The first and foremost item of the entire build was R2-D2's dome, which puts all things into perspective as far as its size in proportion to his cylindrical body. In other words, I never realized how big Artoo was until I actually held the dome in my own hands! But then, I realized that it had to be big enough encase actor, Kenny Baker. In addition, having the dome early in the build also provided an "inspirational fuel" to finish this project.
Since the accuracy of its shape will either make or break what is considered a replica and what is just a "wannabe" R2-D2, I turned to two notable builders/ part suppliers of the of the R2-D2 Builders Group, Daren Murrer and Cole Horton. They are most noted for supplying the latest and greatest aluminum screen-accurate replica called the "300 Dome." But because the 300 Dome was not offered at the time when I first joined in March of 2009, I had to opt for another great dome that they also offered, called the "C&D Dome." The C&D Dome was a styrene version of their 300 Dome.
The C&D dome is a 3 piece set which includes an inner dome, outer dome, and a dome ring (not pictured below). The purpose of the inner dome basically serves to hold the outer panels in place and at the same time, gives structural support to the outer dome.
As you can see, these are plain blank white domes which will require alot of cutting and painting. Also notice that the shape of the dome is not a perfect hemisphere but more of an ovoid shape, much like the real prop. I have seen many astromechs utilizing a hemispherical dome, perhaps made from a lamp shade, BBQ grill or even a squirrel guard, which was probably the only options available in the past. Unfortunately, to many, it gave its overall appearance an odd look. The the upside is that the general public may not take notice to the hemispherical dome, unless they are true Star Wars movie buffs, or until it is placed side by side with another astromech with a more accurately shaped dome.
The only major drawback is that this dome is not aluminum. According to special visual effects person for Empire, Brian Johnson, he mentioned in an interview that in one instance, R2-D2's dome was "built in a compositic epoxy resin fiberglass moldage structure, rather than aluminum..." As we have seen in the movie, because of the right amount of lighting, you can never tell the difference between what is metal and what is not on-film, but I'm certain that a scrutinizing Star Wars buff would easily point out its non-metallic properties if it was to be seen in person. From a builder's standpoint, the dome can be painted an "aluminum" color, but as far as I have seen, there is no paint in the world that will ever simulate the elegance of real aluminum. I eventually will have my hands on an aluminum dome, but for the mean time, this will have to do. Don't get me wrong, I believe that a non-metallic dome painted in efforts to simulate aluminum is perfectly acceptable, but if your budget allows it, I feel an aluminum one is a better option if you really want to be screen-accurate.
Fortunately, Daren and Cole were nice enough to post printable cutting templates in PDF format, which allowed me to roughly mark the locations, spacing and height of each panel and orifice.
After each panel was lightly marked using the templates, I attached a flexible straightedge to the top dead center of the dome using a drywall screw. This allowed served me two purposes:
1. To redraw all the vertical lines each panel, using the straight edge of the ruler.
2. To redraw all the horizontal lines of each panel, by using the top dead center as a pivot point and allowing the pencil lead to ride along a fixed point on the straight edge.
Here's a short video to make things more clear.
Here's how it looked after all the panels were drawn on. The "dome ring," mentioned earlier is indicated by the green arrow. Throughout the entire time, the dome was taped to the dome ring to keep it in place while I was cutting. Without it taped to the ring, the dome would be extremely flimsy. An internal support ring will be used in the future to help maintain its shape, and to secure it to the body. This will be discussed later on.
Since there were no cutting templates nor official club specs for the top panels, with the help of a little high school geometry and studying a few reference movie pictures, I was able to estimate the size and spacing.
Using the traditional score and snap method for cutting styrene sheets on this dome isn't easy as it seems. Because of its convexity and it's 0.125" thickness, most of the cutting was done using a miniature saw. Made by X-ACTO, I bought this little saw for a few dollars, and it worked out great. Notice that I taped the outer dome to the ring to maintain its original shape because the more panels that were cut out, the more it started to lose its rigidity.
As for the holes of the dome, I utilized an adjustable circle cutter, that I bought from Harbor Freight, that can be attached to a drill:
Loose panels that needed holes were taped down to make drilling easier.
Cleaning up the top dome panel was a cinch. A screw was inserted through the center and then the panel was rotated against a disc sander.
All the cut panels were hand sanded and carefully gapped to 1/8" with the outer dome. In the pic below, here's a tricky combination of three panels which will house the rear logic display later on. Sanding the panels to make the 1/8" gaps parallel with the outer dome edges was a challenge. I'm happy with the results.
