CV Setup Day

Today was setup day for Star Wars Celebration V.

I was a little late to the party, but when I arrived in the R2 Builders room late this afternoon, I was very impressed to find dozens of droids already in their positions for the convention. The quality, quantity and variety of the droids in the room is just incredible. The members of this club are simply amazing. Here is a sampling of the droids on display.







I finally got to meet Calvin and Brenda Thomas and their daughter Crissy in person, and their droids as well, after following their blogs for several years now.



Darren Murrer and Cole Horton did an outstanding job creating the transporter that is actually drivable. This thing even has cameras on board, including backup cameras!



Cole poses with his droid.



Blake Mann has a fascinating display. I love the color scheme of this droid, from Episode IV. Blake also created a real functioning droid charging station like the one seen in Episode V, and also compiled a Droid Operator Handbook. Really outstanding work. Blake's droid is almost ready for the 2-3-2 transition (2 legs to 3 legs and back to 2 legs, for those unfamiliar with the lingo).



As for my droid, and the rest of the droids that traveled in Damien's trailer, I'm very happy to say they all have arrived safe and sound! Thank you to Damien Metz, and Mike Johnson and his wife for the Herculean non-stop drive from Las Vegas to Orlando! And my droid thanks you too!



The full photoset is here.

Tomorrow, the doors open to the public for the first time at 10:00am. Given that I'm really exhausted with the 3-hour time difference and the severe lack of sleep the last couple of days, I probably will roll in late again, but I look forward to seeing all the visitors in the R2 Builders room tomorrow.

Droid Load-Up Day

Today was droid load-up day at Mike's. Let us pause for a moment to pay homage and bask in the glory that is Damien Metz' customized R2 Trailer.








Okay, now we can proceed. Jerry Chevalier's two droids were already onboard, as were Chris Romines' and Max Cervantes' droids when the trailer arrived at Mike's. Next, Mike's droid went on, followed by mine.

I wheeled my platform out to the truck, slightly (ok, more than slightly) nervous about seeing my droid off on the longest road trip of his existence.




Similar to packing your own parachute, you load your own droid onto the trailer.




All the droids seem to have their own baby blankets, including mine.



William and Nikki Miyamoto arrived with HAL1138, and little Zoe's droid that William started building just three months ago.



If three months sounds like a quick build time, Guy Vardaman managed to build a two-legged R2 in just two weeks! This droid will be part of the Dagobah photo op area.



And finally, the doors swung shut, the locks were put in place, and it was time to bid our droids farewell, until we are reunited with them again in Orlando.



They grow up so fast!

Anchored Droid to Platform at Mike's, Aluminum Channel Work

Today I went over to Mike's to work on getting our droids anchored to their wooden platforms.

The plan for the droids' road trip is for them to be anchored to the platforms, and for the platforms to be anchored to the base of the trailer. Once secured tightly, the platforms should not move, even though they are on caster wheels. Once the trailer arrives in Orlando, we'll be able to roll the droids off the trailer and into the convention center. That's the idea, anyway.

Mike's plan was to use some 1/4" "laundry line" bolts to anchor the drivetrain to the wooden platform. We have the exact same platforms and drivetrains, so the process was the same for both of us.

First, he lightly marked where the bolt needs to pass through the wooden platform with the drill.



Next, we removed the droid from the platform, so Mike had enough room to drill a hole straight through the wood.



With the droid back on the platform, Mike picked the spot on the drivetrain to drill through, directly above the hole in the wood. Note that the chain is protected from metal shavings with masking tape.



Finally, the bolt is put in place. It curves into the drivetrain at the top, and then leads straight down, through the wooden platform.



The underside is backed with a fender washer, a lock washer, and a wingnut.



Two droids, ready for a road trip starting tomorrow. Mine is the more hygienic of the two, which is actually a stigma in the droid building community.



Finally, I was able to get the channel cut on my second drivetrain for droid #2. Mike did the long cut, and I did the miter cuts.



Tomorrow is droid load-up day, should be interesting.

Caster Wheels for Cart Platform

Well, from here on out it looks like it's going to be prep work for the run up to CV.

I was talking to Mike Senna, and he mentioned that it might behoove us to load our carts onto Damien Metz' droid trailer (assuming there is room), that is going to haul 10 droids across the country. If you haven't seen the trailer yet, check it out, it's pretty amazing. (Photo shot by someone else, possibly/probably Damien.)



Mike further suggested that we put casters on the wooden platform that attaches to the cart, in the event that we need to push the droids around, rather than driving them.

I traced the casters' mounting holes.



Next, I drilled.



Finally, I bolted down the casters. The two casters that are in the front are swivel casters, the two in the back are fixed.



None of the casters have brakes, so I may or may not swap them out, or add a brake to them. I may also have to reposition some of them to ensure that the droid can be anchored to the platform. The old H&A drivetrain had mounting holes from when I prepped the platform for a parade, but these holes may not be in the location required by the Senna drivetrain.

Finished Sanding Battery Boxes

This evening I had a chance to finish wet sanding the first of the two battery boxes.



Next, I moved on to battery box #2, starting with sanding the front side with 400 grit sand paper.



Done with the front side. I'll sand off those scuff marks in a moment.



On to the back.



I went over the back surface with 400 grit sand paper, and then I moved on to wet sanding with the 600 grit sand paper. Nice and smooth.



I finished sanding the sides of the box (the scuff marks are gone now) and they're done. Ready for primer and painting, and later, installation of the battery box harnesses and cables.

Started Sanding First Battery Box

Today I pulled out the second pair of PVC battery boxes that I received from Craig Smith way back in April, 2006, so that I could begin the process of sanding them smooth.

The battery boxes were already in very good condition, but there is some minor roughness that needs to be sanded down. I started with 400 grit.



The front side is done.



Time to work on the back.



That's done too.



On Craig's recommendation that I also followed on droid #1, I used 600 grit sand paper to wet-sand the battery box.



I left just a tiny bit of roughness to give the primer something to bite into, but all in all, the 600 grit wet sanding leaves things pretty smooth.



I didn't have time to finish this battery box, so I'll pick up where I left off next time.

Center Foot Channel Work

Today I wrapped up work on the wooden center foot for droid #2.

The center channel sat a little lower than the channel that is cut into the foot shell, so I needed to add about 1/4" of height to the center channel on the wooden foot.



I went over to my friend Kelvin's house, where his table saw has taken up residence, after several years in my garage. There, we cut a strip of 1/4" thick Baltic birch that was the exact width of the center channel on the foot.



The strip was cut long intentionally, as I planned to bevel the edges on the miter saw (also borrowed from Kelvin) at home.



I adjusted the angle of the miter saw to match the angle of the edge of the channel on the center foot (53 degrees, I believe), and trimmed the end off. A sacrificial piece of MDF backs up the birch, to prevent tearing as the cut is made.



I fitted the strip back in place, and aligned the edge I had just cut along the exiting edge on the foot. I marked where to make the cut on the other side.



Back to the miter saw, where I made the cut on the opposite side.



The loose fit looks good. I say "loose", but the strip is actually nice and snug in there, and probably doesn't require glue to stay in place, but I'll be gluing it anyway in a moment.



The height of the wooden channel is now pretty much where I want it to be.



Time to glue it down.



Done with the center foot for now.



Recall that I have 2.5" diameter casters on the center foot. I may or may not try to find 3" casters that fit the foot in the future. For now, I'll live with the 2.5" wheels.