Hey folks! Well now, 2026. Hoping you all had a great break over the Christmas period enjoying some festivities and spending it however you liked be it with friends and family or in the peace and quiet of your own company.

As 2025 drew to a close there was lots happening my side – completion of the workshop for starters, a new job role and some spectacular opportunities I’ll save for another day but I figured those of you who may have one of my LED light kits for their favourite protocol droid might be keen to know I’ve developed a little more code!

As a few of you had been asking for various functions and changes, although I don’t do much coding myself at present I figured it was about time I’d got my hands dirty and gave it a go. So, for anyone keen to spice up their kit with something a little more natural I’ve developed two more sketches for the led driver boards. You can find them here on my gitlab page ready to download and push to the arduino.

I’ve tried to include some comments in the code so users can read what functions do what and how to change them if they wish. Of course I will keep the original sketch available if anyone ever wants to revert back to that but now you have the options of a slow fade in on power up with an occasional flicker to replicate power spikes and a slow fade on with a little flash then occasional flickering to give it a more realistic feel than the constant bright colour it was before. Have a play, see what you think!

I’ve got quite a few things planned for this year so keep your eyes peeled!

All and the best and once again, Happy New Year to you all!

Chris

Hey all, Chris here and I just wanted to say thank you to folks who continue to order my 3PO LED Light Kit available through my shop. I’m amazed at their popularity, I never thought there would be much demand for them but I’m even more humbled by the kind words folks have to say about them. So thank you to all who have ordered a kit for their protocol droid projects!

I’m looking forward to doing more in the near future but as always the day to day stuff has to take priority. There will be some interesting updates soon, I had for instance suggested there will be a few completed C-3PO helmets listed a long time back but I’ve been so busy with building my workshop and trying to find time for a little rest between that and the day job so you’ll see I haven’t had much to say of late but I’ll try to do better.

Speaking of the workshop, it’s moving along well! Last weekend I dug a trench for electric cabling, I also have some worktops on order so will be fitting them soon. I do have a little finesse to add to a lot of things but….pictures say a thousand words so when I’m ready I’ll do a it of a write up. I try to keep up-to-date with the socials so if you check the links on the site to Instagram you might see a few updates. Who knows, maybe it will inspire a few of you to also build a workshop, maybe (more likely) it’ll serve as a ‘don’t do this’. Either way, lets find out!

Until next time, take care and all the best!

Well, I’ve finally got back to realising that between the day job, home DIY and the odd smaller project that I’ve neglected site updates a little. However, there’s been a trickle of interest for the 3PO eye kits still and which makes me think I might be able to take them to the next level soon*

But, what else has been happening? Well…..

Since moving places just under 18 months ago now rooms have been updated, floors have been dug up and then dug out again, gardens have been dug up, walls knocked down and workshops erected….. and yet nothing is still finished but it will be and I’m sure it will all be worth the wait. Eventually.

The workshop was taking all my efforts some time back, planning and prep, the ground work alone took months due to bad weather and then due to rain I realised I need to make further preparations…..so hopefully that’s all ok now. I’ll do a separate write up on it because naturally I have lots of pro’s/con’s to mention and who knows, maybe some one reading this will find it useful when undertaking their own build or employing someone.

For now, I’ll leave you with a pic of me as Goldie. A personal reminder for me that when you put your mind to it you can achieve almost anything, it just takes a little elbow grease and perseverance.

Hey all, so just a quick message – its now that time of year and work itself has been busy enough, no break for me unfortunately but I hope to be back making a few more kits around the beginning of January (for those interested). This will give our mail services here in the UK time to clear the waves of post and parcels over Christmas, which as I’m sure we’d all agree, avoiding delays in delivery is wise but my main message was one of cheer and good will to all those that see this, Merry Christmas to you and your families and all the the very best for 2025!

Chris

Hey all, I wanted to take a minute to show some appreciation to those who have supported my efforts creating a better version of my 3PO LED Light Kit. Without Droidbuilders and the 3PO Builders community as well as a handful of volunteers to test the kits providing valuable feedback I wouldn’t have the kit to where it is today. So, thank you! If you happen to have a kit and are enjoying it or have any comments/suggestions please drop me a line via the contact page!