After a few weeks working on and off, despite being a long and tedious part of the build, it turned out to be a very rewarding experience.
...and here's the cut outer dome with masking tape labels over the panels, placed over the inner dome. I also placed a mock holoprojector on top just for kicks.
Understanding the general concept of leg construction required consulting several astromech blogs of other notable builders, who have also scratch built their parts, such as Victor Franco,Dan Baker, and Alex Kung, just to name a few.
Much like most scratch-built items in R2 building, Artoo's outer legs and center ankle are built up of layers of varying thickness using one material or the combination of different materials, whether it be plastic, wood or metal. These layers are specifically arranged so they match the dimensions of the club blue prints. Consulting Victor Franco's leg tutorial , I gained an understanding of how all the layers of plywood were put together.
Materials & Tools:
Outer Legs / Center Ankle Layers: 1 -3/4" x 4' x 8' Birch Plywood 1 -1/2" x 4' x 8' Birch Plywood 1 -1/4" x 4' x 4' MDF Board 1 -1/4" x 4' x 4' Hard Board _______________________
Router/ Router Table 1/2" Router Template Bit (w/ bearing) Table saw Power Hand Held Drill Drill Press General Hand Tools: Hammer, Screwdriver, pliers, etc... Power Hand Held Jig Saw Power Circular Saw Power Miter Saw Disc/Belt Sander Assortment of Sand Paper Pencil Metal Ruler/Straight Edge Digital Caliper Compass (to draw circles) Assortment of Clamps Dremel w/ Router Attachment Pneumatic Brad Nailer + Air Compressor 1 -1000 pack 1 1/4" Pneumatic Brad Nails 1 -Bottle of Wood Glue 1 - 1/2-Pint Elmer's E848D12 Carpenter's Wood Filler Several cans of Rustoleum White Spray Primer Several cans of Rustoleum Satin White Spray Paint 1- Can Valspar - Bright Silver Spray Paint Most importantly: Eye, Ear and Respiratory Protection * I actually used every tool I owned for this part of the project!
Making the Templates
Two uniquely shaped templates were needed to create the different layers of the legs. There was one for the outer layers and one for the inner layers. The templates had to be as perfect as possible or else the defects would have been replicated in all the layers I made.
Using the dimensions in the club prints, labeled "Assembly Outline Drawing" , I redrew the general outline by hand on a 1/4" MDF board. This one was made particularly for the outer layers.
A power hand held jigsaw using a fine-cut blade was used to carefully cut the straight portions of the template. When I got to the circular portion (shoulder) I cut a 1/8" margin around the outline because I wanted to use a more accurate method of cutting a perfect half-circle. To achieve this, I created a jig that allowed me to pivot the template against a disc sander. I did the same for inner leg layer template as well (not shown).
The results for both templates turned out pretty good. The inner layer template is the one on the left.
Cutting the Layers
Using a template router bit, I was able to route several copies of all the needed layers for the legs.
Shown below are all the cut layers used to create one leg. Because Birch plywood is not so common in 1/8" and 1/4" thicknesses, alternatively, I used hardwood board and MDF board, respectively.
In order to get the "armpits" to spec, the outer layers needed some special attention using a router, Dremel, and wood chisel.
The center ankle was made up from a total of four layers: two inner layers of 1/2" Birch plywood sandwiched between two layers of 3/4" Birch plywood. Since the center ankle was only one unit, no templates were needed. The outlines from the blue prints were just hand-drawn directly on the wood.
Just to get an idea how they look at this point, here they are roughly put together with clamps:
With respect to the blue prints, the curved section of the ankles were made from cutting several segments of 6.0" diameter circles made from 3/4" Birch plywood and then gluing them together.
Rather than cutting each individual segment one by one, to expedite the process, I screwed together two circles and cut them as one piece. This way, one chop from the miter saw got me two segments. As you can see, in the pic below, I used a piece of scrap plywood (green arrow) to clamp the circular pieces in place. There was no way I was putting my hand near the blade! Safety comes first!
The red line you see, in my dimly lit garage, is a laser, which is a an unreliable feature that comes with many of today's power tools. I say this because you can't even see the laser if you use this outside or with a bright light.
To make one piece, it took about six segments that were glued and clamped together...
...which equated to a total of 24 segments for both legs and center ankle.
