I started my droid building journey some time back, perhaps around 2007/2008 after seeing the UK R2 Builders at a nearby event. I was immediately enamoured by what ordinary folk could achieve so close to, if not better, than an original! I realised it would be a huge undertaking and not something I could do in a day, week or month but I figured if they could then perhaps why not me?! I love making and building things and I had the most enjoyable chat with a few of the builders!

Simon, whose aluminium R2 was so silent, the foot drives were utilising a belt method opposed to chain drive! Due to this it seemed to have more response to others. As I found out in later years this isn’t just down to the ‘drives’ its also how the ESC is programmed but its surprising to see the difference of a belt driven R2 in handling and noise, more so in a quiet room.

Next up I met Brad. He was a tech guru and had the most tricked out droid (BHD). It had all the bells and whistles no doubt about it and even had the most sought after mod of all, a 2-3-2 mech! Not something he used often but amazing to see any time any where. The engineering this guy put into his droid, parts and electronics. Incredible. We had a great little talk and he really showed what can be achieved by putting the time in and not cutting corners….something which he would repeat to me every so often over the years!

Finally I came across Colin. A true gent. If I’m honest I put it down to him for all his encouragement from start to finish that kept me building. He saw my enthusiasm and suggested if I put the time in then its a very rewarding hobby and it is just that. His droid did everything he wanted it to and he went on to build some more fantastic droids.

I’d originally signed up on yahoo groups but gave it 6-12 months of research on astromech.info and astromech.net (the main builders forums) before I started my first droid, a styrene (HIPs) build and years later I’m still building and starting my own aluminium droid (R2-RND!) affectionately referred to as my R2 Research and Development droid.

So skipping forward a few years…after my first build and many events I had the opportunity to purchase someone elses work in progress. A fellow builder called Max, who was an engineer and had slowly been using information he’d gathered to build his own droid from scratch….all but the dome he’d made himself. The frame (as pictured above) for example based on documented JAG designs (another builder in the US). Max had done a great job with so much but it was still far from finished and as I found out when rebuilding things…the frame wasn’t entirely up to spec but he gave me the first foot up onto the ladder and in return he was able to pursue his new hobby – American muscle cars! I remember being a little nervous for spending so much in one go on a hobby but then he did give me a ride in his Plymouth duster which was incredible!

So R2RND continues to be a project, years on and I continue to read up on things, learn new stuff and one day I will finish him but I’m in no rush. The important thing for me is to continue enjoying what I do. I don’t have to spend every day working on something until its done, I have multiple projects on the go all the time because I like to dip in and out of them. I guess its like people enjoy reading but don’t wish to read the same book or genre all the time, sometimes they like to find something different to occupy their mind.

So anyway, there is a little back story to R2RND. I’ll keep updates coming and I’m sure you’ll see a few other projects coming up in between too.