R2-D2 & R5-D4 - Update for R2

[SMD70]

Looking good there Andy.

Got to be careful with those dry fits. The fit is so tight on some parts that once fitted it's difficult to get apart without some connectors snapping...

[Twoguns]

Hi Andy,

Looks great.

Some details of your weathering techniques would really be appreciated.

[Andy Moore]

Thanks guys

Hi Andy,

Looks great.
Some details of your weathering techniques would really be appreciated.

Thanks Twoguns

I'm doing all the weathering on this build with water based products as the Bandai plastic doesn't like oil or enamel stuff.

The panels on the neck had thinned grey acrylic brushed on in a patchy fashion. There's a few chips painted round the neck with silver and a fine brush. The rest of the head was weathered with a heavy wash of Ultimate Light Dirt. I just painted this on and let it dry, then softened the edges with a dry brush

Fortuitously, the light dirt is a pretty good match for the colour of the dusty weathering that U9 acquired whilst on Abafar and I'll be doing most of the weathering with it.

Andy

[Twoguns]

Many thanks for taking the time to explain Andy.

I built mine OOB as an afternoon project but now I'm really tempted to pull him apart and have a go at painting him up.

[Gekko_1]

Looking good Andy!

Did you have any issues with tide marks using that acrylic wash?

Cheers

Richard.

[Andy Moore]

Did you have any issues with tide marks using that acrylic wash?

Thanks Richard

No, no problems at all. That's the beauty of this stuff, it's clay based like Flory washes. When it's dry, it's almost like a pigment and you can soften edges and brush off any excess.

The only downside is the finish is quite delicate unless you seal it, but that can end up making the effects disappear unless it's a very light mist coat.

I'm not going to bother sealing this, as I quite like the contrast between the glossier base coats and the dusty weathering so I'll just need to be careful when handling. I won't do the rest of the weathering until the very end so it shouldn't be a problem.

Andy

[Andy Moore]

I was originally planing to have all the chest panels closed but, on a whim, I've decided to try and scratch build the laser cutter that U9 is retrofitted with in the 'Secret Weapons' story arc where he first appears

At first, I thought I'd try and modify the pincer tool thing that comes with the kit

But it's actually very different so I gathered together a random assortment of styrene and brass tubing and a few plasticard off-cuts and cobbled this together

It's grossly over scale and only vaguely accurate so I'm not sure if I'll use it. I'll paint it up and see how it looks when everything's done and if I don't like it, I'll close up the panel and no one will ever know (apart from everyone who's read this )

Everything else is about ready for paint so I should get that done tomorrow (basecoats at least)

Andy

Edited May 18, 2015 by AndyRM101

[Gekko_1]

Andy, the arm is not too bad at all, plus it's from a cartoon so a little bit of 'creativity' is surely allowed? I wouldn't be so fussy, its Star Wars after all.

Cheers

Richard.

[Gimme Shelter]

wow - this is such a great topic - it just gets better every time I check-in for an update

[Andy Moore]

Thanks guys

Andy, the arm is not too bad at all, plus it's from a cartoon so a little bit of 'creativity' is surely allowed? I wouldn't be so fussy, its Star Wars after all.

Cheers

Richard.

That's true. A lot of the details on the Clone Wars astromechs have been simplified, so I guess it doesn't matter if it doesn't match 100%

Got the body and legs painted up after a lot of PITA masking

There's a bit of subtle shading on the orange, done by taking advantage of the white base and well thinned paint

And with the masking removed

I've still got to add all the separate vents and other smaller panels, most of which will be in a silvery grey colour.

I've also painted up the base. There's two in the kit and they're designed to clip together to make a single large base but I'm going to use them individually. I stated by spraying it grey strait over the black plastic, using the black to add some shading to it

I'll be adding some darker grey sections but before that I thought I'd do some hazard stripes around the separate panel insert (I've no idea what this panel is for, unless it's to allow a different panel to be inserted for other kits. Possibly the 3PO kit has a panel with pegs for the feet)

I masked a border around the panel and gave it a spray of white followed by yellow

This'll be masked with diagonal stripes and sprayed black.

I'm not sure whether to add any code numbers or text to the base as, strictly, they should be in Aurebesh or similar which would mean a lot of fiddly mask cutting.

Andy

[Hunter Rose]

Looking great Andy, i love the little arm, nice bit of scratchin'

[Andy Moore]

I've started some weathering on the body. This is just grey acrylic, painted into the corners of the panels over a damp surface. I'll build this up in layers before adding a dusty coat at the end

I've also finished the hazard stripes on the base

Andy

[John_W]

I have a roll of that hazard tape. The way you have shown the black wearing off the yellow is awesomely realistic.

