For the past couple of weekends I have been making progress with the construction of R2-D2's wooden frame. My frame is based off of the Mike Senna plans from the R2Builders Yahoo site. Since an aluminum frame is quite expensive I went for a frame made of wood. I took a thumb drive with the plans on it to Staples and had it printed out at 'no scale' for $5. Then I took sections and cut them up to fit on the pieces of 2'x2' birch plywood. I needed a total of 4 pieces, 2 of them 3/4" thick (top and bottom circles) and 2 of them 1/2" thick (lower ring and 'ribs' and vertical supports). For the 3/4" side pieces, I saved some money by using a scrap piece of regular plywood that I had laying around. I used spray adhesive lightly on the wood and lay the plans on top and smoothed it out.
I used my table saw to rip all of the vertical support pieces. I cut a couple extra, just in case. Then I trimmed the each to the correct length on the table saw. The small notches were knocked out with small cuts from the band saw and finished off with the Dremel sander. Using my band saw I cut close to the edges of the lines of the curved pieces and then finished them smooth to the line with the belt sander. The interior cuts on the lower ring and the opening at the top were cut with an electric hand-held jigsaw. The pockets on the bottom and top were made using a plunge router with both 1/2" and 3/4" straight bits. Since these cuts are not going to be visible they did not have to be absolute. But I payed special attention to the small slots that hold the vertical strips. There are 10 of these slots on the bottom and 5 on the top. Some of these pieces have to line up with the cuts on the top in order for the body to be square.
Every piece had to be test-fitted to make sure it was easy to put together but snug enough that it would not fall apart.
Any pieces that had trouble fitting were touched up with the sanding bit on the Dremel. When I was happy with the fitting of everything, I got ready to glue it all together using wood glue, pipe clamps and bar clamps. I started by assembling the entire frame and then removed most parts except for the two vertical supports in the rear (parts G) and the two vertical supports in the front (parts C & D) that are directly opposite. (Of course the side vertical supports (H & J) were also left in place and glued in to the bottom and top) The 4 outer vertical supports each were held 'lightly' with the pipe clamps and one by one I removed one, applied the glue and then placed the piece and put back on the pipe clamp 'lightly' When all four supports were in place I applied more tension to each of the pipe clamps and let everything dry.
Once things were dry enough that inserting the other vertical supports would not loosen anything, I went and added in the rest of the vertical supports (part E, A, & B), using clamps as needed. Any pieces that were having trouble fitting were given a light tap with a rubber hammer. Then the 3 vertical supports (part F) were glued in with the piece that connects to parts H & J.
Here is the front view of the completed frame. Cost of materials is about $50.
I am waiting to cut the Large Data Port opening on the top ring untill the resin LDP arrives. This will then determine the positioning of the skins.
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I finished glueing up R2's skin. I used Loctite PL Premium to glue the inner skin to the wood frame.
The outer skin is then laid on top of the inner skin and carefully lined up.
I used a bunch of rare earth magnets to keep the layers together. I've bought a lot of magnets over the years from amazingmagnets.com and they always include a sample pack with every order. So I had plenty to choose from.
Then I used Ambroid Pro-Weld to glue the outer skin to the inner. This glue is like water and its capillary action draws it into the gap between the plastic sheets. Then it melts the plastic making a very strong bond. It isn't messy but it does have harmful vapors so use in a well ventilated area.
After all of the pieces had been glued on every seam (seems to never end) I used some 800 grit piece of sandpaper on a sanding stick to reduce any high areas. Now I am ready for some nice weather so I can prime and paint.
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So I used the Loctite PL again to glue the skirt down. I added one screw on either side and applied a bunch of small clamps all the way around.
Then I added the kick plates. First I cut a small curved piece and insterted it into the top part. Then I glued 2 pieces of styrene together with the 'Android' Pro Weld. I took the piece and placed it into the space. Some more Loctite where it touched the wood frame and Pro Weld everywhere else.
I applied some Apoxie Sclupt (man, I love this stuff!) around the edge of the skirt where it met the skin, filling in to make a nice square edge. Just some sanding to do and then I can finish the rest of the primer.
I'm making good progress on R2. I am starting the assembly of the body components now. The 3 coin returns are glued in as well as the front and back power couplings. The coin slots are also in place. The utility arms and large data port are in place but not glued in yet. I also am close to being finished with his second outer leg. I'm pretty sure I can make it in time for the Springtime Tallahassee parade on March 31st. Fingers crossed (mainly because they are glued that way now).
Here are some images of the main power rocker switch on the back side. I painted it to blend in with the coin return. I left part of it red so I could get a quick visual if the power is on or off.
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| Power OFF |
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| Power ON |
And here is an internal shot of the rear power coupling with the XLR connector. You can also see the main power rocker switch on the right.
Here is what it looks like from the outside. I might paint the center of the XLR silver. To be decided later.
And with my recharger connected. You can harldy see the main power switch on the left coin return.
