(12-23-2012) Merry Christmas!

(11-22-2012) Another test

I did two more tests yesterday and they came out very good.  A few blemishes, but that will be the subject of my next PRO TIP!

A Captain Obvious PRO TIP:  Do NOT paint when it's trying to rain!

Still even with me being impatient and painting while it was about to start raining, the finish on these two pieces came out smooth, consistent and all together acceptable.  The color appears lighter in the picture because of the flash, but I think it's a good blue for R2.

And finally, I did a test with some "Glacier White".  I now think my colors have been found and I can move on to painting R2 for real.

(11-20-2012) Tried a second coat and...

The second coat came out splotchy.  Not sure if it was a ground problem, or if I didn't clean it well enough, or maybe the powder was too cold last night and didn't flow well.  I can see that when I figure it out the color is going to be perfect, but I haven't gotten the hang of powder coating yet.

(11-20-2012) Powder coating tests

Tonight I tried to do a test with my powder paints.  Neither of my tests turned out too good, but I think it will look great once I stop making errors.

I got an old toaster oven to use for baking the paint onto the test items (utility arm blanks taken out of the skins for this test).  The first step is to set the oven to 425 degrees and let it warm up while you prep your piece and get the powder coat gun ready to go.  Prepping the piece consisted of wiping it down good with alcohol and making sure it was dry.

Next step is to powder coat the piece and place it into the oven (no pictures of this step).

PRO TIP:  Do not powder coat the piece and then drop it multiple times, like I did...

Even after I dropped it, I placed it into the oven and let it "flow out" at 425, then turnedthe heat down to 375 and let it finish cooking for 15 minutes.

 And this was my last test.  I put the powder on a bit too thin, but the results aren't too bad, for now.

(11-12-12) Paint

The powder paint arrived and I got an old toaster oven to cook some samples with.  The colors I'm testing are Jollipop blue and Glacier white from www.powdersbythepound.com and translucent blue and gloss white from www.eastwood.com - hopefully one of these colors will be acceptable and I can start painting R2 his proper colors.  I'll post some pictures as soon as I have something to show.

(11-05-2012) Periscope arrives

It's been a long time since I updated my blog, but R2 is still progressing.  Most of the dome work is done, but I do have a few more holes to cut in the inner dome and that always makes me nervous.

The center foot is all assembled and the outer feet have been shipped.  I still need ankles, but then R2 will be able to stand. 

I also ordered R2's test paint last week.  I ordered a powder coat gun and some different powder paints to try to match the look of R2.  I'm looking to find a cheap kitchen stove or toaster oven to cook the parts and do some testing.  I've always wanted to try powder coating and R2 is going to be my first try.  Getting some blue on the dome will really make it look like R2, but the all aluminum look is really cool too.

Last but not least, the new periscope arrived last night.  It was quite a complicated piece to assemble, but it looks great and it will be a great addition to the dome when the time comes.

(09-16-2012) Working on the electronics

This weekend I spent some time working on the electronics.  I spent a loooooooong time trying to get the Syren 10A controller to work, but it seems to be a lost cause.  I had planned to hook it up to the dome motor and control dome rotation, and maybe at some point that will happen, but for now I have the dome motor being controlled by a Sabertooth 2x12.  The controls are through a C6C from cheap control systems, and is currently being controlled with a Playstation controller (wired controller, the wireless controller I have didn't work).

I also worked on my Teeces v3.0 lights some more.  They seem to work fairly well with a good solid 5v from the bench power supply, but on battery they get a bit flaky.  I still had no luck in updating the sketch to v3.1 on the Arduino that came with it.  I ordered a new Arduino to do some playing with, and to hopefully figure out what I'm doing wrong.

If I can get the right screws/bolts today I will have the dome motor mounted.  I can't wait to have the dome rotating and the lights working reliably.  This will be a huge part of the electronics finished.