2019 Recap

I am embarassed at not updating my blog sooner, but the last half of this year has been crazy. Between my broken hand in July, Makerfaire and other family events, my blog has lanquished. But no further. 

Despite my handicap, I was able to mostly finish my FX-7 droid in time for the Milwaukee Makerfaire.

I plan on finishing the base, adding details for the insets in the head and to add movement to the head and some of the arms.

2019 Build Update

It's been a busy year as I am laboring to get the droid finished in time for MakerFaire in September. Progress has been brisk, but I hit a major speed bump when I broke my hand earlier in July. I am determined to get the fully painted droid completed for MakerFaire in September.

Completing the Arm Boxes

Work on the arm boxes and main body has been progressing steadily over the past year. Alot of cutting, glueing and sanding!

I made a plywood ring to reinforce the top plate to support the upper body.

Arm Bay Construction

Arm bay construction has begun! After doing 3 or for of them I think I have a system and measurements figured out to keep it all even and consistent.

I have 9 of the arm bays ready to be put in place, and I am working on assembling the other 9. 

It's starting to look like a droid!

 

Elbow Details

Since there are so many arms of the FX-7, I decided that the most economical way to produce all of the pieces was to 3D print them and then cast them.

I thought I'd start with something small. I made the elbow details in 3D, using reference pictures I found online of the FX-7 when it was on display at the Smithsonian, I believe.

I printed out 4, coated them with XTC-3D to make them smoother, then make a mold using Smooth-On OOMOO 25. Once the mold was made I did a test cast using Smoothcast 300.

I was very happy with the results, but I think I will be more generous with the XTC-3D on the printed pieces in the future since I could still see some of the striping from the 3D print.

Center Body Frame

I cut out and assembled the 15" diameter frame for the center of the body. I am going to wrap this in two layers of 1mm styrene. This will make it very sturdy and provide a base to which I can attach the arm boxes as well as a provide support for the upper body section.

On a side note, I found an online cone template calculator, so once I get some large sheets styrene I can start skinning the frame.

You can find the calculator at http://www.templatemaker.nl/index.php?template=cone&lang=en.

FX-7 at the Milwaukee MakerFaire

I had the work-in-progress FX-7 frame on display in our R2 Builder's Club booth at the Milwaukee MakerFaire this past weekend! I got a lot of positive feedback and some great suggestions from other builders about the build.

I made a full-size printout of the wireframe 3D model and mounted it of foam board. I then made to leaves that folded out so that I could stand it on the base section. I put a spare circular piece of Sintra on the top as a base where I set the head. This setup, along with half of the arm boxes arranged in around the front, gave you a pretty good idea of how tall and wide it was going to be.

I also made a info poster for the MakerFaire, with a montage of pictures, that explained just who was FX-7.

Now, only 12 more arms boxes to make and then onto the mid section!