Question

i have seen on astromech.net, that on an original epsiode 4 picture, r2-d2 is standing with alex guiness in the desert. on this pic you can see, that the ankle details are way more flat, than they are on the club spec pictures and blueprints... what do you think?

here an ankle detail made to club spec:

and by the way; do you see the missing octagon port and the connectors in front of the battery box?

Good kept secret...

it won´t take long anymore...

no, not the premiere of episode 8 of star wars, it´s the arrival of parts for a new project.

but until the parts won´t be here, i will not show you anything about them.

estimated arrival of the parts shall be today, but i am not that sure...
gonna have to check the tracking number again...

New steel battery boxes

Today i began the work on the battery boxes in steel.

The first box ist ready for a sandblasting job.

Tomorrow the next box will be made!

Ali sheets

Tomorrow morning i will go the CNC shop before starting with my work.
I already talked with my buddy there today on the phone. To be sure to get the right parts, i will visit him.
The ali parts will be for a new project; all three ali feet.

And there was somwthing i really had to laugh about today; r2 builder Commando 8 announced that he would be the only one building and offering steel center feet...i guess he can't look over the pond...america first...LOL...

Steel sheets

I receiver the steel sheets for the battery boxes...
So i think to manage it to get the boxes built weithin this week...hopefully...

Electronics

The most hated thing i have during the construction of r2. Many of you will think the same.
Anyway, to get small er circuits done easy, i ordered a soldering station for a few bucks.

 In front of it you can see two small circuits i soldered with the new station.

Running out of time

To get all the work done right in time, i cannot take any more orders at the moment. That's why the bigger sandblasting projects coming in in at the moment have a waiting time until january!
I will concentrate my power in the making of the new Episode 8 Rey costume for my daughter. ( and for a small 'secret' necessary for next month.)

Finished Ali Battery Boxes

ok, the finishing works on the ali battery boxes set are done!

some light grey primer was added and now the parts can be painted.

beyond the battery boxes you can see the next parts...sheets for the battery boxes in steel... let´s go!!

Captain Phasma

a long time ago i started the building of my new costume, captain phasma.
having almost the same height (gwendoline christie is 6"3, i am 6"4), this costume will look good on me in the end!
a girl working for ubisoft had a phasma helmet, so i immediately said "i´ll take it". but she wanted to do her own costume.
two months later she stopped her plans to realize this and gave me a call. the price was good and the owner changed!
then for a long time i did nothing.

some months ago i started to build the very first parts in aluminum. the hand cover and some finger ring elements looking very similar to the ones from phasma / c3po.
cheap black gloves were bought.
then again a stop.

now i continued on it. a friend of mine has the possibility to paint the helmet with a silver nitrate system to get the chrome look. i saw some youtube videos about it and i can say it´s really impressive!!
my part before this is to prepare it. so sanding, adding a filler coat, sanding, sanding and sanding is on my to do list the next days.

three weeks ago i ordered a neck seal, the same as the stormtrooper version. last week i got it fom england. very good quality and price.

the phasma blaster (3d printed parts) is ordered in the netherlands. i think it will arrive after xmas.

now i have to look for some shoes. hope to find a very similar to the (expensive) trooper shoes on the internet.

more certainly in the next weeks!

Rey´s Blaster

i got this blaster months ago, but didn´t managed it to finish this project. now was the time to do this!

with the new star wars film coming in a few weeks, we, my daughter and me, getting in a state of weirdness, finishing the new rey costume for her.
the leather holster is in production, the blaster wasn´t. so getting the parts out of the box and lets get it started!
the parts were from a guy in sweden. the price was ok, so i ordered it.

first of all sanding, then a primer job was necessary.

after this a coat of silver base paint for the metal look was applied.

The grip parts were painted in black, too. Plus two layers of a clear coat.

a coat of dull black was painted with a small brush into the gaps and the square areas.
the next step was applying some toothpaste into the painted gaps. another coat of silver was painted over the parts.
after the parts were dry, i brushed the toothpaste under flushing water out of the gaps.
playing around with dull black from the spray can with wiping it away using a towel was necessary to get a used look. some light metallic blue for the front end of the gun and i was ready!

and here is the result:

  

A finishing touch

...on the ali battery boxes had to be done.
Some grinding and some putty here and there to get a good surface and afterwards some fine sending and i could add the light grey primer...
Pics tomorrow.

Very good !!

a not so good guy was banned from therpf.com . i ordered a long time ago a blaster for my phasma chrometrooper costume and paid in advance half of the money.
the following weeks and months almost nothing happened, only one small answer and three tiny 3d printed pieces for the blaster photographed on his living room table. that´s it. further requests havent´t been answered by him until today.
now i saw he was banned from the forum. well done forum admins! (by the way; after this long time i never expected anymore to get the chrometrooper blaster or my money back.).

i ordered the blaster now in the netherlands and hope to have more luck this time. unfortunately the delivery date will be after the premiere of episode 8 in december.

Stormtrooper Helmet

this evening i will go to a comedian show with a famous german guy called hennes bender.
he is a great star wars fan and often includes scenes or funny things about it in his program.

i think i will take my EP7 helmet with me and put it on my head during the show for a short time. the theater is not that big, so i guess he will see it and certainly will laugh!!! 
(pic taken from "der westen")

Battery boxes finishing works

Today i could manage to do the last "fine tuning" on the two ali battery boxes.
The second box had to be grinded, both were smoothed with a fine putty for a perfect finish.Now some fine sending on both of them and i could paint the primer!

Aluminium Parts Update

I told you about the leg to shoulder rings some days ago. Now a small update; the first set will be reafy this week, so i guess to get them in the next days.
When they look good, the other sets will be produced too.

Aluminium Battery Boxes

due to not on stock parts in steel, i decided to build a battery box set in aluminium.
so no standard steel welding (MIG), no, it is an aluminium welding process (WIG), which is much more difficult than steel welding.

here is the result; battery box one almost ready. welded and grinded, only minor gaps have to be filled and a light media blast and primer painting is necessary:

 

Finishing works on outer feet

Glad to have a part time employee; he will do my work this morning while i can take care of the outer feet finishing work...

More Star Wars Films

what i was thinking of, will become reality! disney will bring out some more new star wars episodes. with new characters in the same old universe, far far away!!
let´s see, what they will create... i hope they ask george lucas for bringing in some old spirit in a new storyline...
but...will kathleen kennedy be still on top of the production? she is in her mid sixties now... retirement is coming....

rian johnson is the choosen one...well, the choosen director for the new episodes...

Leg to shoulder ring

No news concerning the leg to shoulder rings. I hope to get positive news within the next days!

Welding works

Today on the to do list: drilling holes and making threads into the ali ground plate for the center ankle.
And finishing the second outer ankle. Welding, grinding, sandblasting and primering plus pressing in the ball bearings.
Now on to the second outer foot...

Exchange

in exchange for some of my parts i got these R5 dome parts in aluminium:

and a gear set for the dome drive:

Late arrival

Yeszerday evening i gör a late delivery from my CNC shop buddy.
He brought me a bunch of the ordered diet ankle details in aluminium.

Looking pretty awesome!! As always!!

PSN Frameworks

i can´t believe it myself!!! i could work on number 2!

i installed the three actuators in the ali frame! yihaaa!!