The next day I had to cut a 55 degree angle on each of the curved ankle pieces. This was very tricky, since my cheap miter saw maxed out at 45 degrees. To make the correct cut, I had to create another jig that angled the piece an additional 10 degrees from the horizon. I mounted the jig with a combination of clamps and viola!, 55 degrees.
Here's how two newly cut pieces looked like.
After the pieces have been filled, sanded and followed up with a few coats of Rustoleum white primer, they were aligned, glued, and secured using a pneumatic brad nailer.
Here's how they look before the lengthy process of filling and sanding. According to spec, the holes, located in the outer side of the shoulder, were drilled. On the inner side, 1" and 3/4" gas pipe flanges, which will be later used to connect the legs to the frame, were installed. We will visit this process again at another time.
At this point, the filling-sanding-priming-filling-sanding-priming process began. Then it was repeated over and over and over again until the wood grain and the surface imperfections were all gone. As they say, patience is a virtue.
The 3/8" hole near the apex, which supposed to use a 3/8" bolt to connect to the foot motor mounts, was drilled 1/8" lower than the blue prints called for. This was recommended to eliminate the foot shell-to-ankle clearance problem that builders have experienced when Artoo was in his three-legged stance. ...and what great timing that the newly drilled holes could now double as an ankle joint and a paint drying apparatus!.
The legs were primed again and finally painted using Rustoleum satin white. They were hung and left to dry in the garage for a week. Also notice the flanges (used for electrical conduit) installed on the outer legs. This flanges will be used later as a way to connect the legs to the body.
Other Details
According to the blue prints, there is a channeled section located at the angled face of the ankle (green arrow). I simply dug this out with a chisel, then lined the inside with left over styrene from the skins. This great idea came from Victor Franco's leg tutorial.
I purposely made the styrene lining stick out a little past the surface so I could sand it flush. The gaps were later filled and sanded smooth.
For the "armpits," I used some left over styrene to help patch up a few imperfections that wood filler alone couldn't fix. At the same rate, it was also used recreate edges that needed to be straightened. I used a wood chisel to remove just enough wood for the styrene patch to sit flush with the surface.
Using a two-part filler (Bondo) made things go alot quicker as it only took a few minutes before I could begin sanding it.
After filling, sanding, filling, and sanding more areas of the leg (it never ends!), primer was applied once again and left to dry for 30 minutes. The entire leg was then immediately painted with Rustoleum satin white (again).
The following day, the "armpits," were painted with Valspar bright silver. As you can see, the styrene patch really cleaned things up nicely.
A beautiful detail that I really admire is the thin channel that goes around the periphery of the lower middle section of the leg which is also continuous on another separate piece called the "booster covers" (I will cover this later). In the final product, this channel was painted to simulate "bare metal," which supposed to indicate a metal foundation beneath the white exterior. To accomplish this, the 0.1" wide channel was created by clamping a metal straight edge and using a Dremel with a router attachment adapter with an appropriately sized routing bit. I had to make a few practice runs on a few pieces of scrap wood before I used it on the leg that took so long to make. God forbid I screw that up! After finding the optimal RPM and the optimal speed in which to move the Dremel along the straight edge, I followed through, on each side of the leg, with a steady, continuous pass. It was a scary endeavor, but a successful one.
Here's how the leg looked with the channel painted with Valspar bright silver.
Having a garage equipped with power saws and drills used to work on previous home improvement projects led me to decide on building R2-D2's frame out of wood. For this material, I consulted the R2 Builders Club and found a wood frame plan developed by Mike Senna.
The Senna wood frame plans are a tried and proven design that many builders have used for quite some time. The horizontal supports of the frame are comprised of a circular top and base plate using 3/4" plywood, and five rings (one full ring and four quarter rings), which serves as the "ribs" of R2-D2. The rings were made using 1/2" plywood and form an interlocking pattern with the vertical supports. There are ten of these vertical supports (also called "uprights") which also uses 1/2" plywood, and are strategically spaced around the frame. On both right and left sides of the frame, a vertical plate made from 3/4" plywood, serves as a support system for Artoo's legs. The uprights and plates are connected together via dado joints and the rings and uprights are connected with notch joints. Got all that? :)
Because the plans contained large circular drawings, printing the plans spanned on several 8.5" x 11" paper and then joining them like I did with the construction of the skins, would be very difficult. Therefore, I decided just to use the completed skins as a guide for the placement of the uprights and the spacing of the rings, keeping the Senna design in mind.