In other news, in coming months I have a few 3PO lids to relinquish as I’m running out of space to work on new ones for my own costume and displays. These all originate from Jesse M’s 3d files, if you are interested in 3d printing you need to seek these out on the 3PO Builders community page or on Thingiverse where he uploads the files. The files are great, Jesse also does a stirling job updating them for accuracy when he has time and his work has opened up the world of building protocol droids to many. With his permission I am able to sell on my finished items to those that may not have access to a 3d printer or perhaps just the time to complete their own. Please note, I do not offer a service for printing any of these files. I will only be slimming down my collection over time as I build from newer files or better fitment for my costume or display.

The helmets I’ll have available will be a mix of versions, varying materials (such as PLA+ or engineering resin) and finished to a degree that they are potentially suitable for wearing or just nice on display. They stem from my own trials in techniques/materials and I would best describe some as ‘slight seconds’. There’s not going to many available and I hope the price reflects the work that’s gone into them. They will also come complete with one of my LED Light kits and I may/may not sell some with CNC’d brasswork – this is all dependant on how my own upcoming gold 3PO version turns out!

Thanks for reading and all the best!

ChrisMakes

Hey all! So, I’m still alive and things are happening in the background. Unfortunately they are just going very slowly. Due to a few social engagements including droid events, work and the workshop DIY I haven’t much time of late to make many more 3PO eye kits but I’ve just updated the shop with some so get them whilst they’re available!

Rest assured I have enough parts for plenty more kits but the next big social is coming up on 16th August, DBUK (Droidbuilders UK!) and I’m in charge of meal planning for 45+ ppl so its taking quite a bit of my time to focus on that but I’ll be making a couple of kits there and will try to get a couple built before then too.

Anyway, just wanted to update those that may read this and let you know the state of play at present. Many thanks and keep building!

Well, its been a while! I’ve been quietly, very quietly, cracking on with a few unexpected DIY jobs around the new house which has unfortunately taken all of my focus of late but with that comes news of plans for a new workshop! Come the end of June I’ll finally have a new work area to begin scheming new idea’s and continuing work on my projects whilst getting the space itself up and running.

In the meantime, a few folks have contacted me regarding my 3PO LED Light kits and following some fantastic feedback from a number of people over on the 3PO Builders Community page I am pleased to be able to offer a new version!

This new version has a slight modification to the LED boards, specifically reducing the inner diameter of the eye tube hole, allowing me to decrease the distance between the RGB neo-pixels. The result, a slightly more screen accurate look where the LED’s will sit closer together. This probably would never have happened without the group providing valuable and constructive feedback so I’m really happy that people have spared time to review and think about improvements I could make to the kit.

I have uploaded a video of the kit here if you are interested in seeing how it works and what is included and a short gallery of images below. As soon as I have finished more kits I’ll make them available via my shop here.

Hola amigo’s! Its been a while but its been a busy few months having recently moved house! So, there are a few things on the cards in coming months, some of which I’ll write about here but actions speak louder than words so they say and there is such a vast amount to do; I’d really best get cracking.

Some of the stuff I’m looking forward to, some not. With a new house comes a new workspace, in fact once I’m done I’ll have a couple of decent workspaces to branch out with the electronics, 3d printing and bigger builds. The main task is making water tight my new garage/workshop, as well as insulating it so its warm enough to work in there. Once done its onto adding in some workspace table area’s and setting up some tooling along with a laser cutter….yep…frickin lasers! I can’t wait, what could possibly go wrong?!

Alongside this I was to make a new shed on the back of the main workspace to house printers and electronics, again insulate it and make it a comfortable area to work in. I’m still undecided on the make your own route or buy a pre fab but there’s time to decide whilst I’ll dig out a good size area for a base.

I’m sure lots of issues are going to flag up over time but nothing ventured nothing gained, its all part of the fun and something different.

A few of you may notice there is no stock at present of my 3PO led light kits. Unfortunately they have all sold out! I mean its great for me seeing how popular they are but it took some time to sell all and I’m now wondering if it it worth while doing another run of them, after all it is time consuming soldering all the kits up. Before I decide I’ll be posting up a poll on the 3PO Facebook group, if the the admins don’t mind, to determine the way forward because time is going to be a commodity for me with all the new house renovation to do. It doesn’t mean I’ve given up on making the kits altogether, just that I may have a pause on production for a few months. I still have plans to do some new and interesting things with the kits, again using an Arduino pro micro or possibly even an esp32 as a base. Stay tuned for more on this.

