My Life-size 1:1 R2-D2 (2nd Attempt)

[azheat01]

I thought I would share this here and maybe inspire others. I'm also on Atromech.net as they are a tremendous resource. I wanted to try my hand at another 1:1 R2. I got my hands on a DroidBoy kit over a decade ago and that one turned out OK for a first attempt with no experience (picture below), but with the evolution of 3D printing, a little increased skill, and the amount of new resources available, I wanted to try and see if I could do better.

Here's my first attempt from I believe 2012, I added light and sound, but it was purely static..........

Now I'm going with Mr. Baddelley's R2-D2 files and they are amazing! I also upgraded to a new printer, a Bambu Labs A1, and it's awesome (despite the current recall which hasn't affected me).

I got to printing and now have the dome, dome rings, dome panels, dome greeblies, and main body done. I began assembly on the dome as I started printing the skirt, legs, and body panels. Really excited for this project, let's see how it turns out...........

 

[matty matt]

Nice start!

 

[azheat01]

Well, as with any project like this, it's been slow going; sanding, bondo, more sanding, primer, more sanding, more bondo, etc, etc. I'm printing up the final leg greebles now and then all I have left are the feet and battery boxes. I finished printing most of the main leg parts and sanded those; real pleased with how they came out. I just need to bondo the seams, sand that, and then I can get those primed and sanded for paint. It'll be nice to get past this printing and sanding phase.

On a side note, this Bambu Labs A1 is a beast, been running this thing non-stop for two weeks and I've only had 3 failed prints, mostly my fault for how I placed the objects on the bed. I also love using Bambu Studios, still trying to navigate it since I've been using Cura for years, but it's great.

Anyways, slow and steady...........

 

[Reel Fakes]

Looks like you're on your way to a very nice Artoo!

 

[azheat01]

Got a little sidetracked and lost some time on this project, but after a month, I've finally finished printing, sanding, bondoing, priming, and again sanding almost 400 pieces. I'm looking forward to putting some color on these pieces and assembling.

I did run into a frustrating snag these last two days. I've never used Dupli-color paints, but wanted to go with the Sonic Blue Pearl since I couldn't find anything else close enough to my liking. Three different cans from two stores and the paint kept bubbling on the nozzle causing some terrible splatter and orange peel. I tried everything; cleaning the nozzle with a wire brush and pins, soaking the nozzle in thinner, storing it inside, etc, etc, and nothing worked.

Eventually I just put a paper towel next to my spray booth and did one or two quick passes, then dabbed the nozzle on the paper towel and repeated; incredibly frustrating. I thought maybe I had a bad can, but all three did this. I had the same problem with my Montana Black paints which is why I stopped using them. Never had this issue with Krylon or Rustoleum. Needless to say when the blue is done, I won't be using Dupli-color again. I love their primer, but at $16-$17 for this small can......no thanks. I had to re-sand a half dozen of these pieces and start over.

I did manage to get all the dome pieces painted and clear coated, but what a hassle. I'll give those a few days to dry and then do a round of buffing.

Moving right along..........

 

[azheat01]

Today was a great milestone, I really wanted to finish the dome and get it out of the garage and into the house. Real pleased with how it looks, despite a few minor issues. Also wired the Teeces lights to activate with a remote. I took apart one of those LED light bars and wired it to the lights in the dome so I could quickly turn them on and off. I have two more; going to use one for the Data and Charging port LEDs and one for an audio module. This is a good solution until I decide how I want to power this R2 since it's going to be a static display for now.

Time to start on the body next..........

 

[13doctorwho]

It looks great!!

 

[azheat01]

It looks great!!

Thanks!

 

[Valor]

Nevermind. Apparently, one does.

 

[Vagabond Elf]

View attachment 1812572

Nevermind. Apparently, one does.

Oh, no, nothing simple about it. Lots of tears and effort and sanding.

So, so , so much sanding.

And mine isn't even 3d printed, mostly!

azheat01 , I can't remember if I commented on your thread at astromech, but this does look very, very good. So sad that you got multiple crap spray bombs in a row - but since that kind of fizzling thing can often mean an old can, if you bought them all from the same store it's possible they were all outdated. (When I was at Sherwin Williams we'd have to pull the spray cans now and again and bin the old ones. I don't remember the exact window but I think it's around 2 years, and after that the can isn't reliable enough to be worth selling. And since Sherwin sells very few cans of spray paint, but it's the kind of thing people comment on if you don't have any, we did tend to outdate a lot of cans.)