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CaptSolo77 (Brian) Mos Eisley Base CO


Joined: 22 Feb 2011 Posts: 1295 Location: Tucson Medals: 1 (View more...)
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Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2015 6:13 am Post subject:
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hammsterdam1943 wrote: | Any droid updates since you cant walk outside in Mos Eisley? |
Well sir, I'm VERY glad you asked!! As it happens, the R2 project has been picking up speed. I've been acquiring parts faster than my bank account can stand!! These pieces all came in the last week:
They're not the sexy, recognizable pieces that we would want to see, but they are vital to getting R2 put together and getting him moving. On the upper left is the Dome drive gear and sprocket that will attach to the dome spin motor. On the upper right is the bearing the gear will attach to. This will allow the head to spin and attach to the body.
Below that are the leg to body hubs and the pipe that holds them together inside R2's body. These are necessary to attach the legs to the body. They're really nice, thick machined aluminum hubs and I was very lucky to get them. They showed up for sale at just the right time.
Tomorrow we will be doing some serious work on R2, attaching his rear skins and building an internal structure to support the leg hubs. That will allow us to mount the spin bearing, get the head attached, and put the legs on.
We should be seeing something that will start resembling our favorite little astromech very soon.
Stay tuned!! _________________
"I may not be Han Solo, but I play him in real life." |
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HeloTrooper () Active Legion Member
Joined: 26 Jun 2013 Posts: 141
Medals: None
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 5:17 pm Post subject:
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Well... it has been 2+ years in the making, but we've finally gotten to the point where we could suit up completely for 3PO... it has been a long road, but we've FINALLY taken submission pics and submitted for approved status.
Special tanks to Brian for his assistance in the final push. There were - as always - some nitnoid details that remained to be completed before we could call it truly "ready," and Brian came through with flying colors to help get it across the finish line.
Just a couple teaser shots...
Now to get that overweight glob of grease done... _________________ Andy M
HeloTrooper
May 25th, 1977... our lives were changed forever. |
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GotWookiee (Matt Pfingsten) Active Legion Member

Joined: 30 Mar 2001 Posts: 4306 Location: Nashville, TN, USA Medals: 2 (View more...)
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HeloTrooper () Active Legion Member
Joined: 26 Jun 2013 Posts: 141
Medals: None
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 7:21 pm Post subject:
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Great question...
Range of motion is - as you might guess - severly limited due to the pistons.
In Chris's (TK-409's) kit as provided, the piston rods are thicker (I assume they are fiberglass).
In this particular configuration, those rods are a more slender metal rod. When we purchased the kit second-hand, this mod had already been accomplished (unless this is how Chris used to fit the kit) - you can see that here on the left arm, fully extended:
And again fully contracted:
I think the advantage of a slim rod in this design is more tolerance, while the disadvantage is potential distortion (bending).
Both ends of the piston assembly (rod and sleeve) are held in position with cotter keys on fixed mounting points. While some kits have an actual sliding mount, this kit does not.
It's a simple matter of each end being able to rotate around the piston as the arm is moved, which drives the rod into or out of the piston sleeve respectively. Each piston's range of motion prevents the arm from being moved into a position that would pull the opposing piston rod out of the housing.
Here are a couple more shots to show the assembly:
Add a little graphite dry lube for peace of mind, and voila!
The next challenge is finding a workable and suitable piston noise generator.
Hope that helps! _________________ Andy M
HeloTrooper
May 25th, 1977... our lives were changed forever. |
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hammsterdam1943 (Joel) Active Legion Member

Joined: 07 May 2014 Posts: 65 Location: Wichita Falls, TX Medals: None
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 10:37 pm Post subject:
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Wow that is amazing! |
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Lauphen_Staar (Emma) Active Legion Member

Joined: 07 Oct 2012 Posts: 336 Location: Fargo, ND Medals: None
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Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2015 1:27 am Post subject:
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Awesome!!! _________________
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CaptSolo77 (Brian) Mos Eisley Base CO


Joined: 22 Feb 2011 Posts: 1295 Location: Tucson Medals: 1 (View more...)
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 11:30 pm Post subject:
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C-3PO is truly looking magnificent, and that presents the challenge of building R2...trying to build him at a level of quality and screen-accuracy that is on par with what is an exceptional 3PO. We want these two to really shine together!!
To that end, I felt it was really important that all the silver elements on R2--the parts that are supposed to be metal--actually be made of metal. Many builders use resin parts spray painted silver, but that just doesn't quite reach the level of quality we're going for with this build. Naturally, deciding to go with all machined aluminum parts raises both the cost and the time frame required for the build.
Here are some (but not all) of the aluminum bits and pieces for R2's body:
At the upper left is one of the two pocket vents. Below that on the left are the two octagon ports, the center vents the power couplers and the three coin returns on the right. I was extremely fortunate to find a couple of R2 Builders who were VERY helpful with supplying me the center vents and ports. Thanks gents!! Not pictured in the photo are the coin slots, side vents, the second pocket vent, utility arms and the large data port. We do have those parts, however, so let's see what they look like installed into the body.
Here's the front view:
His right side:
His left side:
And the back:
The very next time you see our little astromech friend, he will have the familiar blue and white paint scheme we've all come to know and love. R2 has A LOT of catching up to do though to get even with 3PO, so before that, we'll take a look at the legs and feet.
Stay tuned!!  _________________
"I may not be Han Solo, but I play him in real life." |
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CaptSolo77 (Brian) Mos Eisley Base CO


Joined: 22 Feb 2011 Posts: 1295 Location: Tucson Medals: 1 (View more...)
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 4:57 am Post subject:
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Alright, hasn't been an update in a REALLY long time...so time to move on to the legs. I was able to purchase a set of CNC wood cut legs from an R2 builder who was replacing his with aluminum. They were in pretty rough shape when they arrived, but they can be worked with and were a good deal for all three legs and feet. Here's a pic:
As you can see, the legs are made by stacking several layers of wood on each other. That leaves visible seams between the layers, so the entire leg needed to be covered with Bondo:
After some heavy sanding, priming, re-sanding and painting, here is the near-finished result:
A similar process was used with the feet:
We're almost there now...
Stay tuned!! _________________
"I may not be Han Solo, but I play him in real life." |
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ThatGuysWithHat ()
Joined: 09 Oct 2018 Posts: 5
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Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2018 2:26 pm Post subject: Cant wait!
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Do not wait to see the end result already. You are great!  |
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