R2-D2 WIP - Studio 49
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Studio 49
Sr Member
As of yesterday I finally fished painting all the panels for my dome and I'm extremely happy with how they came out
I also worked out that what was causing my paint to dry matte was the heat we'e had late last week but once it cooled down I was able to bang out the rest of the panels with ease and they look awesome! I've taken some pictures of them trying to show how the paint looks but I honesty couldn't do them justice, the paint really does look amazing!
First of all some indoor photos:
And then some outdoor photos since the direct sunlight really helped to show the colour that bit better:
I also worked out that what was causing my paint to dry matte was the heat we'e had late last week but once it cooled down I was able to bang out the rest of the panels with ease and they look awesome! I've taken some pictures of them trying to show how the paint looks but I honesty couldn't do them justice, the paint really does look amazing!
First of all some indoor photos:
And then some outdoor photos since the direct sunlight really helped to show the colour that bit better:
Studio 49
Sr Member
My picture of my R2 in progress sitting in the workshop found it's way to some cool places these past few days and well lets just say this just happened... Adam Savage shared a photo of my workshop on Twitter and then Tested shared it on their Facebook page and uploaded it to their Website 
Needless to say I'm really honoured, when I sent the the photo in (because why not) I didn't think anyone would take much note of it haha so I'm chuffed to bits right now and it honest to goodness was one of the highlights of my week being able to share my maker space/workshop from
While this may not seem like much to some Adam has been a long time role model I've looked up to notbjust for him being a positive down to earth person but as an aspiring maker his work has helped inspire me to keep trying to learn and improve
https://www.facebook.com/testedcom/posts/10154754215520791
http://www.tested.com/art/makers/57...estedcom-community/item/jonah-popes-workshop/
Needless to say I'm really honoured, when I sent the the photo in (because why not) I didn't think anyone would take much note of it haha so I'm chuffed to bits right now and it honest to goodness was one of the highlights of my week being able to share my maker space/workshop from
While this may not seem like much to some Adam has been a long time role model I've looked up to notbjust for him being a positive down to earth person but as an aspiring maker his work has helped inspire me to keep trying to learn and improve
https://www.facebook.com/testedcom/posts/10154754215520791
http://www.tested.com/art/makers/57...estedcom-community/item/jonah-popes-workshop/
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Lt Washburn
Sr Member
Just read through this thread. Great job on your R2 so far. I'm curious what is to become of your 3D printed dome. Are you going to try and finish the smoothing process to see how close you can get it to your aluminum one? Maybe print more parts and finish it eventually?
By the way, this got me curious about printing large parts. Are there consumer printers available today that can do an object as large as the dome in one piece? And if not, is the only hinderance the physical limitation of the print bed/head-travel size? Like could someone take a printer made for smaller objects, and just ....bigify the travel mechanisms. Sorry to use a technical term like that. Or would the software need to be rewritten to handle that, etc.?
Anyways, very cool project. Wasn't the blue color on the originals determined to be metal marking dye or something like that?
By the way, this got me curious about printing large parts. Are there consumer printers available today that can do an object as large as the dome in one piece? And if not, is the only hinderance the physical limitation of the print bed/head-travel size? Like could someone take a printer made for smaller objects, and just ....bigify the travel mechanisms. Sorry to use a technical term like that. Or would the software need to be rewritten to handle that, etc.?
Anyways, very cool project. Wasn't the blue color on the originals determined to be metal marking dye or something like that?
Studio 49
Sr Member
Small update, started working on the legs in the last few days. Primarily I've been working on cleaning up the Aluminium (since this pair was a scratch and dent park at a reduced price I scored in R2 Builders Junkyard)
I've been doing mainly wet and dry sanding with my 800 Grit sand paper and it's worked a treat in knocking back some of the less attractive surface finishes/bumps which is easy to see in the pictures below. Below you'll see on the right is the Leg that I've been doing sanding on and on the left is untouched since receiving it so to say the least I'm very very happy with how it's coming along! (for those minor pock marks around the legs I'll be using some automotive filler for those, filler won't matter since these are going to be painted white in the end anyway)
I'm also expecting some small but awesome R2 Goodness in the mail, you'll hear more once I have them in hand
I've been doing mainly wet and dry sanding with my 800 Grit sand paper and it's worked a treat in knocking back some of the less attractive surface finishes/bumps which is easy to see in the pictures below. Below you'll see on the right is the Leg that I've been doing sanding on and on the left is untouched since receiving it so to say the least I'm very very happy with how it's coming along! (for those minor pock marks around the legs I'll be using some automotive filler for those, filler won't matter since these are going to be painted white in the end anyway)
I'm also expecting some small but awesome R2 Goodness in the mail, you'll hear more once I have them in hand
Studio 49
Sr Member
The other day I also did a couple rough test fits with the lazy susan and dome (I didn't want to work the inner dome onto the dome ring just yet as I want to finalise the orientation of the the parts so I can mount my internals right first
But I have to say it was seriously satisfying to be able to "spin" the dome even it it was in a semi-built state!
But I have to say it was seriously satisfying to be able to "spin" the dome even it it was in a semi-built state!
