...a long time ago...about 25 years ago actually I made a lifesize rc R2 out of cardboard, sweat and a lot of tape. It made it through one sf convention before I had to mothball it because of rain the very next day, lol. Now after a long thought process over the years and after visiting so many conventions (last being the celebration III and IV). I decided this is it. I love a challenge, I've love the entire astrodroid concept as well as Star Wars (of course) and face it R2's the real hero. So this is my attempt to recreate a hero to us all R2-D2 as well as a newer hero R2-R9. Fell free to leave comments and tips....Best Regards Thomas
 

Thursday, November 22, 2007

the first set back...


I don't know how Brenda could see it but yepp my plans are off by about a 3rd of an inch. They are a 3rd of an inch too small, both vertically and horizontally. The Question is will anyone notice or do I have to invest in a reprint? Suggestions are much appreciated while my hairs turn grey, lol.

Monday, November 19, 2007

a penny saved is a...


The first part of this ”little” endeavour has begun. My plans have arrived from the printers. Yippy!! Not until now did I realise the scale of it all, wow. When starting out on this project I thought I would cut corners on cost when possible but not on quality so I found a great way to get the plans printed inexpensively. I just went to the local printing shop an asked how do they calibrate there machines. They said they do test runs when they change the paper rolls so I asked when the next test run was. It just so happened that they were planning one later that week. So I asked if I could get a reduced rate if they tested the machine using my plans. They said sure and the plans arrive today. The price for it all was….. yepp free!! They charged me nothing because I didn’t need a colour print out and they were going to do the test run anyway. In all it's about 15 sheets of plans and cutouts. Not that I’m cheap but a penny saved is still a …. ;-)

Sunday, November 18, 2007

a starting point...

Okay, I guess every R2 build has to start somewhere and mine is no exception, the internet. Yea, the internet is where I found tons of information and lots of pointing in the right direction. Thanks Brenda, Calvin and Jason. The right direction in this case was the R2 Builders Club at yahoo. They have tons of info to get started. After weeding through there webpage’s I got a sense for which way to go. I must have read and analysed those plans and drawings about 30,000 times before I got up the nerve to start ordering for some parts. Scary ;-)

Because I live in Sweden and getting stuff shipped here from the USA would be a duty tax nightmare I decided to look around closer to home to find the critical parts like dome and drive system. I also discovered that I’m probably the only guy in Sweden to seriously ever consider building an R2 let alone 2 R2’s. Yea, you read it right 2 R2 units. I figured if I’m the only guy building these things in Sweden I just as well build 2. Just call it my little way to encourage others and who knows maybe even start a Stockholm builders club. When parts start arriving I’ll begin putting regular updates to my blog. I just wanted to mark this day as the official start date. I’ll leave the end date a little open until I get a feel for the pace this may take… I want to thank the 3500+ R2 builders out there for providing so much useful information and diagrams.