It's a bird? It's a plane? It's a......

So I have been collaborating on a side project for awhile now. I have been keeping the details very quiet and outside of those directly involved, very few people know whats going on. So, at this point, I can now show you this side project, or at least a 'very' small portion of it. I will give no details, but here is a few photos of the progress. Don't expect to see many updates on this until it gets closer to completion.

Great Day for Parts!

Happy Valentine's Day to all, especially to Kristen who puts up with my bullshit through this build. Because I know she reads this, hi! Today was a great day for parts as I received my JAG ankles! Here's another view! Finally, I have been getting the detail pieces painted and installed.

NEW PART DAY!!!!

Today was a good day! I received new parts for R2's body! I received some aluminum power couplers and some aluminum coin returns! These parts have been extremely difficult to obtain, so I am glad they found a new home! (Thanks Guy!). Also, I have pictured my aluminum side vents that I got from LePaul (Thanks Paul!). I have a very innovative way to mount them, so hopefully once it gets warm enough, I will have them painted and mounted! Here are some photos!! In other news, today was a day of infamy.......the JAG aluminum ankle run started, and I was very quick to snatch up a pair, and they're pretty much sold out in 12 hours. Thank goodness I checked Astromech today! Here's some photos!!

More parts acquired!

Since my last post, I have managed to acquire a few more aluminum parts. They're not in my hands yet, but I wanted to mark the date. I have recently acquired the side vents, coin returns, and best of all, power couplers! They should be arriving in the next few days, and we'll really get R2's body almost complete!!

Vents and Electronics!

Been awhile since I have had a decent update. I've completed a lot, but just haven't taken the time to post! So anywhere, here's a small mini-update to tell you all whats going on! First, we installed the center vents. This was rather simple, place them where I needed them, marked where the screw hole fit, and then drilled a small hole into the side of the vents, placed a screw in there, and bam, they are secured!

Next, is my electronics board. There isn't much on here at the moment, but you'll notice an Arduino UNO, a Sparkfun MP3 trigger, and a Syren 10A. All of these work flawlessly with my wireless PS2 controller to control the dome movement and provide the sound! The real gem here is my amplifier. Its a little 3" x 4" 35 watt amplifier from a company called "Pyle". The model is PLMPA35. What makes this micro-amp nice, is that it has a built in 3.5mm jack, ironically, so does my MP3 trigger. So I can connect my MP3 trigger to the amp, then straight to the speaker. The other benefit is that this amp can run 12v directly, so I have no need for a volt regulator. This setup has been tested and worked PERFECTLY!!

Finally, here's a quick shot of how I mounted the board. You'll notice the amp is off of here, thats because when this photo was taken, the amp hadn't arrived yet! Rest assured, it still fits beautifully.

He's ALIVE!!!!

Well, it's been a LONG time since my last post. With the holiday season, a new girlfriend, work, lack of parts, and just being busy, R2 hasn't had much time for 'fun'.....in fact, he's done a lot of sitting!

However, on the morning of 12/28/2012, R2 became alive! It took a lot longer than it should have due to a mis-wired diagram, however, we were able to fix it with the help of George Westwater(Engima516), a fellow R2 builder! 

Travis Macken(Tmacken), came by to help install the board/solder and everything in-between. Without a doubt, he's assistance was valuable!

 And last, but certainly not least....I have to give a LOUD shout to Mark Smith of Pensacola, FL. (Marks47, http://marks47.blogspot.com/). Mark spent the entire evening Skype chatting with me walking Travis and I through the process step-by-step, and I can assure you, without his help and direction, we never would have accomplished anything! Mark, I owe you a lot!

 Finally, let me just say that it's been a long road, and it's still a long road to go, but this is a HUGE milestone for R2! Enjoy!!
  

Skin work is almost done!

A brief update! Here are some photos of my recent skin progress!

All the skins are on, and now we're just awaiting some detail pieces. I have been currently building some center vents. I'd post a photo of both of them, but one is drying in clamps, so here's a photo of the other!

Thats the one that's drying.....they are truly a pain to put together! Tomorrow I will try to post a side by side shot of them both.