Aluminum outer ankles

Yesterday I found some time to weld the first outer Ali ankle for my r2.
Result? I like it!!

here is the first one (in the back) in comparison to my primered steel outer ankle (in front). some slight imperfections, but nothing big! a little bit additional welding and grinding and i am done:

Today I could begin with number two!
When both are ready, you'll see more pics!!

Pustekuchen !!

Der geplante EP 7 Filmabend fiel ins Wasser!
Die PS 3 hat meine Blue Rays nicht lesen wollen!! Aaaaaaargh!!!!
Auch nach einem Software-Update wollte sie immer noch nicht!
Muss ich mir doch tatsächlich noch nen Blue Ray Player kaufen!!
Mann mann mann, nee ne??

Abendfüllend

Endlich da:

Was ich wohl heute Abend machen werde....???? Grins!!!

Chrometrooper gloves

Today I ordered the second part for my chrometrooper costume. a pair of black gloves.
In comparison to the ep 7 stormtrooper gloves they are not partially white on the inside.
and i have to make some additional parts for the fingers. If you look closer, they are the Finger Elements of c3po!
So i'll gonna do them in metal. This will be fun to build them!! More pics to that later!

Outer Ali Ankles

today i picked up the parts for my outer ali ankles.

let´s see how it´ll work to weld them together...

Ali Data Panel

aus den staaten kam das ali data panel!

von der qualität her nicht schlecht, nur man sieht etwas zu stark die fräsmarken des fräskopfes. da der bereich aber farblich abgesetzt wird, denke ich, dass man das hinterher nicht mehr sehen wird!

fresh from states; the ali data panel for my r2. not bad, but slightly too much marks from the cnc milling.
i think this won´t be seen in the end after i have painted it.

Dome drive support, structural frame and skin problems

of course, those ali dome drive parts from the states look cool, but they are pretty expensive in comparison to the drive version from bernd.
two simple plastic gear parts, one simple motor with the right ratio, one metal gear, a few screws and you´re ready!!
so i will keep this version for my actual r2d2 unit!
the only problem is, how to get everything fixed. there are several ali frames offered, as well the homemade woodden ones adopting the mike senna style, not to forget the styrene frames.

for me, the styrene version of a frame for r2 is good for a static r2. the aging process of the material can´t be stopped! it´s white color changes to a darker creamy white after one or two years, then its loosening its flexibility and it cracks in the end. not good for a moving r2 unit!!
 

New ideas !!

i am planning a set of outer ali ankles for my r2.
according to the very sturdy steel version i built, the ali ones will be quite similar to them, only using another thickness and other minor modifications.

the parts will come tomorrow, so let´s see, when i can weld them together... ???

another cool thing that i´ll gonna do is the ali version of the skirt. i am still not pleased with the vacuformed styrene version i bought some months ago.

maybe a steel version will work too; i think to do both versions and decide at the end which one i´ll gonna use... 

Cleaning up that mess !!

over the last weeks (or were it months??), i didn´t really found the time to work on my ali r2-d2. shame on me!!

now it´s all dusted and not really looking good!

The cleaning of the Ali frame was done in 15 minutes. But only cleaning it??? For months i didn't found the time to work on him...no, i had to continue! Replace the woodden support of the dome drive motor against a metal version. And so much more.....

The last months i was searching instead for the last greeblies for r2.
i hope, that this great idea with the revolver system behind the large doors, having several possibilities to use all greeblies of all episodes, could be reality in form of a run.

It´s CNC milling time

just received from the cnc shop; a bunch of ali shoulder hub parts. same as in my last run on .net.

Vanilla

just a short break and then back to work!!

Weekend fun or i like building r2 steel parts!!

i spent some hours this weekend in building some more parts for my r2-d2 and my r2-t4.
after getting some more practise on WIG welding, i tried to make a battery box out of aluminum some weeks ago.
not that bad for a first try!! :)
but i intended to do some more steel parts for my r2-d2 unit. so i made the second outer ankle (on was alredy finished some weeks ago!).
here are the outer ankles and the center ankle together with one battery box on one picture:

after having a lot of work the last weeks (better say months!!), this gives me a new impulse to continue on r2. nevertheless i still look into the junkyard for some ali parts i still need for r2-d2.
does this make me a "collector"??? LOL

Dome comparison

i wanted to show you how to make a (steel) dome for your r2 unit!
on the pic you can see the "differences" between them.

what i used was a weber bbq grill half. they were often offered as used grills on ebay or local papers for a few bucks.
mine was 20 euros when i purchased it back then in 2013.
but there is always a "but"... you must have some skills in metal work and welding is required too! so when you don´t have two left hands, go ahead!!

here is the comparison picture; left is a weber bbq grill, better said, the lower half of it. in the back is the same one, still with a bended corner and two handles.

on top you can see four holes; one in the center can remain as it is, the others have to be closed by cutting and grinding some metal sheets that fit into them.  so welding and grinding is the way to go here.
the bended corner must be bended back. so you get more height.
add another strip of metal all around to get the affordable 300 mm height.

the only remaining visible difference is the dome shape. the bbq dome is exactly round, the ali dome (on the right of the pic) is kind of oval, egg shaped.

you can only "see" the difference by having two different domes standing beside each other.

