Andy Moore Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 (edited) R2 & R5 So, R2 & R5 finally found their way from the land of the rising sun to my front door this morning and I've had a chance to have a rummage through the box and fondle the plastic. I had been a bit put off by some of the online photos of the parts but in person they seem pretty good, maybe not as pin sharp in the details as the Chicken Walker but that could be down to the garishly coloured plastic which makes it harder to see the details. I probably won't be starting these two just yet as I want to get the SS-23 finished and that build seems to be stretching out in front of me like a never ending road so, for now I'll just post the sprue shots so anyone who's not got theirs yet can see what awaits Sprue A Sprue B1 Sprue B2 Sprue C1 Sprue C2 And the two bases As has been pointed out in other posts, R2's dome is split in half and the top is a separate piece as well meaning there'll be some seams to sand. It looks like some of the inset panels can be installed post head-joining which will make life easier but others need to go in first so some care will be needed when sanding the dome The various body panels look well moulded and can probable be painted before installation then masked off for painting the main body The body itself looks nicely crisp. Both droids share the same body moulding There's only a single clear part included for the main eye on R2 R2's secondary eye (the red one under the main eye) is moulded solid which is a shame. It could be drilled out and an LED installed but since neither the body or dome are hollow mouldings, running the wires will be difficult The metallic gold bit of sprue A is for the hoses on the feet. Seems a bit of a waste of metallic plastic since the hoses are generally grey or black on the droids The two narrow flaps on the chest are moulded as a single piece so displaying them open isn't possible without a lot of work And for anyone wondering about size the body is about 2" so the finished height will probably be just over 3" There is the usual choice between decals or stickers and there's some nice touches on the sheets including the milled aluminium squares that go round the bottom of R5's head and the little cluster light panels on R2's dome. You also get the red pinstripe for R5 which will save a lot of masking I'll probably be tackling R5 first as it seems like the easier build. At this stage though, I'm not 100% sure if I'll be doing them as R2 & R5. There are so many astromechs in the EU now, many with more colourful paint jobs, so I may pick a different subject but we'll see Andy Edited June 18, 2015 by AndyRM101 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMD70 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Looks good there Andy. Cannot wait for mine to arrive… so much for the express delivery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotorheadtx Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Imperial Courier Droid from 'Rebels'?? http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Courier_droid/Canon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Moore Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Imperial Courier Droid from 'Rebels'?? http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Courier_droid/Canon The courier droid's got a nice colour scheme but it's an R4 unit so you'd need to scratch build a new dome Hopefully an aftermarket company will produce some resin domes to allow the different astromechs to be produced It had crossed my mind to do two of the droids from D-Squad (Clone Wars season 5) QT-KT (Aayla Secura's droid) U9-C4 (Thongla Jur's droid) Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Cool models Andy! Not familiar with the clone wars designs, but love the colour schemes your thinking of especially the U9-C4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Hey - these look really cool - I have not really tuned into all the new Bandai Star Wars kits but obviously need to start paying more attention here now. This kit(s) look pretty good and I am impressed to see the mix of solid and clear plastic on the sprues - it may be my age but I have never seen this done before on a IP molded sprue. I shall look forward to seeing these built and completed John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMD70 Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Lots of extras as in arms and so on, and it's difficult as I've not seen the instructions as mine seems to have turned into a very expensive snail mail. I cannot see a "bad motivator" which is a missed opportunity. I'd have liked that along with the coloured strips at the top of the body to be openable, If that is a word. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaker Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Ha, I'd love one of these, make a great little computer desk mascot. Be cool to fit a motor to spin the head if there was room too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Moore Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Lots of extras as in arms and so on, and it's difficult as I've not seen the instructions as mine seems to have turned into a very expensive snail mail. I cannot see a "bad motivator" which is a missed opportunity. I'd have liked that along with the coloured strips at the top of the body to be openable, If that is a word. No bad motivator and no restraining bolts which is a shame Ha, I'd love one of these, make a great little computer desk mascot. Be cool to fit a motor to spin the head if there was room too. As you'll see below, there's not much space inside for lighting or motorization, again, a bit of a shame I've snipped a few of R5's bits of the sprue to get an idea of how it'll go together. The fit is exceptionally precise, probably even more so than was the case with the AT-ST and like that, it has a lot of push fit pegs to hold everything together The various pegs and holes pretty much fill the inside apart from the vertical channel on the rear half (on the right) which is for the third leg The panel inserts just push into the apertures and don't really need gluing. The externally mounted ones can be painted then just pushed into place (the fit is VERY good) Although the join between the front and back halves of the body will need a bit of sanding, it will be fairly minor as, again, the fit is great and they only join at three small points with the other areas covered by separate panels Likewise, the join between the front and back of the dome is almost perfect and should clean up with a couple of swipes with a sanding stick The slot gaps down the join are filled by a plug that sits between the halves as they join. Although I had my doubts at first, this does seem to be an incredibly well engineered kit And here's a few more ideas for possible colour schemes Andy 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 My eyes went instantly to the R5-P8 Assassin droid! Who doesn't love a droid with a gun on its head?! Thats got my vote 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMD70 Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I did read that C3PO comes with two restraining bolts… a translation from this page http://bandai-hobby.net/sw/products/ch/ch04.html with google mentions "Control Bolt x 2". Mine's currently on a van… so hopefully later today I can have a play. Only problem is it's coming with the x-Wing and AT ST… decisions, decisions. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotorheadtx Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 (edited) The courier droid's got a nice colour scheme but it's an R4 unit so you'd need to scratch build a new dome Heck, less than twelve parsecs with Shroudcalc and some plastic card, and you can fab that right up. Edited April 11, 2015 by rotorheadtx 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Moore Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 So, I've finally found some time to get a little work done on the astromechs I've settled on doing U9-C4 who, despite the name, is an R5 unit, and this is going to mean some modification to the head as the top of U9's dome is slightly different to R5's Out of the box, the cap fits flush onto the top of the dome (after inserting the separate part for the panels) Once joined and filled/sanded, a decal represents the two pinstripes that go around the top. That's correct for R5 as the stripes were just that, two painted lines But with C9, the two lines are inset grooves. I'm not sure if this was an addition made during the production of The Clone Wars or if it's featured on other 'live action' R5 units Initially, I did think of picking up a dark grey decal sheet and cutting two pinstripes, but it would be difficult to get them to sit straight on the curved dome (the kit decals are printed as a curve to conform with the dome), plus they wouldn't really replicate the look of the original. So I've decided to make up the layers from discs of plasticard cut with a compass cutter Firstly, I've stuck some tabs around the inside of the lip on the top of the dome to raise the first disc (which was cut to the same diameter as the inside of the lip) The first disc then drops on The second disc drops over the panel insert on the dome cap. The mounting ring and central locator pin on the panel insert have been trimmed as they were hitting the first disc when everything was stacked up When it's all put together, it looks like this I think the bottom of the red panel insert will need sanding as the resulting panel line is too wide at the moment, and the middle disc needs to be cut from thicker styrene as the section between the two panel lines should be wider than the lines themselves. Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Hi Andy Good work - great to see your build moving along once again - I very nearly bought this duo kit last week having been inspired by your WIP thread here but shied away as my stock stash is getting stupidly out of control again and my wife is really pressing me for a Man Cave stock take reduction. I will enjoy your kits instead - keep calm and R2-D2 on.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Moore Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 I will enjoy your kits instead - keep calm and R2-D2 on.. Thanks mate I've now sanded the red panel insert to within a inch of its life (actually 0.5mm) I've re-cut the lower disc from 0.5mm styrene and the middle disc from 1mm and the spacing is looking much better now The only other alteration I need to make to the dome is to slice off the two small moulded sensors between the middle and right eyes as U9 doesn't have these Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 i'm glad to see you tackling this Andy - as it'll help when I get round to doing mine, although I won't be converting or changing the "other" droid that came free with the Artoo kit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Moore Posted May 14, 2015 Author Share Posted May 14, 2015 i'm glad to see you tackling this Andy - as it'll help when I get round to doing mine, although I won't be converting or changing the "other" droid that came free with the Artoo kit Thanks Mike, I don't mind being a guinea pig Despite saying that the dome didn't need any other alterations, I've gone ahead and made some anyway The eyes on C9 are slightly different to those on R5. This may be down to a simplification for the animation but I prefer the C9 version. These were made from short lengths of styrene tube, through which a rod with a rounded, polished end was inserted. I did consider using a clear rod but I think painting it gloss black will look better. I've also had to make a new antenna as again the C9 one differs from R5 The replacement was made from Trumpeter brass tube. I'll leave it off and paint it separately as it'll only get in the way when I'm masking the panels on top of the head Andy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knikki Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Looks good Andy, it always informative reading your WIP's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMD70 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) Great work on this Andy. Be careful if you go weathering this with oils… I built mine a couple of weeks ago and the spirits lost me one of those original eye's, well that then the monster that lives in our carpet. I had to build a replacement which doesn't quite match, but my theory is these droids have a lot of non original parts. The weathering also eat through the left ankle so mine is fixed in his 2 leg pose. Mine was built as a practise for when I get round to the R2 & 3PO I've wanted to build for 30 years or so. It's a great little kit though. Edited May 14, 2015 by SMD70 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Looking great Andy, nice work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Moore Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 Thanks guys Be careful if you go weathering this with oils… I built mine a couple of weeks ago and the spirits lost me one of those original eye's, well that then the monster that lives in our carpet. I had to build a replacement which doesn't quite match, but my theory is these droids have a lot of non original parts. The weathering also eat through the left ankle so mine is fixed in his 2 leg pose. Mine was built as a practise for when I get round to the R2 & 3PO I've wanted to build for 30 years or so. Yeah, I learned that lesson on the Chicken Walker. This build's going to be strictly acrylics. To that end, I've got some paint on the head and middle leg. I hate having to paint white but these haven't come out too bad so far. Primed with Alclad white micro-filler (not acrylic, I know, but I'm risking it as the only other white primer I've got is Vallejo which sucks), followed by a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Off White and Gloss White Then I had to mark out the boundary between the white and orange. The curves above the eyes aren't perfect but the finish is quite patchy on C9 so it shouldn't show up too much I covered the eyes with masking fluid and sponged on some more for the chips Then sprayed the orange. It's a bit deeper and more orangey than the screen shots but I didn't want to have a convoluted mix that I'd have to keep re-mixing so this is Gunze H24 Orange Yellow with a drop of H413 RLM04 Yellow. I thinned it about 60/40 thinner to paint and built it up in patchy layers. I've still got to paint the top panels which appear to be in a slightly darker tone. Now I'm off to rub all that masking off Andy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotorheadtx Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Oh man, that is going to look so cool! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Moore Posted May 16, 2015 Author Share Posted May 16, 2015 Got the masking off and painted the top panels. Looks a bit bright at the moment but the weathering will tone that down Not too keen on the top panels. They appear to be a slightly darker colour in the screen shots but I think I went a bit too dark with them. I might give them an over spray to lighten them a tad. Andy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Moore Posted May 16, 2015 Author Share Posted May 16, 2015 Couldn't resist a quick dry fit (technically, it's all dry fit since it's meant to be a snap fix kit, but I digress) Andy 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmonk Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 Great work as always Andy. Cheers, Warren 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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