R.i.P.

Rest in peace Carrie Fisher !

Rogue One

The troop was successful! Making kids and parents smile seeing my R2 and all my friends at our local cinema was great!!

Here my Buddy Oliver and R2:

 And some of the others...not all of the gang on the pic:

They made pictures with us and we went to a nearby shopping mall where quickly a big crowd of curious spectators surrounded us.
After all that trooping we saw Rogue One in the cinema in 3D.
A little bit too dark because of the glasses, but really cool!!
So out next trooping there will certainly be there in Dezember 2017 for Episode 8!!

Internal R2 Builders Day

The xmas madness is over and i will use my free time of the next days to build a lot of r2 parts in steel and Aluminium.
Something like these parts....

Radio Station Visit

today we gonna have a visit to a local radio station. i will pick up my oldest daughter and my son in costumes (mandalorian head hunter and rey). r2-t4 and myself will be there too! we all will answer some questions concerning our hobby and the new star wars film "rogue one-a star wars story" appearing on cinema at the end of next week!  
and we will make some pics for their website and facebook.
so getting out r2 from the dirt and clean him up!!

Second box done !!

Today i found the time to build the second Ali battery box.
And i get quicker and more routined in welding Ali.
Again number one...

 And the second done too!!

One done, one more to go!!

the first ali battery box is ready!

Bending and welding

Day two of the ali battery boxes building process.

after bending the first sheet around a tubing (not that easy with 2 mm ali!!) and the second part to get the "steps" into it, welded the backward plate into it and grinded it with 40 grit.

next step is to fix the front plate to the box and weld it on too!

Ali battery boxes

Time to build a set of CS:L Ali battery boxes.

First results

building the silicon mould was a challenge, getting the very thin resin part out of the mould another.

the result was a too thin part, warping and cracking too easy. :(

here you can see it laying on top of the leg:

cutting it into two pieces...

the part didn´t satisfy me! super light, cool, but really too thin. and too much work to redo it. adding more resin from inside, repairing the cracks and the warping of the parts... hmmm  a lot of work too.

now i have to figure out, which way of opening system is the best.
this one?

or the jag style?

The Blog

talking about this blog;
ok, the name is "der deutsche r2 blog". this means, it is a german r2 blog. but thinking to write everything in german would be fine, is a fatal mistake!
most of my visitors are not from germany, no, they are from all around the world. so the mostly used language is of course english. that´s why i decided to post everything here in english. i might do it in french or spanish, in dutch or german too, but this would be too much work for me!! ;)
so i keep it in english. if you are not that familiar with this language, please use the google translator or any other translation program.
happy building !!!
PSN

Espanol

Hola mis amigos españoles R2 Builder !!
Gracias por visitar mi blog en el que.
Estoy feliz de ayudarle en la realización de sus astromecánicos.
Para preguntas acerca de las piezas que se muestran aquí se puede ponerse en contacto conmigo.
Esto va más allá de los comentarios. Los comentarios deben primero ser desbloqueados por mí y no son visibles para los demás.
Como alternativa, puede enviar un correo electrónico a la siguiente dirección: notchback64@web.de
saludos cordiales
Prostreetnotch (PSN)

Customs

today i had to drive to the customs. its a 25 minutes drive...boring, a lot of traffic, bad wheather.
but everything was fine after i received (and paid the tax for) the ali radar eye from granite earth!

great stuff!

Difficult

Getting the Silicon and the resin part out of the mould was horrible!
But I made it!
I added some more resin on some Spots and will have to spent some additional time in it, but for the first attempt it's looking good!
But today is outer feet building time, so the resin Booster Cover has to wait!

Page Update

i just updated my other r2 related page...visit it under:

www.prostreetnotch.jimdo.com

Diet Ali Ankle Details

my preferred cnc shop made some new parts for me...

the same as in my previous runs. just plug and play!! :)

So tricky !!

doing such thin walls on a mould was a challenge.
air bubbles remained in the resin. i already opened the mould halves and saw areas, that had no resin in it. so redoing it was the plan.

having it done now, i wanted to get the the silicone inner mould out of the woodden frame. almost impossible.
i have to try something else... :(

Ready, steady, go!!

