Days 125 through 130 - Getting Rainier ready for Anglicon 2015

After getting back home to Seattle from our holiday in England, Wales, and France (and re-adjusting to our local time zone!), I was left with about two weeks to get Rainier ready.  In the mad rush, the days sort of ran together.  I'm estimating I put in about a week's worth of time, so I've bumped up the counter to 130 full days working on him since July of 2013.

First and foremost was addressing the eyestalk tragedy.  I mixed up some more ABS glue (ABS plastic melted in acetone), cut a new interior tube piece to attach to the cone front part of the eye.  I sanded flat both the new edge of the tube and the damaged edge of the cone piece and glued them together.  This I let sit until it was cured, and then sanded back as much of the clear sealer, black topcoat, and primer as I could, along with the glue seam.  Then I re-primed and re-painted the pieces.  Not perfect, but it'll do.

While on the subject of the eye, I decided it was high time to put in his light.  I got a cheap flashlight and magnifying glass from a great Japanese dollar store called Daiso in Seattle's International District.  I removed the parabolic mirror and the lens (also pictured is an iris from a microscope that Nzarra used in his build that I've yet to install).

Without easy access to a laser cutter, I decided to cut out some acrylic disks using my scroll saw from an acrylic sheet that I had laying around.  I cut four of these (one each for the mirror, iris, lens, and potential small servo down the line).  I sanded the edges smooth until they fit comfortably into the smaller of the two eye sections.  So far, the only one I've used was to house the lens.  I cut a hole in the center of one of the disks, and then sealed the lens using the same caulking that I used to secure my dome light ping-ping balls.

For the eye light, I used a Neopixel ring driven by a Trinket microcontroller that I got from an Adafruit kaleidoscope goggles kit.  These can be powered via USB or battery, but for the sake of Anglicon, I just used the included 3.7v LiPo battery.  Later on, I bought a 12v car jumpstart battery that has a USB port, so I'll likely use that next time.  I did a bit of surface-mounting soldering to attach the JST battery connector.

I've done programming before, so I'm pretty familiar with the syntax of both Java and C++, so I downloaded the Arduino IDE onto my computer, connected the board via USB, and started tweaking a sample block of code to get the LEDs to light up.  Although I intend to use another acrylic disk to attach the Neopixel ring and mirror to, I just simple taped the two together, and uploaded the program to the board.  And there was light!

(Later on, I spent some time programming an automated light sequence that utilized the LEDs brightness settings to simulate a random iris-like movement.  It was subtle, but noticeable; the eye would dim or brighten a random amount, at random intervals.  With the 3.7v battery, this effect lasted about 2.5 to 3 hours before depleting.)

Switching gears yet again, one other important physical aspect of Rainier that I hadn't done was attaching the neck to the shoulders.  I once again took a page from AdamSt's brilliant diary (though, not exactly the same way, as he's more skilled with wood chisels than I am), and placed four keyhole hangers on the surface of the shoulder top.  Once these were screwed in, I temporarily removed them to drill out some extra space under the holes for the eventual screws.

In the exact corresponding locations on the underside of the neck (and offset by about 1/4" for the locking "twist" action), I screwed in button head wood screws, being careful not to buy ones that exceeded the thickness of the neck rings (3/4"), and that would fit into the holes of the keyhole hangers.  Placing the neck on the shoulders, I lined up the screw heads to the keyholes, then twisted the neck into place with a firm jerk.  It worked really well!  The neck stays in place nicely, and can be attached from the inside as well.  There's a gap in between the neck and shoulders, but I can either tighten the screws a bit more into the neck ring, or I can add weatherstripping for cushioning and filling.

That was all I got done before Anglicon.  His debut was a huge success, and he was used for several of the group photo sessions with Colin Baker, Sophie Aldred, Katy Manning, and Jon Davey.  It was more than I ever could have expected, and Sophie stated something to the effect of "These Daleks look so much better than what we worked with on the show!"  Jon Davey hung around Rainier a lot and asked several questions, even having me open Rainier up so that he could take a peek inside.  He was also amused that we saw the very same Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular in Cardiff, where he played a Dalek on stage.  Great times.

After Anglicon, I finally cut out access holes in the rotation plates (to make life so much easier).  I didn't use any template, just chose the pattern that I've seen in countless build diaries.  I am not giving Rainier 360° rotation, so the lower plate has a wedge where movement can physically stop (if I use a manual rod control before adding remote control and servos later).  The top plate has three potential locations for installing a servo and additional battery, if needed.  Then I sprayed the bottom of the lower plate black, as well as the inside edges of the eyestalk pivot jig.