Materials & Tools:
Frame: 1 -3/4" x 4' x '8 Birch Plywood* 1 -1/2" x 4' x 8' Birch Plywood* ________________________
Jig(s): 1 -1/4" x 4' x 4' MDF 1 - 1" x 2" x 8' Furring strip 1 - 2" x 4" x 4' Scrap Lumber ________________________
1 -1 pound box 1 1/4" Deck Screws 1 -bottle of Wood Glue Router and Router Table 1/2" Straight Router Bit Hand Held Power Jig Saw Assortment of Clamps Table Saw 150 Grit Sandpaper Hand held Power Drill 5/8" Countersink Drill Bit 1/8" Drill Bit Pencil Ruler 2 -Cans of Cheap Flat Black Spray Paint
* Having a full sized truck to carry those 4'x8' sheets of plywood from the Home Depot really helped! The amount of wood from these sheets is enough to make one frame and a set of legs (which will be covered later).
Cutting the top and base plates was a straight forward process using a makeshift jig for routing out circles. The jig was simply made by using a small section of MDF board with a hole on one end for the router and a hole on the opposite end, for the screw, which acted as a pivoting point.
After making sure both circles equaled exactly 18.0" in diameter, I then taped the completed skins around the bottom circle as shown:
Using the skins as a guide, the location of the 10 uprights were established, indicated by the red arrows. According to the plans, these locations were strategically placed where hinges would be installed for doors and around areas where they would not obstruct openings where greeblies such as center vents, utility arms, large data ports, etc. would be installed. In order for the coin returns, pocket vents, power couplings, and octagon ports to fit, "pockets" needed to be created. These areas were also marked for routing.
Cutting out the dadoes accurately to install the uprights was in need of jig, so I created another one out of MDF. The jig was nothing more than a board with a screw that attaches to the center of the circle which allowed it to rotate around. The jig also had one edge for the router to follow and second one that served as a stop. This made the process very simple: Rotate, Clamp, and Route.
In order for the uprights to align correctly, the top plate must be a mirrored copy (this excludes the routered pockets) of the bottom circle. To accomplish this, all I did was place the top circle on top of the completed bottom circle and used the routed area to mark the top circle.
Please note that the key word here is "mirror," and not duplicate! If all you did was duplicate another bottom base plate, you will definitely run into major alignment problems. All dadoes and pockets were routed 1/2" deep using a 1/2" straight bit.
Cutting the ten equally sized uprights was also a straight forward process using the table saw. According to the plans, the uprights varied in length, but since I was figuring out the spacing of the notches myself, I thought it would be more appropriate to cut the uprights to the correct length once its all put together. The side plates were also cut the same length as the uprights and using the ring cutting jig once again, two 18" diameter rings were cut.
Because the rings and uprights were designed to interlock each other, they both needed to be notched out at the right points. Again, using the base plate as a template, I placed the a ring on top of it and marked the routed sections. This was done again for the second ring.
To notch the rings, I then used the router table using another clamping jig. The jig was created from two pieces of furring strip screwed to a small 2" x 4" piece of lumber. A few clamps simply held the whole thing in place and ensured a straight alignment, but most of all, a safe cut.
The uprights also needed to be notched to interlock with the rings. Using the completed skins as a guide, I verified the locations of notches, which also determined the the spacing between the rings. The spacing was extremely important because the rings should not be placed where it would obstruct potential doors. Moroever, the rings should be placed at the right level to serve as a shelf or holder for the greeblies. Clear as mud? ..thought so.
Once again, I sought the help of the mighty router table to notch the uprights. For the sake of reproducibility, I taped and clamped a few of them together, and then routed them as one unit.
The last pair of items cut is called "shoulder wings." (see the picture below). These are attached to the side plates and act as a structural support to keep the skins cylindrically shaped. For a more specific information, please obtain a copy of the plans yourself through the R2 Builders Club as this article is not a step by step procedure.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
There were alot of modifications I had to make in order to be consistent with the wood plans such as shortening some of the uprights to accomodate the legs, utility arms and large data port. Also, a rectangular opening was cut out on the base plate to accomodate his front foot and a circular opening was cut out on the top plate to allow access to his droid "guts."
Most builders glue the frame, which makes a permanent bond, but I decided instead to use a mixture of 1 1/4" and 2" deck screws to hold everything in place. I went this route because just in case I messed something up along way, anything that needed replacement would be simple. To accept the screws without splitting the plywood layers, the frame was carefully predrilled and the screws were counter-sunk so it did not interfere with the skins.
