Skirting the issue

Parts Junkyard mega-score. Got an Aluminum JAG skirt today from local Tulsa builder Jeff Barnes. Just happened to be on the boards at the right time to snatch it up. Bonus for only having to drive a few miles and pick it up instead of waiting a few days for it to ship. Extra bonus that he'd already done some Bondo work and primed it.

Also got to see some resin parts in person when I went to his house. He's starting his droid no. 2 and is planning a more lightweight build.

Been working on mounting the skins to the frame this weekend. Have the inner front skins mounted, and almost have the inner back ones on as well. Its a lot of fine tuning to get it all to line up right. Also realized for the first time this weekend that a few pieces of the frame will need to be painted, mainly the bottom ring & utility arm carriers.

I'll take door #4 Monty

Been working on the front doors. Used the tried and true Office Depot binder clips for clamping the pieces together while they bond. I used the same Loctite 5 minute epoxy that I used on the Center Vents. Had some seepage in a few areas, but its cleaning up easily with an exacto knife and light sanding.

The heat wave here is crazy. Its been above 110 everyday the last week or more. So it looks like painting will be out of the picture until late September/October. That gives me a good amount of time to get all the prep done.

Also, the Ankle Details just came in today. These may be the first parts that are actually larger than I had foreseen.

Junkyard Dog

Another junkyard parts score. You got to be quick! Octagon Ports, Knurled Hose Fittings, and Center Foot Castor Bracket.

Done Venting

I've been working on the Center Vents for some time. The bottom internals needed a good bit of filing to fit in the surrounds. I laid the surround on top of the loosely assembled internals and marked them with a pencil so how much needed to come off would be visible. I used the trusty dremel tool sanding attachments and took my time. The bottom ended up with a small gap but its on par with what I've seen on other assembled units. There was a little larger gap on the right, so I evened up the left to match and it looks fine.

I used Bombs Away polish on them once I had sanded them smooth. That stuff makes metal super shiny. Can't wait to get the dome all polished like Lasse. I'm shooting for a weathered droid at some point. But I think I'll keep him sparkly for a little while.

I used Loctite 5 minute epoxy on the Vents. I've read that little kid fingers are murder on these particular parts. The epoxy feels pretty strong, so hopefully they will last without needing re-gluing down the road. There's not a whole lot of grip area, so I added as much support as I could in the unseen areas.

They slid right into place, but I'll need to grab some screws to keep  them there. Also, finished punching out the front outer skins as can be seen below. 

Next step is to glue the skins together. Although I'm still debating on getting some skin snaps or just using the mounts that I got with the frame. I did a test of the VHB tape with a some of the scraps. It seems to hold together pretty good. I could feel the two pieces barely start to come apart when pulled, but it took a great deal to even get that, so I think the tape will work out well.

Holy metal arms Batman!

Second group of international parts arrived today. Utility Arms from the UK. These turned out very well, and are really lightweight. I feel like I got into building at the right time. A lot of problem solving has been done and aluminum parts are being made lighter than ever. That of course doesn't mean I won't have any troubles at all...

Pop & Lock

Started removing the panels on the skins. Using the chisel and hammer method and its working fairly well. Its hard in the small areas like the coin slot strips. Put a couple small dents in a few places, but they'll bend easily back into place.

Also decided to go the AHB tape route on adhering the skins to each other. Ordered from RH Hughes and paid an exorbitant amount for shipping: $14.41 for UPS ground. After posting on the forums, I found out it would have been about half that from if I'd ordered from Amazon. Also, the UPS man "couldn't locate my house".  The street sign in my neighborhood blew down awhile back, but I've never had any delivery issues until now. Must have been a new guy. So looks like I'll be calling the builder and/or the city to remedy the situation.

Magnetic Personality

Put in a little Leg work over the last week or so (Wa, Wa, Waaa). First up was the need to grind a little off the JAG legs to be able to mount the Horseshoes. I screwed the shim into place then used a red sharpie to mark the area that needed to come off, like so:

I went ahead and used the dremmel with the coarsest sanding tool. It burnt through 3 of them, but did the job fast and easy. I also ran into a problem with mounting the Hydraulics and Under Shoulder Details. These pieces were drilled for a much smaller screw than the Legs or Horseshoes were made for. I thought about drilling these pieces out, but instead I just grabbed some #6 washers and lock washers which worked out great. They are all held in place very well, and it even clears the shims on the Hydraulics with just a lock washer. 

Finally, I decided to go ahead and mount the Shoulder Hubs. These are held in place by magnets: a set glued to the inside of the legs, and a pair to the back of the Hubs themselves. I used some Locktight Epoxy, which worked very well, almost too well. It was the quickset type, and it does in fact set quick. Luckily I didn't have an issue with needing to reset any of the magnets, but the epoxy itself set up inside the plastic nozzle within a minute rendering it unusable. Fortunately two nozzles came with the pack, and it took both to do the job.

One neat little trick I thought of was to use some paint to mark the placement of the magnets in the legs. I had one set glued to a hub and doubled up the magnets, then put a good amount of paint on the top magnet, and then placed it in the legs. When its lifted out you have a nice swab of paint to mark where to glue the magnets to the inside.

I did, however, forget to check the polarity of the magnets before mounting them to the first Hub. It turned out to be a happy mistake though. Because they are opposite I was able to make it so the Hubs will only go in one way. I even marked one magnet red and one blue on the back of the hubs and inside the legs. That way its real easy to tell just by looking. It turned out good as you can see below.

Now just awaiting Booster Covers and Ankle Details to finish out the legs before painting. Both of wich are ordered!