Catching Up On My Skirt Work

I helped a builder put the ribs on his skirt. He used a template Brad made to draw evenly spaced skirt rib locations on his skirt, and he used my new Zona file to get them to the right size. I sprayed the glue activator, while holding the skirt, and heckled other builders whenever possible.

I cut spacers/mounting blocks to glue around the top of the skirt. These will also be used to mount the skirt to the bottom of the frame. The two spacers/mounting blocks on the longer sides of the skirt will also be used in conjunction with an angled spacer to help support the angled side boards.

I glued the bottom edge of one of the angled side boards to the bottom of the skirt. I had to sit still for what seemed like an eternity waiting for the glue to setup enough. You would think that we would have created a jig for this by now. I think the crew waited around all night to take the goofiest picture of me.

Kevin's Frame Work

I helped Kevin McGarry dry fit his frame. It fit together really nice. Very little routing was needed on the top and bottom frame plates.

The entire crew worked to glue Kevin's frame together. It went really quick and very smooth. I think my skins have helped glue up nine frames now.

Denny worked on his biker scout armor.

Builders Panel At OSFest 2009

Our builders' club hosted a panel on R2 Building at 11 AM to let the public know how we build, what materials we use, and what we do with our R2s when they're done (well they are never really done...we're always tweaking).

Builders Booth At OSFest 2009

OSFest 2009 was pretty fun. We had a crowded booth. Twelve Droids!

R2-NU hanging out with his brothers and sisters.

We had a reporter stop by and ask the group some questions and take some pictures. Just as he was finishing up, some kids came over to dance with R2-CM.

A builder's birthday is July 17, so she was surprised with an ice cream cake and we all sang happy birthday to her in front of everyone.

Star Wars Miniatures

Moose and I (mostly Moose), GM'd a Star Wars Miniatures Hoth game.

Dome Ring

I had a heck of a time finding an 18" quilting ring that matched the diameter of the inside of my dome. I gave up and bought the cheapest I could find at Hobby Lobby ($5.34 with tax). The inner wood ring will be glued to the base plate to prevent the dome from sliding off.

Because the dome was too big I had to cut it. Little by little I cut pieces from the cut edge away until the quilting ring was level and fit just below the cut line on the bottom of the dome without excessive force being used.

After the ring is cut it has a natural tendency to flatten out and become an oval. I taped the dome ring together at the cut edge, and then I taped the quilting ring inside the dome with the bottom edge sticking out. This will allow the ring to maintain its shape.

I then added a bead of Goop All Purpose Craft Glue to the bottom of the 18" quilting ring. I then placed the dome plate on the ring making sure there was an even edge all the way around the base plate.

Still More Dome Cutting

This some cutting thing takes a LONG time. Our weather has been pretty cool for July, but it was a really humid night. I took up residence outside the garage and did my dome work with the aid of a slight breeze. When the night was finished, I was able to get two more dome panels cut out.

Jason showed me how cut the excess styrene off the bottom of my dome plate. Jason and I scored the plate along the edge with an exacto knife and then used pliers to split the styrene along the score. I will need to come back later and sand the bottom edge of the plate to make it even.

Brad put his R2 Dome on R2-NU's body to see how it would look. I had to put an hammer inside R2 towards the back of the base plate to stop him from tipping over.

He haven't taken a group picture in a while, so we gathered everyone together before they went home for the night.