#blastomech

[thegeeksgarage]

BT-1 decided to join me at work today. He’s celebrating his Doctor Aphra Hasbro set. Side note, having BeeTee behind me is even more nerve racking than having Chopper.

[thegeeksgarage]

A couple of pictures from Pensacon captured by Dan. First off a Stormtrooper runs off with BB but has a change of heart and hands him back to me. Next, a fellow droid builder and I are trying to get BeeTee into the convention but he keeps wanting to run off and cause some havoc.

[thegeeksgarage]

It’s time for your BT-1 update. I am not sure what all I can say. The photos speak for themselves and I would never presume to speak for BeeTee. The left shoulder gun mount is temporary. I just wanted to see what he’d look like with a full loadout. I still need to do the left hand rockets and mounts. I think the cone is going to work perfectly and I think I found a good way to do a simple but effective weapon swap system. I just have to get some cotter pins and angle brackets.

[thegeeksgarage]

I finally painted BeeTee’s body. Hopefully I can put everything together without scratching or scuffing the paint. There are a lot of coats of clear on there thanks to our weather. It kept clouding up because the temperature would drop suddenly. I took it to work today to paint it in the sun and bring it inside to dry. That seems to have solved the clouding issue.

[thegeeksgarage]

Here’s a quick video on how the shoulder weapon mounts work on BeeTee.

[thegeeksgarage]

More progress on BeeTee. I’m using a Harbor Freight caster for the drive wheels. I’ve 3d printed a prototype sprocket. The final version will have the holes to bolt the caster to the sprocket. I’m also working on the battery boxes and the supports for the utility arms.

I really hope to get him functional for Pensacon but I have so much left to do and less than a month to finish it.

[thegeeksgarage]

My favorite stage of building is the painting stage. Unfortunately it can also be the “I should have sanded that better” stage of disappointment. At some point you have to just say enough is enough and paint. I will sand and sand and sand until I’m blue in the face thinking I can make something perfect. It’s not possible. If you’re going to weather your project then the waves or faults can help it look more realistic. For BT-1 I am not planning any weathering. I’m going by the assumption that 000 is a stickler for keeping BT in perfect condition. The guns I’m probably going to weather because they are removable and I know they are going to get scratched anyway. BT uses his guns A LOT so they should look a little beat up.

[thegeeksgarage]

BB-8 was helping me keep BT-1′s lid down while it glued. I couldn’t resist throwing him together to see what he looked like with his chaingun.

The little stands on his head are for a removable rocket salvo. 

I did a color test. The body will be that black and some of the panels and one of the arm is going to be that maroon color. I haven’t chosen the gray panel color yet.