 2012
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Getting Back To It
Life has a funny way of sidelining you, taking you away from what you want to do and sticking you only with crap you don't like.
I intended to be about half-way done with R5 at this point, but in reality I only have a stack of plastic, some adhesive and the plans. I need to make the time to put together a decent router setup. I need to clear out space to actually work on this too.
September and October are shot as far as free time goes, which leaves me the beginning of November and the beginning of December to work on anything.
I haven't given up on R5. I will make him. I'm just not sure when I'll be able to start!
I intended to be about half-way done with R5 at this point, but in reality I only have a stack of plastic, some adhesive and the plans. I need to make the time to put together a decent router setup. I need to clear out space to actually work on this too.
September and October are shot as far as free time goes, which leaves me the beginning of November and the beginning of December to work on anything.
I haven't given up on R5. I will make him. I'm just not sure when I'll be able to start!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Adhesive
This arrived today in the mail:
Actually a bottle much larger than that along with a needle-tipped squeeze bottle applicator and a poly funnel to get the stuff into the squeeze bottle. Styrene sheets are supposed to be here today as well. I saw FedEx on my street when I was home for lunch, so I'm guessing that by the time I'm done typing this I will have a box of plastic on my porch.
Astromech.Net has been down for about 2 weeks now. I really want to look up who was offering resin R5 head details but that info is on... Astromech.Net. Maybe scour through the Yahoo Group site later.
A slight change of plans, I'm going to concentrate on the head first. I hope to have it completed before DroidCon. Chris said he'd drive it out there for me, which is awesome.
 | |
| Weld-On 3. Clear, water-thin, very fast curing solvent cement. |
Actually a bottle much larger than that along with a needle-tipped squeeze bottle applicator and a poly funnel to get the stuff into the squeeze bottle. Styrene sheets are supposed to be here today as well. I saw FedEx on my street when I was home for lunch, so I'm guessing that by the time I'm done typing this I will have a box of plastic on my porch.
Astromech.Net has been down for about 2 weeks now. I really want to look up who was offering resin R5 head details but that info is on... Astromech.Net. Maybe scour through the Yahoo Group site later.
A slight change of plans, I'm going to concentrate on the head first. I hope to have it completed before DroidCon. Chris said he'd drive it out there for me, which is awesome.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Taking The Plunge
As I stated before, I was buying the skins precut - well, more like prescored. They aren't cut all the way through (and that's fine by me). They are sitting in my basement in the box in which they arrived. I'd take a picture but it's very difficult to see what they are. The pics I took look like a blank piece of white paper! Here's a pic from the seller:
Now, this is great news and all, and of course a great step toward R5 completion, but it's nothing without the rest of the HIPS needed to construct the droid. As the title indicates - no, I didn't get a plunge router - I finally bit the bullet on shipping and ordered the following plastic. All of this was figured out by the awesome guys at the R2 Builders site - mainly Teecees (body) and King Jawa (R5 Head).
 |
| From the lovely Chani! |
- 6 sheets, 4x4' 0.125
- 1 sheet, 4x4' 0.080
- 4 sheets, 4x4' 0.040
- 1 sheet, 4x4' 0.020
Friday, January 28, 2011
Intermittently Dashed Hopes
My plan to start this project in January is meeting with some serious roadblocks. First, I was sourcing High Impact Poly Styrene online - the shipping price was more than half the material cost. I asked a local business where they get their supply and called their referenced "emergency supplier" company - They don't have HIPS in stock at their local location, but can ship it to me for the low, low cost of... half the material cost.
I think I'm going to end up calling the sign store back to see what he can do for me. He offered to allow me to make an order through his regular supplier, delivered, I imagine, whenever he gets his own supplies.
Let's not even talk about resin pieces. All these details will cost me about $500, and who knows when I'll see them. The two guys who make resin body details are swamped with real life and other orders. There's a guy on eBay who makes a good chunk of these, some at half the price of the other guys, but he's not club-sanctioned, so it's a crap shoot to go with his stuff. Plus, I just added the parts up and I'd be saving a whopping $20 max. Who knows what shipping would be like since he's in the UK.