Today was building time! Building a Center Ankle for a good friend's r2 unit, then building the mould and put some Silicon plus the part into it. Here is the result:

Next step is to prepare the two moulds to get a resin cast of it.

First mould

I got the woodden sheets from my neighbor, the carpenter.
But the very first thing I made, was to prepare the Ali Booster Cover. Closing Thread holes, closing openings, modify the Booster Cover with an Air powered Tool.
Then adding Silicon into the cover...

Next step is to build the woodden mould.

Mould building

Yesterday my neighbour the carpenter had no time to cut the woodden sheets for me, but today it might work.
So when the the frame has been built, i can put the booster cover into it.
I have to do two steps; fabricating an inside and outside mould piece. Plus outlet channels to avoid remaining air bubbles in it.

Mould Frame

taking all the lego bricks from my son isn´t the best idea. i decided to get some woodden sheets from my neighbor, the carpenter.
some screws, some minutes of work and the basic frame is done!
if my neighbor would be there! a few minutes ago, he and his brother were still in their business, now it´s closed.
let´s have a look, when they will return... :(

Arrival

the silicone stuff has arrived now one day earlier than announced.
crazy!!

Delivery Delay

The silicone shop sent me a mail yesterday, that the ordered material hasen't been produced yet and there would be a delay until the 10th to14th of this month
But the very same day, only two hours later, i got the annucement via ebay, that it has been sent...
Aah yes, i see....!!!
Now it should come on Thursday...
Surprise surprise!!

Silicon Stuff or "The Real Booster Cover"

i ordererd some new silicon to make a big mold for my "real booster cover". i hope to get it in the next days.

then i will "borrow" some lego bricks from my son to build a huge mold for the ultralight resin booster cover.

more pics and infos on that later!

The Postman always rings twice !!

last week i ordered one of the last parts for my ali r2; the radar eye. a little bit more expensive than expected (too high shipping rates!!), but i simply wanted to have it!! :)

i already had the dome drive and the dome drive bracket for my ali r2. but an interesting offer made me change my mind.
next week i´ll gonna get a gearless version from my buddy ricardo.

so pics of the radar eye and the dome drive in a few days!!

Mando Costume

I've been doing from time to time some work on the mando costume for my son. Rogue One is coming soon on cinema, so the first troop of his life is the reason to get it finished right in time!
Here are some pics of the unfinished costume:

New plans for "Real" Booster Cover

I will make a new silicon mould of the Ali booster cover.
Then there will be made several cuts in the ultralight resin parts, that i will get out of it.
The target is to get them open and/or sliding into the legs openings of my steel (and soon) Ali version lightweight legs.
Due to massive work in my enterprise and preparations for a small new series of my wellknown diet Ali ankle details there will be some time passing by!
As well i am working on the Princess Amidala costume for my daughter.
The Jyn Erso costume for her is "on ice". Too much details and not enough time to get it finished until mid December!!

Ali Ankle Standard

here you can see a pic of my newest parts; the standard version of the ankle bracket in ali. lasercut in 3mm.

Fixing plate for Booster Cover and Leg Struts

hi builders!
here is a new creation for the fixing of the extended leg struts and booster covers in ali. it fixes perfect to the ankle bracelets for the extended booster cover/leg struts version:

the holes are 6,5 mm, so M6 screws will fit perfectly!)

Ali Ankle Bracelets for extended Booster Covers and Leg Struts

so, i made some plans with my buddy at the metal shop and we realized a new part; the ali ankle bracelet for the extended booster cover/leg strut.
here it is:

 and a pic of it on one of my ali/steel legs:

the additional support bracket for the leg strut and booster cover fixation is under construction. so more pics later!
of course there will be another version of it; the "normal one".
there will be only the cutout of the leg. pics later!!

Just a link...

...but in the end it was a full page and a not really working Blog...!
Wanna see it?
Okay, here it is: www.prostreetnotch.jimdo.com

I got something done...

Yes! Some more parts for r2 are ready!! Outer steel feet shells, steel center ankle, shoulder hubs, outer feet greeblies...
Pic to that later!!

