Monday, April 29, 2013
Mock paint design
I was thinking I'd like to have an extra painted skin design for R2 that I could dress him up for Toys for Tots. Here is my poor attempt at an artistic rendering. I gotta figure out if this would be a separate complete droid or just a swappable skin.
Look what I found on my shelf.
So turns out I already had an 12V 18 Ah SLA battery in my garage. Couple years ago I bought an old razor scooter from a neighbor's garage sale. Bought the battery to try and fix the scooter but the controller circuit board was fried so I tossed the scooter. Sadly I didn't think to keep the motor which worked. So I just need one more battery for my currently theoretical R2!
My first parts!
My first parts arrived on the 24th of April, so it's a day of note. Ordered them from resinparts.com and received them pretty quick. It's going to be important to remember that parts are rarely going to arrive so fast.
R2 Obsession, it's Begun!
So after years of wanting a functional R2-D2 of my own, I've finally begun the long and expensive ( and hopefully rewarding ) journey to build one.
Growing up, R2 was a favorite from the movies though to be honest I spent more time wishing I was a Jedi ( seriously, who doesn't want cool mind powers? ), but R2 was the computer geek in me that I felt most relatable to.
I seem to recall a horrible attempt at a lego R2-D2 back in the 80's. I didn't have anything but the regular square and rectangular bricks so "round" was relative and I couldn't stand looking at it more than the time it took to build.
Fast froward to age 30+ and my family got one of the small R2 toys that has voice control and some random movement patterns. Looked fun but quickly turned disappointing as most of the voice commands are just ignored.
My wife the illuminated me to the existence of the Celebration events and we flew off to CV ( Celebration V to you uninitiated ) and OMG I found life sized functional R2's! Spent some time in the R2 Builders room and went to all the Builder panels I could squeeze into my schedule. I think I joined the builder forums while still in Orlando!
Astromech.net is an awesome resource for anyone at any level who is interested in building a droid of their own. The amount of info is simply staggering. I spent the next few years reading threads here and there and generally being discouraged by
1. The sheer amount of information to go through.
2. The massive amount of work required.
3. The large financial commitment.
4. There weren't any local builders.
5. Lack of tools which leas back to problem 3.
I still went to any R2 event or panel I found at conventions. CVI was great since I knew ahead of time to schedule for the panels and the Builder room was incredible. Spent hours in there that trip. I think I spent an hour just talking to someone about the LED logic display board he was working on there on a table.
Still weren't any local builders that I knew of and the closest builders I did know of we're 4 hours away in either Omaha or St. Louis.
Fast forward again to Planet Comic-Con this year and lo and behold there is a Builder's booth and a panel to go to. I was very surprised to learn they were even local builders! So now armed with some encouraging information on local resources and encouragement from my wife, I bought a couple resin parts and started down the path, light or dark, can't say yet but at least it's direction.
Growing up, R2 was a favorite from the movies though to be honest I spent more time wishing I was a Jedi ( seriously, who doesn't want cool mind powers? ), but R2 was the computer geek in me that I felt most relatable to.
I seem to recall a horrible attempt at a lego R2-D2 back in the 80's. I didn't have anything but the regular square and rectangular bricks so "round" was relative and I couldn't stand looking at it more than the time it took to build.
Fast froward to age 30+ and my family got one of the small R2 toys that has voice control and some random movement patterns. Looked fun but quickly turned disappointing as most of the voice commands are just ignored.
My wife the illuminated me to the existence of the Celebration events and we flew off to CV ( Celebration V to you uninitiated ) and OMG I found life sized functional R2's! Spent some time in the R2 Builders room and went to all the Builder panels I could squeeze into my schedule. I think I joined the builder forums while still in Orlando!
Astromech.net is an awesome resource for anyone at any level who is interested in building a droid of their own. The amount of info is simply staggering. I spent the next few years reading threads here and there and generally being discouraged by
1. The sheer amount of information to go through.
2. The massive amount of work required.
3. The large financial commitment.
4. There weren't any local builders.
5. Lack of tools which leas back to problem 3.
I still went to any R2 event or panel I found at conventions. CVI was great since I knew ahead of time to schedule for the panels and the Builder room was incredible. Spent hours in there that trip. I think I spent an hour just talking to someone about the LED logic display board he was working on there on a table.
Still weren't any local builders that I knew of and the closest builders I did know of we're 4 hours away in either Omaha or St. Louis.
Fast forward again to Planet Comic-Con this year and lo and behold there is a Builder's booth and a panel to go to. I was very surprised to learn they were even local builders! So now armed with some encouraging information on local resources and encouragement from my wife, I bought a couple resin parts and started down the path, light or dark, can't say yet but at least it's direction.
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