Dome - eye, lights, paints, and wood primer...........

After the dome has arrived, one of the first things I decide to do is to paint the centre eye gloss black, just to make it look a little better whilst I decide what to do with it. 

Then it hits me- I can make a Perspex eye. So with a hacksaw blade and Stanley blade, I remove the existing bump that is the ‘glass area’ of the eye, marking on the eye the up and down positions, as I could see that this fibreglass replica does not have a completely true round eye. Its only a tiny bit out of shape but enough to cause refitting problems. I then use some regular filler to fill the removed fibreglass lens section right up so the removed eye is now solid. I done this because I will be heating the Perspex and placing it over the ‘filled eyepiece’, and without the eyepiece being solid – it will melt or deform.

After two failed attempts of heating Perspex in my oven, and getting it too hot till it bubbles up, I eventually get it right. The Perspex I am using is 3mm Clear. I heat the oven to 200 degrees and put the filled eye on a baking tray, then I place the sheet of Perspex over the filled eye mould, and watch through the window of the over and the Perspex looks like melting cheese, and covers the eye. I then carefully remove the baking tray with the melted Perspex and  place a mug or china cup over the eye mould, over the Perspex and hold it down so that  I get a true ‘close-up’ mould of the eye at the edges. Once cooled, I trim off the edges of the Perspex so that it will fit inside the squared eye holder on the R2 Dome. This can them be glued into position. A silicone sealant would be a good choice, though I actually used Milliput – a fantastic Plastercine substance that when mixed turns to a solid stone like mix.

Once the eye is installed I gave the inside of the eye a coating of Model Quality Gloss black paint.  Two coats were used. The result a glossy, scratch proof, non – chippable Centre eye. Happy with the result there, I also installed a colour changing L.E.D to the P.S.I or commonly known as the Red / Blue Light below R2’s main eye. This was great it changed colour and looked great. But did not last long and by the summer this L.E.D which I had taken from a ‘ Colour changing bath pillow, was broken. Whatever light you install, you will need to place then in a reflective case or canister. This is to get the most light reflected out of where the light, and encased so that excess light does not reflect back into the Dome which can be seen at certain points around the head. I found the reflectors out of torches seem to work well. Get the smooth type As the patterned reflectors actually cause a pattern on the diffuser and looks odd.

The diffuser is the exit point for all the P.S.I lights on the front and back. The back ones being yellow and green typically. It’s not a good idea to have clear lenses for these lights so I used Opaque Plastic, the type you would find as covers for binding documents.  An A4 sheet of it will be plenty. Just cut a circle of it and stick it to the inside of the dome, again I would use a translucent silicone sealant to get the best seal. When you construct the lights, I would make the lighting unit outside of the dome. Don’t try and build it inside the dome head, room is too restricted. Build the Lights outside the head and mount them inside when they are ready for installation. Be warned, you may need to remove or replace these later on , being for repairs or upgrades , so don’t make it too permanent. You will also need to decide on how these are going to be powered. At the time, I was building a static model, so I was happy to go with batteries and a 12v Set of Blue L.E.D’s Christmas lights for the front Logics. It did the trick and cost me less that £15.

The front logics, I spent a bit of time trying to get a good effect. I eventually brought some blue L.E.D Christmas lights that were able to display a pattern. I drilled lots of holes into a Perspex square and glued each light in place, randomising the position in the drilled plastic as I went. It was fiddly, cheap and effective. As the lights were glued in random positions, when the lights were turned on, the effect was actually worth the hassle. With my limited knowledge of electronics, I assumed that I would be able to take out the circuit board inside of the plug for the Christmas lights and power it with batteries at a later date. Maybe you can do this – but it did not work for me when I eventually took the components out of the sealed plastic plug.

Back to work on the dome. I used a piece of Plastic boarding – the type you would find on a ‘for sale’ sign on a house, as the support for the neck as the fibreglass was so thin in places. I measured the dome diameter and marked out a circle in the plastic and cut around this. I cut some access holes into the plastic and mounted the plastic circle inside of the Dome neck area for added strength. This would later be replaced with a wooded ring, but this was a cheap and free option for me as I had the old house ‘for sale ‘ sign’ kicking around in the garage. Once this was glues with sealant inside the dome neck, the dome itself became much more easy to handle and the strength was evident. In the dead centre of the circle I drilled a hole and mounted a bolt, and on the wooden frame I installed a cross beam made of wood into the neck area, once again with a hole drilled centrally. So I could now place the dome on the body and turn it. It was a very cheap was of doing things, but again it worked. There was a bit of friction, but I installed another nut to the bolt on the dome and a metal washer on the neck ( attached to the body ) and this really eased things. Remember at this time I was working alone with no contact with anyone else building, doing the best I could with little resources and finances. One of the beauties about Droid building is that you can go back an revisit things that you feel need upgrading, changing or repairing later on. Aside form the wooden frame, pretty much everything I had done to date would be ‘reworked’ and improved at a later date.

Now I used wet and dry sandpaper to rub down the dome. Take your time with this as your paint finish will always be a reflection of the preparation of the surface. I then used a Plastic Grey Primer from Halfords Auto Store. Typically it’s the primer spray used for Bumper repairs.

 It must be plastic Prep thou, as other paints won’t stick, or if they do they will flake off at a later time. Also the expansion of plastic in the extreme hot and cold will otherwise make your paint crack and fall off. I managed the head in one large can. After this dried, I used a Aluminium colour silver spray paint of the automotive type again. This took 2 cans, but applied in thin layers over a few hours and left to dry at least 24 hours.

 Once this was dry, you find that the surface of that paint can feel dusty and a little rough, don’t worry , after a polish it all comes up good. Just don’t apply polish yet as you need to mask up the blue areas (or whatever colour you choose) on the dome, and getting wax or polish on these parts before painting can ruin the whole paint job.

After masking up the dome to protect the silver, key up the areas to be coloured with wet and dry paper and make sure that you get the dust off the dome before painting. A word to the wise, if you mask up with masking tape, check what the recommended ‘tape up’ time of your roll is. Some are 12 hours, some are 48 Hours, it just means that the adhesive on the tape will begin to bind if you leave it on too long, and may cause problems when removing from the dome if left on beyond the specified time. After spraying the areas blue that I wanted, and using 2 cans over the course of an afternoon, I waited only an hour or so and then carefully started to remove the masking tape as I did not want to leave it on for that long. I was worried that if I let the paint set fully then I could cause un-straight or peeling edges when removing the tape.

Waiting for paint to dry…..; I thought it best to leave it for a week to let the paint harden property before going near it with polishes. When I did get to get back working on the dome, I found that T-Cut or Rubbing Compound on the Blue Sections worked wonderfully, creating a shiny smooth finish, it also took out any textures that looked like it has been sprayed. The Silver Aluminium sections of the dome – I used – as recommended by some builders – a tube of Silver Leaf Buffing Wax – its available in Hobbycraft, but it is imported from the states, so its expensive here in the UK . There is someone on Ebay who has it here in the UK priced around £7 a small tube. That’s all you will need – it lasts forever this stuff. You literally rub it on like a car way – and buff it off – creates a truly metallic finish, which will tarnish and you have to re apply the wax after a few weeks. My only issue is that it does not seem to ever fully dry, and no matter how much you buff it, silver will still get on your clothes and fingers. To look at it, it is awesome, for events and people touching the dome – not so good.

So back to the frame body and legs. I had already began to paint the frame with white wood primer, together with the legs, feet and hubs. I wanted to protect the wood as much as I could and also I could cover my wood filler mistakes. At his point I plugged in the Front Logics and actually felt that I was achieving something.