Pictures of my sons BB8 car!
- Thread starter derbydentist
- Start date
That car looks great, my daughter loves star wars she is going to want one just like that. How did you do the graphics for the top?
Wow, it looks REALLY nice!
Just curious ...I see what appears to be two different wheelbases. Are you planning on trying two different locations for the front wheels?
Just curious ...I see what appears to be two different wheelbases. Are you planning on trying two different locations for the front wheels?
Thanks guys!
TW- I discovered a girl online that will make custom vinyl decals so I sent her the info and she sent me three of them in case i screwed up the first one cost about 8 bucks. She can probably send you the exact one in any color you want- business is called- vendible vinyl - I searched on etsy.com but I'm sure you can have anyone online do this for you. I tried really hard to find an orange lacquer that would match the orange BSA wheels so it would be all orange but in the end it didn't really look close so I'm just doing black.
True north thanks for your comment - he is loving every minute of it and I'm pretty sure he will wind up obsessed like his daddy
Thinkin- so I have another set of axle holes drilled because the rules at first were these long extensive rule about 3 pages long and the wheelbase had to be standard out of the box length so i drilled my holes. Then I emailed the person in charge of our specific race and she said just use the directions in the box- soooo that obviously opened up a whole set of possibilities and I extended to 5". Figured I would leave the holes there - they won't show when I put the wheels on. Also just in case they try to tell me I have to use the original wheelbase- I can always switch - would be better than being disqualified.
Gravity- I thought you might recognize that paint stand!
Thanks for your comments jato
TW- I discovered a girl online that will make custom vinyl decals so I sent her the info and she sent me three of them in case i screwed up the first one cost about 8 bucks. She can probably send you the exact one in any color you want- business is called- vendible vinyl - I searched on etsy.com but I'm sure you can have anyone online do this for you. I tried really hard to find an orange lacquer that would match the orange BSA wheels so it would be all orange but in the end it didn't really look close so I'm just doing black.
True north thanks for your comment - he is loving every minute of it and I'm pretty sure he will wind up obsessed like his daddy
Thinkin- so I have another set of axle holes drilled because the rules at first were these long extensive rule about 3 pages long and the wheelbase had to be standard out of the box length so i drilled my holes. Then I emailed the person in charge of our specific race and she said just use the directions in the box- soooo that obviously opened up a whole set of possibilities and I extended to 5". Figured I would leave the holes there - they won't show when I put the wheels on. Also just in case they try to tell me I have to use the original wheelbase- I can always switch - would be better than being disqualified.
Gravity- I thought you might recognize that paint stand!
Thanks for your comments jato
Awesome looking car! Hope it's as fast as it looks for ya. The smile on his face is worth every minute spent. Good luck on your race.
Thanks guys- just finished the wheel polishing and axle polishing process tonight. Man I didn't realize how long a process it is -it was my first time and I used the black ice and the next level kits. It went okay I think -but wasn't super happy with the shine on the axles afterwards - thought they would look like super shiny when done. What technique for polishing do people generally use? I started at 1000 and worked up to 60,000 then leather, string, glass cleaner, then jig. I used the next level with every grit instead of just water. I did this for 3 of the axles and then the last one I just did water with each grit and then the next level polish with the leather- not sure I really noticed a difference between them. Should I be using a new set of sandpaper strips for each axle- I noticed by the time I got to the last axle the strips didn't really have much grit any more. I also noticed as I was polishing just by holding the strips in my fingers that at times it wasn't polishing every surface. I read something about using a hard surface against the strip and then pressing those against the axle might help- Need some pointers if anyone has a better way? Oh and should I be wiping off the axle in between each grit?
Are you saying you put polish on the sandpaper instead of water? I wouldn't do that.
I use 400-5000 grit. Those super high grits aren't really doing anything more for you IMO.
You can get away with one strip of each grit paper for all three axles. Not a bad idea to wipe clean between grits. You should be dipping your paper in water in between anyway, or flushing with water.
Don't use your fingers or a hard surface against the axle. Just chuck the axle in a dremel and while holding each end of your paper strip, run the paper up and down the axle.
I use 400-5000 grit. Those super high grits aren't really doing anything more for you IMO.
You can get away with one strip of each grit paper for all three axles. Not a bad idea to wipe clean between grits. You should be dipping your paper in water in between anyway, or flushing with water.
Don't use your fingers or a hard surface against the axle. Just chuck the axle in a dremel and while holding each end of your paper strip, run the paper up and down the axle.
Thank you for the quick help- I got the idea of the polish on the sandpaper from John - maybe I didn't start with a low enough grit - it was a max velocity BSA speed axle which I assumed would be good to go starting at 1000 but kinda saw tiny scratches still at the end. After your polishing are they like glass or is it just somewhat better looking than the unpolished areas?
DerbyDentist: The BB8 care came out looking great! 
Re. polishing axles: I cut my sandpaper into strips, something like 2-3" long, by about 1/4-3/8". For each grit, I dip the paper in water, then use one small fresh section of the paper (1/4") to sand/polish the axle. I take a dry paper towel, and press it against the axle with my finger — this takes the extra water and detritus off the axle before moving to the next finer grit. If you leave the stuff from the previous paper behind, you are still sanding with a rougher grit with your finer paper.
Jig leaves a haze behind. The axles should be quite shiny before you go to the Jig step. Afterward, they will be matte.
Re. polishing axles: I cut my sandpaper into strips, something like 2-3" long, by about 1/4-3/8". For each grit, I dip the paper in water, then use one small fresh section of the paper (1/4") to sand/polish the axle. I take a dry paper towel, and press it against the axle with my finger — this takes the extra water and detritus off the axle before moving to the next finer grit. If you leave the stuff from the previous paper behind, you are still sanding with a rougher grit with your finer paper.
Jig leaves a haze behind. The axles should be quite shiny before you go to the Jig step. Afterward, they will be matte.
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Thanks crash, QuickTime, and Scott for the kind words- go paint! Thanks crash also for the polishing advice - I like the idea of wiping off each grit too! Do your wheels have a hazey look on the outer hub when you are done polishing and all the steps? My bore looks pretty shiny but the outer hub has a matte look.
While I'm not the one to consult about wheel polishing process (I'm trying to move beyond my Half-Fast™ process), once you've polished/waxed, the bore and hubs should all be shiny.
Hmmm I wonder what I did wrong on the outer hub area then-it is definitely smoother than when I started but not real glossy like the bore area- I did all the same things to the inner and outer hub as I did to the bore. One more question- do you sand the part of the wheel where it sits on the track- the tread area? I got a nice set of wheels from John but didn't know if I needed to smooth the tread area more or the double step removal area more? Anyone do this on the wheel tread? Maybe a high grit? Is it beneficial or hurtful to have super polished tread? My mind can't decide if it's better to have it almost sliding down or to have more traction on the wheel? Any thoughts?
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