Half Scale R2D2

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MoonRock

Just a little freaky
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This is a 1/2 scale R2D2 kit by Deagostini. Sure, there are plenty of replicas of Artoo but I was attracted to the fact this one has a fair amount of electronics in it and what appears to be a one-piece aluminum dome. My thinking is this prop will be something I'm not as embarrassed to show off to friends (everyone loves Artoo) and it will be fun to scare the hell out of cats with.

I started with his dome skeleton since the construction method was strange and alien to me. Almost like he was from another world.
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You basically start with a solid metal disc that has a spot in the center for a ball-bearing. You then attach the first row of black plastic "ribs" using tricky-to-handle nuts and screws. Once you figure out a method this task goes quickly.
(click to enlarge)


You'll notice some panels have unique cut-outs for future parts.
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I was a bit worried when I first saw that the ribs were plastic, but once the reinforcement plates are sandwiched in between it's a very solid frame.
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The kit comes with a cheapo plastic base for the solid steel tube to fit into. I'll admit when I was putting the stand together I was thinking "well isn't this an unnecessary waste of parts?"
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As it turns out once the dome is attached to it and spun the real value of the temporary stand becomes obvious (to spin it around and make R2D2 beeps.) It probably helps the dome from getting busted during assembly too.
 
I’m building this too, I very much enjoyed building the Falcon.
Next up they are releasing a studio scale X-Wing, it’s friggin huge, can’t wait for that one.
 
Almost done with the Falcon and even though the kit is amazing I for one would never deal with deagustini again. I waited MONTHS for parts and am three years in on a TWO year subscription, and I’m reading on the Falcon builders page that those that started after me are in even worse shape. Not worth the aggravation.
 
I’m building this too, I very much enjoyed building the Falcon.
Next up they are releasing a studio scale X-Wing, it’s friggin huge, can’t wait for that one.

I almost went for the Falcon but decided Artoo was a bit more what I was looking for. The Falcon kit does look pretty good. How far are you along on the build?

Is this R2 remote controlled?

So awesome!

Should be when all done. Smart phone control or autonomous mode. Even has a pop-up light saber hidden in him.

Almost done with the Falcon and even though the kit is amazing I for one would never deal with deagustini again. I waited MONTHS for parts and am three years in on a TWO year subscription, and I’m reading on the Falcon builders page that those that started after me are in even worse shape. Not worth the aggravation.

That sucks. I did read that some of the part-work companies had problems like what you described. What country are you in? I'm using the U.S.A. subscription and so far haven't had any problems with deliveries. I'll admit I'm hoping that there aren't problems as I get further along but so far so good.
 
I’m in the US as well, here’s the thing I like many others had zero problems until a bit more than half way.
It’s a shame because the kits are really nice, expensive but nice.
And from what I e read it’s not only the Star Wars kits, it seems Deag has had delivery problems on other projects as well.
 
It’s a shame because there a lot of fun.
In OZ I had no problems, all issues arrived on time. I do wonder if it has anything to do with how early you join the subscription. I’m a early adopter so maybe the early birds get looked after first.
I won’t hesitate to do the x-wing when it gets released.
 
Congrats, MoonRock! This looks like it will be a very fun build.
In some ways, this is an even more impressive kit than the Falcon.

For one thing, I expect I would find the printed material fascinating and well worth the read. Rather than just covering the fantasy universe nonsense, the issues here are supposed to cover some intelligent (and practical) real world information. Robotics, AI...heady, interesting stuff.

The build, like with the Falcon, also looks nice and clean. Very straightforward assembly and well engineered from what I can tell.

I saw this shortly after I picked up the Falcon on BF, and was wondering then if I made a mistake and got the wrong kit. The Falcon is cool, but this one looked...illuminating.

Unfortunately there's not a full kit option yet, and I've seen too many people express frustration with how DeAgo implements their subscription plans.
If I ever do get it, it would only be as the full kit- and even then only at some kind of similar promotional discount. Earliest I can see that happening is BF 2020.
Till then I'll follow builds like yours with interest.

One aspect of it that did take the shine off for me was the non retractable third leg. That's one thing even the inexpensive little 1/6 Sphero can do remotely.
It's a shame they couldn't have engineered that too.
 
I guess the other turn off for me is the cost, for almost the same cost you can source parts for a full size build.
 
Is there a forum or FB group where these kits are talked about/discussed?