Ali Radar eye

A "must have" on my list is the Ali Radar eye.
A cool part and one of the last things I need to have for my astromech.
Next month i have the money to buy it from 1a-parts.

Waiting...

Well...still waiting for the Ali Dome hinges from Dennis...hope to get them soon.
I think i'll gonna contact him again...

Dome hinges in Aluminium

Dennis will send me his set of Ali Dome hinges the next days.
I guess only the basic version without rods, springs, etc., But this is not the big problem; I will use springs from pencils and small linkage metal rods are already on stock!
The only thing to produce is a 5 or 6 mm solid rod! So drilling holes in it, another holes with threads and I am ready!! The  micro servos for them are here too!

Decision

I decided to finish the Ali Center ankle, but will not use it for my r2 unit.

I guess it might be too weak and fragile for a heavy Ali unit with all Gimmicks in it!!
The better way will be to build a rocksolid steel Version!!
(Or buying a made for eternity full Ali made of one piece Center ankle from Michael.) This is a fantastic part, but way too expensive for me!!

Center Ali ankle works

I could begin the works on my Ali Center ankle!
First weldings showed me, that I used a too thin material!! Not good!!
I will continue it until the end, but I think it's the wrong way!
So the actual forces working on the ankle are too high for the too thin material!! It will crack soon i guess... :(
Pictures of it later!!

New Ali sheets

Got the Ali sheets for the center ankle.
Now it's time to find some time to build it...this is quite difficult at the moment.
Too much work in my Enterprise over the day and in the evening working at home preparing the floor and installing shower and other things in the new bathroom. 😞
Or doing the Handball Training for the kids...

Espanõl

Por favor , si desea ponerse en contacto conmigo para las piezas R2, utilizados en los comentarios. Esto no es pública y sólo puede ser visto por mí. Si esto no funciona , vas a complacer www.prostreetnotch.blogspot.de y no ha utilizado los comentarios

English

Have you ever wondered how to get in contact with me?
Nothing easier than that! In case of questions concerning r2 parts just leave me a message via the comments function.
If this shouldn't work, try it on www.prostreetnotch.blogspot.de !
No fear! The comments are not official unless i make them official! I just don't want to give any program on the net my Email adress!!

Francais

Bonjour à tout le monde!! Merci beaucoup pour visiter mon blog privé d'astromech!

Si vous avez des questions concernant des pièces de notre robot de la série R, n'hésitez pas et envoyez moi un mp par la fonction commentaire !!
Si ca ne marche pas ici, visitez www.prostreetnotch.blogspot.de. Là-bas, ca fonctionne!
Personne que moi peut voir votre message!

Votre PSN

House delivery

No, not a Pizza or anything else in this Direction!!
Because he was closeby, Michel made a short Trip to my home and delivered the ali cylinders!
And what can I say...simply perfect!!
Pic tomorrow from work!

Ali Cylinder

in a few days, i will get the ali cylinders for my r2 unit. the same guy sold me his fantastic hp´s!
unfortunately he hasn´t got the ali wedges for me! so i will have to start a search thread on .net for them! maybe i have luck!!??

Ali center foot

Ok. I thought, it would be time, to face another challenge...building an ali center foot.
I will contact my Metal Shop tomorrow, because I need some more steel parts.... and maybe I will order the sheets for a center ankle too....

Game of Thrones

margaery tyrell, so the name of the character my daughter was "playing" at the medieval fantasy convention this last weekend!
big fun for all, around 3000 visitors, with a mixture of sun (on saturday) and rain/cloudy, but dry (on sunday).

here a pic of her royalty / my daughter sitting on the throne:

costume was made by her and my mother! great thanx mum!!

Fantasy Show

My daughter intended to go for a nearby Fantasy Show called Medieval Fantasy Convention as a Game of Thrones character. But to get there isn't that easy at the moment!
Blocked roads make it very difficult to get there.
I might bring her to the nearby lift, because the meeting is held on a castle, but due to strong rain, she would be completely wet when arriving on top of the hill!! Not good!!
So we hope to have better wheather the next hours...
And if this doesn't work, we have to take another road to get there...with more than 15 km of additional driving....

