R4-D4 Dome work progress 4.0 - LED's

Been looking into the random servo movement for the Holo, as I'd like my original idea to work, but still having problems.

Next up I ordered some RGB slow transition LED's to add to the other flashing & non flashing others.

I drilled a small hole and fed the cables for it through the rear section.

This was held in place with hot glue.

Next up was the 'electronic' side panels.
I filled in the previously open upper hole and slot, with hot glue, this helped to diffuse the LED's light.

I applied some black paint around the edges to help reduce reflection, mainly on the upper edge, as can be seen in the above two pics. These were taken as the LED faded colour change.

Above picture shows the slight, light bleed above the yellow bar.

I just need to sort out the inside wires next.

R4-D4 Dome work progress 3.9 - New Holo ring cover

I drew up & 3D printed a new Holo ring.

I then painted it black with silver details. This was to cover the screws retaining the Holo eye in place.

And here it is as a test. This is not a 'film cannon' item, but as there are a few different R4 with different holo projector 'boxes', this isn't a problem for me.

Next up......LED's

R4-D4 Dome work progress 3.8 - weathering

Monday I took the dome into work and sprayed a coat of clear over it.

On the evening, once home & dried, I made a start on weathering the dome with my usual colour's. I started on the circuit board, with matt black to tone down the silver. This then worked it's way down into the grooves of the panel below. Edges and pitting on the grooves and panel faces, help to create the worn used look, which when I first started using wood, realised who good it did looked when compared to 'real' worn/used metal.

matt black with burnt umber also added to the 'electronic' panel.

Dink's, scratches, surface imperfaction's, all add to the aged character of the dome 😊.

I then made my way gradually around the dome, with just the matt black paint.

Not all sides shown.

Rear, un-recessed pannel

Front

Lid

Next up is to add some burnt umber & yellow ochre paint to help blend the lower section in with the body.

R4-D4 Dome work progress 3.7 - Re-spray Dome red

I thought I'd masked off enough to be able to spray the area needed, without leaving a spray edge. Well, I did and didn't......more tho I didn't manage this. To say I was annoyed, would be putting it mildly.....mainly as I'd only picked up one can, thinking it would be just enough to cover the area effected.

 Masked off areas that didn't need spraying

But this additional coat of paint also showed up the fact that the original layer wasn't consistent enough.

So I used some wire wool to gently rub away the paint line. This takes some of the metallic shine off, but wasn't course enough to remove actual paint.

Then it was re-masking off the entire dome....which took over an hour to do!
I also had to go back to the shop to pick up two cans (not falling for THAT mistake again) of metallic red.

Friday morning, dome back in the spay booth and I got to spraying up the WHOLE dome!

And once the masking tape and paper was removed....

I covered over the white panels and the red panels that weren't effected by the previous paint line (Above picture & below picture). I wanted to do this as well as these now have a slightly lighter red to them, which I like.

One of two bleed spots appeared after removing the masking tape...

but some light wire wool and these were gone.

So over the weekend, I'll re-apply the silver to the grooves and then clear coat the dome.

Vintage Futaba Antenna - eBay

With everything going on with events and the run up to Christmas & The Last Jedi, I posted up on my Instagram but not on here, that I had found and won a bid for an antenna to fit the vintage Futaba Ripmax Radio reviever. Only one available, but it's a start lol.

It was in excellent condition and not to expensive, less than £10 (inc P&P).

I just need to print off this picture......

and then I can display the unit.