Summer break

Now that C3PO is in Massachuttes getting plated, I won't be posting much because I'm taking a break from robot building. Instead I'll be doing a million overdue home improvement projects, art projects and R & R at the beach.

That's a wrap !

Sent C3PO out in a box last night to get vm plated. Sure hope he doesn't get lost in the mail.

I decided to not have one leg silver. He will be all gold.

Last minute prep before shipping C3PO out

Several hours of cleaning and last minute wet sanding of scratches wore me out. I washed all the pieces and epoxied the ears and eyes in the head. Also put a fresh coat of primer on the head.

I also glued the pistons in the outer position as suggested by Chris. By the time I got all this done, I decided to wait an extra day before boxing him up.

In other robot news ... looks like there's going to be a robot convention at a super location in Florida after all. Keep the end of January 2007 free. Details when I return from vacation.

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C3PO Neck pistons and work boots to slippers

It looks like the final stages are complete and he's ready to ship off for plating. I mounted the brass neck bolts (er whatever they're called) using some epoxy and plastic putty. After drilling the holes in the torso a coat of epoxy was applied to the inside of the torso and on the outside to keep them in tight. Then for extra measure, some plastic putty was applied over the epoxy (after it dried) on the inside of the torso. They lined up not quite perfect but it's not too bad.

The resin shoes I made included an extra 1" on the bottom of the soles making C3PO look like he had on clodhopper work boots. To cut the extra 1" of the soles off (in resin) has been on my mind the last couple of days. Today I decided to use my chop saw to cut the soles off. The laser guide really paid for itself and the job although a bit intimidating, shaved the bottom of the shoes off pretty clean. I had to make a pass on both sides of the shoes and it's important to have the 2 cuts line up. Now the shoes look correct ... almost like gold slippers.

I also experimented a lot with posing his arms. It's much harder than it seems to get a natural pose that will be secure. Plus another important fact to consider is it's easy to scratch the arms inside the shoulder bells if you're not careful. I scratched mine quite a bit. It's good to experiment now before the finish is on. The dilemma was how should I pose the arms. I was going to get him to wave one hand but that pose would get old after awhile. If I wanted to rig sound into him and have him converse with people then the hand in the air wouldn't look right after one minute. And I won't automate that with servos for quite some time. So the arms will probably just hang naturally at his side for the time being.

Vaporizor / Brainwashing gun

My 7 year old nephew came over yesterday to help me with all these robot projects. He pointed out "C3PO is supposed to have wires on his stomach uncle Jim". So I gave him a box of scrap wire and told him to wire him up ! He had fun picking out various guage and colored wire and then cutting it to size, jamming it into the stomach section between the chest and pelvis. He was ok with the fact that I would have to remove the wire later on when I took him apart again.

After that, we went into my box o junk and proceeded to build a "vaporizer / brainwashing gun" using that resin glue gun base I made the other day. It was a good way to suit him up in safety glasses and learn how to use some power tools. We used my chop saw (he just watched that) and then used the table belt sander. Under supervision, he learned how to use the belt sander without losing any fingers or apendages.

We glued the two halves of the (resing) vaporizor gun together and glued several empty plastic wire spools together (for the barrel) as well as a couple of other gizmos that only a first rate space gun would have. We'll get together again when we get back from vacation to start attaching the dohickeys to our galactic weapon.

It's good to have an assistant robot builder around. I'm going to start calling him EGOR.

C3PO Stomach problems

As much time as I spent on the stomach section, I decided to abandon my idea of using the rubber runner and reverted to using the fiberglass piece that came with the pelvis. There just wasn't enough room to fit everything correctly without bunching up and too tight a fit.

The fiberglass piece now fits well after readjusting the internal skeleton.

I originally thought that the pelvis piece of the TK409 kit was wearable. Now I notice that it's listed as display only. If I had known that then I wouldn't have cut the fiberglass stomach section off of it. My wife put it on after I cut the stomach off and told me that there is no way a guy could fit into the pelvis. She's pretty small and it was a tight fit. They now offer a rubber pants piece that's used in the pelvis area when wearing this as a costume. But I can't justify spending another $300.00 more at this stage unless I want to start sleeping in the garage on a permanent basis.

Today I'm experimenting with posing the arms using different techniques. Positioning the shoulder bells correctly has been a goal before coming up with a way to mount them. It's good I'm doing it now because I notice the arms are getting some small scratches that I need to take care of. Better now than after I get him plated.

Looking at all the reference photos that Chris posted on the C3PO builders forum has been a tremendous help. Thanks Chris !

Today I keep wondering if I should give him a quick coat of gold paint. I have the paint .... and I don't think it matters when sending him off for plating. Hmmmmmmm

Foam B9 knees and working on C3PO's Abs

NOTE: The carpet runner over the fiberglass stomach DOES NOT WORK - a few days later I abandoned the idea after realizing the clearances were too tight to fit it.

I purchased a 4' piece of carpet runner at Home Depot today and wrapped 12" (h) of it around the stomach structure that was built this weekend. While at Home Depot, I noticed that there's a new type of hammered paint that's made for plastic. I love hammered paint - gives a real nice texture.

As soon as I attached the carpet runner to the structure, I sprayed a coat of hammered paint and it looks nice. The stomach rubber will extend about 3-4 inches on top and on the bottom of the fiberglass inner piece. Using just the fiberglass piece that came with the torso doesn't have enough flexibility and length. Next step is to mount the wires directly to this piece. I'm hoping that this will form fit nicely to the upper torso and the pelvis area.

So I had a few more spare minutes and decided to take the plunge and experiment with this new product from smooth-on called foam-it. It's a casting resin that makes a pretty hard foam piece. The foam liquid expands 2.5 times it's original density. I guessed that I would have more than enough foam (3 lbs) to make one B9 knee but ran a little short. That means I'll have just 1/2 knee after demolding. Enough to tell how this will work out and determine feasability of a hard foam knee for a B9 robot.

Also spent some time giving C3PO a shoeshine with lots of sandpaper !

Internal Skeleton

Today's goal is to put together some sort of internal skeleton to make the pieces fit together as opposed to the pvc skeleton which just supports the suit. I epoxied several bolts into the stomach piece which will attach to the skeleton. This skeleton will be removeable in the event that this reverts to being a costume.

Yesterday, the leg bolts were installed using several pieces of scrap sintra which were bent to conform to the angle needed. Construction adhesive was gobbed on the sintra and onto the leg bolts. The advantage of the construction adhesive is it fills in gaps with it's bulk and it's pretty strong.

Today the construction adhesive was dry so I mixed up a batch of epoxy and gobbed it all around the sintra and the inside of the leg bolt. This will strengthen the entire assembly and reinforce the sintra. Especially if the heat from the vm process softens the sintra. The epoxy will not only strengthen but will hold the correct shape and prevent warping.

The feet have been a major work in process but they will be nice when I'm done with them. Very heavy duty and good statue base. I ordered another set of vacuform feet for when he's used as a costume.

The final task on my list today is to attach the shoulder bells and circle gaskets by drilling holes in the suit and pieces. They will probably be attached in a very simple but effective manner .... using locking twist ties.

Almost ready for plating

I took this picture as well as a few others to send out for a quote to get C3PO vacuum metallized. That will give him a shiny gold finish like in the movies. I'm talking to a couple of companies right now but still haven't firmed anything up yet. One of the guys in the C3PO builders club is trying out a company in California.

C3PO's gonna look very cool when finished.