R2 Dome, was it a found part?

[cornbread]

At work, they replaced the lights in the gym, and when I saw the reflector of the ones they took down, I freaked. I tried searching to see if R2 D2's dome was off the shelf/ preexisting part but could not find anything. Anyway, the diameter and the height match up, so I grabbed a couple. They are made of aluminium.



I think the curve is a little off, but it is a little hard to tell with the attachment flange on

 

[matty matt]

R2 was completely custom but it is a nice resemblance.

 

[Marv]

I'm sure I read that the dome was a found part from a state light if I recall correctly. Think that was in the Roger Christian book

 

[mugatu]

I'm sure I read that the dome was a found part from a state light if I recall correctly. Think that was in the Roger Christian book

I read the same, Marv.

 

[cornbread]

I'm sure I read that the dome was a found part from a state light if I recall correctly. Think that was in the Roger Christian book

do you mean STAGE ?

 

[gonk27]

I'm sure I read that the dome was a found part from a state light if I recall correctly. Think that was in the Roger Christian book

Not quite, the stage lamp that Roger found, (called a 'rifle lamp') was used on the very first plywood R2 mock-up as it looked about the right size.

Once R2's details and dimensions were decided upon the entire props were built in aluminium for the first film. The domes were custom spun but were certainly inspired by that lamp used on the prototype.

A plaster cast was made as another prototype for R2's head that the final panel positions were scribed into, that may have been cast from the same lamp (but don't quote me on that!)

 

[Halliwax]

Not quite, the stage lamp that Roger found, (called a 'rifle lamp') was used on the very first plywood R2 mock-up as it looked about the right size.

Once R2's details and dimensions were decided upon the entire props were built in aluminium for the first film. The domes were custom spun but were certainly inspired by that lamp used on the prototype.

A plaster cast was made as another prototype for R2's head that the final panel positions were scribed into, that may have been cast from the same lamp (but don't quote me on that!)

Correct! Proto r2 had the found dome

With the team that built the original r2’s being retired nasa engineers, building a r2 out of aluminum was a cake walk for them


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[OpenR2]

Our understanding is that the wooden prototype had the found lamp.
A plaster model was then sculpted using the lamps basic dimension for inspiration.
The plaster model was sent to Peteric engineering and they measured it to turn it into an aluminum version.
If you look at the Bonham's auction you can see the writing where Peteric workers wrote the measurement on the plaster dome that they used for the aluminum domes.

Bonhams : Star Wars- A New Hope A pre-production study cast for the dome head of the first R2-D2 robot, circa 1976,

circa 1976, made for the pre-production of Lucasfilm Star Wars: A New Hope 1977, the detailed hemispherical mould showing the cavity for the radar eye, logic displays, holographic projector and process status indicator, with numerous hand annotated measurements in both pencil and black ink in an...

www.bonhams.com

 

[xeno]

A long...long time ago...
I did some searching, and found these 2 images, that shows the closest thing from the 70s, that closely resembles a R2 dome.