Half Scale R2D2

[Darth Lam]

I'll take some pictures tonight. No aluminum dome parts yet, just the plastic skeleton with metal rings. It really is a fun build with no need for any prior modeling experience. Heck, my 9 and 12 year old have been putting the whole thing together with me just supervising.

 

[Thorne]

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

Dome comes with issue 51. Next month for those of us that jumped aboard when they had their $1 shipping sale last July.

 

[Darth Lam]

That's going to be an awesome month then, my friend.

 

[MoonRock]

Dome comes with issue 51. Next month for those of us that jumped aboard when they had their $1 shipping sale last July.

This is probably the part I'm most looking forward to getting.

Heck, my 9 and 12 year old have been putting the whole thing together with me just supervising.

Most impressive! The nut and bolt system that holds the skull ribs in place were tricky for me at times.

I got some Tamiya weathering chalks to help add some character to R2D2's leg. I think they've definitely helped make the parts a bit more realistic looking.
Before:
(click picture to enlarge)

After
(click picture to enlarge)

Rusted up the silver parts a bit. The blue parts look great with a little silver applied to the edges to make them look worn. The silver powder also leaves behind a slight metallic sheen when polished (wiped off) the part so some areas got a little shine without changing color. A dab of soot in the nooks and crannies to help some of the detail pop.
(click picture to enlarge)

After seeing the results I'm feeling very optimistic that the finish kit will look amazing!

 

[MoonRock]

I'm really enjoying the weathering powder silver for the blue parts. Here's a demo of the silver being used to simulate worn paint on the eye part:

 

[Mandible]

GREAT job dude! It's gone from looking like a toy, to an actual metallic object!

 

[myc]

never saw that powder but wanna try ! does it require a sealant ?

 

[Walls]

Yes, if you don’t seal it it can be rubbed off. But honestly that’s the best part, not happy just use a damp cloth and start all over.

 

[MoonRock]

GREAT job dude! It's gone from looking like a toy, to an actual metallic object!

It sure does. You can even smudge it very thinly over the other blue areas and it leaves behind a slight metallic sheen.

never saw that powder but wanna try ! does it require a sealant ?

Yeah, atleast for this kit. You can get away with not sealing it on parts that won't be touched much but the silver on blue rubs off with handling.

Yes, if you don’t seal it it can be rubbed off. But honestly that’s the best part, not happy just use a damp cloth and start all over.

Definitely agree. It's very workable and easy to do over if you don't like the look. I haven't tried sealers yet but knowing Tamiya it should be easy to seal with any quality clearcoat.

I'll do more elaborate videos (since I didn't record my weathering experiments on the first leg) once I get the next batch of parts from Modelspace

 

[MoonRock]

This summer has been pure chaos but things are beginning to chill out so I've managed to get some progress on my build.



Looks like the stripped remains of an astromech droid right now but it's actually coming together.



Dome frame is done and ready for electronic doodads to be installed.



Excited about the aluminum dome. There's something strangely satisfying about metal-turned shapes. a Does anyone else just really like a nice metal-turned dome?




Two close-ups of the finished leg that look like a stubby caricature when the photos are stacked on top of each other lol. The foot parts are new and need to be weathered to match the upper legs. Planning on photographing that process this weekend so everyone can see how it's done.

 

[Darth Lam]

Nice! I'm really enjoying this build as well. I ended up taking a long break after the first leg, since the second leg basically repeats the same steps, but I wanted to wait until I had all the leg pieces.

 

[Big Mo]

Our deliveries in Australia have stopped due to the local supplier going bust.
Ive emailed De Ag but getting no reply. Pain in the a**.
Any other oz builders in the same situation?

Nice build btw, looking forward to getting back into this..... then the X-Wing!

 

[Thorne]

So, I’m up to Issue 72 (due to get my last issues in August) and I decided to put what I had so far together this weekend.
The bad news is the motor to the lightsaber ejector tube was dead right out of the bag so I’ve got an e-mail into DeAg for a replacement. The good news is that you’re mostly done with the dome and legs by #66 and start in on the body with #67.
What’s done to this point looks awesome, although, for those building their own and not yet at this point, there WILL be some profanity involved getting some of the pieces together. It’s just part of the learning/building experience.

 

[DarthRusty]

That dome looks incredible

 

[Thorne]

The dome’s got a real heft to it. This thing’s gonna have good weight to it when it’s done.
Here’s a look at Artoo’s “brains”:

 

[Big Mo]

That looks great, I'm getting deliveries again, but only up to issue 20 here.
I'm up to issue 70 on the Delorean, thats coming along really well too, that also has some weight to it. Funny, I have the 1/6 scale Deloren hot toys, this is only 1/8 scale but twice the weight.

 

[DarthRusty]

Thank you for the great photos!
Can't wait to see more updates.

 

[Super Serg]

… the lightsaber ejector tube…

View attachment 442850

Whoah! Nice! What other features will this have? And is there a 1/2 scale Luke saber that pops out of the ejector tube?

 

[Thorne]

Yup.
Those parts are in issues 40 and 41.

 

[DarthRusty]

Are you serious!?!

God I wish I had space to build & display this!