I haven't seen a lot of chatter about the DeAgo R2, but the studio scale section of the RPF boards ( here ) has a bunch of threads dedicated to the DeAgo Falcon. If there are threads for the R2, they will likely show up in the "general modeling" sub section there. I think I did see one there a few weeks back.

If their X-wing does come out, I'm sure that will see a lot of threads pop up there as well.
 
I’m in the US as well, here’s the thing I like many others had zero problems until a bit more than half way.
It’s a shame because the kits are really nice, expensive but nice.
And from what I e read it’s not only the Star Wars kits, it seems Deag has had delivery problems on other projects as well.

That is a bummer and I can understand why some would elect to wait until the full kit is available. It could be a supply problem on Deago's end (I had ordered some soylent powder recently and they were going to wait three week to ship it - without telling me - because they were out of the free first order gift. I told them to forgot the gift and they sent my order out.) Maybe if it's something like they're waiting for more of the magazine/instructions to be printed they could just ship the parts and provide digital instructions. What parts are you waiting for?

Congrats, MoonRock! This looks like it will be a very fun build.
In some ways, this is an even more impressive kit than the Falcon.

For one thing, I expect I would find the printed material fascinating and well worth the read. Rather than just covering the fantasy universe nonsense, the issues here are supposed to cover some intelligent (and practical) real world information. Robotics, AI...heady, interesting stuff.

The build, like with the Falcon, also looks nice and clean. Very straightforward assembly and well engineered from what I can tell.

I saw this shortly after I picked up the Falcon on BF, and was wondering then if I made a mistake and got the wrong kit. The Falcon is cool, but this one looked...illuminating.

Unfortunately there's not a full kit option yet, and I've seen too many people express frustration with how DeAgo implements their subscription plans.
If I ever do get it, it would only be as the full kit- and even then only at some kind of similar promotional discount. Earliest I can see that happening is BF 2020.
Till then I'll follow builds like yours with interest.

One aspect of it that did take the shine off for me was the non retractable third leg. That's one thing even the inexpensive little 1/6 Sphero can do remotely.
It's a shame they couldn't have engineered that too.

Yeah the third leg thing isn't great but it was a nice balance of costs, size, accuracy, and robotics/electronics assembly that made it an option in my case. I could build a 1/1 R2D2 but honestly this arrangement is more inline with what I have time to do these days.

Is there a forum or FB group where these kits are talked about/discussed?

Best I've found for general part-works is partworks UK forum That's how I came across the variety of kits that are common overseas but just making their way into the U.S. market. Thankfully for my bank account many of the kits I want aren't available here *yet*.

I guess the other turn off for me is the cost, for almost the same cost you can source parts for a full size build.

Very true. But the days of me hacking replicas together from garage kit suppliers has passed. Plus, a 1/2 scale is easier to display in my case. I also wanted to "take one for the team" in terms of seeing how the full build goes and hopefully motivate the manufacturers to expand the offering in the U.S.A.

Hachette has a pretty awesome looking London bus kit I'd probably subscribe too, as well as a Terminator replica thats soon to be released, but they do not seem to be distributing in the U.S.A. at the moment. Otherwise I'd be broke!
 
I can fully understand not wanting a full size R2, space is becoming a problem for me as well. Also I should ad that while you can source parts and build a full size one it’s going to be a LOT of work and that includes ZERO electronics so basically it’s just a static prop.

There is a Facebook group, I belong to it because I was considering this but then opted out because of the dreadful customer service. There is at least one person that is pretty far along on his droid there and it looks fantastic.

Also waiting for full kits isn’t always the answer either as there have been a bunch of posts from people who purchased full kits only to be missing the same parts advance everyone else. 😂
 
I'm in the US, and doing this build as well. Just received box 12 yesterday, so that's up to issue 48. I have the last three months worth just sitting here waiting, since it's all building the second leg and I want to wait for all the leg parts to get here so I don't have all the partially built pieces scattered around. So far so good! The first year was putting together the dome sub-structure, some light boards, and the first leg. No real gluing required on this build so far.
 
I'm in the US, and doing this build as well. Just received box 12 yesterday, so that's up to issue 48. I have the last three months worth just sitting here waiting, since it's all building the second leg and I want to wait for all the leg parts to get here so I don't have all the partially built pieces scattered around. So far so good! The first year was putting together the dome sub-structure, some light boards, and the first leg. No real gluing required on this build so far.

Got any pictures of the dome so far? Also, have you got the aluminum dome part yet?
 
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