And now for the final bit.  I was determined to give Rainier his voice.  I had tested the voice modulator much earlier in this build, but I hadn't connected it to the newly-installed dome lights.  Taking Rainier's dome and neck to my friend Jeff's house, we worked in his shop connecting everything together and testing it against his heavy-duty gigantic 12v jumpstarter battery instead of the AC adapter we used before.  Once it was all connected and tested, I took it home, hooked it up to my own jumpstarter battery and gave Rainier a little test.  Enjoy!

Day 124 - The stack shot of stack shots

Remember this?  This was my first stack shot, featuring the first part to be completed—the skirt—along with the two objects that set the bar for me on this build: actual Heronrib matting, and actual Moflash lens covers.  If I was going to build a Dalek, by damned I was going to make an accurate one.

Well, before I get to all of that, I'll talk a bit about some final touch-up stuff I worked on.  I had a can of black spray liner that ChristmasDalek gave me quite awhile back, and I used this to dab onto the bare grooves that I cut into the fender.  I sprayed a glob onto some paper, and used a sponge brush to tap the liner onto the groove.  It worked pretty good!

Once that was dried, I focused on attaching the socket head cap screws I bought specially for the fender panels.  I searched and failed to find an official measurement for these bolts, so I just looked at photos and eyeballed it.  Basically I just measured 1cm in from the groove line and the top, and 1cm from the groove and 1.5cm from the bottom.  Then I pre-drilled a hole slightly smaller than the screw, and twisted the screw in.

My first foray into gunbox felt lining wasn't too successful, so I tried a different method this time.  I bought little adhesive felt pads and attached eight of them to the interior of the gunbox and the retention plate.  I was going to use contact cement for those, but their own adhesive backing with seemed to work fine; plus, they will be compressed together when they surround the gazing globes.

I also applied weatherstripping to the fender and the skirt.  Even though I cleaned the surfaces, it lifted up in places.  The compression of Rainier's separate components against each other should be enough pressure, but I can always go back and try reinforcing the bond with contact cement.

Oh, speaking of contact cement, I did have to use some for one of my plungers.  Somehow, the rubber split in the stem, right at the point where the bolt head is imbedded.  Apparently, that's a weak spot, and the rubber is rigid enough to "break".  I re-attached it by coating both ends with contact cement, letting them dry for about 15 minutes, and then sticking them together.  The bond seems sound.

And I finally got to attach the gunbox details!  These were beautifully cut aluminum pieces traded from gregg.nowling, far better than the laser-cut baltic birch ones that I originally intended to use.  The latter split slightly when I was trying to widen the bolt holes.  To attach the metal ones to the gunboxes, I did the same thing as I did for the fender details; pre-drilling holes and then attaching the screws.

Then, I re-attached the plunger and gun arms, screwed on the shoulder slats, and covered the screws with chrome plastic caps.  I attached all the bumps and oil seals.  I re-attached the rotation plates and lazy suzan to the now-painted neck section, screwed in the pivot mounts and pivot onto the top plate, put the dome on, attached the eyestalk ...

... and with that, Rainier was externally complete.  And I wasn't prepared for that.  All of a sudden, I had a complete Dalek standing before me!

But before I get to that glorious stack shot, here are some up-close photos:

I only really have minor quibbles:

• the neck blocks wound up being a bit fuzzy from PVA-sealing, and I didn't do a great job sanding them back
• the slat edges are a lot more noticeable than I thought they would be, should have cut rabbets (rebates) into a wider faceplate
• there's a gap between the skirt and the fender (the weatherstripping hides this a bit), but the skirt bottom is ever-so-slightly warped like a rocking chair
• some missed pockmarks in the dome cowl front
• the dome is sitting a little too high (likely due to fiberglass reinforcement on the inner plate mounts)

But overall, damn.  He looks good:

Next up: mostly just invisible stuff.  Weatherstripping and attaching the shoulders to the neck; building a bench (although a standard aluminum folding chair fits nicely inside); cut access holes into the dome rotation plates; somehow getting the dome to sit a little lower, maybe by sanding back the resin on the inner dome inserts.

Oh, and also all the lighting and electronics.

Day 121 through 123 - Rainier is painted!

This is an exciting update for me!  The Anglicon convention is fast approaching, and I wanted to get Rainier painted very soon—especially since I'm headed to England in a little over a week.  There's not much time left before Rainier's debut, so instead of attempting to paint him myself, I got in touch with a guy via Craigslist.  (My apologies to ChristmasDalek for wasting her time getting me paint supplies!  I'll repay you, I promise!)