...and here it is with a fresh coat of flat black paint! Ain't she a "beaut!"
After few weekends and many week nights of annoying the neighbors with the whining sound of power tools and the smell of freshly routed saw dust in the air, they finally got a break. ...that was until I started working on R2-D2's legs...muahaha!.
One of the many distinguishing features of R2-D2 is his white outer shell. It is what R2 builders refer to as his "skins." The skins housed many of Artoo's apparatuses such as utility arms, vents, and power couplings, just to name a few, but it's what made up his cylindrical appearance that we are most familiar with.
In the realm of the astromech building world, the most popular choices for skin material are styrene, which cost the least, and aluminum, again, the more expensive option that seems to rise proportionally with the price of gas. Both have their pros and cons, but we'll save that for another discussion. Since I was on a budget, I chose the former and to keep the spirit of "building" alive, I decided to hand cut them from scratch.
The skins can be generally divided into four parts: front-inner, front-outer, rear-inner and rear-outer. The four parts are categorized further into two different layers, hence "outer" and "inner" (total of 2). According to the club specs, the accepted thickness of each layer of skin is 0.04". Just to get an idea how inexpensive styrene plastic was, I spent no more than $25 for two sheets of 0.04" x 48" x 96" at my local plastics supplier.
Regarding the order of the build, I chose to construct the skins first because I wanted to use them as a guide when I later made the wood frame. More specifically, the completed skins showed me exactly where to place the "uprights" and how far to space the "rings" (I'll cover this later on).
Materials & Tools:
2 -sheets of 0.04"x 48" x96" Polystyrene 1 -11oz can Duro All-Purpose Spray Adhesive -Adobe Reader 9 -Computer & Printer 1 -ream of white printer paper 1 -heavy duty box cutting knife with extra blades 1 -Xacto Knife with extra blades 1 -4 foot metal ruler 1 -1 foot metal ruler 1 -Klean Strip Low Odor Paint Thinner 1 -Transparent Scotch tape 1 -utility light with low wattage bulb 1 -15" x 40" clear plexy glass 1 -assortment books of even thickness 1 -roll of paper towels 1- pack of 600 grit sandpaper
Dave Everett, founder of the R2 Builders Club, created full-scale cutting templates for styrene skins and has kindly made them available to the group. Rather than going to a Kinko's or other large office supply store and spend a fortune have it printed "professionally," I decided to stay home and save some major bucks by using my own printer. Using Adobe Reader and its Snapshot Tool feature, I was able to span the templates onto several 8.5" x11" sheets of paper.
I created a makeshift lighted view box by using books to prop up a scrap of plexi glass with a utility light placed underneath it. This little gizmo allowed me to accurately join and tape all the printed sections into one complete full scale template. During this process, I double and tripple checked that the templates were accurate by measuring several sections and comparing them against the club blueprints.
After the templates were created, I lightly misted the backs of them with an all-purpose spray adhesive (repositional type of bond used for scrap booking) and being extremely careful not to create air bubbles, I attached them to the blank sheets of 0.04" styrene using my hands to smooth them out. A heavy duty box cutting knife was used to make the long straight cuts and an Xacto knife was used for the smaller curved sections :
...and here's a completed portion of the front outer skins cut:
After all the parts were cut, the paper was peeled away and the excess residue from the adhesive was cleaned up with a non-toxic, low-odor paint thinner. The cut pieces were washed with water to remove any remaining paint thinner on the styrene. 600 grit sand paper was used to smooth any sharp edges and burrs created by the cutting blade. Although this hand cramping experience was long and tedious, the end result was self-rewarding and well worth the effort. ...and because I was so excited and impatient, as I already wanted to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I had to stand it up to make a more tangible example. Wow! I see you Artoo!
Using the Comscanof search engines, Google has detected an energy field protecting an area of the third planet of the Solar System. Err, what I meant was a search led me to a nice and knowledgeable group of people called the R2 Builders Club, found on Astromech.net. The discussion forums alone contained all the information I needed to build a complete astromech such as the basics about proven construction techniques, materials, mechanics, electronics, and an elaborate listing of part suppliers.
The first major decision for a new R2 builder is how much money he or she is willing spend. A basic radio-controlled droid with motorized feet & dome, lights and sound, can be had in the range of a few hundred dollars for a all-styrene droid and upwards as much as $10,000+ for an all-aluminum droid, with similar features. Add more stuff to the build like a motorized life-form scanner, periscope, or even a 2-3-2 system, and watch as more Benjamins fly out the door. No matter how you look at it, this build was going to be expensive which is the reason the majority of builders are over the age of thirty, which at this range, already have an adequate and stable source of income.
