Here’s to a New Year...... a fresh start on the road to the World returning to some normality. So here’s to 2021.
Best Wishes to all!
....and keep droid building and also, being creative.
#droidbuildersuk #ukr2d2buildersclub #r5d4 #happynewyear #2021 #jamesr5d4
Blog hits counter for 2021 starts @ 156587
I know, I know, I’ve not finished the last two mini projects lol, but it helps me be busy whilst awaiting components.
Been thinking about fitting the Life-form scanner into R4’s dome, as he doesn’t have any special features.
This tho requires that the lid needs an opening hatch/panel. Firstly I was thinking about making a new lid, either out of wood again or 3D printing one, but apart from being time consuming, I just wanted to get it done. Lol :D
So I’ve roughly marked the underside of the lid to check clearance and it looks like it would fit.
Not actually droid related, ie in building something. But something I’ve had the idea about for some time.
Going to events & having to transport your equipment can be a handful, so this will hopefully help.
There’s going to be two versions of this which I have started working on today.
As always, more updates coming......
Hi all hope you’ve had a good Christmas.
Finished off the short video of the life-form scanner lift setup. It’s still a work in progress but you’ll get the idea and you will be the first to see it. It’s only viewable via this link at the moment lol
Hope you like:
Final 3D printed parts fitted and everything works as it should. Really pleased with how it runs.
This is the idea......have to see how it works out.
As promised, I’m putting a quick video together of this in action. I’ll post up the link to YouTube once complete.
Fine tuning the design of the lower servo holder & the servo/tube connector.
The new normal sized servo's holes were NOT the same as my previous one, so needed to be slightly moved. I added the slot in the support for the support tube and also added splines for point contact only. Both of these will be getting re-printed again.
The pulley wheel got a new version printed, happy with how it turned out and that it works.....of course it works lol :D
Then this morning Royal Mail pulled their finger out and I received the micro switches, second aluminium tube AND.......
........the Pololu servo control board, from Hobbytronics!
So after the re-prints, it's onto the electronics, tho I will be looking/designing a holder for the board and the electronics. Thingiverse came up trumps again, case will be printed later. I'll also post up pictures of the full assembly.
Had a surprise Christmas card/gift the other day from fellow Bristol builder Mike B.
Always wanted one of these (below image) and over the years, I have attempted to create one.....but the results where something I wasn’t anywhere near happy with lol. Mike and his design, printing skills, came up with this tho.
Whatever your beliefs for the Christmas season, I’d like to wish all who are reading this, a very Happy Christmas from myself & of course R5.
Mental Health message:
2020 has not been a good year for all of us, in many different ways and then there’s COVID to top it all off. I like to think of myself as a ‘glass half full’ person and try to always look on the positive side of life. Perspective is always a good thing to keep in mind when things don’t look good, they can and do, get better! Find a little something that makes you smile and feel good, keep these little happy moments and add to them. I find (apart from family/my children) that being creative, designing, making stuff really helps me.
2021 is on its way so a new year, new start and hopefully we can all get back to what we used to call, normal!
If you need to seek more help, see your Dr, there’s NO shame in asking for help!
If you don’t feel you can’t in person, then try contacting CALM, the Charity Against Living Miserably.
Thankfully I still have the original wood neck ring, so that I could match up the painted stripes.
There are four quarters which have thicker vertical bands. These had a stripe of masking tape and the pin strips to prevent paint bleed.
Next came the top and bottom bands, again using the pin stripe tape width, with an additional single thickness vertical line at each centre of the quarters. As can be seen in above picture.
Then the fun bit, spraying with the red metallic’ish paint.
Once all the tape was off, one final picture before being left to fully dry.
This dome has been sat patiently on a shelf waiting for me to finish its dome ring I upgraded a few years ago. Original the ring was wood, but when having to upgrade the dome to the new rockler style bearing, I had to deconstruct the neck ring to be able to get the old bearing surface out.
On with the update 2020:
I had glued the 3D printed panels together, but then ‘welded’ them using a soldering iron and extra PLA filament. Melted plastic is a much stronger bond than super glue. Forward to 2020:
I smoothed over the not so perfect joins, before hitting it with filler primer.
The neck ring is detachable so spraying is easy. A few coats of primer before spraying up red & white.
More updates soon.
Sam and Lee hosted the marathon show today, with special guests
To re-watch the show, click the following link:
Droid Builders UK YouTube channel.
The aim was to raise £10,000 by the end of the year 2020. It’s not been a good year and for sum it has been so much harder to have to deal with. That’s where CALM comes in.
The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is leading a movement against suicide, the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK.Anyone can hit crisis point. CALM run a free and confidential helpline and webchat 7 hours a day, 7 days a week for anyone who needs to talk about lifes problems.
For full details and also if you would like to donate to the charity, please click on the link, you can leave an anonymous donation if you like and every amount big or small is a step in saving a life.....
Design, 3D print, test fit.....& repeat lol.
All the bits fit so far, but I need to fit a second guide rail. I ordered another aluminium tube section to run parallel with the main one. This means more redesigning and printing of 3D parts, which I’ve already done.
For the scanner screen, I drilled some small holes in it and added white covered wire.
These will be glued in place later. Need to look at LED’s next.
