...if a good motivator is a deadline, that is! A convention at the end of the month, which will feature a Central Texas Droids table, is my deadline. I am set on having Dizzy rolling by then! I'm still waiting/hoping for resin feet, but I have everything else so it's time for a push to the finish line (he can run without feet, as those are just shells -- easily added later).
I began by finishing up the support that goes across the base of the dome. This holds some of the electronics and a slip ring. A little drilling and done!
I'd decided to add a door to the frame for access to switches. Here I'm affixing a hinge:
Alas, it did not quite work out. I'll revisit this later, as it's not critical.
Next it was time to actually glue in the utility arm boxes. I just used some scrap styrene to make supports:
...put them into position...
(I apparently decided to take many pictures of this exciting step!)
...and they are done!
Next it was time to work on attaching his very heavy legs. I needed to widen the holes a touch, and reinforce the bulkheads. Boy the inside of his body has gotten gritty over time, and look how the glue has yellowed. *cue foreshadowing music here*
I decided to start leg attachment with his center leg. It was a real bear to do as one person has to maneuver the frame onto the bolts while the other has to aim the center leg. I roped the Mr. into center leg duty. Here Dizzy is supported in position using some of our art books:
I reinforced the bottom frame with some scrap and then tightened it up.
Did I say the center leg was a bear to attach? Oh boy were the outer legs an adventure. It took several tries each time and the maneuvering was one of the hard parts. I am quite pleased with how his "replacement-leg-from-another-droid" turned out though! Still need to add more weathering to it.
The second of the outer legs was much easier to attach, of course! Another skill achieved that will never be used again hahaha!
My aluminum arrived during the day and I began marking where to drill to make the motor mounts:
It took two of us, but we moved Dizzy up onto the kitchen table to make affixing the motor mounts easier. In the process we heard much cracking and snapping. :-( It seems I've added far too much weight to the little fella and his styrene body is beginning to fail!! Oh, dear...
I'm also able to see (from this perspective) that his base plate is flexing due to the strain, and this is messing with his leg angles...Oh boy!
What now? *sigh* Well, as a temporary fix I plan to try to reinforce the base plate with some aluminum, but I've had to admit to myself that I've overloaded the styrene frame, and now I'm going to have to switch to a more hefty solution. Looks like a wood frame is in my future! Wheeeeeeee!
:'(
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