R2-D2

All things related to R2-D2

Proper R2 Building Attire…

I figured that I would treat myself to some proper R2 building attire!

I spent two nights drawing the pattern on my trusty MacBook, before finally uploading and ordering two sets of shirts from Cafepress. One for me, and one for Sigge as a big THANK YOU for getting me a part for my R2-D2 signed by Kenny Baker himself!

For those not so into Star Wars: One of the robots used for filming, while R2 was in 2-legged mode, was controlled by actor Kenny Baker, a big man with small stature! At 112 cm tall, the R2 unit was actually constructed to be able to hold him inside!

Here’s the front and the back of the shirt I made..

I based the drawings off Dave Everett’s blueprints for styrene (which I based my own blueprints off) and played around to get the aluminium parts to look decent. It took some time, but I was quite happy with it!

Oh, and before you ask: No, you can not order these! =)

By |2016-12-06T00:01:24+01:00September 14th, 2012|R2-D2|Comments Off on Proper R2 Building Attire…
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The list of things to come…

So, even though my droid is starting to look pretty finished when it comes to construction, there is definitely a number of things that still needs to be fixed!

I’ve taken the liberty to create a “TODO” list.. or a R2-2DO list, as it were…

R2-2DO:
=======
Shoulders:

  • Fix ridges in second horseshoe
  • Finetune second shoulder shim
  • Dress second shim edges in aluminium tape
  • Prime second horseshoe
  • Fix small things that WILL be showing up after priming with Tamaiya Putty and sand
  • Skin second shoulder hub in aluminium

R2-D2 Dome:

  • Cut open dome under blank panel for easy access (thanks Edwardo)
  • Dremel out Aluminium PSI holder (front) for fitting of Teeces PSI.
  • Insulate Teeces PSI properly
  • Sand painted (primed blue) panels
  • Paint painted panels in proper colour!

Body:

  • Cut out side vents
  • Cut out pocket vents
  • paint pocket/side vents (blue)
  • Fix/adjust long doors on front to add another layer for stability.
  • Work on hinging doors on styrene frame
  • Make Charging Bay Insert
  • Make inside of “large door” on front.
  • Alter back unpainted panel to act as door for switching droid on and off (thanks Sigge)
  • Make unpainted panel door insert
  • Prime body and bondo/sand accordingly
  • sand/paint blue panel
  • sand/paint utility arms
  • mount utility arms properly (currently only stuck in place with velcro)
  • find aluminium power couplers!
  • paint octagon ports (blue)
  • paint coin slots (blue)

Skirt:

  • Bondo skirt properly
  • Prime skirt
  • bondo/sand as needed

Center Foot:

  • Cut out wooden thick shim for center foot, to raise droid slightly.
  • Attach wooden thick shim to frame (under skirt)
  • Add magnet holders to foot plates in order to stick them more firm onto the foot
  • Fix 3mm alu strips

Main Feet:

  • Skin “ridge” in both feet for better look
  • Prime and bondo right foot
  • Attach styrene pieces on inside foot shells for KHF’s to screw in to better.
  • Fix 3mm alu strips

Legs:

  • Insert metal tube in pivot point/mount on ankle
  • Add steel mount for magnetized shoulder hubs
  • Possibly sand holder for new, alu shoulder hubs for perfect fit
  • Fix/remake Ankle Cylinders
  • Fix Mount for Ankle Cylinders
  • Fix Mount for Ankle Wedges
  • Fix Mount for Ankle Cylinder Holders
  • Paint Ankle Cylinders
  • Paint Ankle Wedges
  • Prime Ankle Cylinder Holders
  • Prime legs
  • Bondo/sand as needed.

PAINT THE WHITES! *woohoo*
Weather and enjoy a complete droid!

Future Work:
Dome:

  • Sand top part of split inner dome further for better fit
  • Cut inner dome pie panels for Life Support Scanner and Periscope

Secondary Dome:

  • Fix faulty FLD.
  • Cut holes for FLD, RLD
  • Drill holes for PSI and HP’s
  • Mount HP’s
  • Mount PSI’s
  • Mount FLD&RLD
  • Find and drill holes for rockler mount
  • Mask for blue panels
  • prime and paint blue panels
  • Fix unique sound scheme for secondary identity!
By |2016-12-06T00:01:25+01:00September 14th, 2012|R2-D2|Comments Off on The list of things to come…
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Fixing my shoulder hubs..

So, after fixing my first horseshoe, I’ve almost finished my second horseshoe. Same procedure as the first one, I decided it was time to fix the bad shoulder hubs.

The hubs in themselves were not bad, but I had them covered with aluminum tape, which is not really ideal. It rips easily, and I need to be able to take them out when packing the droid to go to conventions, I decided to go with another method.

Just look at how bad it looks… and this is the good side!

So, first step is trying to rip the sticky tape off…

Once the tape was off, the hubs were very sticky. I first tried to use this stickiness to help with the aluminum sheets, but this was a mistake. A good, nice clean with a solvent was needed to get the glue remnants off.

I cut a long strip of aluminum and gently bent it around the hub, secured one end with two screwes, and glued it into place with CA glue. I let the glue set for a few hours.. and just look how good it turned out!

After a little bit of fitting with my skins, and sanding away from the skins with my dremel to make the new hubs fit, I mounted the hubs on my legs once again!

This looks MUCH better! Next up: repeating the process with hub #2, but as I’m currently in Los Angeles to perform at the Magic Castle this week, it’ll have to wait a little while! =)

By |2016-12-06T00:01:26+01:00September 4th, 2012|R2-D2|Comments Off on Fixing my shoulder hubs..
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