Size Matters Not - An R2D2 Story

13 Feb 2019

R2D2 is a monumental icon regardless of its physical size - that has meaning for a large number of people - one of the most popular characters who has no speech.

I have been planning for quite a while to build an R2D2, but every time I took a concrete step towards that goal it seemed to look harder to achieve something reasonable.

This entry is using A Question of Scale as an excuse to move this mini R2D2 project out of the planning stage and into a build phase.

It is great to finally get around to another project from my bucket list. This is definitely a scaled down version of R2D2. I could not find appropriate dimensioned drawings so I tried to take measurements from various images. My painting skills leave a lot to be desired, but that is just another learning curve I need to overcome.

Here is a video of the design, build and demo ....

Relevant Links:

A Question of Scale

Project14 | A Question of Scale: Grow or Shrink Something for a Cartridge-Sized NES Portable!

Project14 | Makevember 2019: Weekly Winners: 54 Greatest Hits (Projects 15-11) plus (Projects 011-015)!

https://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-92128#comment-153108

Top Comments

dougw over 6 years ago in reply to three-phase

You are right about the iteration effort. The example I recall turned out very smooth and shiny but it also took many iterations of sanding and several coats of paint and lacquer.
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Workshopshed over 6 years ago in reply to dougw

I've found acrylic paint straight onto ABS works fine.
Have also tried the nail polish and had the same issue as you getting an even coat.
Those little tubs of paint worked well on my Dragon Detector knight but I had put several layers of primer before with sanding in between.
An alternative technique is to mask areas using tape and spray paint them. That's how I did the shield.

https://www.workshopshed.com/2015/01/3d-printing-a-medal/
https://www.workshopshed.com/2016/09/painting-the-knight/
https://www.workshopshed.com/2016/09/more-knight-painting/
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three-phase over 6 years ago in reply to dubbie

Yes, I believe Airfix used to make their own brand. The paints will have different finishes, matt, metallic, satin etc. There is also a clear varnish available.

There are also spray cans available, if you want to go down that route, but you obviously need to mask off parts that are a different colour / don't want painting.

You can use car body filler and then filler prime paint, but to get the smooth finishes you need to rub it down with progressively finer sandpaper and then spraying will get the better finish.

That's why it usually takes just as long to do the finishing than the building.

Kind regards.
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dubbie over 6 years ago in reply to dougw

Douglas,

I have heard aboutthis type of approach, but I have never been able to get this type of filler to an even smooth surface. A lumpy smooth surface I can do.

Dubbie
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dougw over 6 years ago in reply to dubbie

I've seen people use bondo (vehicle bodywork filler) when they want a perfect finish.
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