MCK-Y's Flickr Album

I have my own album on Flickr which actually has some pretty cool photos (if I do say so myself), so go check it out!

Celebration London!

Kind of like the Internet Way-Back Machine!  We've been a little remiss in keeping MCK-Y's blog up-to date, so here's a post from Star Wars Celebration London last summer (2016 - ok, we've been ***way*** behind in posting!).

I flew to London in steerage - ok, I was shoved into a big shopping bag and dumped in the overhead bin, whereupon huge carry-ons were shoved in my face!  I really wish that guy had checked his dirty clothes!

Once there, we had tons of fun with all the other Star Wars fans at the Excel Centre (they spell funny in London).  Fortunately, my hotel was right there, so it was an easy walk drive to the exhibit halls.



As is typical for Star Wars Celebration, the fans had gone all-out!


The sandpeople make me a bit nervous though

Meeting the UK Builder's Club and other European Builders was really cool though! Did you know that Lee & Oliver got to build a replica of me for the latest movies? (Ok, maybe they thought they were building a replica of something else, but we all know it was me they were really trying to copy, right?) I found out that Oliver even used Lego on one of the new movie droids!

Having Fun at BrickCon 2015!

L3-G0 and I went to BrickCon again this year.  (Ok, I've been bad and not posted about others).  I thought I'd share a few pix.

That Artoo Unit keeps trying to shove me out of the picture!

I went out to entertain the crowd a bit outside the hall in Seattle.  Here I'm showing off my off-road skills by walking on water!  Let's see L3-G0 do that!

Lego Mouse Droid in a Water Fountain

Unfortunately I got a bit excited trying to run away from that toddler that looked like they wanted to eat me.... or maybe just hug me... and encountered a brick wall.

Is that what they mean by "Brick" Con?

I had to take a break after a bit and relax away from the crowds.  Here I am with a local landmark.

MCK-Y the Lego Mouse Droid in from of Seattle Space Needle

My cohort also won an award.  "People's Choice" they say.  Why do they always pick the Astromech?  Why not the smaller bots that are the workhorses of the galaxy?  Anyway, congratulations L3-G0!

L3-G0 showing off his trophy like a wise guy.

Getting Ready for Emerald City Comicon (ECCC)

Aiiii, not long before ECCC and MCK-Y the Lego Mouse Droid is having challenges. At Brickcon his paws pretty much fell off in the last hour. So they need fixed. His sound also had a horrid ground loop feedback thing going on. And lastly his ground effect lighting is cool, but it needed more!

So MCK-Y the Mouse Droid was torn apart, and of course when a cat sees a mouse, he wants to help out. 

Cat Catching Lego Mouse Droid.

First order of business was getting the lights replaced.

MCK-Y's LED Light Board

As you can see, the back wheels are missing and MCK-Y's pretty much demolished.  He's heavy, almost 1/3 as much as L3-G0, so normal RC/Lego tires won't cut it.  For Brickcon we filled them full of beans, and then when the beans ground down, we ran to the store and bought split peas.  That gives him an interesting gait, but doesn't work great.

I thought of foaming the tires, and this is what happened.

Lego Tires Imploded After Spray Foam

Ick!  When we release the vacuum, there was a pile of gooey resin. For the rear tires we sprayed again and left an air space, which mostly worked.  For the front tires that also failed, so we ended up drilling air holes in the wheel and then using silicone caulk.  Something reacted with the uncured resin and the silicon exploded, but now they're nice and firm.

You'll notice that the tires and wheels are normal Lego parts.  They're attached to 3D printed hubs that are on the normal car axles.  The front wheels are attached with normal Lego Technic pins, though the rear wheels got #4 screws through the middle of the hubs to press them into their spot (at Brickcon they fell off several times, hopefully this will help).

Front Lego Wheels Pinned to MCK-Y's Hub

Lego Mouse Droid Rear Hub, Tire & Axle

Now he's getting close to back together.  Only a few days to Emerald City Comicon (ECCC), hope to see you there.

MSE-6 Lego Droid Body and Chassis

Whew, made it to Brickcon! - MCK-Y the Lego Mouse Droid

We should probably write a little more later, but I wanted to make sure there was at least a decent picture of MCK-Y the Lego Mouse Droid.  (My friend L3-G0 is in the background)

 

This was after a couple days of running around and getting tired in general.  There's even a missing brick (not sure if you can find it ).  My builder's promised she'll replace it.  Soon I hope.

MCK-Y "Picture Frame" Test (Lego Mouse Droid)

Some video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0qOqexU3LU (it's not that exciting, and the YouTube channel isn't pretty yet). But the chassis works and drives!

...at least until the wheels fall off.

It sort of needs an RC chassis (it's a bit much for Lego Mindstorms, though it could probably be done, but we'd have sound and other problems that rule out Mindstorms).

To try to keep it looking Lego, we mounted Lego wheels onto the RC axles, by printing hubs. The printed hubs also get the right widths. Unfortunately our pins aren't secure enough. We know how to fix that (different pins, and maybe Kragle), but for the moment it's odd.

Had a fit with the electronics. They're being hyper, but I overcame the last hurdle, so now it's just a matter of shoving them on the board.

Supposed to get to Brickcon on Friday....  Hmmm....

What do we build next?

Now that we've built L3-G0, what do we do next?

How about a Lego MSE-6 "Mouse" Droid?  (You know, the one Chewie scared on the Death Star). 

Here's the thinking so far:

He'll be a lot smaller than L3-G0, about 2000 bricks.  Lara's doing most of the building, Shawn's looking at electronics.