This guy, Brad, lives in a suburb of Seattle (city of Auburn) about 30 miles away.  He texted me several photos of his auto body work and I was very impressed.  He also quoted me a much lower price that was one digit fewer than other quotes I've received.

Before he arrived, I did some final prep to the dome, drilling in holes for the bulb housing and mounting points.  I traced a pencil line between the two light cage bolt holes (making it look an awful lot like Baymax from Big Hero Six), and used a forstner bit to get the big hole, and a regular drill bit for the mounting holes.

Then I collected up Rainier's various bits and bobs (skirt, shoulders, shoulder slats, neck, dome, cowl, gunbox detail plates [courtesy of gregg.nowling], and hemispheres) and placed them in front of the garage for easy loading.  When he arrived, I showed him the parts and gave him detailed instructions on what Rainier's color scheme is (choosing to stick with the colors as represented in the series 1 episode "Dalek"—specifically the lighter color of the lower shoulder band).  He nodded in agreement, mentioned that it would take him about two or three days to complete, and off he went.

I must say, I was a nervous wreck.  It was like sending my kid off to school.  So, to keep my mind occupied, I decided to tackle the fender the next day.  I didn't send this piece off with him because I had intended to paint it myself using primer and truck bed liner.  To better reflect the underlighting, I used a couple of coats of oil-based white primer.  While painting, I was asking myself just where in the heck I was going to place my LED strips.  There are reinforcing bits galore, and not a lot of room for anything else.

Once that was dry, I flipped the fender over and masked off an 8cm area all around the top.  I purchased a brand of truck bed liner called Herculiner, which consists mainly of rubber granules pre-mixed with black polyurethane.  I stirred that up thoroughly with a paint mixing attachment on my hand drill, and applied a coat with the supplied sponge roller.  This stuff cures to a light tack in about four hours or so, and then you can coat it with a heavier second layer, which I did, but not before ...

... I get a call from Brad saying that he's done painting and wants to deliver Rainer back to me that evening!  Here I was, expecting him to be done in three more days!  He explained saying that he needed the room in his shop for some other projects that he had lined up, so he spent extra time on Rainier to get him finished.

I put the second, thicker coat of liner on the fender while I waited for Brad's truck to approach.  He finally appeared, about an hour after his ETA, and there Rainier was, bolted securely to a plank of wood in his truck bed.  I can only imagine what other drivers on the road thought when they saw that image!  And man, did that Dalek look good!  He even painted the part of the dome black where the cowl covers, before hitting it all with clear coat.  I'll save those pics for the very end.

The next day, set about attaching the bulb housings to the dome.  Easy job.  I flipped the dome over, attached the bulbs to the housings, and put the dome light cage over the top.  The ping pong balls surrounding the LED dome lights inside the lens covers look really nice, and has a height that matches that of the actual Dalek props, from what I can tell.  I'm really pleased.

I cut grooves in the mostly-dried truck bed liner between each of the fender segments.  (Not pictured: I dabbed black paint in the grooves later to cover up the exposed plywood).  I will add the rivet details (socket head cap screws) soon.

Finally, I was able to unbox my Heronrib matting!  Now that the neck section was painted, I could attach all that neck mesh!  I had rectangles of the matting already cut months earlier, so I placed each piece inside the neck ring, and trimmed it into a trapezoidal shape corresponding to the tapered neck ring struts.  Using some small wood screws, I fastened the mesh in place.  I then attached the aluminum mesh and black voile to the Heronrib.  The stiffness of the aluminum helps keep the curve flush against the neck interior.

And now for the big reveal!  Here's Rainier just after unloading him from Brad's truck, and then later the next day after attaching the neck mesh.  Ta-dah!

Days 119 and 120 - Attaching eye pivot / attaching shoulders to skirt

Now that the painted eyestalk pivot was dry, I wanted to mount it into place.  I cut out a couple of rounded pieces from some 3/4" MDF, using my dome former for the arc.  I quickly placed them on the rotation plate and put the dome overtop, noting that it wasn't a flush fit because of the inner indentation of the dome grooves.  I then drilled out the spot where they touched the mounts.

Another thing I noticed was that the mounts wound up right where the upper cowl bolts would be placed.  So, after making a couple marks through the holes and onto the mounts underneath, I later took a saw and flattened the MDF (not pictured) so that the bolts would be unobstructed.

