R2-D2 DOME
CONSTRUCTION
Now
playing : the infamous R&J dome construction page.
This
covers the build of the dome as it was received from Ron.and the parts
and assemblies that make up R2's "head" including PSI's,
Holoprojector's, Logic Displays, et. all! Thanks Ron and
Jason for a one of a kind dome!
07/20/06 : Pix of front of dome with operating PSI,
and the new Logic Displays. Looks better of course
without the flash :)
Mounting method I used for the front PSI. Look
further down for assembly. Rear cover is temp.
Rear PSI mounting. Just a little more work needed
on the housing and fini'.
Temporary mounting method for front Logic
Displays. Plan on tapping and making a more
perm mounting method. Right now, wire bungy!
Assembly of the new front Logic Displays
completed. Works awesome, thanks guys!
Assembly of the Rear Logic Display completed.
06/19/06 : Painting Holoprojector's - well the decision
is in, paint the shiny new aluminum HP's to do the ANH
thing. Some "self-etching" primer. Parts shown are
for
the black color = 2 cones and one outer HP retainer.
---
03/12/06 : Front PSI testing - Keith, Carolyn and I have
been trying to come up with a true ANH looking PSI.
The "split window" look has not be implemented yet,
but looks pretty good so far! Have a recessed look,
the originals did not have the "milkplex" flush with the
inner dome area...
A couple of preliminary pictures: Finally used 0.90 AL
sheet to make a round spacer for the front and rear
PSI...
Final fit-up of the display. Looks pretty close to the
one shown below.
Here is a shot of the Kenny Baker R2. Pretty sure it's
from the ANH era... this is what we are shooting for as
far as the "look".
Here are the parts I used for the PSI's. The PCV housing
is filled with another that is slotted. This holds the front
lenses material in place. Planning on another clear lenses
as kid's tend to try to poke these out.
03/03/06 : Now starting to glue dome panels on. I'm using
JB Quick for the small panels as it set's up pretty fast and
you can trim excess glue that may squeeze out of the panel
edges with an Exacto knife before the glue hardens up.
These panels are the ones that will never come off or be
hinged. Here is a pic of the dome before panels are
installed.
03/03/06 : Here gluing the rear PSI surrounding panels.
Using "craft sticks" is a great way to hold down panels
due to the fact they apply fairly even pressure and will not
scratch the paint.
03/03/06 : Gluing in the upper dome panels.
Mucking around with the PSI
displays. Have the pattern
working pretty good. Now just to get the LED's mounted.
I'm using PVC pipe for the housing. One layer of diffusing
material, overhead lighting "diamond" pattern diffusing
and finally some milkplex. There will be a 0.90 thick AL
spacer to give the PSI a more recessed/3D look like on
the original ANH droids.
Final cleanup of the pie
panel
cutouts. I used a scribe
and a sharpie to mark the lines which are 0.25" wide
on the inner dome. This should allow any periscopes,
scanners etc. to clear plus enough material for the pie
panels to sit on with no gaps showing. Thanks to the
R2 Builders group for the feedback. Used a coarse
file, fine file, then 220 sandpaper to clean up the
edges.
Here starting to cut the awesome
R&J outer dome
for the first
time. Builders
Note:
Use the finest
hacksaw
blade you can find to separate
the outer
laser cut
panels. Work slow and
you will have no problem.
Also make sure you
number all
the panels,
will save
a lot of headaches later!
Here, counter sinking
the holes for
the machine screws which will
provide mounting of the
Holoprojector, Logic Displays, etc.
Builders Note:
Do
this carefully BEFORE you glue the two dome
half's
together! Plan
ahead. You should have the parts you
are going
to mount before
completing
this. If you use 100 degree taper
screws
instead of the common 80
then you
will have better results as less
thread
will show inside once
the screw is
mounted.
Here is an example of
the machine
screws protruding inside the
dome. This
showing the rear
area Logic Display and Holoprojector.
Builders Note:
I used
6-32 UNC stainless screws. 4-40
probably
would have been a better
choice,
especially for the rear Logic Display!
Fixing to cut the inner
dome...
almost worked without the cutting!
My guardian R2 is
screaming "don't do
it"...
Builders Note:
Used a
Dremel with cutoff disk to do the cut.
Here is the top inner
dome being
clamped in place. Have patience
and
let the thing setup for
24 hours.
Builders Note:
Since
it is winter, I put the dome in the house
just in front
of a floor heater to
keep the dome
warm to speed up the JB Weld.
Ready to JB Weld the
final dome
assembly! Put the inner in baby!
Builders Note:
Wound up
using about 2.5 tubes of JB Weld to glue
the lower inner
dome. Lacquer
thinner is great for cleanup of
excess glue.
This is the paint that I
used.
A fellow builder came up with a
method
to closely replicate the
R2
blue. The etching primer is used on
the AL
parts only.
Thanks go out to
fellow builder Kelly Krider for coming
up with this painting method. I believe that the color of the
Rust-Oleum
has been upgraded to a "purple" lately. That I'm not sure of
so
you
should check out the post on the R2 Builders Group...
Builders Note:
The Kelly
Krider "R2
Blue" method:
o First prime
with etching
primer (if it's a metal part).
Wait 30 minutes.
o Lightly sand
etching primer
with 400/600 grit. Don't sand
down to metal!
o Put on a
coat of the white
sandable primer. Wait 15
minutes.
o Put on
second coat of white
sandable primer. Wait 30
minutes.
o Lightly sand
white primer
with 600 grit sandpaper.
o Put on one
coat of the
Rust-Oleum Metallic. Wait 15
minutes.
o Put on a
coat of the
Dupli-Color Metalcast. Wait 15
minutes.
o Put on
another coat of the
Dupli-color Metalcast. Wait 15
minutes.
o Spray on a
coat of the
Dupli-Color Clear. Wait 15 minutes.
o Put on final
coat of the
Clear. You can put on many coats
of clear, but
after 2 the results
looked great!
First batch of panels to
become R2
Blue.
Builders Note:
Make sure
you
properly prep aluminum. Lightly
sand with 600 grit
wet/dry and clean
with a good solvent. You
want to clean ALL
residue before you
put on the etching primer.
Initial mounting of the
Radar
Eye. A lot of dome cleanup to do
still!
Builders Note:
I mounted
the eye by marking it's location, then
drilling into
the rear of the eye and
putting in 4
6-32UNC studs using red
locktite. This
makes the eye removable
for future
upgrades (camera, etc.). You
can
see the blue of the
Krider method
here.
Notice routing for Radar
Eye Lens.
Builders Note:
You don't
have to do it this way, it's just I wanted
the eye mounting to be
secure.
You could drill and tap the holes
and fasten from the
inside of the
dome using machine screws. Be
careful you don't strip
the resin!
First Created: June 18th, 2006
Last updated: July 29, 2006
Time: 0730 EST
