Customizing the Exterior

Tips on Painting and Customizing

If you decide to paint (or even use contact paper), the build process may be affected since you will want to paint all the covers before building the assemblies that include them. The bottom shoulder plates are a prime example–they are very hard to paint after assembly. So before you paint, get familiar with all the shell covers, develop your color scheme, and then paint first if possible. This will also minimize the need for masking.

If you do decide to change the exterior, please keep the following top of mind so that you don’t damage RobotCreator DX or restrict its functionality. 

1. Avoid painting the LEDs on the palms so light output is not blocked.

2. Avoid painting or overspray on any part of the LED display or its black frame.

3. Avoid paint accumulation on shell cover snap clips or they might not snap together well. Make sure contact paper does not hang over into snap joints either. These joints employ very fine tolerances that will be affected by foreign matter.

4. When painting the main head shell where the microphone array is located, place dulled round tooth pics in the holes to prevent them from becoming blocked with paint. (If you paint after assembly, make sure not to insert the toothpicks too deeply and damage the mics.)

5. The underside of the head below the display (“jaw” area) may be painted with proper masking after building.

6. When spray painting the head assembly, be sure to keep the opening and sensitive parts covered. This will avoid damage to the robot’s internal electronic components.

7. Avoid painting soft plastic parts such as the wheels or ear accessories. The paint will not adhere and the parts may be damaged.

8. If you paint the bottom of the robot, mask off the speaker grill to keep paint off of the speaker. Mask off wheels and drop sensor also. A better choice is to pop the plate and paint it off the robot.

9. Lightly sanding covers with fine-grain emery paper before painting will promote paint adhesion. Using a plastic paint plus primer, or a separate primer, will further enhance the finish quality and durability.

10. The skeleton, including blue shoulder joints which show, is made of POM material, which is hard to paint for two reasons. First, paint does not chemically adhere well to it. If you really want to paint it, please give it a good sanding with fine emery paper. Second, the shoulder U-joint will flex slightly as it moves. Over time this will tend to make paint crack off. If you can incorporate the blue color into your scheme, great! If not, you’ve been warned!