As far as parts are concerned, I nearly have everything now for the basic build with the exception of ankles. Am hopeful to get them in the next month or so as I have a couple of option that may turn out good - fingers crossed.
I have managed to now get most of the dome parts done.
PSI's
I got the PSI holders from ai-parts.com and the PSI boards from Selgus on astromech.net. Both parts are so well manufactured. I had to do some work to get the inner and outer dome holes for the front PSI to line up, but nothing 10 minutes with a file didn't sort out. I think the front PSI holder is supposed to sit inside the inner dome, however I found it better to sit behind it - it may make the lights further back but its ok.
The diffusing is not great - probably because the LED's are so bright - so I will think again about this at some point and add some diffusion layers to make it a bit more subtle.
Fitting the holders was just a case of two captive studs for each as I used for the hinges.
The inner dome still needs painting blue around the rear PSI but I'll so that later as it all needs masking off.
Currently I just have a 12v power supply going to each PSI, I will in the future add this to the I2C bus and hopefully Selgus will release some code to accept I2C commands.
HP's
The HP's are still ongoing. I have them mounted in ok and the mounts from BobC are ok. I have found that because my inner and outer dome don't line up very well the HP's tend to bind a bit. I have filed the inner dome a bit and its better. I think however I need to remove them and put some felt on the inside to help them move more easily.
The BobC servo mounts have been a bit of a pain - they tend to jam up a bit - they sort of work, but I am going to go back to the drawing board on this and print a different mount on my 3d printer - i'll post separately about this if it works!!
Again I just have power going to the REON boards in each HP, I will add I2C to this so I can change colour at will.
Logics
The logics from Joymonkey (on astromech.net) are simply great! Nothing really to add, I followed his great instructions and mounted them with captive studs.
I thought there was going to be an issue with the two front boards hitting each other as the dome curves inward. However when bolting them in I lined them up with the bolts loose then gradually tightened each one - this resulted in the boards pushing away from each other which is fine.
Again, currently I just have power going to each logic, I will add I2C when Joymonkey releases new code that supports it - am really hoping it will support scrolling text like the teeces.
Dome Panels
I have painted all the dome panels. I used an etch primer from Halfords, followed by two coats of primer, followed by 3 coats of Citroen Posiedon Blue paint and then 2 coats of lacquer. (All from halfords.)
I glued each panel on each hinge with E6000, and clamped each one - I managed to do this too soon after lacquer and its marked it with the clamps so i'll need to mask them off and respray at some point - though I am thinking of weathering him so it may not matter!
The hinges were not the correct curvature in many places but some gentle bending made them ok.
Clearance of the panels over the dome was a bit of a problem - moving the hinges further out combined with filing the inner edge of the panel solved this.
Overall fitting the panels was an bitch of a job and I redone a few of them as they weren't correctly positioned - the beauty of E6000 is that it will peel off if needed.
All the panels are controlled by an arduino in the dome that accepts I2C commands from the master arduino in the body. I will release all my code once I am happy with it and it works properly (which isn't yet as it crashes a lot with buffer overruns etc)
Radar Eye
I thought i'd be waiting forever for a radar eye, so I printed one on my 3d printer, it came out quite well but ironically just as it was finishing its 4 hour print I nabbed a aluminium version on the junkyard! I don't know how I am going to bring myself to paint it - its so beautiful! Just need a lens now, which is incoming hopefully.
I still need to sort the top panel out and rework the HP's, but other then that the dome is nearly there. (oh, I do need to tidy the wiring - I have done half but need to bring myself to do the rest!)
I also have a periscope on the way and already have the LFS, so as soon as the lifters are ready i'll be working on them too!
Tidy wires...
not so tidy wires!
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