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Studio 49
Sr Member
Huge milestone today, was able to done an alamos full mock up of one of my legs with the parts I've printed! Just a little chuffed I have to say
Ideally I want to eventually get Aluminium Ankles for R2 but for now I figured stuff it I'm going print one so I can at least know what I'm working with here and they're actually holding up a treat I must admit (I gave them a much sturdier infill to be sure). I still have to make the horse shoes that sit around the top of the leg (shoulder region) but I'll likely laser cut them from acrylic.
Nonetheless I'm really excited to be able to do a mock up like this!
Ideally I want to eventually get Aluminium Ankles for R2 but for now I figured stuff it I'm going print one so I can at least know what I'm working with here and they're actually holding up a treat I must admit (I gave them a much sturdier infill to be sure). I still have to make the horse shoes that sit around the top of the leg (shoulder region) but I'll likely laser cut them from acrylic.
Nonetheless I'm really excited to be able to do a mock up like this!
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Studio 49
Sr Member
Another busy couple days cracking on with more sanding, filling and priming than you could poke a stick at!
I'm going to be real stick of sanding once I'm done with this project haha
But I'm making great progress so I'm happy (And yes these are all pretty much leg parts and that's not even all of them accounted for)
I also have another huge and exciting bit of progress! I was able to pick up my sheets of 3mm Aluminium last weekend!
You can see the sheet below in the back of my car (there's some more smaller pieces beneath the top sheet) and these piece of 3mm Aluminium will be cut using a CNC Machine to help make a complete set of flat pack Aluminium foot shells (x1 Centre + x2 Outer) as well as some bits and pieces for the frame for when we're able to CNC the 6mm sheet of Aluminium that's on it's way!
I'm going to be real stick of sanding once I'm done with this project haha
But I'm making great progress so I'm happy (And yes these are all pretty much leg parts and that's not even all of them accounted for)
I also have another huge and exciting bit of progress! I was able to pick up my sheets of 3mm Aluminium last weekend!
You can see the sheet below in the back of my car (there's some more smaller pieces beneath the top sheet) and these piece of 3mm Aluminium will be cut using a CNC Machine to help make a complete set of flat pack Aluminium foot shells (x1 Centre + x2 Outer) as well as some bits and pieces for the frame for when we're able to CNC the 6mm sheet of Aluminium that's on it's way!
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Studio 49
Sr Member
Also while I'm at it this last week I received some more toys in the mail for R2! First of all I received my lighting kit for my dome and damn they're awesome! Nice and bright and nicely assembled (I just have one or two loose LED's to resolver but that's nothing I can't handle)
That's enough of my talk here's a video of this beautiful kit in action! (sorry in advance for the squeaky office chair)
I also received my set of skins snaps. Now these brilliant snaps will allow me to be able to take the skins on and off if I need to access hard to reach spaces for inside the frame for electronics, maintenance so on and so forth. It's a small piece of the puzzle, but it's a very helpful piece at that
That's enough of my talk here's a video of this beautiful kit in action! (sorry in advance for the squeaky office chair)
I also received my set of skins snaps. Now these brilliant snaps will allow me to be able to take the skins on and off if I need to access hard to reach spaces for inside the frame for electronics, maintenance so on and so forth. It's a small piece of the puzzle, but it's a very helpful piece at that
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Excellent job so far!
Those 3d printed ankles are some serious S***! I am super impressed that you were able to 3d print those massive things in a way that they're that sturdy!
I remember the day I got my first teeces kit. I started working on it after work the same day and got so obsessed with figuring it out and troubleshooting problems (I had never don any electronics before and I was scared to death) and basically stayed up ALL night soldering those LEDs. and when it all finally lit up and did it's thing I was so ecstatic.
Bravo, it's coming along beautifully and I can't wait to see more.
Those 3d printed ankles are some serious S***! I am super impressed that you were able to 3d print those massive things in a way that they're that sturdy!
I remember the day I got my first teeces kit. I started working on it after work the same day and got so obsessed with figuring it out and troubleshooting problems (I had never don any electronics before and I was scared to death) and basically stayed up ALL night soldering those LEDs. and when it all finally lit up and did it's thing I was so ecstatic.
Bravo, it's coming along beautifully and I can't wait to see more.
Studio 49
Sr Member
Todays progress, I was able to to pretty well do a full mock up of almost all the parts I have so far
Next up is still more sanding + painting although I'm hoping come the end of next month I'll have the funds to place my order for my dome hinges which will be awesome! And will enable to me to make great progress in the actual assembly of the dome
Next up is still more sanding + painting although I'm hoping come the end of next month I'll have the funds to place my order for my dome hinges which will be awesome! And will enable to me to make great progress in the actual assembly of the dome
Looking great! I like your blue. Nice deep tone. You may have mentioned this already but what is your final goal? You mentioned dome hinges so I'm assuming you're doing more than just RC, lights, and sounds. Are you attempting 2-3-2?
Studio 49
Sr Member
Thanks mate!
Yes you're correct I'm looking to do dome hinges, mainly since I'm building him to come on Hospital troops when I troop with the 501st at our Monthly Children's Hospital visit. So when I child isn't able to get out of bed I wanted the hinges in the dome so he can do his little song and dance where the hinges up in close with the Cantina theme so even though they weren't able to physically interact with him they still got an unforgettable moment and hopefully we can bring some joy to their day
As for other things, I'm not mad enough to attempt 2-3-2 for a few reasons, I'm not great at electronics and I'm a poor University/College student haha
I do want to do static hinges for the body, just enough that they have a small magnet an I can open them if need be
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