R2 BinToo
I wanted a R2D2 Bin for my office - but at over $300 it was a bit steep for a fully licensed edition, so when I found the Bullet Bin at my local Bunnings Warehouse I knew that this would be a great starting point. This is by no means a fully accurate R2, just something the conveys the idea. total cost was about $50
You will need
1 x Willow Bullet bin (@$30 for the big one)
2 x cans of primer and flat white spray paint
1 x can of bright chrome spray paint
1 x sheet of 1.2mm mdf
1 x clear Christmas decoration
2x A4 photo paper
10 x paint sample cards
Glue - pva and some contact cement.
Styrene
Camping mat foam.
Tools
dremel
Packing knife
Jigsaw
drill
Heat gun
So into the spray booth it went (under my house). Primed and then painted with satin white and chrome for the dome - about 3 coats each.
Then I found an awesome high quality paper craft version of R2D@ and enlarged it and cropped it, then printed the front panel onto photo paper and glued it into place.
Then using the paper craft file as a reference I found some matching paint cards from the bunnings store and cut them into the wedges and rectangles I needed for the dome.
R2's eye was made with foam camping mat- great for compound curve of the dome. painted with PVA glue and the painted with gloss blue paint. the lens was made with a clear Christmas decoration, hacked to size with a dremal, with black sprayed on the back to keep the shiny stuff... um shiny.
Legs were a bit of an issue - I tried thick card over balsa wood, but that didn't look so good. so I went back and did the legs out of MDF. - Glued together and then painted - I then went over the sawn edges with styrene and a heat gun and glued them on.
Feet are definitely not regulation - they are just plastic storage bins upside down with holes cut in the top.
Improvement to finish and fix.
- shoulders - probably some big mailing tube will do the trick.
- needs two projectors - powerade bottle tops painted silver look to be a cheap option.
One day I'd like to make a more accurate R2, but for the moment Bin2 will do fine.
You will need
1 x Willow Bullet bin (@$30 for the big one)
2 x cans of primer and flat white spray paint
1 x can of bright chrome spray paint
1 x sheet of 1.2mm mdf
1 x clear Christmas decoration
2x A4 photo paper
10 x paint sample cards
Glue - pva and some contact cement.
Styrene
Camping mat foam.
Tools
dremel
Packing knife
Jigsaw
drill
Heat gun
So into the spray booth it went (under my house). Primed and then painted with satin white and chrome for the dome - about 3 coats each.
Then I found an awesome high quality paper craft version of R2D@ and enlarged it and cropped it, then printed the front panel onto photo paper and glued it into place.
Then using the paper craft file as a reference I found some matching paint cards from the bunnings store and cut them into the wedges and rectangles I needed for the dome.
R2's eye was made with foam camping mat- great for compound curve of the dome. painted with PVA glue and the painted with gloss blue paint. the lens was made with a clear Christmas decoration, hacked to size with a dremal, with black sprayed on the back to keep the shiny stuff... um shiny.
Legs were a bit of an issue - I tried thick card over balsa wood, but that didn't look so good. so I went back and did the legs out of MDF. - Glued together and then painted - I then went over the sawn edges with styrene and a heat gun and glued them on.
Feet are definitely not regulation - they are just plastic storage bins upside down with holes cut in the top.
Improvement to finish and fix.
- shoulders - probably some big mailing tube will do the trick.
- needs two projectors - powerade bottle tops painted silver look to be a cheap option.
One day I'd like to make a more accurate R2, but for the moment Bin2 will do fine.