Parts. Parts. Parts.

I've been collecting a number of resin parts and I took the plunge and painted them using Plasti-kote brilliant metallic.  I have to say that the results were impressive.  Not due to my painting skills, far from it, but due to the finish of the paint.  The next picture is one of the leg struts and a shoulder button next to their respective aluminium counterparts.

This is one of the holoprojectors I bought from Don Jarr on ebay...

I've also been working on the frame with Fred.  The universal arm carrier (UAC) has been fitted along with the speaker rails.

On the top of the frame sits the Rockler bearing which is what will connect the dome to the frame and allow it to spin.  On top of the Rockler bearing is a dome base plate by Jerry Green aka JAG.  Jerry is a droid building genius.  He designed the frame I built and supplies aluminium parts through the builders club.  Here's a picture of the aluminium skirt...

Next duty is to countersink all of the UAC fixings, tap the spindles which will attach the skirt to the frame and mount the Rockler bearing to the frame.

It started a long time ago etc etc....

This is  the start of my blog chronicling the build of my full-sized R2-D2s.  That's right, plural.  I started looking at plans and measurements about ten years ago but family commitments made me put the project on hold.  I then started looking around again about a year ago and found a wonderful forum http://astromech.net which gave me so much inspiration I just had to get started.  I was initially going to use styrene sheet to build the robot and made a start but was soon bitten by what's known as "Aluminium Fever" in the droid building world and began collecting parts made in aluminium.  So, I think a fully functioning aluminium 3-legged droid is on the cards and a static display styrene droid will accompany it.
Anyway, I'll be adding pictures and comments as I go so feel free to look in.

The above picture is my first styrene leg made to Dave Everetts plans.  They are available from the R2 Builders group on Yahoo.

These are John Sherrells excellent aluminium skins.  There are four rolled aluminium panels already laser cut.  Eventually, when the panels are popped out, it all gets bonded together, an inner and outer for the front and the same for the back.  This will give it strength and the doors the correct recesses.  More on that later.

These are the frame rings made from aluminium.  They are cut by water jet by a company near me to the plans by master droid builder Jerry Greene (aka JAG).

Together with these uprights and a couple of other panels, the main frame for R2 was constructed.

The main frame constructed.  I enlisted the help of a friend of mine, Fred Todd, who used to be my metalwork teacher in high school.  He helped me drill and tap the holes to fit it all together.