Next was to try and determine just how much of the pivot I wanted to be outside the dome, and how high it should sit.  There doesn't seem to be much in the way of measurements out there telling me what it is, so I just looked at several reference photos, and eyeballed it.  One thing I noticed, though, was that the pivot axle's center point was going to be very close to the surface of the dome interior ... so my original idea of using my spare 1" pipe, in effect, wasn't going to let the pivot poke out of the dome that far.

I decided to plug the 1" hole I had previously drilled with some 1" wooden dowel, with new, smaller holes drilled in.  You can see it here, and I made marks on the dome where it lined up with the center of that dowel (the lower mark was the more accurate one).  Again, all eyeball measurements.

Now it was time to drill the pivot holes, both in the dowel and in the mounts.  Then I sat the mounts back on the rotation plate to check and see how far the pivot jutted out.

Satisfied with that, I carefully put on the dome, the dome cowl, and slid the eyestalk on, to give that a good visual inspection. Everything looks good!

Carefully disassembling the eyestalk and removing it, and the cowl and dome, I duct taped the mounts in place so that I could flip the plate over and drill countersunk wood screw holes.  I had to cut a hole in the rotation plate to make room for the pivot (and threaded rot that will stick out the back)—otherwise it would sit too high and scrape against the top of the dome's pivot hole.

The following day was beautiful and sunny, so I worked outside most of the day.  I mixed up some PVA-water and brushed a few coats onto the rotation plates and mounts.

While that was drying, I decided I would add extra reinforcement to the plate mounts inside the dome (Bondo being the only thing attaching them) and use fiberglass tape and resin to lock them into place.  So I set to work doing that, remembering to use less catalyst in the sun, and pretty soon had that finished.  And only then did I remember that without the fiberglass, everything sat flush and even, and now I just made it all bumpy (and raised the overall dome a couple millimeters).  So I'm going to need to address that somehow later, either by sanding it down a bit, or strategically using washers as spacers to re-level the dome.

I also whipped up a bit of Bondo glazing putty and repaired a few more chips on the dome cowl, which will get sanded back a bit later.

The final major thing I did that was to attach the shoulders to the skirt.  This was a little acrobatic, as I had to climb inside the skirt, lean over the side and grab the shoulder section, and gently lower myself into the skirt, and set the shoulders on top.  Then I had to lean over and grab my drill and bring it inside, being careful not to drill holes in myself as I did it.

I had to drill with the bit facing upward because that was the only angle I could use to assure a 90° hole in both sections of plywood.  I used another bit of dowel (pre-drilled) to make sure that my drilled holes were going to be square.  I did this in four places.

I used threaded inserts (similar but smaller than the ones used in the fender) on the top of the skirt after boring out those holes with a bigger drill bit, and then spade-head thumbscrews with washers for the shoulder.  Now the shoulders are securely attached to the skirt, and the skirt is attached to the fender!

Now I just need to attach the neck rings to the shoulder, and I'll have everything attachable.  Again, I'll draw inspiration from AdamSt's diary, as I can't think of any other way (besides rare-earth magnets?) to firmly attach them from the outside.

Not pictured: I've sanded everything down with 180 and 320 grit.  I think it's just about ready to prime, just need to build a paint booth (or, ideally, find a garage made for that purpose).

Day 115 through 118 - Attaching the dome to the neck (and many other things)

I've been quiet, but I've been busy, trying to get Rainier all ready for Anglicon in June!  Any one of these tasks didn't really warrant a diary entry of their own—except for the dome leveling and attachment bit—but I worked on that whilst working on various other tasks, which you will discover below.

First, though, I want to talk about the dome stuff, as that's what I'm most proud of for this update!

So, in the previous update, I had shown how I sanded the bottom of the dome so that it would be a level reference for when I mounted it to the upper rotation plate.  I didn't want Rainier's head to be all cattywampus when he turns to stare balefully at a potential victim.

I clamped a few blocks to the neck rings in order to hold a pen stationary to the dome rim, making sure it was 8.5cm below the chamfer line.  I rotated the dome on the lazy suzan, dragging a straight line along the dome.  Then I took my calipers to measure the discrepancy.

I was skeptical of my findings shown in the photos, so I instead measured several spots from the chamfer line and adjusted the line (not pictured).  Then I took the Dremel tool and again rotated the dome while I held the tool stationary.  This resulted in a beautiful, straight cut then I then re-sanded in the same way as before.  The dome was level and ready for the upper rotation plate to be fitted!

