BB-8 want-to-build thread (apparently I'm calling him BB-8)

[kresty]

Stuck some bricks together. (finally). This my not look useful, but I want the inside to be close to a sphere.  This is the void under 1/4 of one of the panels (of which there are 6).  In other words, if I built 24 of these I'd have a sphere to go inside of the real BB-8 sphere... and then hopefully that'd be something the hamster could drive on.

The plan is to use this to keep me from invading the void when building the real sphere.  Not sure if it's "necessary", but seems like it might help.  They're all (mostly) flat tiles so that the outer sphere doesn't stick.  Eyes and red flat dots because that's what I could get in bulk @ the Lego store.  (Besides who doesn't want hundreds of eyes)?



Assembling this thing's gonna be a pain.

[deathproof]

GOOGLY EYES!

[kresty]

Bricks are ordered (that took forever, and I know I'm missing some I need for details ) I even received some already.... 30 bricklink orders + 1 Lego order + some trips to the Lego Store...

[kresty]

A smallish update, here's a couple of pix starting on "Panel 3" - I'm using the inner template to keep the inside round, the hamster will need that.





And here is Panel 3 mostly done.  I'm still waiting for a few bricks, hopefully they'll get here soon.  The red dots are where the white buttons should go, and the chevron bits will be better when I get the bricks.


And here's a little bit of the work area:

[kresty]

GOOGLY EYES!

The eyes are because I needed flat tile to keep the inside surface flat, so the panels don't stick to the frame.  The eyes were the cheapest flat brick I could find on "the wall" (where the Lego Store sells bricks by the cup).  The frame isn't strictly necessary, but it helps to make sure I'm not screwing up the inside of the sphere.

[kresty]

Well, after a couple more hours, 2,620 more bricks are assembled.  Started an assembly line with the 10 ends for the remaining 5 panels... They're all the same until I get to the tab before the orange ring, so I'll have to be careful when I get that far.

[savagecreature]

It's sorta mesmerizing


very cool to see it moving forward

[kresty]

Um, Savage, she's not built, let alone "moving" yet ;-)

[deathproof]

Great work, boss.

[kresty]

Ok, I've got a couple more panels done.  Lara did the orange rings, which helped a lot.  All 6 panels have the white done, but I still need to model the inner detail on 3 panels.  So here's the sphere "half done".

Individually, the panels are stronger than I'd expected.  I can hold one from one side/end. Red dots are still where I need replacement brick, primarily where I need to figure out how to do the white buttons on the corner panels.

However there's not a lot holding each panel into the sphere, along with the awkward edges made it pretty fragile  You can see holes from the inside where light is leaking because the bricks aren't fitting correctly (because the weight of the overhang is bending it).  Going to need something stronger even for the static model.

Another view of the inside of the Lego BB-8 Sphere: