Treadwell WED-15 .......the Rise of the Machine..... Part 29

Post started 4th September 2025 - into October.

Treadwell has taken a back seat for a while now, but I wanted to finish building him before our annual builders Christmas meet-up, so with renewed energy.

List of things to do is always a good start:

    1. New idler axles                x 6 off👍

        New drive axles                x 2 off👍

    2. New correct Wheel spacers x 6 off👍

    3. New motors                     x 2 off......................??? 👈

    4. Signal booster fix. 👈

    5. Mast box build - 3D printed parts etc. - click here to see Box Build Post.   

    6. Remove the original guide wedges from the tracks.👍

    7. 3D print more new round track guides. 👍

    8. Remove the paint from the drive wheels [sticky]👍

    9. New front 'tension' blocks. 👈

    10. Unexpected track repair......... but then a WIN!!! 👈

    11. Volume knob. 👈

    12. Fake antenna UPGRADE. 👍

    13. LED's fitting to 'eyes'.

    14. Constraining the ‘eyes’ to each other.

1. Starting with....new axles:

I bought an 8mm dia rod months back, but it was slightly over size so needed turning down on the lathe in work, to fit through the bearings etc.

First one turned out good [turned.....machined.....see what I did there 😂]. Only having lunchtimes to do this, drill a centre hole to then use a revolving centre so as to be able to machine the full length of the spindles. Next is to then thread the ends for the flanged M8 Nylock nuts.

I also needed to machine up two new longer drive axles, to allow for the wheel spacers. These are 10mm diameter, stepped down to 6mm dia for the shaft coupler. No reason really for the 10mm dia size, except that this was going to be the size for all the axles.

2. Wheel spacers:

On closer inspection of the alternative WED base droid, seen in Mos Eisley ally way, WED-9-M1 (Star Wars Fandom), you see that the tracks are spaced away from the body!

WED-9-M1 DROID

So I had drawn up and 3D print off spacers, to match. Not sure how, but I got the diameter different, so had to reprint these. Not sure yet if these will be free rotating or if I will glue them to the wheels.

Pic from July 2024:

3.New Motors:

A possibility......???

My thoughts were that perhaps they wouldn't be up to the power needed. Even though testing proved they are.

4. Signal boosters:

I found that when WED was fully assembled, I was having problems with controlling his arm and head. One possibility was that the battery was low. The second was that [with my first time sending a signal over this long length of cable] the signal was too weak. So I bought two sets of boosters fly-leads to try 👍.

servo signal booster

5. Mast box build:

I had already drawn up plans for this when I designed the head box. See independent post for more details.

6 & 7 Track guide wedges - DELETED:

The 'screen accurate' guide wedges, were unfortunately too stiff for the tracks, and weren't flexible enough. So had to remove them and replace them with the new 3D printed round track guides [POINT 7].

7. Track guides:

I tried a few different variables, one being a slightly tapered diameter, after my original 'cannon' style didn't work, I decided to try this [credit goes to Paul's Bots]. Link to Paul's tread/wheels build.

I need to narrow the wheels channel for better location of the guides. So more 3D CAD/printing required.

UPDATE: 16.9.25

The new inner wheel guides printed great on version 2. These were slightly modified for structural strength and because visually they don't need to have the slits in like the wheels themselves.

After testing, I will update the 3D wheel models to incorporate this addition.

Here are the new wheel inner track guides, in black, glued in.

idle wheel with inner track guides

Test first guide popped into place on the track.

 

As with Paul, I made a 3D printed drill template so that the holes would all be central on the track. I did have to modify mine from the one I created from my moulds as the teeth sizes were slightly narrower.

So a total of 140 were printed off. 80 off each for every other groove.

8. Drive wheels paint removal:

The paint reacted with the curing rubber had became sticky, sticking to the tracks. So using sand paper, I removed the thick paint from the outer diameter faces.

9. Front 'tension' blocks:

The axles for the two front wheels were long enough, so I just altered the [3D printed] inside face that has the nut recess, so that a Nylock nut can secure the axles in place.

The location on the base has to be repositioned as the original tracks were a bit too long, requiring some woodworking alterations.