Then there's the skins. I figured I'd just order them pre-scored so I don't have to worry about screwing up one of the most visible parts. Well, again, real life has struck a supplier and these have been completely unavailable EVER SINCE I STARTED ASKING ABOUT THEM. I've politely asked every couple weeks if they have time to make them yet. I usually don't get a reply, but I saw that person send a message out to the R2 Builder's forum saying they'll take orders in a week or two.
Right now I'm taking note from C-3P0: We're doomed!
I think I'm going to end up calling the sign store back to see what he can do for me. He offered to allow me to make an order through his regular supplier, delivered, I imagine, whenever he gets his own supplies.
Let's not even talk about resin pieces. All these details will cost me about $500, and who knows when I'll see them. The two guys who make resin body details are swamped with real life and other orders. There's a guy on eBay who makes a good chunk of these, some at half the price of the other guys, but he's not club-sanctioned, so it's a crap shoot to go with his stuff. Plus, I just added the parts up and I'd be saving a whopping $20 max. Who knows what shipping would be like since he's in the UK.
Then there's the skins. I figured I'd just order them pre-scored so I don't have to worry about screwing up one of the most visible parts. Well, again, real life has struck a supplier and these have been completely unavailable EVER SINCE I STARTED ASKING ABOUT THEM. I've politely asked every couple weeks if they have time to make them yet. I usually don't get a reply, but I saw that person send a message out to the R2 Builder's forum saying they'll take orders in a week or two.
Right now I'm taking note from C-3P0: We're doomed!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Friends Everywhere, Changing Hats
Friends Everywhere
Sometime last week I decided to make a call to a local sign shop. I had read on the Astromech forums about people getting High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) from places that make signs - often obtaining the scrap or otherwise trashed plastic. I made a call to Fast Signs in Colonie and, luckily for me, made contact with the owner of the business.
I was rather bold just outright asking him about his plastics suppliers but then explained all about how I'm part of the 501st Legion and am building a droid for charity work. I also let him know that I'm looking for somewhere local that I can just pick up a few 4' x 8' sheets of 1/4 inch and maybe a sheet or two of other thicknesses. He was very warm after that and gave me names and numbers of local suppliers of HIPS. He also said that if I happen to hit a dead end with his leads that he can arrange for me to purchase the sheets through his supplier in Rhode Island.
Changing Hats
Since the beginning of this project, I've researched everything with the intention of constructing only R5-D4. In my quest for accuracy I've noted that most people seem content with the notion that R5-D4 and R2-D2 share the same body except for 5 panels and the two utility arms - these are red on R5, while the panels are white and the arms are blue on R2. There is one other difference, and no other fan-made R5 I've seen seems to have it: one other panel has a recessed detail. You can see the outline of the panel plainly in the screen shot below.
Is this much of a concern? No, not really - though I will make sure I recreate R5 faithfully and fabricate this panel accurately.
The point of this section, and its title, is that I will be making a handful of replacement pieces allowing R5-D4 to become R2-D2. I've already paid for a styrene R2 dome kit that will be fabricated in March. Some day I'll probably make 2 full bodies but for now I am fine with making a convertible droid.
This styrene R2 head is the second piece of a droid I have purchased to date. I plan on getting the styrene in the next week as well as placing the order for the skins.
Sometime last week I decided to make a call to a local sign shop. I had read on the Astromech forums about people getting High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) from places that make signs - often obtaining the scrap or otherwise trashed plastic. I made a call to Fast Signs in Colonie and, luckily for me, made contact with the owner of the business.
