a busy building day
Hey guys. I had a really busy building day yesterday, where I nearly got to finish the frame for droid #2. Sadly I forgot to take my cam with me to the workshop, so no pictures... yet! Will take some soon (probably on Friday) and add them here.
I managed to dig out a picture of my wooden legs though, so here it is:
I also picked up the vent surrounds at the workshop and tried to put the louvers in there. The upper one worked like a treat, went in there right away, no problems whatsoever.
On the lower one I had to get out the file though, and "shrink" the outer angled bits a little so they'd fit into the surround. It's not a 100% ultrasmooth fit now, but it'll do (even with slight gaps at each side, oh well). As usual, a picture:
a shirt for Jedi Con 2008
Last weekend I came up with a design for a Builders club t-shirt for the upcoming Jedi Con in Germany.
I'm also offering the shirt to anyone else interested, there is a post about it on the mailing list now!
Here is the design, I hope lots of people are going to buy one so I can have them printed really soon... *cough*order one now!*cough* ;)
Got my center vents internals
I just got my center vent internals in the mail from Tom. Nice stuff!!
I have my surrounds lying in the workshop, so I can't check the fit there right now, but I've done a dry fit of the parts and they went together quite smoothly.
All I had to do on the lower vent inserts was file the slots on the angled parts a slight tad and then it also went together just fine :)
Here are some pics:
cpu arm arrived, finally finishing the pocket vents, and more!
The last week was once again a busy R2 week. Last Wednesday I went to visit Arnd, Germany's R2 "elder". We had a great evening talking about all sorts of droid madness.
Arnd is currently working on his new R2, which should be finished until Jedi Con in March - which is also my goal!
I took some pics from his workshop and his droids, thought I'd share them with you, so here you go:
What else? I nearly finished those pocket vents I started ages ago, and they look pretty good - I just hope they'll fit my skins now ;) They should though, as they're pretty much to club spec. I only need to clean them up a bit, and then they're good to go! Here's a picture:
I also started on a new frame last Friday, but didn't get too far, and as I'm doing it in a friend's workshop and forgot the cam, I have no pics to share here. Next time!
Last, but definitely not least, I got my computer interface arm from David Shaw. Boy this thing is awesome! Huge thanks to Dave here!
Next I'll have to finish the side vents and work on that frame. There is so much more to do, and Jedi Con is getting closer... Could someone teach me how to us Force Speed? ;)
2007 - a retrospect
I thought about what would be a good way to liven up things here a bit and since I haven't posted much during the past few months I figured I might just look back at what happened and sum it all up.
And actually there have been quite a lot of things happening that are worth to be mentioned here. When we go back to early 2007, like January, that’s where the serious work on my first droid was just underway. I think I finished him around March, and boy was I proud!
The building of droid no1 was also my serious “comeback” to the Star Wars fandom.
And what a comeback it was! After about 6 or 7 years as a “casual fan” I really got back into all things Star Wars, started reading lots of stuff related to the galaxy far, far away - and it felt like coming home!
I was back on track regarding the ways of the Force. And it would be the very Force guiding me deeper and deeper into the fandom madness…
I remember that one day at the local cinema, on which I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean with my band mates. In the entrance area there was a bunch of people wearing shirts that surely had no great impact on the weak-minded, but as a Force sensitive little fellow I instantly took notice of them. The back of the shirt read “Union of the Force”, with a website address.
After the movie it didn’t take me long to check out that address and I found out that it is a union of three fan dinners in my area. Well, guess what, I joined that forum, went to my first dinner in Bochum and met Arnd (Riedel), so we talked about R2 all night and had great fun. I knew instantly I found the right bunch of weirdos, and I am now regularly attending the local dinners, talking about the latest SW gossip as well as making new friends!
I met lots of members from the local 501st squad at the fan dinner as well, who helped me to get my stormie armour which I bought ages ago finally assembled, and from there it didn’t take long ‘til I could proudly announce that I’m now serving the Empire as
TK 8527.I also had my first event with those guys last October at a local shopping centre, which was just brilliant fun. The kids loved it, I was sweating like crazy, had all sorts of problems with armour parts falling off, but it was still lots of fun really! I’m definitely looking forward to more events to come :)
Lots of people from the local dinner also made the trip to FACTS Con in Belgium two weeks later, and as they offered me a seat in one of the cars I just joined them – After all the R2 builders had a stand there, so it couldn’t go wrong. And it surely didn’t! I finally managed to put faces to names, got to drive around with some droids and simply had a great time.
If you care to see, then here is a gallery of pictures I took at the con – lots of SW related pics here, but I’m biased, the con had a lot more to offer ;)
And now I’m working on a second droid, made lots of new friends through my rediscovered Star Wars madness and I have the feeling the rollercoaster ride has actually just begun, with more events coming up this year, the first one actually coming up very soon: JEDI CON, here I come!!!
… with the new droid, if I get it finished in time… better stop writing and start building ;)
Lots has happened in the past few months
Hey guys. As I already said in November, I haven't been posting here that much over the past few months. But I did work on my droid. And here's the big news. I actually decided to leave droid number 1 as it is and instead of pimping the old one, I have just started all over again. So far I'm nearly finished with a new set of wooden legs and feet, and the absolutely gorgeous 300mm dome.
Speaking of which, I had some trouble with my dome, cause the first inner dome Daren sent me was a little on the long side, leaving a far too big gap between the blue dome ring and the rest. Well, I talked to Daren, tried fixing it, failed, and he got me a new one, which fits a LOT better now :) I have finished all the cutouts and assembled it temporarily (thank the Force we got duct tape!) and here's a nice little picture I took of it:
I will take some pics of the legs and other stuff over the next few days and maybe I'll finally get this blog going. I just have to push my own lazy arse a bit and post here from time to time I guess. I will! Promised!
"Do or do not... there is no try"