Small ankle details and outer shoulder hubs series planned...

I am planning of doing another small batch of the ali ankle details and shoulder hubs...
I already contacted my buddy at the CNC shop.
Let's see, what he can do for me.... ;)
Unfortunately I even sold my sets of Ali ankle details and shoulder hubs to other builders in need and i didn't intend to use resin parts for an all Ali/steel r2!

Quite disappointed...

J'ai été bien décu de la qualité et le prix de la nouvelle casque d' anovos d'épisode 7 du Stormtrooper.
250 Dollars était trop cher!! Á mon avis la casque a un valeur de 50 roros maximum!!
le voilà:

ziemlich enttäuscht bin ich vom stormtrooper helm der firma anovos; da hatte ich mir mehr von versprochen. aber der hersteller spricht ja von einem "standard helmet". den gleichen gibts dann auch noch in glasfaser. der kostet dann aber direkt doppelt so viel!! geht gar nicht!
der basishelm schlägt mit 250 dollar zu buche. viel geld, wenn man bedenkt, dass das nur ein bisschen billiges plastik ist. und das ist noch nicht mal gekennzeichnet. keine ahnung, ob e ssich da um abs, pp oder pe handelt.
Hier frisch ausgepackt:

i was quite disappointed from the anovos ep 7 "standard" storm trooper helmet and was expecting more for that much money!! 250 bucks !! the fiberglass version is even double the price of the standard one. and not a single mark about which material they used...hmmmm?!
just unboxed:

und alles ist simpel zusammengeklatscht. sieht aus wie made in china (und da kommt er sicher her!)
innen gibts eine kopfhalterung, wie man sie bei baustellen- oder schweißerhelmen sieht. das "schweißband" an stirn und hinterkopf ist lieblos drangemacht, die enden sind schon ausgefranst. da sieht mein schweißerhelm innen besser aus!

simply looking, loveless assembled, the "head belt" is functional, but the sweat belt is already worn out at the ends. my welding helmet is looking better and is even cheaper with its electronics inside!

fait vraiment simple, la fixation pour la tete est fonctionnel mais c´est déjà tout. 

die schwarze kunststoffblende ist innen mit mehreren befestigungspunkten versehen, nur sind vier davon gar nicht befestigbar in der helmschale. (siehe rote pfeile) die seitenbereiche lassen sich leicht nach innen eindrücken.

the black inlay part is only attached to the outer hull on a few points. four of them are prepared but not fixed!! so it can be easily pushed from the outside inside! not good!

l´insert noir a ses point de fixation, desquels quatre sont préparé, mais ils manquent les memes points sur la casque à l´intérieur! on peut facilement pousser de l´extérieur l´insert noir à l´intérieur!! pas bon!!

Anovos Storm Trooper Helmet Ep. 7

Heute kam die Bestätigung, dass der neue Stormtrooper Helm unterwegs zu mir ist!
Seeeehr geil!!!
Mal schauen, wann er eintrudelt...

today i got the confirmation mail... the new episode 7 trooper helmet is on it´s way to me!! let´s see, whe he will arrive...

aujourd´hui j´ai recu un message concernant la casque stormtrooper d´épisode 7. il est en route!!!
voyons quand il va arriver...

Periscope Lifter Assembly

die montage des periscope lifters war gar nicht so schwer. nur die fehlenden zölligen inbusschlüssel machen die montage etwas tricky!!

hier das gute stück in montiertem zustand:

bis auf die endschalter habe ich die elektronik aber in der tüte gelassen! denn die anschlussstecker müssen angelötet werden. da ich aber nur recht klobige lötpistolen habe, wird eine der nächsten anschaffungen eine lötstation sein. und ein englisches rad!  was das ist, erfahrt ihr:    auf www.oldtimer-bergisches-land.blog.de

here you can see the assembled periscope lifter kit! it was a little bit tricky, because i didn´t had the inch hex keys, but it worked!

the electronics will be done later! i still doesn´t have the right soldering station for it. one of my upcoming things to buy in the near future!

le voilà le periscope lifter kit assemblé. c´était bien difficile, mais à la fin, tout a fonctionné bien! l´électronique sera monté plus tard; il me manque les matériaux pour faire ca!