10. Track repair/replacement:

It wasn't on my original list of things to do, but on removing one or two of the 'track guide wedges', on an early join [one NOT overlapping] the joint broke. So I ordered some more rubber mix, but repair work will be put on hold as....... 👇👇👇

New Tracks:

11.Sept.2025

I thought I'd have another search inline for the tracks [super-charger timing belts] and found some here in the UK [at last]. Decided to bite the bullet and purchase a pair.

Click picture for link to Bolton Engineering Products.

I have no affiliation with this company, am linking for future builders.

The calculated cost of me making my own tracks was over £100 in total, not including the time to design up and 3D print off the moulds etc. The fact that they are also NOT internally web meshed, didn't fill me with confidence on they're lasting performance. They would still be ok for 'display' purposes.

UPDATE: 16.9.25

Belts arrived and I couldn't be more happier 😊😊😊😊😊

It may sound strange, but there are certain things that, for reliability, need to be sound. The fact that Tread needs the tracks to be 100% dependable/straight/strong, means that driving him with confidence is now a guarantee.

11. Volume Knob:

Still not as loud as R5, plus it does need to have a noise suppressor fitted. So whilst searching for ideas, I found this for drone fpv video feed interference suppression.

I fitted it, after some testing to find the cause, inline with the mini 'step down voltage regulator.'

And of course, I had to CAD up a bracket for it to be mounted onto the control board. The volume still isn't up to the loudness of R5......

12. Fake Antenna base:    [6.10.25]

I wasn't really happy with the fact that the fake rear antenna, was made out of a steel piece of bar, no flexibility and defo safety concerns lol.

So drew up an adaptor in TPU that fits between the two parts as a test. This then fits onto the original base part. The upper section is also now a found piece of leftover carbon tube.

13. LED's fitting to 'eyes':    [8.10.25]

This had been on my to-do list to bring some 'life' to Tread. Recently got hold of some large blue bulbs and sockets for them off eBay. Drew up a holder in CAD and 3D printed off some test versions, figuring out along the way how best to install them.

Originally it was going to be on the inside base of the head units.

Idea no2 was to mount the LED brackets to the rear of the lens window frames.

Tested the LED bulb behind the acrylic and it looks good, but needs to be diffused more????

14. Constraining the ‘Eyes’: (16.10.25)

The single-servo’d ‘Eye’, wasn’t very well linked/connected to the other. This bugged me!

So I needed a better way to constrain its movements.

I came up with the idea of installing the geared parts from a broken servo, into the unservo’d housing. So I re-designed the fake piston and connected both servo horn arms to it. Making the second ‘eye’ constrained with the servo controlled one.

UPDATE POST WITH picture(s)..........

Almost the end of November, and still have a few last things to get ready before the annual Droid Builders Christmas get-together....

A weekend blitz on the to-do list including the mast box build, and the final piece was to open up the slot for the front wheel axle, and some new location plate holes.

All (99%) complete, ready for next Saturday…… display and testing lol.

This Build has reached 29 stages, so to round off, I'll post one last Blog update with loads of photos lol, to make it a nice round 30.

#treadwelldroid #droidbuilders #rebeldroidsnet #3dprinting

R5-2JE - Droid Factory set from The Rise of Skywalker

 So......over three years later,

I finally get hold of the Droid Factory box set, from

'The Rise of Skywalker'

My previous posts:

October 2019: Force Friday 3 - The Rise of Skywalker - Droid Factory set

December 2019: The Rise of Skywalker - Visual Directory

March 2020:  R5-2JE astromech - toy review by 'Galactic Hunter'

Recent holiday [again, overdue due to COVID] to Disney Florida,

to visit Galaxys Edge. The box set wasn't available anymore in the parks, so had to do some shopping online. Found a set for a reasonable price and because it was shipped to our hotel, it wasn't double the purchase price to have it shipped to the UK [not that it could have been] but comparing costs to eBay sellers.

This R5 utilises the same body seen for the R5-232 from

Solo a Star Wars Story.

By this I mean, the restraining bolt fitted.

