Body Skins and Panels

R2s body skins come in four pieces; front and rear inner and outer.

First things first, line up the skins with the frame.

Holes are drilled in the skins to attach them to the frame.

With a bit of tweaking here, a smack there and some filing over yonder, they eventually sit right....ish!!!  I tidied these up afterwards.  

Next up, remove all the panels.

For door panels, the outer and inner are glued together before painting.

then paint!!!

Then attach the painted panels (from the outer skins) to the unpainted inner skins.  

This allows the silver lines of the inner skins to be seen.

and attach....

When the skins are separated, its a good opportunity to attach some of the detail parts.

Any parts that need hidden captive studs get attached before outer/inner skins are glued together

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Finally the skins are test fitted to the frame.  

For the body panels, I suggest a stiff drink or ten before starting.  They are a nightmare to fit.  Tolerances are so tight that a millimetre clearance is sometimes all thats available.  

Installing and tweaking the panels takes lots and lots of time.  A lot of patience is needed.  

I went with Kevin Holme's breadpans, charge bay and electronics panel.  

Unfortunately I don't seem to have taken any pictures of the utility arm mech installation.  The parts were bought from IA-Parts and they come with great instructions.  A little tweaking here and there, a few hours later and they are installed.