Buff, NY Droids

Are there any members of the group interested in droid construction and design? Just curious to see any interest? Always been a fan of robotics..it's the true geek in me.

 

Well there's Jon, who built R2-D2. Very impressive stuff there.

 

I saw him and his R2-D2 at the Bison Game for Star Wars night. He had a really nice R2 unit. I've been looking on the Astromech Droid Wiki site and it's really amazing to see the detail and planning that goes into building these units.

 

I haven't met any other builders, but from what I have seen online, most of the droids are pretty impressive. Not sure that I can promote the group on the boards, but you're welcome to PM me and I can point you in a good direction.

Jon

 

I'm hoping to get a Mouse Droid put together, just as soon as I hear the shells and parts are ready...

 

Building a droid would be a nice next goal after completing my costume.

 

Jon,

Working on my "Required" number of posts and then I'll be able to PM you on this topic. When will you get your Astromech out in the public again?

 

Artoo will be joining us on Wednesday night at the Wierd Al concert.

 

Is there room to do our own version of a droid or does it have to be strictly "Star Wars looking" droid? I mean, can we do our own custom droid or does it have to stick to the Star Wars theme?

 

I guess it would depend on a few things. If you are deviating from the Star Wars theme, then I would say, sure, but maybe not for our events, since we are a Star Wars fan group. If you are talking about creating a droid based on the Star Wars universe, that would go with your character, then sure, but be prepared to explain him when asked about him.

I'm already planning my next build, another Astromech. I'm thinking of something a little different this time around, like an R4 unit (Jedi version with the dome rather than the lampshade head). He will be my own droid, custom color, with a back story on how we came to be paired up. He'll still be recognized as a Star Wars character, but since there were so many Astromechs made, there is alot of room to be creative with colors, personality, voicing, and of course, a background story.

For that matter, you could create several styles of Astromechs as well, R2's, R3's R4's R5's and R7's being the most common.

There are other kinds of droids, such as MSE's or mouse droids, Battle droids, Protocol droids, Interrogation units, etc. It all depends on if you want something to move or remain static, or wear as a costume (not recommended unless you are skinny like a Losey...)

Lots of choices. Talk to me at the next event.

Jon

 

Doing a non-SW droid is simply called robotics.

Seriously though, nobody will ever stop you from working on a project. It's your free time and money. As far as mileage you'd get out of it within the NR, it would probably have to be SW-recognizable. Obviously R2-D2 and C-3P0 get the most attention as they're the most recognizable. But there are several droid builders who do their own droid (whether it be an R2 unit with its own paint scheme or a background droid character; as long as it is still recognizable as a "Star Wars" droid people will "get it."

 

And Therefore, Thy creation shall not be called... a Droid.

 

Star Wars recognizable, definitely. But for example, could it be like my own version of r2? I'll definitely talk to you the next time we meet Jon.

 

If by your "own version of R2" you mean making an R2 unit that just has a different color scheme from R2-D2, then yeah, absolutely. Lots of people do those and they are great to have at events.

If you instead meant an avant-garde take on changing the look of the droid's body completely, not so much.