[Andy Moore]

I have a roll of that hazard tape. The way you have shown the black wearing off the yellow is awesomely realistic.

Thanks John, bit of a happy accident really. I rubbed the masking fluid off before the black was fully dry so some of it wore back to show the yellow. I did think about sanding it a bit to increase the effect but I suspect the yellow would have worn off too.

Most of the weathering is done now apart from the final dust wash to match in with the head. The only bits still to add are the hoses on the feet then put all the bits together.

Andy

[SMD70]

Looks great Andy!

[Andy Moore]

One down, one to go

I'm calling U9 done

The base has been finished with some paint chipping and a few oil stains

and U9's had some dust and dirt applied

The weathering isn't an exact match for the screen version but it's got the general feel of it, thanks mainly to the Ultimate wash which has done a perfect job of recreating a dusty weather-beaten finish.

I'll move him over to RFI and get ready for the harder job; R2 and his shiny chrome-dome

Andy

[Grayson]

Sterling work as always, Andy. It's an admirable skill that you possess and a pleasure to see each and every project reach completion.

[Andy Moore]

Thanks Grayson

OK, well, I thought I'd finished but, of course, I'd forgotten something. In this case it was the hazard stripes that U9 had painted around the door where his laser cutter was retro-fitted.

So, more masking, more spraying, more hoping there's no paint bleed plus the dust weathering had to be wiped off to allow the masking tape to stick, but it's done now and came out OK. I'll touch up the weathering tomorrow and take the final shots

Andy

[John Darlington]

Wow Andy that's fantastic. I've been thinking of getting this kit but not sure what size they are. Any chance of a pic next to something that would show it's size, please?

[Andy Moore]

Wow Andy that's fantastic. I've been thinking of getting this kit but not sure what size they are. Any chance of a pic next to something that would show it's size, please?

Thanks John

I'll take a shot alongside something for scale when I do the final shots later today but,in the meantime, it's about 4" high

Andy

[celticwardog]

Excellent. They would utterly look like toys were it not for the weathering/chipping but this totally tlifts them to another level of droid-awesomeness!

[rotorheadtx]

Wow! Mad skills. Looks like OEM Lucasfilm. Frikkin amazing!

[Andy Moore]

Thanks guys

Andy

[Gimme Shelter]

Hi Andy

I have really enjoyed watching your build process here over the last month or so - Its been great fun to follow and I must say that your weathering is quite out of this world - this little droid really does look like it has seen a few sandstorms and the dirty insides of a Sand Crawler on more than one occasion....

really nice and fun subjects - the force has been with you

[Andy Moore]

Whilst I'm waiting on a few extra bits and pieces for the Vorne diorama, I thought I'd catch up with R2.

The dome's been together and ready for paint for a while but I had to wait for the paint to arrive. I had been intending to use Alclad but, as their Hi shine's can be a bit delicate, I thought I'd give the new AK Xtreme Metals a go.

I'm not entirely sure why, but I decided to paint the blue panels. They're fine in the bare plastic but I guess I'm just used to painting everything. All the panels that attached from the outside (in oppose to those that needed to be inserted before the dome halves were joined) were kept separate for painting to cut down on the masking then everything was sprayed with Tamiya XF-8 Blue lightened with a little white

Unfortunately there was a bit too much orange peel in the finish which was difficult to polish out because of all the raised detail. It did affect the final metallic finish but I'm hoping with the weathering on it won't be too apparent. It looks much worse than it actually is as the camera lights exaggerate the effect.

After the blue panels were masked, I sprayed a gloss black base for the metallic

Followed by a few light coats of the Xtreme metal

The final effect is very nice and very similar to Alcald but slightly easier to spray and less prone to pooling if you accidentally go too heavy with it. It dries instantly but is quite delicate and can rub off with too much handling. I did get some worn areas while attaching the remaining panels but I'll hide this with weathering. When everything was attached, I sealed it all with Alclad Aqua Gloss to protect the finish

To avoid any more issues with orange peel, I decided to try painting the Xtreme Metal strait onto the bare plastic. These paints are enamels so anyone familiar with the Bandai spirit/enamel saga will understand that this was quite nerve wracking but, in the end, the paint went on fine with no affect to the plastic. The shine doesn't come across very well under the camera lights but, in person, the effect is very good

I added all the remaining details to the dome along with a few chips and some general weathering. The red eye at the front (and the yellow one round the back) were hand painted as it was hard to get the decals to sit squarely (or roundly) in the centre of the moulded detail. The white part of the antenna is unpainted plastic. I didn't see any point in painting it white and running into the same texture problems I had with the dome so I'm going to do the same with the rest of the body if possible. Most of the joins are hidden so it shouldn't be too much of a problem

Couldn't decide if it showed up better on a white or black background so I've done both

More soon

Andy