Dewey's original arm is a rather complicated construction. Some photos showing many details can be found on this page. And here is an image that I found somewhere else.
Recreating all these details is beyond the scope of this project. I'm still sticking to 3/16" plywood, and try to come up with something that somehow includes the main features of the original.
Here are the pieces, cut with a laser cutter (plus two wooden rods of 3/8" diameter), partially assembled,
... and painted.
The full arm assembled.
To recreate the scene where they are playing cards,
I glued these five cards,
so my Dewey can hold them.
Dewey's Watering Can
At a few occasions in the movie, Dewey is seen to hold a watering can, like here.
Luckily, the image on the watering is available on the web, hand dawn by Karl Tate and posted on Flickr. I started with tomato can, covered with a thin sheet of cardboard. I also used the cardboard to create a narrow cone.
For this prop, I decided to try the Valspar interior paints from Lowe's. They worked rather well on a recent smaller project, and I wanted to give them a try here. And it turned out it was a good choice. With a foam brush, these can be very evenly distributed and the paint dries rather fast. So, if you work on a few pieces, when you are done with the first layer of the last pieces, you can continue with the second layer on the first piece. They sell them in half-pint samples for $4 a piece.
To decide on the colors, I took some screen captures from the DVD. It turns out, however, that the strong changes in the lighting produce a good range of colors in the movie. From comparing different Valspar/Sherwin Williams paints, I decided to go with the "Enchanted Sea".
Dewey's legs and lower body appear brownish in the screen captures. In contrast to this, many Dewey replicas have a stronger red - which looks great. So, I decided to pick a color somewhere in between, and went with the "Jazzy Red". I was about to pick some dark black for Dewey's darker parts, but then changed my mind and used the "Muskeg Grey".
And, after seeing the final results, I have to say that I'm really happy about these choices. The "Jazzy Red" requires a few more layers, and maybe it would have been better to start with a white primer. But still, I love how these colors look on my Dewey.
Additional Materials
For the tubing at Dewey's legs, I used irrigation garden hose with 1/4" outer diameter and 0.17" inner diameter (the inner diameter makes a good fitting on the heads on M3 screws). For the wires with the blue and yellow insulation (on Dewey's front side), I bought 20awg stranded copper wires.
Furthermore, I needed M3 wood screws with lengths of 6mm, 10mm, and 14mm (50pc of each are sufficient). For the lower left panel, I also got three switches.
Painting
There is not too much I can say about the painting, just that I really recommend applying many thin layers with the foam brush.
I start with the front and back pieces that feature Dewey's "1" (the red is also the "Jazyy Red").
The top details and the memory cards. The memory card holders were painted with Apple Barrel acrylics paints and sealed with "Liquitex Basics, matte varnish".
For the few silver-colored pieces, I started with a layer of white acrylic paint on which I then added the silver acrylic paint, plus "Liquitex Basics, matte varnish" as a sealer.
Once the paint of the "wire box" is dried, I'm adding the blue and yellow wires. The four blue 3mm LEDs and the red 5mm LED will be added later into the "9"-shaped hole, when I'm dealing with the rest of the electronics.
This is it! The painting is done. I really love how the colors came out (in this image, they seem a little brighter than in real life).
Memory Card Programmer
In "Silent Running", Lowell is reprogramming the drone's memory cards at a few occasions. In the following clip, I compiled all the scenes that feature the memory cards, the programmer, or the storage unit.
I also built this little device which is a combination of the programmer and the storage unit.
Assembly
I'm starting installing the pre-assembled elements to the front frame (the "speaker grille", the lamp in the top right, the "wire-box" below).
Then I add the "hip-joints" (and I wonder why I painted them - they won't be visible), ...
... and the pieces for the legs, ankles, and feet.
Gluing the round plates below the handles into the inside of the body.
And adding the two small black plates to the bottom of Dewey body.
The plate with the three switches is screwed to the inside, so I can remove it later again for wiring the switches.
The covers for the openings on the bottom of the left and right sides, from which the hoses emerge that go to the legs. The hoses (with inner diameter of 0.17") sit nicely on the heads of the 10mm M3 screws.
6mm M3 screws are added all around Dewey's body - later these will be painted blue.
The back side is inserted and the holders are screwed into the body (with 14mm M3 screws)
To connect the hoses, 10mm M3 screws are screwed into the sides of the legs.
The the legs are glued to the "hip-joints".
Finally, the top details are glued onto the body.
Assembly of the piece that sits in the bottom left of the front frame. The two holes are initially filled with short, silver-painted wooden dowels. Later, I may replace those with electronics components (... once I figured out what those could possibly be - and what they might do).
The hoses are connected.
That's it! Almost ... but it's a good time to take Dewey out and use the unique opportunity to take photos of him in the snow.
Dewey in the Snow
Dewey and Friends
And here is Dewey together with two colleagues, that would have their screen debuts five and 43 years later, respectively.
I love how this came out!
What's still missing at this point is Dewey's arm and the electronics (on the latter, I have not yet decided what I want to implement). Both may take a little while. At this point, I'm just happy to have a new companion.
