Trooper_Trent's R2-D2 Build Thread (2nd Attempt!)

[Trooper_trent]

Today marks the day! I was able to get him all put together and driving around for the very first time.

Here's a video of his first steps.

And here he is for the first time with his head and sounds!
It's so cool to see him just 'come alive' with the flick of a switch.

 

[Petowalker]

Congrats!!

 

[Mechanized]

That is so cool!! Superb work and congrats on the build; must feel nice to look over and see the hard work paid off:thumbsup

 

[Trooper_trent]

Got the battery boxes and hose put on.

 

[zorg]

...................

 

[Trilan]

It looks awesome!

I really like the dirt you put on the dome over the top right part of the radar eye. It looks very real and how it looked in ANH. What did you use for that? Thanks

 

[Trooper_trent]

Hammered Steel and Hammered bronze spray paint. I sprayed it into a bowl, then used a paper towel to blot some onto it and dab onto the dome. I used a combination of dry application and soapy water to vary the texture.
Being bare aluminum and the dome is the part most people touch, it had to be durable so I used spray paint. For the body weathering, so as not to ruin the powder coat, I'll use a variety of washes made of acrylic paints and water.

spent some time practicing with him and to see how long he'd last on this tiny 5ah battery. I got about 2 hours out of him, which means he's only pulling 2.5 amp on average with normal usage. So the next step is to get a big 30ah battery so he'll last all day and then some.

haha, the part where I run him into the wall is because I could only see the top of his dome from where I was sitting so I couldn't tell which direction he was going. LOL he looks drunk.

 

[tomm1999]

Congrats Trent looks great! Do most builds move that fast? If he goes any faster he's going to take off!

 

[Trooper_trent]

I'm note sure about other builds. Some do move faster than others.
Mine is all aluminum so he's VERY heavy. I'm also using the scooter motors which are lower torque than some of the other robotics motors some people use. This requires me to run him at 24v to give him that extra boost of power when going over carpet. So yeah that means he moves a little quick. I can adjust the top speed in the code, I just haven't had time to get it all exactly the way I want it.

 

[Halliwax]

trent beautiful videos! the best part about this build was seeing the father son project! and he knows whats going on, he schooled you with the lights!! classic! lol the feeling of completion of a R2 project has to be indescribable! great job!

your so lucky to have grabbed those KHF's those are so rare right now!

 

[tomm1999]

That makes sense that its 24 volts. I have a 24v scooter and that thing moves! This is really one of the best R2 builds I have ever seen.

I'm note sure about other builds. Some do move faster than others.
Mine is all aluminum so he's VERY heavy. I'm also using the scooter motors which are lower torque than some of the other robotics motors some people use. This requires me to run him at 24v to give him that extra boost of power when going over carpet. So yeah that means he moves a little quick. I can adjust the top speed in the code, I just haven't had time to get it all exactly the way I want it.

 

[Trooper_trent]

trent beautiful videos! the best part about this build was seeing the father son project! and he knows whats going on, he schooled you with the lights!! classic! lol the feeling of completion of a R2 project has to be indescribable! great job!

your so lucky to have grabbed those KHF's those are so rare right now!

Thanks man. yeah he did help a lot and even had a couple of ideas that were better than mine so we went with his ideas.

The hose fittings are one of the first parts I ordered, back in January. I got those pretty quick but was waiting on the plates until just a couple of weeks ago.

I can't find Ankle Details ANYWHERE! There must have just been a huge run right before I re-joined around Christmas time.

 

[Trooper_trent]

That makes sense that its 24 volts. I have a 24v scooter and that thing moves! This is really one of the best R2 builds I have ever seen.

Thank you! That's a huge compliment although I'm not sure how true that is. He will look much better once I get him weathered. He's too new and clean right now. He needs some action.

 

[joshvanrad]

Thank you! That's a huge compliment although I'm not sure how true that is. He will look much better once I get him weathered. He's too new and clean right now. He needs some action.

Just jettison him out into the desert.

trent beautiful videos! the best part about this build was seeing the father son project! and he knows whats going on, he schooled you with the lights!! classic! lol the feeling of completion of a R2 project has to be indescribable! great job!

your so lucky to have grabbed those KHF's those are so rare right now!

 

[Trash Rabbit]

WOW that looks soooo amazing. Im jealous. How long did it take you to get all of those parts? did u get them all on here?

 

[Trooper_trent]

So I blew my first fuse last night! I'm actually very happy about that because it means my wiring is setup correctly. I was trying to push his limits on really thick shag carpet and it was too much for his foot motors. So it blew a fuse instead of catching fire or burning up the wiring and controller boards. I feel much better about it knowing he's not going to spontaneously combust!

I got the back door put on and tweaked a few fitting issues, etc. and got him setup in his permanent spot.
I'll start the weathering process soon.

 

[Halliwax]

Thanks man. yeah he did help a lot and even had a couple of ideas that were better than mine so we went with his ideas.

The hose fittings are one of the first parts I ordered, back in January. I got those pretty quick but was waiting on the plates until just a couple of weeks ago.

I can't find Ankle Details ANYWHERE! There must have just been a huge run right before I re-joined around Christmas time.

yes bradybunch did a big run of them, very inexpensive too for the amount of work that has to go into them. try contacting bradybunch on astromech see if he has a left over set?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Trooper_trent]

I may have found a set! another member contacted me saying he had a set he's not using.
Thanks!


I already posted this on the R2 forum but I'll copy here also since he's technically a prop replica.
I did the first pass of weathering this afternoon. I wanted just enough to pull out the details and cracks. I'm going for an episode four Tantive IV look so not too dirty. I'm going to live with this for a while and see if anything sticks out as needing more or less. It's all acrylic so I can take it back off and try something else later. I wanted a mostly motor oil look rather than dirt so I went with black, dark gray, and dark brown mixed into a wash.


Before

After

and here he is modeling his new dirty paint job.

 

[Halliwax]

I may have found a set! another member contacted me saying he had a set he's not using.
Thanks!


I already posted this on the R2 forum but I'll copy here also since he's technically a prop replica.
I did the first pass of weathering this afternoon. I wanted just enough to pull out the details and cracks. I'm going for an episode four Tantive IV look so not too dirty. I'm going to live with this for a while and see if anything sticks out as needing more or less. It's all acrylic so I can take it back off and try something else later. I wanted a mostly motor oil look rather than dirt so I went with black, dark gray, and dark brown mixed into a wash.


Before
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160614/8c339c98de7cf3b049c072a6ee48fec6.jpg


After
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160614/22528950e36619d8b7e7e7046c902991.jpg


http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160614/7aafdb0727bf62a5fea3e33e30aad1cc.jpg


http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160614/1f6b9b0538eb24b6c9e519f58dfc80da.jpg






and here he is modeling his new dirty paint job.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_gIF_P0440

DUDE! does he have another set!?! I'm in need of a set! lol

as i have said trent, your weathering amazes me!! i wish you would do a video showing your techniques. hint hint, wink wink

 

[Trooper_trent]

lol my technique is that I don't have a technique. The trick is to get it way too dirty, then wipe it clean, but not clean enough.