Thank The Maker
Jr Member
Hey fellow nerf herders!
I'm new to this forum so I thought i'd start off by sharing a few shots of something i've been chipping away at slowly since the beginning of the year.
I came into possession of a 60L plastic drum and whilst it's incredibly useful for storing scraps, and generally hiding all the junk I tend to hoard, it's not the most beautiful thing to look at itself. After scratching my head as to how I could disguise it as something I wouldn't mind looking at whilst keeping it as useful storage I came up with the idea of turning this into an astromech droid because a) they're awesome and b) its basically that shape anyway!
I had a fair bit of EVA foam left over from halloween so I figured this was a perfect use for it. Whilst I was under no illusion this would be miles from screen accurate, the thought of how bad I expected an R2 dome to turn out made me think a good old R5 was a safer option. So with that in mind I set to work.
Unfortunately I didn't take too many pictures of the build process but I have enough here to show you all how I attacked this and where I'm at right now.
This was what I started with incase you're wondering.
I began cutting and detailing a few floor mats to wrap around the plastic drum.
Once I had the body wrapped I cut a basic leg and foot shape from MDF and bolted them on so that my droid would have something solid to stand on
I then bulked out each leg with more layers of foam and began to work out the detail.
I templated the head and when i was happy I made one out of even more floor mats. I added some final foam details to the body before plasti-dipping the whole thing a few times.
Once coated in plastidip I put on some colour and started to apply some rub and buff to the ‘bare metal’ areas.
I wasn’t following any existing droid so I came up with a paint scheme and began to build up the colours. I always liked the ‘imperial disguise’ the Ghost crew would give chopper when they sent him behind enemy lines so I took a lot of inspriration from that.
I began to think the best way to hide my shame was to make this guy look like he was well and truly beat up. I have made a start on some paint chips, scratches etc and I will eventually weather the life out of him. When finished I want him to be filthy and rusty, like some long forgotten atsromech with a bad motivator that’s been tucked away in the corner of a sandcrawler for countless rotations.
Happily he is still able to provide a ton of storage and I even managed to add more by keeping his head empty.
There are still a few jobs to do, battery packs, the bottom bit where his 3rd foot would come from (i’m sure someone will tell me the technical name for that part) the little ankle rods, antenna and, as mentioned, a load of weathering. I also think I might pop his eyes off and fit some bike lights i have which are very close to the size of the eyes i’m currently using. Also mulling over the idea of adding some small castor wheels? he is plenty light enough to lift but depending on what i fill him with that could change.
I hope you’ve all enjoyed seeing my buddy take shape and in case you’re wondering I’m calling him R5-TY or "Rusty"
TTM
I'm new to this forum so I thought i'd start off by sharing a few shots of something i've been chipping away at slowly since the beginning of the year.
I came into possession of a 60L plastic drum and whilst it's incredibly useful for storing scraps, and generally hiding all the junk I tend to hoard, it's not the most beautiful thing to look at itself. After scratching my head as to how I could disguise it as something I wouldn't mind looking at whilst keeping it as useful storage I came up with the idea of turning this into an astromech droid because a) they're awesome and b) its basically that shape anyway!
I had a fair bit of EVA foam left over from halloween so I figured this was a perfect use for it. Whilst I was under no illusion this would be miles from screen accurate, the thought of how bad I expected an R2 dome to turn out made me think a good old R5 was a safer option. So with that in mind I set to work.
Unfortunately I didn't take too many pictures of the build process but I have enough here to show you all how I attacked this and where I'm at right now.
This was what I started with incase you're wondering.
I began cutting and detailing a few floor mats to wrap around the plastic drum.
Once I had the body wrapped I cut a basic leg and foot shape from MDF and bolted them on so that my droid would have something solid to stand on
I then bulked out each leg with more layers of foam and began to work out the detail.
I templated the head and when i was happy I made one out of even more floor mats. I added some final foam details to the body before plasti-dipping the whole thing a few times.
Once coated in plastidip I put on some colour and started to apply some rub and buff to the ‘bare metal’ areas.
I wasn’t following any existing droid so I came up with a paint scheme and began to build up the colours. I always liked the ‘imperial disguise’ the Ghost crew would give chopper when they sent him behind enemy lines so I took a lot of inspriration from that.
I began to think the best way to hide my shame was to make this guy look like he was well and truly beat up. I have made a start on some paint chips, scratches etc and I will eventually weather the life out of him. When finished I want him to be filthy and rusty, like some long forgotten atsromech with a bad motivator that’s been tucked away in the corner of a sandcrawler for countless rotations.
Happily he is still able to provide a ton of storage and I even managed to add more by keeping his head empty.
There are still a few jobs to do, battery packs, the bottom bit where his 3rd foot would come from (i’m sure someone will tell me the technical name for that part) the little ankle rods, antenna and, as mentioned, a load of weathering. I also think I might pop his eyes off and fit some bike lights i have which are very close to the size of the eyes i’m currently using. Also mulling over the idea of adding some small castor wheels? he is plenty light enough to lift but depending on what i fill him with that could change.
I hope you’ve all enjoyed seeing my buddy take shape and in case you’re wondering I’m calling him R5-TY or "Rusty"
TTM
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