This is a nice touch to recognise that not ALL droids are the same lol.

It's not on the bodies of the other droids or

on R5-PHT's body from SaSWS.

So now I have a complete set of my R5 seen in the films

[promos, books, trading cards lol]

OpenR2 - original ‘77: R5-D4 Blueprints - 3D drawn up

 Years ago, My father served along side you in the Clone Wars......

..... not quite, but you get the idea 😆

When I first started searching up online for info about R5, one of the finds was a Blueprint for the original dome design. I think I remember it being up for auction??

I had a blurred image, which has always interested me in what R5 could of looked like. The three eyes looked like they were holoprojector’s similar to the ones in R2’s dome.

May

With my recent work on upgrading R5’s eyes to versions that were probably actually used, got me searching for the blueprints again. OpenR2 had a non blurry image of them, so I was able to draw up in CAD a version similar to the sketch. A rough scale in comparison to the dome, so not 100%, but it looked good. First printed version was okay but I wanted to refine the design.

So some tinkering and removal of the inner part that would be the lens, and I got this:

The rear was shaped to better fit the curvature of the dome. This was to the plans I had used, but as my dome was made from wood, it’s not spot on, so the final prints will need to be shaped to fit flush.

This version was good but I wanted to orientate to get better quality prints. So I sectioned it up into two pieces which gave me to these.

This main piece I printed face down, the ring section I printed vertically to retain a better smoother surface for the ‘front’.

I set these up for printing in ABS, sanding is easier. I had already done some searching for cabochon’s for the size I needed. I could go bigger in size later by modifying the design if needed.

May 20th

Cabochons arrived. They only came in pairs so I had to get two sets. Opened up the first packet and tried them for size.

They fitted well, but they will need to be a tighter fit on the recess or a retention ring in front of the lens.

Next up: retention ring, dome fit testing and then painting.

Treadwell WED-15 droid build : Part 5 - 3D printing lenses

So this week I have been redesigning the neck (head plate to mast) adaptor, to allow for head movement (rotation) from side to side.

I found some thrust bearings on eBay and also ordered some 3mm Aluminium plate. The new neck adaptor, comes in two parts. One to hold the bearings in place and the other to fit inside the tube. This needed to be extended (miscalculated) and the print fitted perfectly & so did the motor. So much so that I may not now need the bearing, but will see as they will take the weight off the motor shaft.

A new cap was printed for the top neck, this fits in the neck plate connection hole.

With this Sunday’s event coming I wanted to finish up the eyes. So i drew up the lens from Dyne’s excellent plans and using clear’ish PP filament I printed out a lens. And with standard PLA a slightly modified holder, less depth. Think I’ll still get the lenses done in clear resin though, but for now, this will do.

……well, everything is now on pause after my work accident on Friday. I won’t be going to Weston on Sunday now 😢 was really looking forward to going. I don’t like letting people down, but i need to rest fully.

Full accident story see previous post.

On a plus note, I managed to grab a bargain. EBay: a found part, is a grabber, one of WED’s utility arms.

Busy week: R5 motor bracket/3D designing and more….

 A busy week of building, buying, designing etc….

1:

R5’s second new foot motor bracket frame, needed completing: just needs some finishing tweaks, and 3D printed brackets for the channel plate.

2:

Been discussing in group chat about next year’s Star Wars Celebration , attending droid numbers etc.

3:

Been designing up ‘control panels’ for a side project idea. See coming post.

4:

Whilst researching I came across a video about the origins of R2’s PSI lenses. So a search on eBay and I managed to get a bargain for £6.00 GBP. Its a vintage Weston Masters two, photographers light meter.

The lens is bubbled on one side, but i was surprised to see that the honeycomb part was multiple layers of punched/stamped pieces, that were then rivited together.

More stickers for the tool box

....some more stickers for the toolbox.

The following two were purchased off Etsy & eBay.

First: ‘Kenobi’

Supplied by ‘Beyond the Fairytale’

<~~~>

Next up is this ‘Tatooine’ sticker:

Supplied by ‘Black Dragon Vinyl’ on eBay.

#stickers #kenobi #tatooine #ebay #etsy