These are my Astromech Build Logs where I will be posting ongoing updates as I bumble my way along, building my very own R-Series Astro-Droids and other projects. I hope you will Celebrate with me over my small victories, and perhaps laugh with me over my failures… I expect many of both.
So, why build a Droid? I expect that my reasons are the same (or at least similar) as so many builders before me. I was seven when A New Hope was released, and although I was not as fanatical as some others it defiantly left its mark on me. But while my friends were arguing over who was cooler, Han or Luke, I was taken by the Droids. [note: there is really no question re: Han or Luke…] By the end of the Original Trilogy run in 1983 I was convinced that R2-D2 was the best non-human character in film.
Fast Forward more than thirty years… I am a tinkerer and a maker by nature. Over the last few years I have been very impressed with the movie-accurate R2-D2s and other Droids that have been completed, and I am now in position where I think I too could finish a Droid of my own. I have joined the R2 Builders Group and spent some time (a LOT of time) researching all that goes into a build. I had some decisions to make right off the bat.
Although I initially just assumed that I would build a replica of everyone’s favorite droid, I hadn’t really considered all the possibilities. Even keeping to the film series, and on-screen droids, there are many to choose from other than R2-D2. After deliberation, I narrowed things down to two droids, a Classic Artoo, AND an imperial droid of my own designation…. As of this writing, I STILL don’t know how this will end up. I do expect that I will build an R2 series Droid, but I have begun my R6 Droid Project first. I may find myself building the two concurrently…
I also had to decide on a Build Method. There are all-plastic droids, all-metal droids, and all sorts in between. There is an on-going discussion within the Builders Group about the current trend towards piecing together a Droid from purchased parts. This has led to the question (asked tongue-in-cheek) “is this the R2 Builders Club or the R2 Assembly Club”? I’ll be hand building as much of my projects as is reasonable. I considered sculpting and molding a dome to be run in fiberglass. This seemed well within my existing skill set (I have some molding and casting experience). I then began researching the composite domes and other parts that are being offered for sale. This led me down the Composites Rabit Hole and in the end I decided on a Composite Body to which end I purchased a set of Molds from a Long Time R2BC Member, Crash. I’ll post more on this in the Build Logs.