Building update

a set of outer steel feet is done now!

weeks ago i started on the first shell, then the big delay! a lot to do at work and at home forced me to change plans in the building of parts for r2. now i could find some hours to do this beautiful set!

Thoughts

Well, i told you about thinking to continue on my 67 Beetle... if there wouldn't be a person that knows exactly how to destroy my plans...my beloved wife!! :D
Now I 'may' redo three rooms; creating a new bathroom, a storage room and our new bedroom.
So all the time is spent now into this!! :(
When I am done with this, (and I have done half of it now), there is a light at the end of the tunnel... maybe...

To Do List

Okay, Let's have a look...
Booster Jetpack?  Done!

Mando Helmet?  Done!
Overall with armor?  Almost done!

Boots?  Good question!!

Belt with leather pockets and blaster holster?  Under construction!

Blaster and Rifle?  Done!

Arm Booster steering/com unit?  Under construction!

Not long and I can continue on my '67 VW Beetle...

Mando Helmet and Greeblies

After a busy Saturday i am about to have finished the helmet and the greeblies except the tinted visor.
Here are some pics;

i made a silicone mold to get the r2d2 coin slots in resin. they will be applied to the rear of the helmet.

in the end it looked like this:

The (almost finished) helmet; the green has been applied too. i had to mask it with tape and added then again some toothpaste:

 i washed off the toothpaste and there it is:

Now on to the visor!
Therefore I visited my brother-in-law; he had some Plexiglass in 2 mm thickness for me.

Just some heating and cutting to get it bended to fit the helmet shape.

Update Mando Helmet

 Yesterday I found some time to do the last bondo works. next is the first layer of grey primer.

Well, the Mando helmet has now two layers of grey Primer on it.

 one in between step hadn´t been photographed; the base coat with silver metallic.

Now on to the greeblies!
Again some styrene sheets in 4 mm thickness and Ali parts will help me to get this quickly done too!!
Here you can see the first greeblie part hold to the helmet:

made out of styrene and aluminum.
and here is a shot of the already red painted helmet (with toothpaste under it for the used and scratchy look)

Mando Booster Jetpack

i could continue with the booster jetpack too!!

this morning i went to home depot and bought some new colour for the jetpack and the helmet!

silver metallic and red. so the work can go on...

here the jetpack already painted with a first layer of silver as a "base color" to get this metal look:

of course there will be more work on it! one or two more coats of silver have to be painted on the jetpack, then i can begin with the wheathering and the red paint. of course the ali greeblies may not miss this kit! parts of my r2d2 will find their way to it!!

the diet ali ankle details will be mounted here:

more pics tomorrow, when the wheathering will be done! now it´s drying time for the paint!!

Mando Helmet Work II

I was able to take care of the Mando Helmet yesterday.
All holes were filled, the front left side has its glued in parts too and everything is sanded and got a fine coat of bondo to eliminate surface imperfections.

 note; the front sides look different. the right side hasn´t yet been sanded but will have soon the same shape as the left side!

Mando Helmet work

next on the agenda is the mando helmet. i had begun with it last year, but due to some other projects and a lot of work in my enterprise couldn´t finish it right in time.

so this weekend i could continue on it!
some parts were cut out of 2 mm styrene sheets, to fill all the holes on the original mountainbike helmet, then glued in.

 from the inside i gave it some more strength; a layer of fiberglass and some resin with hardener and i am on a good way to resist cracks in glued areas!

Outer Ali Ankles

the second set of ankles had been made by myself out of aluminum.
here you can see ankle one already welded, ankle two in parts (not complete), already bended:

now the first ali ankle has it´s own bearing and tubing pressed in:

as you can see it has some light imperfections; these will be of course eliminated!

Ali Greeblies time

after having welded all of the second leg sheets, grinding was quickly done!
next step was to see, if all greeblies will fit the way they have to...

let´s have a look...

yess!! they do! under shoulder details aren´t on the pic, i couldn´t find them, when i made the pic! so holes have to be drilled there to get´em fixed!

next are the ankles. i made a set in steel and another in ali. but i haven´t made my decision which parts to use on my r2 unit... anyway, if someone is in need, maybe i can help...