R5 Dome and Mini-Mech

R5-D4 Flatpack Exercise

Aug 6 2004

r5d401.jpg
r5d401.jpg

The basic tools. Paper template, masking tape, ruler, exacto knife and scrriber.

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r5d402.jpg

The templates have been cut out and ready to use. I first taped the template to the styrene and then scored it with the exacto blade. I then used the scriber to make the deep cuts until I could break it away.

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r5d403.jpg

1.5 hours later I have all the pieces I need

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r5d404.jpg

Using the scrap styrene I started to glue the pieces together to see how they fit. Clamps are needed and patience for the glue to dry.

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r5d405.jpg

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r5d406.jpg

This took the most time to clamp and glue as there was quite a bit of stress on the plastic to keep it in shape as the glue dried.

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r5d407.jpg

Whoo hoo. Some minor fit problems but nothing major

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r5d408.jpg

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r5d409.jpg

The upper dome is a bit small for the cone underneath. I would say it is out by 2-3mm

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r5d410.jpg

And a gap between the side and lower cone. Fixable

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r5d411.jpg

I lined up all the seams to one side

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r5d412.jpg

Top cone is a fairly good fit

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r5d413.jpg

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r5d414.jpg

Tada. Not too bad. The gluing took about 3 hours as you had to work slow and made sure things lined up and I had to wait for the glue to set properly. I did not cut out the rectangle recesses as it would have weakened the top cone. I did scribe them as well as the top panels to be worked on later.

smini01.jpg
smini01.jpg

I have now taped the areas that had small gaps in them to get it ready to foam

smini02.jpg
smini02.jpg

Here is the 2 part foam that is mixed 1:1 ratio by volume and then it will expand to about 10 times the volume

smini03.jpg
smini03.jpg

Here is the first pour. I have sanded the inside of the dome to give the foam something to stick to. Any foam that gets on the outside can be scraped off with a bit of effort.

smini04.jpg
smini04.jpg

I then put a lip on the botom of the dome and then in 3 pours I foamed the sides of the dome. First was the upper dome. I poured some of the mixture in and then rotated the dome to cover the inside. I kept rotating until the foam expanded. This took a bit of time but the results look good. The reaction is exothermic (creates heat) so I could feel the heat in the plastic as I was turning it. Not hot enough to burn but fairly warm.

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smini05.jpg

Looking down inside

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smini06.jpg

Nice and strong. I don't know if I would risk sitting on it

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smini07.jpg

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smini08.jpg

Aug 30 2004

I shall call him Mini-Me. Here is the body for the mini-mech I am making. Since this has never been seen on screen I can go crazy on the design. Basic SW type design is used so it will be recognizable as a SW droid. Just different.

smini09.jpg
smini09.jpg

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smini10.jpg

So I have cut out some panels and filled in the back side with styrene to give them depth. I also made the oct ports as well as the power coupling surround and opened the front vent. I figured when I foam it the foam curing and expanding around the ports and vents will make them solid instead of cutting into the foam later. I did not do this with the R5 dome recess panels and that was a mistake by me.

smini11.jpg
smini11.jpg

Looking inside to show the backside of the oct port. The 2 black marks were put there so when I put in the oct port I knew which side to match up.

smini12.jpg
smini12.jpg

The power coupling surround was made from the bottom of a spray can. Quick and dirty. I wanted to keep this project moving.

smini13.jpg
smini13.jpg

All gaps and seams were filled with CA glue. With an accelerator I could quickly fill in the gaps. I could have used masking tape as with the dome but my CA glue was getting old so I decided to use it or it would have been wasted.

smini14.jpg
smini14.jpg

Outside view. Any little openings on the outside will be filled with putty to get a smooth finish.

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smini15.jpg

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smini16.jpg

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smini17.jpg

This is what my mini will look like. Pretty short eh?

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smini18.jpg

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smini19.jpg

I popped in the front vent into place before foaming so again it would be a good fit. I used some saran wrap to keep the foam from sticking to the vent

smini20.jpg
smini20.jpg

Now the inside of the body was a lot messier than the dome. The mixing ratio of teh foam elements must have been slightly off to produce the odd results. While rotating the body some of th efoam looked like it was ripping apart hence the ragged appearance. This took 3 pours and the rest of the foam to finish. I will need to do some carving and clean up to get to the finished state.

smini21.jpg
smini21.jpg

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smini22.jpg

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smini23.jpg

All done. Next to work on the frame. I got scooter motors for the mini and foot shells. I need to work on the leg and shoulder design so it will look decent and not squashed.

If you want to build your own R2 go here --http://groups.yahoo.com/group/r2builders

or here --http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/astromechs

for an R7 go here --http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/r7droidbuilders

Email me ask@interlog.com