Coupling

Power Couplers arrived from Russ in England. Russ's parts have been of exceptional quality. These are even designed for easier painting. Hopefully he will be running the coveted Aluminum Radar Eye next, and possibly the new JAG Octagon Port design. I wouldn't mind trading the Octo Ports I got off the junkyard for the newer design. He also sells other prop replicas not associated with Artoo building. Check out his website for more info. You may find something you have to have.

Skater Boy

UPS just dropped off the caster wheels I ordered a week ago. After reading through a dedicated Center Caster Wheels thread on astromech.net, I decided to go with 2.5 inch skate style wheels from Rockler. These aren't as soft as I'd imagined them to be, but I'll give them a shot. It looks like these are one of the parts that people try different options as they wear out over time. But these also look better to me than a standard Lowe's or Ace caster. And of course I went with the blue option.

Pocket Full of Kryptonite

Pocket Vents arrived from Guy in Burbank, CA. I've realized lately how many different areas of the world R2 parts come from. I wish I'd have paid more attention when they arrived. My little astro droid will have parts from all over the U.S. - Texas, Arizona, California, Rhode Island and several more states. Not to mention a few international parts from China, Australia, and England.

Spin Doctor

My first video!

Like some other builders, I replaced the bearings in the Rockler with Acetal ones from McMaster-Carr. This was the 3rd time I'd taken a Rockler apart. Cleaning it and replacing the stock lube didn't quite live up to my expectations.

I cleaned the grease from the track, used the dremel to clean up the little bit of slag in there, then sanded it with 400 grit paper and wiped both pieces down as best I could. Then I sprayed a little Teflon Lubricant in the track, replaced the bearings leaving about 2 inches of empty space in the track just as the original bearings did, and finally sprayed a little more lubricant into the open gap in the top.

You can see the difference. It was only getting about 3/4 a turn per spin before. Now its going a full 3-4 rotations. I added the Dome Base Plate and Dome afterwards and still get 3 full rotations with a modest hand spin. It quieted down too. Almost totally gone is that annoying bearing knocking that came from the stock balls. It always sounded like a Newton's Cradle to me. Although not completely silent, it should be loads better and sound a little more like the Artoo in the movies.

Three Legged Race

The day has come. R2 can stand on his own. Pretty freaking cool. Looks like I'll have to use the Center Ankle Adapter for the Com8-B frame. These were made after someone with the same frame noticed the Center Foot didn't sit level on their droid. Mine isn't as extreme as theirs was, but its still not quite level. Before I cut anything I'll see what some of the other builders have to say. It may be best to wait till I have the Foot Drives and center casters in. See below.

Center Justified

Center Ankle has arrived. Now I can put R2 on all feet. Will try to do that in the next week or so. Foot drives should be in fairly soon as well. Looks like I better start getting some electronic guts.

No Longer Feeling Blue

Not much on the blog front lately. I've mainly been getting all the blue paint as finished as I can before the cold weather finally set in a couple weeks ago. All but about 3-4 pieces will need some clear coat touchup next spring when the weather abides again.

Had some success with masking the Booster Covers with Elmer's Glue. The bottom four masked areas on each didn't turn out to well though. Masking Tape on the coin slots didn't fair very good as well. I posted a thread about masking tips on the forums, and the best advice I think I gathered from responses is that masking should be removed fairly quickly - within 2 hours. That way the paint is still pliable enough not to chip. Looks like these 3 parts will be stripped and attempted again this Spring with the remaining blue pieces I've yet to receive.

Not sure yet, but I'd like to attempt the Dome Lighting Kit sometime in the next couple months while its too dang cold to do much else.

I've ordered a few more parts, there's only a handfull left to go and most are electronics. The HP servo mounts came in yesterday. These allow a servo hookup to the HPs to add movement. Some assembly required.