2:3 Scale R2 - Build

[Code74]

So a few years ago I thought I came up with a "novel" idea by considering doing a 2:3 scale building and possibly using a hasbro interactive R2 to bring it to life. The thought was/is to be able to make something light enough that it wouldn't hurt someone if I decided to go fully autonomous. The other thought behind this scale was while the standard R2 is rather large, that was done for a reason and I do not intend on sticking someone vertically challenged into mine to make it work. :lol
Nevertheless, I stumbled across the smugglers thread on here after I had already began and already hit multiple lessons that I possibly could of avoided. Thankfully it really helped!

After messing around a bit with Pepakura, fiberglassing, etc. I felt like it was time to start. I ran into quite a few headaches and lessons learned along the way thus far. I essentially took a pepakura paper craft R2 and the blueprints from astromach builders forum and rescaled both sets. This allows me to choose what medium I want to work with given the particular part I'm currently working on rather than doing what most people on the astromech forum do...which is either mdf, aluminum or styrene..not so much of a mix. As you c toan see..my initial plan trying to keep things light I decided to mix expansion foam and paper craft together keeping him as light as possible. Making paper feet and then using the expansion foam to solidify it...followed by making a mold of the foot to reproduce another foam one. Was all going well and the legs I was pretty happy with to an extent too... up till the sad day that I tried to use resin to solidify the foam.... after multiple coats of latex paint and gesso, and they still melted into goop. Was an upsetting day.

 

[Code74]

So after everything more or less melted with exception to the foam dome and my foam feet, I started looking at other possible options to use instead of the insulation foam. Lucky again, I work at a sign company. Come the end of the year they were pitching all kinds of scraps and it was a treasure trove of materials that I started collecting to bring home and use. The owners even started loading my car up with the extras if I showed the least bit of interest. That said, I got tons of scrap HDU sign foam, 2mil - 10mil pvc pieces, etc. Not to mention my boss told me to go ahead and use the cnc router for anything I wanted to use it for. I've somewhat veered away doing that as I wanted to do as much myself as possible on this project, however, there have been times where that accuracy vs. my steady hand using a saw, has definitely came in helpful. Several parts I tried cutting numerous times with parts being usable but less then desirable looking.

So here is what I've got thus far and have also moved on from cracking open my interactive R2. I decided I wanted to keep him as is..too many memories. That said, I'm looking into possibly using the ezrobot platform to make him autonomous instead. The audrino and raspberry PI boards had also crossed my mind but I'm far from a programming guru. Baby steps getting there as I need an r2 before I have to program anything...

and I broke down and bought a few parts from smuggler.... was a bit worried about parts not fitting even though we both "claimed" to be doing 2:3 scale I never really had much luck nailing scales, etc..... this time everything seemed to be working pretty smoothly however with only a few parts slightly off.

He was nice enough to throw in a few extras with the few parts I ordered too. However, in order to complete those parts I needed to replicate them. I hate using home depot silicone cause the smell makes me sick. Tried it several times as shown above..and it just made me feel worse with each go. Smooth - On silicone is a really nice option, but still a bit pricey. And I kept looking all over wondering why no one has made a mold compound that can be reusable....well, apparently they did! This stuff ROCKS! Not the cheapest stuff, but far cheaper in the long run than any other option I've come across.

 

[Galactican]

This looks cool! A great project. I know how you feel when it comes to chopping the Interactive R2 apart. I have one myself but it is "ill". Nevertheless, I hope to be able to fix the damage in the near future (on powering up it turns its head all way to the back and keeps it there).

 

[Code74]

Yeah I almost bought one with similar issues so that I could keep mine and use the broken one for parts but it seemed kinda silly at that point.


Still a long way to go but here are a few updated pics. I ended up redoing the body skirt cause some of my casted parts bought and made, weren't fitting. Also wanted to make it so I could get inside so I added the threaded rods.

 

[FolkyPatrol]

That si absolutely great so far !
Can't wait to see new pics

 

[Junkyard Jedi]

Congrats on your build. I know how challenging scaling the R2 down to 2/3rd size can be, I've been doing it for 10 years. Simply multiply the full scale dimensions by .666 and this will give you a 2/3rd scale for your parts. You can by a digital caliper at Harbor Freight for 12.00 bucks and use this to measure with. Its a great tool to have.
thanks for buying some of our parts, I feel they are very accurate in detail. Feel free to contact us at the smugglers room and will be glad to help with any questions you may have.

For your Holo eyes I have used a chrome kitchen hose sprayer guide from Ace Hardware cast about 3.00 bucks and a windex spray bottle cap for the lens. The scale is about right and looks close with out having to recreate the parts from scratch.

You can check out my build on Astromech.net under Dan Thompson
good luck I'll be watching and rooting for ya !!