I was rather bold just outright asking him about his plastics suppliers but then explained all about how I'm part of the 501st Legion and am building a droid for charity work. I also let him know that I'm looking for somewhere local that I can just pick up a few 4' x 8' sheets of 1/4 inch and maybe a sheet or two of other thicknesses. He was very warm after that and gave me names and numbers of local suppliers of HIPS. He also said that if I happen to hit a dead end with his leads that he can arrange for me to purchase the sheets through his supplier in Rhode Island.
Changing Hats
Since the beginning of this project, I've researched everything with the intention of constructing only R5-D4. In my quest for accuracy I've noted that most people seem content with the notion that R5-D4 and R2-D2 share the same body except for 5 panels and the two utility arms - these are red on R5, while the panels are white and the arms are blue on R2. There is one other difference, and no other fan-made R5 I've seen seems to have it: one other panel has a recessed detail. You can see the outline of the panel plainly in the screen shot below.
 |
| R2 (left) and R5 (right) have different details on this one front panel just above the "coin slots". |
The point of this section, and its title, is that I will be making a handful of replacement pieces allowing R5-D4 to become R2-D2. I've already paid for a styrene R2 dome kit that will be fabricated in March. Some day I'll probably make 2 full bodies but for now I am fine with making a convertible droid.
This styrene R2 head is the second piece of a droid I have purchased to date. I plan on getting the styrene in the next week as well as placing the order for the skins.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Restraining Bolt
I'm the first to admit I suck at math. Hell - I got a 16 in Algebra the first year I took it. Yeah you read that right -- Sixteen. That said, I'm having a hell of a time trying to figure out how much polystyrene I need to purchase. I think I finally have it worked out, thanks to some nice guys on the R2 Builders forum. There is a supplier in Syracuse who is supposed to give me a quote on their stuff sometime today.
I'm sourcing all the resin parts and will probably put in an order along with my friend Tim (who is building a custom R6) to try to save on shipping. The devil truly is in the details. The resin bits are about $400-500 for all the junk that goes on an average R-series body. Some things I've decided to get out of wood (booster covers, for example) which, though are more expensive, have the detail I'm after.
The first "real" piece of this droid I'll have is -- a restraining bolt. Someone was doing a limited run of aluminum ones for less than the cost of a resin one so I jumped on it. As a whole, to the uneducated or unconcerned it's not an impressive piece. A lathed aluminum stubby cylinder that resembles a lid to a bottle, but for a Star Wars fan it's just awesome.
This attaches with an embedded high-powered magnet to a metal plate I'll epoxy to the inside of the skin.
Speaking of skins, I've decided to just buy them pre-cut. Given the limited space I have to work on the droid I want the things that require space to be somewhat easier.
Also - I was reading about the weight of R-series droids in general. Someone was talking about metal vs. wood vs. styrene and said that they saw someone lift their styrene droid - whole - above their heads with one hand. Given that I'm assembling him in a basement I think this is GREAT NEWS. Poor R5 might be living down there now that I know he can be carried out easily.
I'm sourcing all the resin parts and will probably put in an order along with my friend Tim (who is building a custom R6) to try to save on shipping. The devil truly is in the details. The resin bits are about $400-500 for all the junk that goes on an average R-series body. Some things I've decided to get out of wood (booster covers, for example) which, though are more expensive, have the detail I'm after.
The first "real" piece of this droid I'll have is -- a restraining bolt. Someone was doing a limited run of aluminum ones for less than the cost of a resin one so I jumped on it. As a whole, to the uneducated or unconcerned it's not an impressive piece. A lathed aluminum stubby cylinder that resembles a lid to a bottle, but for a Star Wars fan it's just awesome.
 |
| This will keep that little droid from escaping... |
Speaking of skins, I've decided to just buy them pre-cut. Given the limited space I have to work on the droid I want the things that require space to be somewhat easier.
Also - I was reading about the weight of R-series droids in general. Someone was talking about metal vs. wood vs. styrene and said that they saw someone lift their styrene droid - whole - above their heads with one hand. Given that I'm assembling him in a basement I think this is GREAT NEWS. Poor R5 might be living down there now that I know he can be carried out easily.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)