• Around 2001, my son, who was about 12, said he wanted to build a battle bot. Being the new guys, we were probably going to lose and have a pile of parts on the ground.
• Then we found a club that builds R2-D2s. We started reading, researching, and building. It took us a year to get it finished.
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• We were using parts from radio-control cars and windshield wiper motors to drive it around. Then Razor scooters came out, and we started using those motors.
• The only piece you can’t make with styrene plastic is the dome. The original was made out of aluminum and metal—a lot of the guys are purists.
• You can build one for $1,200 on the low end, $40,000 on the high end. The average is $5,000.
• For the holo-projectors on the dome of the original R2, they used airplane reading lights; a guy was able to reproduce them using a doorknob, a fencepost cap, and a Scope bottle cap. You couldn’t tell the difference.
• R2 was created on a terrible robotics platform. It can’t go up stairs. It has trouble with cracks on sidewalks and getting onto elevators. No R2s in the films can do as much as ours do.
• We’ve reproduced personality with electronics. What the actor did inside the machine, we now do with electronics. We used to be scrounging for parts, but we have so many different people join with interests and skills, and they’re able to offer their expertise.
• We have R2s that go to fairs, car shows, and theaters when the movies come out. We also use them for Toys for Tots, hospitals, and Make-A-Wish. That’s the part that’s most dear to me.
• One of our club members totes his around in the back of his pickup. He’s almost caused a lot of wrecks with people driving by and braking to get a passing glimpse.
• I once met a man who wanted to build an R2 for his daughter, who was terminally ill. She wanted a pink R2, so the club started building one.
• We weren’t going to have it before she passed, so I painted mine pink. That was my biggest joy—to put a little happiness into someone’s life.
This article was originally published in St. Louis Magazine‘s May 2018 issue.
