Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build: Completed!

Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

I was thinking about that... but then if I just use a regular Testor's silver it should be the right color and sheen as well. The alclad would produce another chrome finish, and I'm not sure I want a chrome finish anymore.
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

Today I did alot of cutting. I got the front arm sections cut out and as I was getting ready to do the marking for the side panels, I discovered that the body is warped. I'll probably end up having to soak the part in boiling water for a little while and in order to keep its shape I'll make sure it's formed properly and then dunk it in cold water to set it. Will do a test on this with the spare body tomorrow.

r2-arms1.jpg


Anyway, I decided to go ahead and begin work on the arms. I cut two pieces of thick styrene and marked them for cutting.

r2-arms2.jpg


After doing so I realized I couldn't quite get the depth I was looking for so I cut another piece of styrene and glued two pieces of the arm to it, and viola... a perfect arm.

r2-arms3.jpg

r2-arms4.jpg


Ok... so it's not totally perfect yet, but it will be after a little tooling. Didn't turn out too bad... more tomorrow.
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

You are really going all out onj this wittle guy!!!
kewl schtuffs!
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

ModelMakerMike said:
You are really going all out onj this wittle guy!!!
kewl schtuffs!
Thanks... R2 and 3PO werethe first models I ever built when I was a child. And I've always wanted to do them up right... and make them look more realistic. I hope I'm doing them justice. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them!
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

Changed my mind on the arms... didn't like the way the styrene turned out. So, I decided to get out my Magic Sculpt and it looks a whole lot better now... will look perfect once it dries and I get some paint on it. Smooth as silk! Love this stuff!


r2-arms5.jpg
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

Excellent work on this so far
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

Boy these arms really turned out looking great after being painted.

r2-arms6.jpg


You can always tell the MPC model kit from a distance by the inaccurate arm sections. The middle is always elongated, and there are no indentions where there should be. Now you won't be able to tell the difference between this model and the real thing... hehehehehehe!

I got my electronic components today. Those toy circuit boards just weren't going to cut it so I started playing around with them. I drilled out the hole in the front main holoprojector eye and inserted a bright white led and tested it...

r2-elec1.jpg


Boy his thing is bright... should brighten up even the darkest of rooms! LOL

r2-elec2.jpg


Going to work on some test circuits and when I get a good slow flashing working I will take a video and let everyone see... wish me luck!
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

Coming along nicely, and aside from the sculpted arms looking a tad rough, he's looking good.
Can't wait to see him altogether with his lights a burnin'.
:D
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

ModelMakerMike said:
Coming along nicely, and aside from the sculpted arms looking a tad rough, he's looking good.
Can't wait to see him altogether with his lights a burnin'.
:D

You're not the only one! LOL I found this awesome free electronics software program called Yenka that will allow you to not only design your circuit board, but will print it up and allow you to simulate the entire thing in 3D space so you can move around LEDs and switchs etc. Really an awesome program I recommend to anyone who wants to mess around with electronics! I'll post some snapshots of it tonight so you all can see what I'm trying to achieve!
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

I found this awesome free electronics software program called Yenka that will allow you to not only design your circuit board, but will print it up and allow you to simulate the entire thing in 3D space so you can move around LEDs and switchs etc. Really an awesome program I recommend to anyone who wants to mess around with electronics! I'll post some snapshots of it tonight so you all can see what I'm trying to achieve!

That sounds awesome! I definitely want to get more into the electronics end of things. I merely lit up my IRON CLAD, but since I am a sci-fi guy, I would like to add other effects, such as blinking, and maybe even sound!
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

Worked on the test circuit today... now I gotta warn ya, I'm not an electrician, never took electronics in school, nor did I ever take any classes to learn how to do this stuff... I basically am a tinkerer and everything I've learned is all from observation and messing around. A long time ago, I bought the VooDooFX R2-D2 Lighting Kit and nothing against VooDoo, they provide some really cool lighting kits for alot of different models and I love their stuff, but I was seriously disappointed here. Sure you had LEDs (4 in fact) but none of them flashed or did anything that even looked semi-cool. It was just a bunch of LEDs and a little circuit board with pre-soldered resisters on it, you also got a switch, some wire, a couple of pieces of shrink tubing, a piece of thick styrene (a 6"x4" square), and a same size piece of metal (I guess for shielding). Oh and some instructions for putting these into the model (which meant leaving the 3rd leg out of the body to hold the circuit board which would fit in the dome). Sounds like alot but for $50 bucks I was expecting alot more bang for the buck. Hell, I could have rigged up a few LEDs in the same manner alot cheaper and kept the 3rd leg in the picture. Matter of fact, if you want the design for this, send me $50 and I'll send ya the plans I made so you can do it youself! So, after finding this handy and extremely cool FREE program called Yenka (formerly Crocodile Clips) I began doing some research on a simple LED flasher circuit. Sure I could have bought a bunch of self blinking LEDs but then I wouldn't have any control over their flash rates at all. So I found this nifty little 2 LED flasher diagram online and plugged it into Yenka and whaddya know, it worked. I messed around with it a bit and came up with a 3 LED version that will flash alot slower (kinda pulse with dimming on and off), and the diagram looks like this:

r2-circuit1.jpg


So as you can see... I want to power everything using just a single 6V power supply. That way I can either use 4 AA batteries or a AC Adapter (I use an AC Adapter for testing because I can vary the voltage anyway I want). As you can see above, it's just a temporary circuit design to test the concept. In it I've got 3 red LEDs (I will be able to change out the LED colors later for the various colors I will need for the dome). I got out my old breadboard circuit tester and began wiring up the test circuit. And whaddya know, it works! Here's a video to prove it:

