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Britannic II

Britannic II is the new version of Brtiannic, the robot we took to last year’s Techno games.

The first stage in the contruction of Britannic 2 was to strip out everything from the foamboard hull of Britannic. The foamboard hull would be reused as the main former of Britannic 2. A lining of 6mm MDF would go on the inside to make the robot rigid, and a 1mm polycarbonate outer casing will hide the foamboard and provide a nice finished surface.

Having stripped out the robot hull, the next task was to shorten it. The newrudder system extends a long way out the back, and to keep it looking right, the main body needed shortening. Also, the hull was lowered to allow a strip of MDF round the top of the foamboard to allow screws to hold the polycarbonate down. 20cm was cut off the back, and a couple off the top, as the photo above shows.

The next step was to make the rear rudder support, which would feature the servo mount attached to it, rather than the base. The servo mount is 12mm MDF, the two triangle outrig supports for the rudder and the back plate are 6mm. The whole lot was glued together using high stength waterproof epoxy resin, and left to set overnight. Work then began on the lining. This was simply an MDF base and two MDF sides, all 6mm thick. These were cut to size and glued in to the hull with the same epoxy glue, and left to set. The back plate was then glued on to the back of the robot.

With the lining and backplate in place, the MDF strips around the top of the foamboard were the next bits to be fitted. These would finish the hull, and then allow the fitting of the mechanics. The MDF strips are 6mm thick, and fit on top of the foamboard, and also to the inner lining. Each is 22mm tall, and brings the robot back to the same height as last year. The strips were glued in with epoxy, and the two front ones required some work to allow them to fit together to the point at the bow, and also to fix to the rear sections. Also, the surform came in handy, as it allowed the whole lot to be neatened up and level everything. It had taken about a week to get to this point. This is a long time for what has been done, but it took so long because each time glue was used, it took 2 hours to set, and nothing else could be done in the meantime.

The next chapter in the Britannic 2 story will be added shortly.