After two months of research, I decided to budget my project with respect to what materials I felt comfortable working with and what tools I had available. Based on this notion, an initial plan was formed:
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PROJECT ASTROMECH (R2-D2)
Main Objective: To build a full-scale, basic remote-controlled R2-D2 replica, complete with motorized feet, motorized rotating dome, sound system, and lights.
Construction Materials:
Birch (veneer) Wood Plywood: Main Frame, Legs, Ankles, Skirt Hardwood Board: Legs Solid Poplar: Booster Covers Styrene: Skins, Foot Shells, Dome, Greeblies, Skirt Resin: Greeblies ABS: Foot Shells Fiberglass: Reinforcements; Foot Shells Steel: Motor Holders, Leg Axle; Reinforcement; Fasteners
Other: -J.E.D.I. Controller -Power Sonic Battery SLA 12V, 18AH & 4AH (for dome electronics) -Digital Energy NiMH 9.6 1600mAH Battery Pack -VEX Transmitter and Receiver -Senna Front Logic Display PCB's -Custom Built Rear Logic Display, PSI, and Holoprojectors lights -Carl's Electronics PIC Flasher -Arduino Uno
_______________________
I knew going this route would not break the bank but to be quite honest, I would have not even dared to add up the receipts because I knew this would end up more expensive than I thought it would be!
Keeping the Spirit of Building Alive
The impression of the R2 Builders Club has always encouraged the concept of "building," as opposed to just "assembling." A prime example of "assembling" would be putting a table together that was purchased from an IKEA store. Conversely, creating an exact copy of the same IKEA table from raw pieces of un-finished lumber moves more along the lines of "building." I can agree with this concept, as seeing no fun or self-rewarding satisfaction in purchasing items already made, and then assembling it on the project. Keeping this in mind, my goal for Project Astromech was to scratch-build every item that was feasible and purchase the rest. In other words, Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. -Theodore Roosevelt.
As with many astromech builders, I share the familiar story where the love and fascination for R2-D2 began as a child. In 1980, my mother took my little sister and I to watch Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, at the old Fox Theater in Covina, California. Being that this was my first real exposure to the saga, I never saw A New Hope until I begged Mom to rent it on Betamax a few years later. But as a kid in the fourth grade, watching Empire out of sequence never really mattered because most of my attention was diverted towards the "sights" and "sounds", with R2-D2 being on top of this list, rather than the storyline itself. Having been the energetic and easily entertained little boy, this white and blue little droid was thought to be the coolest contraption in the entire world, equipped with all kinds of neat gadgets that popped out from concealed compartments and a battered grimy quality that made him appear very life-like.
Since a child, this collector's card has been my most favorite of the set (1977, Series 4).
...but it wasn't until I went to Star Wars Celebration 4 (C4), on May 2007, which took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where it sparked the idea to someday build my own R2-D2 replica. Talk about being in the right place at the right time, I was about to experience one of the greatest surprises of my life. As I was waiting for my wife outside the women's restroom, I was suddenly swarmed with astromechs galore! There were droids everywhere!
With my digital camera in video mode, I stood there in complete awe when these rolling, three-legged works of art, in an entire array of differing color schemes, sounds, and head shapes surrounded me as their makers maneuvered them towards the end of the hallway. It turned out that this parade had actually been a scheduled event. In a nutshell, C4 was such a mesmerizing experience that I will never forget.
A few years had gone by after C4 and my wife purchases this little knickknack (...umm, it's the knickknack on the left):
Imported from Japan, "Little R2," as I've named it, is a beautifully made, painted plastic figurine. When you press the pedal on his center foot, his dome opens as a lid to reveal a hidden trash can! ...and yes, folks, this is a fully licensed Star Wars collectible. Although it was really nice having this cute two-foot version of R2-D2 around house, I wanted something bigger and more accurate. A few seconds later, I had an epiphany, as I realized that this was something I always wanted to do since my droid encounter at C4. Even if I knew that building my very own full-scale astromech was going to become one of the lengthiest and most expensive projects of my life, I told my wife, who originally persuaded me to go to C4, that I was actually going to go forth with it. I haven't looked back since. Little R2 currently sits on my desk as major inspiration for my build.
Project Astromech will be here to cover my past, present and future progresses.
