Thursday, June 16, 2011

Too Soon?

...well, probably - but exciting none the less. It looks like a bunch of the Northern California group will be trying to head cross country to Orlando, next year for Celebration VI! www.starwarscelebration.com While I'm not too thrilled at the idea of Orlando in August, I believe the experience is going to be amazing, especially having a droid there. It will be nice to experience the event rather than just read about it. So, look for a donation button soon to cover our fuel costs. ;) ...just kidding.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Long Overdue...

So, I've pretty much figured that I could never have a career as a "blogger" - I'm just horrible at keeping up to date with this thing. Honestly, I doubt that there is anything you could really learn from me as I don't think I'll be doing really anything that is not of the "norm" or things I've already learned from other blogs. That being said, it's good to be able to look back at yourself and remind yourself of the journey...this will be my goal.
So, what has "capodimusica" been up to? Well, having moved from the styrene/wood/resin build to an almost full aluminum build...I've been a total droid pack rat. I've been aggressively searching for all of those parts that will make up my build. With many of R2's parts not currently being made, many things have been acquired by pure luck or honestly getting to something first when posted.
So, a GIANT accomplishment for my build is that I now have all of my needed parts minus 1 - a set of aluminum power couplers. My hope is I'll see a run of these shortly. Pretty much all of these parts are ready to go minus a few things that are currently being produced (JAG feet and holoprojectors.)
So, today I had several packages arrive all at once. First being a smaller package with many aluminum parts I've been hunting for - the crown jewel of the day is my new David Shaw Radar Eye...that's right...you can drool now, I did.
These were my new arrivals for the day, minus everything ON the legs, I just had to see how they look. I received the new JAG legs and they are just AMAZING, Jerry's part runs are always awesome. I grabbed my modular booster covers and had to see them on the legs, along with the horseshoes...looking very nice.
So, this is where R2 is at...basically a pile of parts. While life has kept me insanely busy lately, I have been spending most of my time working on the Arduino logics. They have been great fun to play with but sadly most of that work will be enjoyed by someone else as I'll be selling two of the complete sets. The last set is a custom color for my R3-T2 styrene dome I'm working on. The 300mm R2 dome will get the coveted J.E.D.I. displays.
My schedule will be opening up soon enough and droid building will begin at full speed. It looks like a group of us from Northern California will be attending Celebration in Orlando next year and I'll have R2 with me...fingers crossed. My goal as of right now is to finish him up by the holidays of this year. I'd also really like to take him to the theater when Episode I comes out in 3D.
So, for those actually reading this, thanks! I've said it before, do not doubt yourself - if I can build a droid...YOU can build a droid. I've seen budget builds, wood, styrene, all of these materials, when done right will look like...R2 you don't have to be crazy like I've found myself with the aluminum disease!
I'll try to stay current here from now on and try to remember to snap a picture from time to time when I'm in the middle of something.