R2-D2: Realizing The Dream

After six+ years of studying plans, pictures, group emails, one of the actual Kenny Baker droids, schematics, the movies, and any thing else I could get my hands on I am finally in a position to start building my R2.

I decided about 5 years ago that I was going to build my droid out of styrene to keep the cost down and to keep the weight down. For years now I have been stuck at this step in the process. As we all know life has an uncanny ability to get in the way.

My original plan was to use Dave Everett's plans, which can be found in the R2 Builders Club files section:
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/r2builders/

Using Dave's plans I was going personally build as much of my droid that i could myself. Health issues have made me rethink things and I decided that if I'm going to do this, I will have to make some compromises on what I want to do, with what I can do.

Keeping with my original decision of building with plastic, on 4 June 2012 I placed an order with Frank Pirz of
Media Conversions for his CNC cut frame and skirt parts packages. I will still be using Dave's plans for other areas of my droid. I'm just forced to let someone else do some of the cutting out of parts for me.

Frank's work can be seen and he can be contacted via his Media Conversions site:
http://media-conversions.net/r2d2/index.html

Ordering CNC parts is a bit of a change from my original plan but this is now the route I need to take if I'm ever going to start and complete this project.

My excitement is contained at the moment but will be bursting forth as my order arrives.

R2-D2: The dream.

I first saw Star Wars when I was 4 years old. Since then "it has forever ruled my destiny". As a kid I always dreamed of having my own R2-D2. As I grew up thoughts of having my own R2 faded over time. Until my buddy Tony and I started creating Darth Vader costumes for Halloween in August of 2005. And I happen to come across the R2 Builders Club on Yahoo Groups.



I first found the R2 Builders Club while doing some research for my Vader costume in September 2005, In October of 2005 I joined the group.

I quickly discovered that building my very own 1:1 RC controlled R2 was going to be a much longer, much more expensive, and a much more in depth project than I originally thought it was going to be.

Here we are six years later and I'm finally getting started realizing my childhood dream of owning my very own R2 unit.