My Lifesize 1:1 R2-D2 - 1st Attempt

[azheat]

This is very cool...Keep the photos coming!

Thanks brother! By the way, I'll probably be contacting you in the future, going to redo my Fett and I definitely want to get my hands on one of your jetpacks and a set of gauntlets.

Did some work yesterday and this morning. I was happy to be able to finally primer and paint him white! One of the most nerve racking things for me was painting the blue panels on the front. I only had a few very minor tape slip ups, but for the most part I am real happy with how it turned out.

I need to do some detail work on the legs and feet today.

Once I completely finish the body, I'll tackle the head.

 

[bojaGun]

Cool project!
more information and images
thanks

 

[azheat]

I was able to mostly finish up the feet and legs, save a few details. Painted the front strip silver on the feet.

Used silver paint for the center strut on the legs, the grooves by the ankles, the inner ring where they attach to the body, and the horseshoe greeblies.

Just a little bit of touch up left on the feet and legs, once I mount the battery boxes I'll add the power cables to the feet and call these done.

I also painted 5 of the body panels silver metallic. I have some blue inlay to do on these and they should be good.

 

[RafalFett]

This project is getting better and better with each post. Excellent build!

 

[ZOD]

Waaaaaaaaay Sweet!!

 

[Warpcell]

Wow! That looks amazing!!! I've always wanted to do a life size R2 unit. I joined the R2 builders group on yahoo a few years ago but never got around to building it. I can't wait to see your final build. It looks awesome. How much do you think you'll have in the final project?

- Warpcell

 

[SabotKill]

Nice work...I admire your tenacity on such an involved project. I have just joined TDH and saw your thread. Keep the updates coming.

 

[azheat]

Wow! That looks amazing!!! I've always wanted to do a life size R2 unit. I joined the R2 builders group on yahoo a few years ago but never got around to building it. I can't wait to see your final build. It looks awesome. How much do you think you'll have in the final project?

- Warpcell

I purchased the entire kit for $500.00. Then I spent another $120 on all 3 feet because the ones that came with the kit just weren't going to cut it. Then I bought two audio pucks for $8 each, and about $35.00 in paint. I don't really have anything else to buy, I have some LEDs on hand which only cost a few dollars. So right now I am at about $671.00, and that should most likely do it.

 

[azheat]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Did some more work today. First I painted the blue details on the center bottom piece.

Then I worked on the vents where the audio pucks will go. I took an old black sock, cut it into two small pieces, and hot glued it to the back of the two center vent ports. After trimming the socks I glued the audio pucks in place. I wired these to two separate switches on the left side top, towards the rear of the unit. The third switch will activate the LEDs in the eye when I start working on the head. I still need to paint the buttons.

Then I installed a few of the other body detail pieces.

Here's the video of the audio.

R2-D2 with Sound.MPG - YouTube

I still have several other detail pieces to finish, like the coin slots for the front of the body, the battery boxes, a few other leg greeblies, and then it's time to start on the head.

 

[NikonD80]

This is such a cool project. I joined the R2 builders site and got put off building a droid because everyone made it look so fiddly and complicated so I ended up building a Dalek. Seeing your build here though makes me think that maybe I should dust off those old plans and take another look now my skills have improved. If I could build one half as good as this I'd be well pleased.

 

[Nine12]

Looks great! Can't wait to see finished pictures. Keep up the good work.

 

[dynamic1]

Thats awesome!

 

[azheat]

Slow progress this week.......I debated even posting updates, considering I am not really "making" anything. I guess this thread is kind of useless because all I am doing is assembling / painting pieces I didn't create. But a few people, myself included, enjoy seeing build threads so I guess I'll keep with it.

I worked on the ankle cylinders, I used some schedule 40 pipe and cut it to length. I was also able to start on some of the detail pieces. The flash makes the texture look a little screwy, but the silver flake paint I am using it not too bad.

I also painted some of the blue into the vents. I decided not to cover the rivets either, I cut a piece of styrene but didn't like how bulky it looked. I guess this gives R2 a bit of an industrial look.

 

[dynamic1]

Looking great man! Please do update....Love the progress:cheers

 

[azheat]

Got some more work done yesterday and today, I'll start on the head in a few days. I am so close to finishing!

I worked on the power cables for the feet, and keeping with my desire to save money regardless of accuracy, I bought these little plastic plugs. I primed and painted them silver.

I also bought some refrigerator water line and cut it into 4 lengths of 12" each. I glued the ends into the plugs.

To keep them from popping off, I epoxied some machine screws into each end, drilled a hole in the feet, and fastened them with a nut.

Needs some minor paint touch-up, but here are the finished feet.

Did a quick test fit of everything.

Then disassembled and moved him to his final place. I am slowly running out of room!

 

[OBrotherRacing]

WOW! This looks fantastic. Great job with the audio and you're moving along WAY FASTER than I would expect someone to on an R2 Keep up the great work. Just a suggestion: You might want to add the ability of a rotating head. Make manually rotatable for now, with the option of adding a servo later. Just a suggestion. Looks GREAT!!

 

[azheat]

WOW! This looks fantastic. Great job with the audio and you're moving along WAY FASTER than I would expect someone to on an R2 Keep up the great work. Just a suggestion: You might want to add the ability of a rotating head. Make manually rotatable for now, with the option of adding a servo later. Just a suggestion. Looks GREAT!!

Thanks, I am looking into making the head rotate. I found a real cheap lazy susan that may work, still thinking about it though.

 

[ZOD]

Lookin' Crazy good, Brotha!

 

[jedi paramedic]

Very cool build. You never cease to amaze me with your talents.

 

[Got2bfett]

Don't stop with the posts / updates I really enjoy them. It gives some of us out here with limited skills the confidence to try .That alone makes it worth it. Plus I gotta say this is soooooo cool!