That’s all I have for now so thanks for your time. Feel free to drop me a message via the contact page if you have any questions. Adios!

So for sometime I’ve been fiddling around with logo’s, had lots of idea’s in my head and I still have a few I’d like to try out but for now here’s a simple logo which, I again have a few idea’s for. Such as creating into my own tea coaster because why not?!

Since I’ll be attending a few conventions I thought best to have something with my website on and a bit of paper with some of my scrawls on it doesn’t quite cut the mustard. I wouldn’t want to assume folk can read what passes for my handwriting so something simplified (I think) should suffice and save a lot of people asking “What does this say?”!

If you happen to see this on a table at your next comic con event next to a bunch of cool stuff, let me know what you think!

Hey! So, its been a while but I figured its about time I started getting things back on track and what better way than to put one foot in-front of another and just get started. Again.

When creating my favourite protocol droid I tried a number of different ways to create the footshells and I’m still experimenting! I started with printing a set in pla+. At the time I thought slicing the footshell midway around the ankle would be a good idea so I could fit poppers and add some elasticated strapping so the back effectively snapped to the front shell. All that happened is the back wants to move up and down along the plane which I sliced and its annoying. I still think I could make it work but there is not much room for poppers anyway so perhaps a non-starter. The shells do look nice however having benefitted from being vac metalised like the rest of the suit.

I was never quite happy with the quality of my pla+ shells, the prints had small gaps which required filling, sanding and they were incredibly rigid. From here I figured I would try something different, making a mould of sorts and then vac forming….this is still a work in progress as it took a while finding someone with the experience of vac forming. Who knows maybe one day I’ll buy or make my own vac former…..the idea is on hold pending an imminent house move.

Next up I came across a set of rubber feet supplied by another maker – I thought this would be a winner but on arrival and opening the box I quickly saw they wouldn’t work out. The quality was questionable having been cast from a fibreglass suit, they were most definitely not sized as described and would by no means survive going in a vacuum chamber as the rubber was of inconstant thickness in areas. Top tip for potential builders here; learn from my mistakes and avoid recasts….especially if you wish to wear a suit. Its highly unlikely any parts will fit and the amount of time you’ll need to make good the suit you may as well invest in 3d printing or outsourcing it (if you can) to someone which will not only give you a more customised scale suited to you but much easier parts to work with and achieve a better finish. This and files are out there for free which have been created in mind for someone to wear the parts or use as a static display….most recasts these days are made from a display piece only such as a Don Post statue – so you’d be on the back foot trying to engineer something to make it wearable!

Back to the drawing board, I had thought of abs or petg prints for the purpose of making a mould or ‘buck’ to vac form shells but then I thought about TPU….for anyone not familiar with this it’s a filament material which resembles rubber but you can get it in different grades known as ‘shore rating’ which relates to its flexibility/rigidity.

Having a friend with a large scale direct drive 3d printer and being happy to help really spurred along the progress at this point. Within a few weeks I had a set of feet turn up on my doorstep.

Similar to the rubber shells these too wouldn’t likely survive the vac chamber process but I’d been put onto Liquitex, an acrylic based material which is semi flexible and paintable!

Liquitex is a thick acrylic paste that you can dilute with water. This helps allow it to settle in all the recessed areas and between those pesky layer lines as anyone who has printed in TPU before will know they can be difficult to sand out. After a few layers and ample drying time (consistency depending) between each layer they were ready for sanding and then some paint. Another tip for folk here is test any lacquers first on rough parts, don’t ask me how I know but the pictures speak for themselves

The last couple of images above show the finished item against vac metalised parts and whilst they are clearly not as shiny and reflective they don’t appear to be out of place or detract from the over all aesthetic. I’m very happy with the outcome anyway and they’re really comfortable. End of the day, if you the maker are happy with the things you make then does it matter what anyone else thinks? I’m building this for myself and when fully suited only fellow makers may perhaps pick up on the colour difference and start to question why.

That’s it for now, thanks for reading, I hope you found some if it useful and get in touch if ever you have any questions or just want to chat about projects!