Skinning, ankles, skirt and feet

Well I've busy for the past couple of weeks. I keep meaning to take pics and update the blog but I kept getting side tracked with other things. Finally remembered to grab the camera tonight and take some shots of what I've been up to.
First off, I finally finished up the A&A styrene skirt that I've been glaring at for the past few months. Not the best work I've done but I'm planning on replacing it down the road with either a resin or wood skirt. It still needs a couple coats of clear on top of the Rustoleum Satin White. The inside crevices were filled with silicon first to help strengthen the seams then the body filled half-way with foam. I let it set for 2 or 3 days to make sure it had expanded completely then took a straight blade and sawed off the little bit that went above the surface.

Next up I started skinning the legs with styrene as I didn't have the patience to work with bondo then sand, then more bondo.. etc. Once the two halves of the leg are put together I can attached the skins to the edges as well.

Skinned and drilled holes in the outer plate of the legs so I can mount the horseshoes and added a 'plate' of styrene for the shoulder hub to fit into. I'll be putting a couple of magnets on the backside to help hold those in place.

As I was going through the last items left in my to-do box I found that I was short a couple of beefy resin ankles. As the current supplier for them is a bit busy lately I grabbed some styrene, printed out the patterns and made up a set for the center leg.

Lastly, I finished up the seams in the foot shells and sanded them down. Added the strips on the front and back and slightly enlarged the holes for the knobs. I need to figure out how to attach the curved plate on the inner side while leaving room for the motors. Then they'll be ready for a few coats of paint.

LDP, Coin Slot and Feet

Big update today as I'm catching up on a few things that I haven't posted yet. Got the LDP installed by putting in spacers under it for it to sit on top of then glued the port in place. 

Next up I had to build up the ends on the coin slot because they were too long and didn't touch the wall of the body. 

Picked up an idea from a fellow builder on how to install the horseshoes when the legs are ready for them. I clamped down the shims to the corresponding shoe then took them over to the drill press. The dowels are 1/4" and will help line up the shoe with the leg. The magnets are 1/2" in width but only an 1/8" thick and are earth magnets. These things won't be slipping once they're connected to a matching magnet.  

 Ahhh.. the utility arms. I've been trying to figure out how to mount these and keep them in place so little fingers can't pry them out. I picked up another idea from another builder who used brackets to help align them and keep them there. Mine won't be on servos so once they're locked in, they'll hopefully stay in place. Again.. little fingers..

Finally broke out the box of A&A foot shell pieces and started putting them together. By doing one a day it helped keep me from getting frustrated and messing something up. I still need to put the battery boxes together but in the meantime I'm using glazing putty to help fill in the joints and smooth them out.

Shoulders to Legs to Ankles

   Put the new drill press to use this morning by realigning the holes for the shoulder flanges and leg then glued up the two layers. Using the holes in the first layer I then drilled all the way through and rebolted the two sections together. Oops.. almost forgot to drill a hole for the wires to pass through from the body to the leg.  Outer layer is drying up with the smaller ankle bit and center leg is drying as well.

 Cleaned up the armpits so the details fit then sanded down the sides of the legs to even up the layers. And since I was making a mess I grabbed the ankle cylinders and cut/sanded off the extra bits on the backsides from when they were molded. Just need to fill in any small air holes then they're ready for paint.

Legs, Shoulders and a new toy.

  Finished cutting out the center leg today and the second layer of shoulder circles. Still need to do some trimming in the armpits so the underarm details will fit properly. It helps that I've got the first three layers glued up so all I need to do is clamp the fourth down to do that section. Once I finish getting the holes drilled for the bolts in the shoulder I can finish gluing that piece to the rest of them.
   I've been contemplating a new toy for the workshop for a while now.. A drill press. Using the hand drill just wasn't cutting it even though I've got a good eye for if things are level. That was proven when I tried doing it free hand for the bolts and found they're just slightly off. Getting that set up took up a good portion of my work time but its ready now for me to play with tomorrow. 

Pocket vents finished

A little more progress today. I'm waiting for the rest of the fumes to air out of the workroom before tackling the next part. I got the pocket vents finished and assembled. Once they've set for a little bit I'll paint them up and install. I've posted progress pics as I was building them. Hopefully this will help others in putting some together. They're easy to build and I'm not sure why I procrastinated so long to do them..
The pieces for the 'pocket' were made up with 2mm styrene while the ribs I improvised and built up using 1mm x3 to match the strips I'd gotten. Those turned out to be too wide when put side by side but worked out fine for the outer edges. The back plates are also 1mm. I curved the pieces to match the body by just simply bending them till they held a slight curve and I borrowed Edwardo's idea to use the utility arm to mark out the curve for the pocket pieces.

Legs, Side and pocket vent progress

Well with summer for the kids over and time on my hands I got back in the workshop and finished cutting the legs pieces out. They still have the paper pattern attached for the moment so I know what layer is what. Just need to cut out the shoulder circles now.

 Next on the to do list was working on the side and pocket vents. The resin ones I have didn't fit the curve of the body and trying to warm them and bend them to the proper curve didn't work out either. So I decided to start from scratch with styrene. The side vents were the easiest to put together so I got them out of the way first. I used 1mm sheet for the front and .80x.25 strips for the ribs. Another 1mm sheet finished off the back.

Just need to paint them up and install them now then finish up the pocket vents.

Starting on the legs

No photos this time around. I started rough cutting the leg pieces a couple of weeks ago then had a slight bump due to a broken bandsaw blade. I got back to work on them again today and I'm happy to say that 4 of them are now done. They just need some small detail work in the shoulder area. Will try to get back to work on the other pieces tomorrow or this weekend. After that they get skinned with some styrene.