A quick page for showing off my R2-D2 progress pics.

All images are thumbnails for faster loading. (Click the image for a larger version.)

Sorry about the pop-ups and the ads that will show up at the top of this, but free web hosting has to be paid for somehow!
(If you have Windows XP, Service Pack 2 has a nifty feature that blocks those pesky pop ups!)

Update 2/10/2007:

It's been quite some time, so here's a few more pictures of the most recent activity such as it is.
I also have a few images I took at our Grand Rapids R2 Builders Summit on 10-25-05 that I need to create a separate page for - look for it soon!

A few Pre C3 images that I hadn't posted yet:

I discovered while at Star Wars Celebration 3 that my leg drop wasn't sufficient to properly pitch the body. With R2's foot in too far, the body stayed too vertical. I learned I needed about 2-3" more drop. Some pictures of my more recent progress including the modifications to the leg drop (soon)...

I created the lens for my Radar Eye from a piece of smoky sheet acrylic that I had lying around. I heated it in my oven (making sure not to get too hot and send fumes into the air) and then formed it around a plastic croquet ball sitting on a roll of tape (to keep it from moving). I then cut out off the excess on my band saw and the result is as seen. (It actually took me 2 tries, since the first one broke.)

Leg Drop Mechanism:

Here's the power window mechanism, before I chopped off the two pulley ends to mount in my R2's frame.

Here's the linear rails installed, and attached to my center foot.

Here's my leg drop mechanism, with the cable attached. All it needs now is to have limit switches installed and to be wired into R/C. (I'll need to do some more learning to figure that out...)

Update 2/10/07: if only it was as simple... I'm currently adjusting the drop to get the correct distance.

The Frame:

I was able to salvage a couple chunks of 1/8" AL sheet from work.
It was a huge challenge to avoid the majority of the holes!
I cut the rings using my $20 saber saw and a couple metal cutting blades.
The vertical supports were some solid rectangular bar stock (1/2"X1") that I got as scrap from work too. I tapped these with 2 10-24 holes on each end.

My first attempt at creating parts using CNC.
(It's kind of cool to be able to say that I programmed the milling machine, though it's a rather simple program...)

Here's what it looked like all assembled before I countersunk the top and bottom holes or filed the rings to smooth them out.
And, to give credit where credit is due, this is essentially Jerry Greene and Tom Van Vooris' frame design with some modifications.

After I filed the rings, this is what they looked like:

After I reassembled the frame, it looked like this:

(Not too much different from the previous really.)

Outer Leg Progress...

I managed to find an aluminum tube that was very close to the "Compleat" R2 Builder's Club specifications for R2's outer legs. The width and depth are off by about 0.03", but I can live with that! I had to do a lot of filing, since they had material past the body of tube. I've added 1.75"X1.75" square tubing to the top edges to complete the width. (I had to shim them out with a layer of 0.06" AL sheet on each side to fill it out properly. Next comes the saber saw and hack saw to the top for the curve, and then some substantial filing.

Here's what it looks like with my John Sherrell laser cut AL skins, R&J dome, and other misc parts taped in place. :)

I decided I'd best get that R&J dome cut apart and sanded if I was to get it ready in time for C3. Here's some progress pictures: It took quite a bit of sanding and filing of the inner dome, but I was able to get it to fit inside the outer without resorting to chopping relief lines as some people in the R2 Builders Group did.

Update 2/10/07: I learned at Celebration 3 that one of the very domes I am using on my R2 was used in the filming of the battle scene at the opening sequence of Revenge of the Sith. When the buzz droids saw and blow up the head on Obi-Wan's droid, that's one of these domes! It's a perfect "replica" since it was one of the same domes (I think from the same batch even.)

Feel free to let me know what you think of it so far.

masteryoda @ all2ez.net

(remember to take out the spaces...)

Thanks for looking!

- Dean Woodard -