R2 Circuit Board Test 1

Now mind you, there are no IC chips to work with, just resisters, capacitors, and a couple of transisters. So, after testing and knowing this thing works I began to play around with the design and messing around with Yenka to get everything in proper place that I think I'll need and came up with this design:

r2-circuit2.jpg


Oh, in Yenka, you can import your own Sketchup designs as a "case" for your electronics.. how cool is that? As you can see, I plan on using a total of 9 LEDs. The 4 on the left hand side will be in 2 pairs (red/yellow and blue/white). These pairs pulse at a rate of once a second approximately and will drive the logic panel fiber optics. The 4 LEDs on the right are in 2 pairs (red/blue and red/green) and flash at a very slow rate (maybe once every 20 seconds) and will drive the mood indicators on the front and rear. The center LED is a bright white that will be used in the holoprojecter. It will remain on until the switch is turned off.

So now I've got my circuit design working and tested and all I need to do is get the large circuit put together and tested. Then put it into the dome. What do you all think? Lemme know... More to come later.
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

Quaralane said:
Impressive planning work

Just trying to get as accurate as possible. Its stuff like this that really gets me going. Kinda like a dog with a bone... once i get my teeth into something, I can't stop until it's finished!
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

Legendary work my friend. This is a stellar build so far and very informative.
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

MrNatural said:
Legendary work my friend. This is a stellar build so far and very informative.

Thanks... I wish I had some of this information when I build. I just hope it helps someone else out there or at least inspire others to get more out of what they are doing. The biggest problem I face is having a resource to look up in one place. Right now I've got like 10-15 different places I look at for reference pics or what have you. Becomes tiring after awhile... but I also like to make sure I have a place where if I decide to do this kit again at a later date, I have someplace I can go back to and see what I did and what I could have done better. I keep all my instructions for every model I've built because I'm always writing little notes on them to give me a reference to what I need to change or how it should be painted etc. Really helps sometimes!
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

Now, this is turning to be really absolutely unbelievably outstanding! :eek:
I've been always fascinated with people doing timing schemes without chips - just the RC-stuff.
Very cool work here, thumbs up!
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

Solander said:
Now, this is turning to be really absolutely unbelievably outstanding! :eek:
I've been always fascinated with people doing timing schemes without chips - just the RC-stuff.
Very cool work here, thumbs up!

Thanks bro... Took me awhile to get all the timings right. I've updated that schematic and will post it when I get it working the way I need it to.
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

Finally finished the circuit design today for the entire lighting setup. I decided to go for 3 leds each for the logic panels. This will make a much more random looking light display as they pulse from one color to the next. All in all, it looks as if I'm going to be using 11 LEDs, 5 capacitors, 5 transistors and a whopping 16 resisters. Major pain in the butt to get them all synced up. The front mood light will be red/blue and the back will be red/green.


r2-circuitfinal.jpg



I added a few notes to help me in remembering how transistors and LEDs are aligned both on the schematic and in real life. I also came up with a pretty good list of every component that I will need for this circuit, handy when assembling. But after going back thru this, I realize I haven't shown what I'm trying to achieve here. Here's the photo that I'm going try and replicate in this:

r2-refphoto.jpg


While doing all this wiring/designing I've been thinking about a few things to do to the dome. I think I'm going to use my Magic Sculpt to create two little holders for the mood lights. This way I'll be able to keep them the same distance apart and allow for a more even lighting because I'll be able to paint the holder silver for maximum light reflection (or use a little of my silver leaf in a bowl shape). Not sure yet.

Another thing I was thinking of doing was actually separate each individual fiber strand on the rear logic panel and try to form a word in one color. Kinda difficult to do with a 4 grid high panel. But I think I may be able to at least attempt to spell my last name in it. It shouldn't detract from the overall look of the panel and will add a little bit of a personal touch to it when it's done. I dunno... what do you all think?
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

Well... am working on the breadboard of the testing circuit lately. Keep having to rearrange the components to figure out how to get things set up. Major pain in the butt... hopefully I'll have something to show in a working light circuit, but it's not looking good so far. If anyone has any circuitry experience I could use a hand here!
 
Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build

Some really great work here. Makes me want to try picking up these kits. I'll have to bookmark this build for later reference

LrdSatyr8 said:
Another thing I was thinking of doing was actually separate each individual fiber strand on the rear logic panel and try to form a word in one color. Kinda difficult to do with a 4 grid high panel. But I think I may be able to at least attempt to spell my last name in it. It shouldn't detract from the overall look of the panel and will add a little bit of a personal touch to it when it's done. I dunno... what do you all think?

That would be a very cool easter egg!
 

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