A test of the pulley setup worked well, but the aluminium tube wall may cause problems as it is easily bent. This caused the guides to not run smoothly and the servo connection to the tube, broke. But this is all part of the design process.
Plans and more plans as this build takes shape.
Had the idea of toothed belts for the lift system, but that wasn’t a simple option, it would require more components. Then I thought about a pulley system. Found a servo that was broken, swapped out its plastic gears for metal ones & removed the signal wire. So it’s just a power motor.
Next up was to design a holder for the servo/winch, that also combined the tube sleeve holder. I kept the slot in the sleeve so that there is some allowance for printing tolerance.
This was a test print, but isn’t far off the finished part. The curved part is for clearance of the winch wheel, this I downloaded off Thingiverse from Tetrix 'large Servo winch' (link). I’ve placed it so that it’s inline with where the bottom location point at the tube end will go.
I’ve left space for mounting this at a future date to the inside of the dome.
......yep, design has been updated, less material where not needed, additional added along with holes for fixing of the servo and for the unit to be attached to the dome insides. Had a thought about how best to connect the servo screws, so went with.....
I’ve also drawn up and printed a bottom servo holder for rotating the LFC. And I found some wire that could be used for the mast.
Still waiting on the micro switches to arrive, then update no3 will possibly include a location for them to be mounted on with.
Have also ordered some other goodies.
December 17th 2020, we lost another original member of the Star Wars films. Jeremy Bulloch.
I met both Jeremy & Dave Prowess over the years attending events with R5. Dave Prowess was the first or the two I met at a shop signing/opening ’MOSS’ , back in 2008. Being a fellow Bristolian, it was a must to go and see him. I then saw him whilst attending events at Corsham Sci-Fi.
Jeremy I also first met at a Corsham event in 2010. My young Son was very excited to be able to meet him although i think he may of been expecting to see him in his Mandalorian armour. He wasn’t disappointed tho as someone was there on the day wearing some. Jeremy was very warm and generous with his time when chatting. I met him again a few years later at Collectormania 22, after completing R5 & he was gracious enough to have his picture taken with him.
I feel privileged to have been able to of met them both & that I have signed photos to add to the memories.
Test fitting of the panel identified that a few things needed tweaking.
Before spaying up the screen white & then getting to work on weathering it.....see below.
The piece of wood that sits between the two utility arms, needed to be thinned down for the screen to fit. My original measurement was for a snug fit, but the print was just a bit higher than expected, so rather than take a blade to the 3D screen print (loosing details) I decided to trim the wood piece. This then needed some wood filler before repainting. It was black and I did respray it matt black again, but am thinking white so it all blends together.....
These included:
I had already printed off a new life-form scanner screen, which will need modifying and I can then make alterations for the final 3D print.
Here’s a comparison picture:
Had this congratulations email today from YouTube for all my videos uploaded in 2020 lol......all 12 minutes of them :D . Not exactly ground breaking mind you, and a few million off any YouTube awards lol, but I appreciate everyone who has watched etc and I hope they have been entertaining or educational.
See screenshots below.... then head on over to my channel to contribute to the ‘ups’ & likes and shares, thanks everyone.
My YouTube channel link below:
I made a design change to remove the opening for the Trading Card Dispenser, and some other alterations so it differed from the lower screen.
Started the print Sunday afternoon around 3pm (UK time), layer height of 0.4, and it eventually finished Monday morning 9am (UK) lol. 17hrs 39mins.
I had supports on but only touching build plate.... I think?? So apart from one ‘not seen area’ the print came out great!
Not sure if bed or extrusion needs adjusting as I get this on the first few layers of the print. Nothing a knife can’t sort but still lol. It was extrusion, wasn’t hot enough for the initial layers.
After cleaning up work, it was time for primer/filler painting. Once dried, a bit more cleaning up before top coat.
Did find a video made by Mike Senna, where he had a micro servo fitted to the top to give side to side movement of the scanner itself.
With the already restrictive pie hole that R5 has, I knew I needed the smallest servo I could find to fit.
Found and ordered one, just waiting now for it to be delivered. D1302.
So I’ve modified the scanner to be able to fit the servo into it.
So the printer is quite’ish lol, nothing unbearable, but still, if you can make something better, quieter, just makes life better. And if you can’t then hear it upstairs then that’s a defo plus!
Work mate Will & fellow ‘printer’ suggested these as a definite upgrade that works.
The noise reduction is definitely noticeable & as an upgrade for your printer, it’s a thumbs up.
The rear utility socket screen is 99% complete. Finished off painting it today and fitted (glued) the rear piece in place (not in the picture below).
Next up was re-fitting this into R5’s utility socket......see below picture.
Finished painting up the two half sections.
Liked how the spray came out on this, couldn't of achieved this finish if I'd tried lol. The can was probably cold, it was cold in the garage. Once dry, I scrapped off the indent panel, masked it off and applied blue paint as on the first test piece. I did some light scrapping off of the silver to reveal the matt black underneath, weathering look.
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The changes I had made to the front lens holder, worked a little to well, so that the lens would only partially click into place. Back to the design and changed back a few dimensions and am awaiting a test of a small section to see if these are correct. Then I can hopefully print the final lens holder.
This was the next item that needed spraying up.
