Treadwell WED-15 droid build : Part 13A - moulding lenses

The mast sections were masked off, primer'd and silver spray painted.

This included silver spray painting the claw arm parts.

I’d ordered some more primer as well as some clear mat spray to coat to seal the paint.

The mast was getting close to being finished. So I thought I’d turn my attention to drawing up the wheels, in case I decide to 3D print them, here they are added to the assembly model.

I looked at the print time for the main drive wheel in ABS, lol that’s definitely a weekend print.

After finding out that there’s a mold function in Cura, I thought I’d have a go at casting the lens. So I ordered some 1-1 ration clear resin to test.

This was a test pour as not to waste. The 3D printed mold, was not as good idea as first thought lol 😂  so on to plan B, using a proper mold material over the top of one of my previous 3D lens. We had some of this two part molding putty that when mixed together sets to a solid but still pliable material. So before it set, I placed it over the top of the polypropylene lens I had printed a while ago. Left it overnight to fully cure.

Then in work the next day, I mixed up the resin and poured it into the rubber mold.

The result isn’t that bad:

It takes about 24hours to fully cure.

Next part to be painted, I masked up the servo neck collar as it required a black band. I used matt black spray I had left over.

And the result:

I had chosen matt finish for the clear coat. I was a bit disappointed at first as it dulled the shiny chrome look of the parts, but after a while it grew on me. It looks like real un-machined Aluminium now. It will look different again once weathering is applied.

I reassembled the claw arm components along with the servo pivot horn to activate the lift mechanism. Really happy with this. 

The main pivot rod needed to be angled and bent into place to better fit the servo position.

This is where the servo will be located.

Next was to mark (see below picture) and cut the PVC pipe to allow the components to fit inside it and the mast.

The list of little things is a long one.

• The rear lens holders needed to be glued in place.
• The recess in the front of the second eye needed to be cut to allow clearance for the rear lens holder.
• I needed to add captive threaded brass inserts to tabs to help secure the two sections of the eye together. This will allow future easier access to the servo inside, see next picture:

• The claw arm needed some work on the piston rod fixing part of it, see next picture. I cut a cleat end off to keep the threaded tube part, and I filed the sides flat on a nut to go on the rod end. Added a drop of thread lock.

• The base plate has now had M6 coach bolts and nuts fitted to better hold it and support the mast structure. I feel better about it’s strength and stability now.

Test fitted the mast and head assembly together, along with the arms, into the track base unit.