To accomplish this, I took two spirit levels—one for the dome and one for the plate—and tweaked and bumped the plate until all the bubbled were centered.  Once done, I drew a reference line along the interior, and made sure the line was the same distance from the rim all around the dome (in my case, 53.5mm).

My next tasks was to decide what to use to mount the plate into the dome along this line.  I've seen some solutions use bent aluminum L brackets fiberglassed to the inner surface (I think that's mentioned in the Workshop Manual), but I ultimately settled on AdamSt's method using wooden block sections.

But that raised the question for me of how to cut a curved, angled line that matches both the curvature and angle of the dome's interior.  As I scratched my head, I idly looked around the garage, and my eyes fell on the old practice piece of MDF that I used when I was cutting my neck rings.  From this, I cut four pieces out using my jigsaw, and then belt-sanded the existing 45° angle a little closer to the angle of the dome interior.

I placed the upper rotation plate back in the dome and test-placed the four blocks within to make sure they weren't touching any of the inset details or dome grooves.  Ultimately, I decided to use just three of the four blocks I prepared, as I was able to place them the same distance from each other and not touch any uneven interior wall surfaces.  I temporarily duct-taped them to the other side of the plate to see if they needed to be flush against the plate arc, or if they needed to poke out a bit by a few millimeters.  The latter proved true.  I shone a light inside to verify their placement.

The next step was to use wood screws to secure the blocks to the plate.  Keeping the duct-tape in place, I drilled a screw hole into both the center of the block and through the plate.  I countersunk the hole on the side that would be against the lazy suzan so that the screw wouldn't interfere with the bearing rotation.  Because I was going to be using Bondo to adhere the blocks to the done interior, I taped some paper between the blocks and the rotation plate.

Whipping up some Bondo, I slathered the angled edge of the blocks.  I realized that it would be much easier to place the dome over the top of that while it was on the lazy suzan and neck section instead of aligning it to the inner line I drew.  And I could rotate the dome to see if there was anything askew, and adjust it before the Bondo set.  I let this set for a few hours while I was out of the house, and when I came back, unscrewed the plate from the blocks, and removed the paper, everything looks super fabulous.  I will later reinforce the blocks with fiberglass tape and resin.  Yay!  Level dome that attaches to the neck section!

(I took the opportunity to repair a few of the dome air pockets with the remaining Bondo.)

Although this was done on a different day, now would be a good time to bring up my Bondo-ing of the dome cowl.  Because of the combination of my weird linoleum cowl plug, my crinkly cowl mold, and air pockets that snuck into the fiberglassed finished product, the cowl needed a bit of Bondo repair to smooth everything out, especially the D-shaped sharp line at the very front.  I troweled and smudged some filler onto all those points, and then sanded them down later, using 60-, 80-, 120-, 320-, and finally 1,000-grit (wet) sandpaper.  I'm very pleased with how smooth everything is, and it should look really great once primed.

The final bit of Bondo news involved the top and bottom of the shoulder section, just so any plywood unevenness was filled up and sanded down.  I still have a bit of work left to do here, but I've got it pretty flat.  Might just need to apply a bit of glazing putty to fill in the Bondo holes.

I also assembled and glued together the plunger detailing, using a combination of JB Weld for the metal tube, and acrylic cement for the acrylic and plastic bits.  Afterward, I sanded some of the sharp edges down to smooth it out.

Next, I decided I wanted to prime and paint the plunger detail, the eyestalk pivot, a bit of the eyestalk tube, and the front and back section of the eye.  All these were to be black, so I decided to do them all at once.  Taking some advice from ChristmasDalek, I alternated priming layers as grey, white, and grey again, using Rust-Oleum spray paint.  This also helped to fill in a few of the gaps in the plastic.

Once all that was dry, I sprayed a few coats of black Rust-Oleum onto all the parts and let them dry.  To prevent paint from entering the back eye piece, I put in a circular cut of wood, sitting on top of the spray can lid.

Once dry, I test-assembled everything, and was very pleased with the final result.  I will be adding a few layers of satin clear-coat to protect these parts.  I can't wait to next mount the eye into the newly-attached dome!

Finally, I also messed around a means to make my dome light LEDs look more like actual NSD bulbs.  I Dremeled a hole into a ping pong ball, snipped a few cuts all around it to segment it a bit, and then fitted the ball over the LED bulb.  Then I took some clear silicone bathroom caulking to seal it in place, and hung it upside-down to cure.  The bulb only produces 60 lumens of output, and so its heat is negligible; I'm not worried about damaging the caulk, bulb, or lens casing.

So, there you have it!  A nice huge update to let you all know that I haven't fallen off the map!