Put One Foot In Front Of The Other...

Between a mural and preperations for a 3 sign project,  I had a chance to work on R2's feet. They are actually "shells" that will fit over a wooden frame that holds the wheels and all the weight of R2.  They were cut out of sheet pvc (Azek and a thinner product) then assembled.

It took a little spot filler and primer and now they can be painted.

Next, I took a 3D model of the pieces of the "ankle" that is just above the feet.  I found some 1 1/2" HDU scrap and started carving:

Once I carved the other side, and put them together...I could paint it and test fit it on the bottom of the leg.

It's coming together pretty well.

After a quick trip to the store, I found another needed item: Braided hose. You see, R2 has 4 braided wire hoses that run from his feet (2 on each) to some boxes on the inside of his legs.  I found 4 of them 16" long and I'll cut 2-3 inches off of each. I gave them a coat of a bronze paint to get them to the right color.

I have a few more small pieces to carve for the feet details, then I can start to assemble the lower body.  It's coming together quickly now!

A prime example...

I thought I'd share a couple pictures showing many, but not quite all, of the pieces for R2.  I decided to take a little time last weekend to do some priming and filling on the legs and other parts that needed it.  The legs, in particular, needed lots of little spots cleaned up and some filler and prime work done to make them smooth and clean.  Sanding is certainly not my favorite thing, but when it's needed, I find that getting the best finish you can up front saves a great deal of sanding.

I "spot filled" lots of little indentations and then primed them and painted.  The next big project is really the feet, but I had to spend some time researching how I plan to attach the legs to the body.  I want to make sure it will be solid, and that most of the weight is on the feet, and not on the body.

As you can see, I still need to paint and attach one of the octagon ports, and add the blue details to one of the little square pieces in the upper right corner.  It's a lot like building a model kit, except that
I'm building the kit, which I'll then assemble.

Once the feet and all the little attachment pieces and details are done, then I'll work on the shoulder hubs that attach the legs to the body and it will then be time to think about that dome I've been avoiding.    I have several thoughts on how I'll do it, but decided to focus on the rest and save the dome to last.  Why?  Generally I like to deal with the hardest part first, but I already know there are some inexpensive solutions for the dome if necessary. I'd like to take a shot at scratch building it...so it seemed best to focus on all the rest, then return to the dome, knowing I have a backup solution if my own scratch build goes poorly.

Building things like this reminds me of something from when I was pretty young. I watched my brother turn some chunks of wood into Star Trek hand phasers many years ago.  At some point I got my hands on at least one of them...and as kids sometimes do- I hid it somewhere.  I vaguely remember burying it under another kid's porch- but have no recollection of what happened to it.  My brother and another friend (or two?) had staged some Star Trek photos with costumes and home made props.  If he still has those pictures, he's kept them in a secure Al Gore lockbox never to be seen or used as evidence of his past geekery.  I do remember that the idea of making things like that fascinated me.  In those days, the duct tape of  little boys was Testor's glue- a smelly, awful glue that stuck most things together other than the two things you wanted.  Open the lockbox, Haffner....scan those pics for me.

Re-Do

I've been very busy this week.  I've been working on some designs for a client's website and also have begun a mural in the entry way of a local business.  When I catch a few minutes in the shop at the end of the day, I've been doing some work on R2.

I spent some time this week fixing a couple small problems on the droid.  A fellow R2 builder pointed out that one of my vents was wrong.  I saw that he was right, and re-carved the upper vent.  I also carved the little blue utility arms and some curved pieces that attach to the bottom of the legs.

Today I did some more priming and a little painting.  He's looking more familiar all the time.

I've been thinking about my mistake and the guy who pointed it out.  He was very nice about how he explained the error and showed an example of how it should look. Truthfully, I should have caught it.  In turn, I quickly realized he was right and thanked him for the catch.  I wasted no time fretting over the error, but quickly moved to correct it.  It was a small thing, and many people wouldn't notice that it was wrong, but I wanted it right.  In a very short time, the mistake was corrected and I realized I needed to make sure that each piece I made matched with the original.  I had simply assumed they were both the same.  By checking each piece against the thousands of images online, the chances of a repeat mistake are lowered substantially.  In fact, it could have been something much more challenging to fix.  The mistake will have been useful.  I checked to be sure the two blue utility arms matched before I carved two of them. Potential mistake averted.



I thought back to my previous job and how much effort was spent all around that company trying to hide and/or cover mistakes.  Much of the corporate world is very wasteful and inefficient. I thought about the amount of time put in by many employees (including myself) trying to prove they hadn't made a mistake or that it wasn't their fault.  Worse, entire meetings were dominated by a mistake and processes were built in an attempt to ensure a similar mistake didn't happen.  Whole departments would be given new instructions regularly to add more redundant and often ridiculous processes that would prove we were trying to reduce mistakes.  You see, the corporate world in general sees the formula like this: Mistakes = lost profit.  That formula works...but not always.

Development of something new, or learning a new skill is a different beast.  Once you know how to make a pizza, and have made a few...the number of mistakes should be pretty low. On the other hand, inventing a whole new form of pizza- one that's never existed...not so simple. Mistakes, in this case, are the stepping stones to success.  We learn by practice and repetition.  We come to understand the process that will work. I know that were I to build a second R2D2, there would be fewer mistakes than I've made on this one...and a third unit would likely be even more error free.  Additionally, mistakes sometimes lead to something wonderful.  A mistake while trying to invent Super-Glue led to the invention of the Post-It note.  So my advice is this: Don't be afraid of mistakes. Don't be afraid to own them. I'm not suggesting you go out with the goal of making mistakes, I'm just saying that you have the most potential to learn from them. Use it.

Time To Vent

I spent some time this weekend on R2. I cleaned up all the edges of the "skin" and attached it to the frame. I also had to do some work on the files for many of the 3D parts needed on his body. There are some things called "Power couplers" and "Octagon" ports as well as the "Vents"...I set up each of those and used various pieces of scrap HDU to cut them out. Some were 1 1/2" others 1" or 1/2". That's why some pieces are grey, some yellow and others a salmon color...all different kinds of HDU I had.

I put them in place just to see how they fit. I'll have to prime and paint each of those before I put them in to stay. I still have to carve a piece called the "Coinslots" as well as the "Coin Returns".  Lastly, the two weird shapes just below the dome on the front.  It seems like I've come a long way- but still plenty to do.

Fits like a second skin

here is skin #2. This one goes on the one completed earlier.  There are actually several pieces that get cut and glued inside some of the pockets..they are held in with very small tabs right now.

Here is the second skin temporarily taped in place over the inner skin.  Lots of cleanup to do on the edges of this second skin. I'll work on that in the morning.

I'll also carve to two skins for the backside.  If I get a chance, I'll glue up the front and back inner skin as well. In order to hold it all in place during glue up, I'll glue the skin to the frame, and wrap the whole thing tightly with plastic wrap to hold it tightly to the frame while the glue dries.  You can almost start to recognize the little guy from the body alone...