Strip Searched

Couple of minor setbacks this week. First, after priming the Radar Eye with a couple coats of plastic primer, I went ahead and shot a coat of self etching on it. I only did this because I read it was still good for resin on the boards, and I wanted the same undercoat as all the other pieces so there wouldn't be any color variation. They were wrong. It cracked in several places and I had to do some major sanding to get it back into painting shape. My can of plastic primer sucked and the nozzle didn't work after the first round. So I used some clean metal primer on it. Its taken a few days to completely dry, but I think it just needs a little light sanding to smooth it and I can move ahead.

Thanks to someone else on the astromech.net boards, I tried clay as a masking agent in the booster covers. After over a week, the paint surrounding the clay still hadn't dried. I tried carefully to remove the clay, but it was pretty evident immediately that I would have to repaint. Acetone does a fairly good job of getting the paint off, at first it wasn't removing the primer. But I had to scrub a lot to gett all the paint off and the primer came off too in certain areas. I'll probably just give it a good sanding now and then reprime. One down one to go.

I tried rubber cement before the clay. It wasn't very exact, and shrank after drying. So I'll try good old masking tape this time around, it'll just be hard to get into the nook and crannies. I think I will spray the Radar Eye silver first, then mask off and spray the blue. Luckily weather here is showing in the 60s for the next week or so. Once all this painting is done I'll get started on the Dome Lighting Kit and getting the dome panels all cut out and hinged.

Spaced Out

*EDIT: Just ordered a new part that will replace these, are BC approved and should be the accurate dimensions. A cool new total PSI Housing system will hold the lenses a diffuser and the PCB boards in an aluminum and rubber gasket shell. I doubt I'll be able to unload these, luckily they weren't too expensive. But still, any waste of money is a little irritating.*

PSI Spacers arrived from Taiwan. These are a new part that haven't been run before and are still prototypes. I went ahead and got some because I thought, "how much better can an aluminum ring get?" The sizes are off a little on 300mm Domes, so I guess they can get better. The front (smaller) PSI spacer is just slightly too small, but a little elbow grease and sand paper will correct this. The back (larger) PSI spacer is too small by quite a bit, at least 1/8th an inch. Fortunately though, if you don't use the Outer Dome piece for this PSI panel, and paint the Inner Dome blue here like the real droids, then it really doesn't matter. I have yet to make any additional cuts to my Inner Dome other than the 3 Holoprojector cuts that were already there when I purchased it. So all I have to do is use the spacer for measuring the back PSI hole instead of the Outer Dome panel that already had it cut out. Problem solved.

Slot Machine

Coin slots arrived. Only two sets of body parts left, and one is on order.

Blue Period

Spent the last week painting a few blue pieces a night. Even had to get three more cans of the base blue. A couple pieces have some runs on them, so I'm going to sand everything down a little with some fine grit and re-coat the gloss. I tried it on one of the ankle detail pieces and it seemed to make it quite a bit smoother. I really like how it looks flat until you get it in the right angle of sunlight, then the metal flake pops and it looks a totally different shade of blue.

Optimus Primed

Sanding and priming have taken longer than anticipated. Therefore I didn't get to the blue this weekend after all. A cold front is coming in this week, but it looks like it will warm back up by next weekend. Now I plan on a little light sanding of these pieces over the course of the week and then I'll blue them next Sunday.

Balls of Real Steel

My Acetal Bearings from McMaster-Carr arrived today. A few other builders have found that replacing the steel bearings that come with Rockler with these is helping cut down on the noise. I tried the polishing and White Lightning lube, but I don't like the newton's cradle noise that still comes from the bearings hitting each other in the track. I just need to get some teflon lube and I can switch them out maybe this weekend.

I've been working on getting a final 400 grit sanding on all the dome panels today. Utility Arms and Large Data Port have been removed from the frame and need a light sanding before priming.

I decided not to file my Utility Arms down so they can clear the skins. I may someday down the road get them hooked up to servos, but until then, keeping them locked behind the skins keeps little fingers out better.

I've been using SteelStik to help fill in some of the small holes on panel edges and one particular dent in a dome pie panel. Its been working fairly well. It sands quite easily. I found it in the glue area on the paint aisle at Lowe's. Sets up fast, real fast!

What's your Vector Victor?

Resin Radar Eye from Azman. I broke down and got a resin one after a few failed runs for an aluminum version never manifested. I may get an aluminum one if a run ever happens. This way though I'll be able to paint all the dome pieces at once. Which may happen Friday, the weather is too nice so I'm taking the next couple days off. Couple runs started yesterday. Ordered Pocket Vents and Coin Slots. That leaves only a set of Side Vents to complete the body. The last 10 months have gone by fast.

Feeling Blue

I've been priming some of the blue parts I have over the past week. I plan on getting at least all the Dome pieces that need painting primed this weekend. There's a small chance of rain so not sure if I will actually get them all to final paint.

The so called "Krider Method" of painting is no longer quite the color I'm looking for since one of the colors in the formula is no longer available. Some people have substituted a different blue for the purple that was used in the original, but I'm not pleased with those results. Someone found what is called "Sonic Pearl Blue", which is the equivalent of Ford blue that is used on my Mustang. This was closer to what I was going for so I picked up a couple cans awhile back. A few people have been experimenting with using this as a base coat and the Anodized Blue from the Krider Method. I tried a couple different recipes and have come to a decision for what I'm going to use.

Although there is almost no discernable difference in the above photo, in person there is subtle variance. None of mine actually match the Ford as close as it looks. I guess human eyes are better than a 10 megapixel camera. I'm going with the far right method. Its a little more purple than the original Ford blue, but its the smoothest finish. In the right angle of sunlight it has a considerable amount metal flake.

So here are the cans if anyone out there wants to duplicate this method or try their own recipe. Primer and Gloss were from Home Depot/Lowes, and the Sonic Pearl Blue and Anodized Blue are from Advance Auto Parts.

Be sure and let the Primer dry 24 hours or so and wet sand any imperfections. Then only wait 15 minutes between all the coats of blues and gloss.

Playing Footsy

Steel JAG feet arrived today. These things feel pretty hefty. Definitely the heaviest part so far. UPS tracking showed 22 pounds. Since these are made of steel they have to be primed right away. The bags they are in now contain some grease to keep them from rusting. To bad I don't have my Center Ankle yet or I'd be able to get R2 to stand on his own. I guess I could always put him in two legged mode till then.

Also received the Periscope Housing and Riser Parts today. This is one of a couple optional parts that you can get. I always liked this feature of R2, so I had to get one. I haven't decided what all I will add to him yet, but may eventually get some things like a LifeFrom Scanner and Computer Interface Arm.