The skins are off for painting. I'll be this way for a while, since I can now start installing detail pieces that need to sit inside or behind the skins.
I have the skins temporarily attached, but without the panels glued back together and not
painted. I also have the booster covers and horseshoes assembled, but they too need a lot
of finishing and painting.
I've also re-worked the electronics a bit. I started having a problem with the droid
going haywire if it had been sitting out in the car and then started up while still
quite cold.
New consolidated Blog page for all
of my on-going projects and news. I've tried to back-fill it a bit with
the Droid and Halloween updates from the last few years.
R2's first steps!! I brought my camera along for droid-building night, and
started recording within moments of getting him on the floor on his own
wheels.
Making an R2 and have your own CFsound III?
Download my CF3 sound files,
and just unzip it into an empty CF card, and it's ready to go with a 12-channel remote.
Temporary PSI lens in place. Also connected the front HP, though they only light
up during boot-up. I still need to rig up some longer cables to connect the rear PSI and HP.
Also re-mounted some of the internal electronics boards, and rigged up an external
power switch for the head so I don't have to reach in and mess with the battery. :)
Started installing the electronics. Still need to figure out the PSI
lens thing, and hook up the other two HPs (though they only light up
during the boot-up for some reason).
This week's progress... I took December off from working on the droid at all, but have
resumed in January. I've finally made some progress on additional leg assembly,
and have made enormous progress on the head. The shots below all have tape
holding various parts while glue dries.
I managed to leave my display up for a few days to either side of Halloween this year (2008),
and miss the rain at both ends. But it has me thinking for the future, since I've
never weather-proofed my projects. The tree is weather-resistant, except that
I'm lighting up the face with a piece of poster board. The gravestones are probably
fine in the rain, as are my first two skeletons (ignoring rust issues in the steel
parts).
The pieces I'm more concerned about are the new skeleton (water soluble glue),
the scarecrow (the pumpkin is very thin paper mache and it has acrylic paints on the skull,
though the body is weatherproof), and the electrical stuff of course (not one lamp is
technically an "outdoor" lamp).
Time to start thinking about water resistance in future props, I think. 2009 should be
the start of this.
Display is down, as of last night. That was the longest run
yet, at 5 days and 5 nights. So far, I've been letting the
weather reports dictate the schedule. In the future, I want
to weatherproof more of the props if I can.
Display is down, as of last night. That was the longest run
yet, at 5 days and 5 nights. So far, I've been letting the
weather reports dictate the schedule. In the future, I want
to weatherproof more of the props if I can.
I have a skeleton! The head and jaw actually flop around, so it
can be somewhat posed in "dead" poses. I still want to paint
the teeth, but I can do that any time.
Painting both props. They're almost done. The skeleton still
needs his eyes, and the tree needs the flourescent backing to
go inside the face. Unless that looks stupid, in which case he
may get a black backing.
I've been thinking about the idea of a more complex skeleton costume with actual
spaces between and behind the bones, and an articulated hand. I've seen this
link before, but I just looked at it again. Of course, once again, I'm
thinking of this late in the season and can't possibly do it this year.
Priming and painting parts for the domes and legs! I've made a lot
of progress in cutting and sanding the aluminum dome parts. The
head is gradually coming together.
31 days left! Tomorrow is October. Over the next week, I
plan to hang the ghost, break out some of the basic decorations,
and get cracking on my new skeleton. I can't believe I haven't
really started on this year's projects yet. This is really
late. I probably won't have much new this year, as a result. :(
I finally had some time to clean the mold release off of some of the
resin parts (the ones with more immediate need), and started priming
a few of them, as well as the steel foot shells.
Some good progress to report!
Frame has been "glued and screwed", and the steel rods have been
installed. Rear access door frame is installed, but not adjusted yet.
Rockler bearing (lazy susan) is installed. The inner dome has had it's
lower rings attached, and so now it is mountable on the bearing. The
outer dome's panels have been removed in preparation for sanding,
filing, and painting. And the legs have some basic construction started.
