This video is an introduction of my life-size 3D-printed R2-D2 project, starting with the dome. The 3D models I'm using are from Mrbaddeley on Thingiverse: www.thingiverse...
Great work, I've gone the other way and 3D printed the body first as I was planning on an aluminium dome, but I might try 3D printing one after seeing how yours turned out. One suggestion, spend a few dollars more on a high quality body filler from an auto paints store instead of using Bondo. It is so much easier to work with, it is worth the few extra bucks.
All things considered, it's probably a bit easier to go with aluminum, although i don't think it would be cheaper. I just wanted to try making it entirely 3D printed, and it does sort of make me feel like I've "made it myself" more than if I had bought a ready-made dome. (Of course I realize you still have to do a huge amount of work with an aluminum dome as well). Do you have a specific body filler brand you would recommend?
Did you upload the LED panel models that you designed anywhere? Planning on starting my dome print soon. No worries if not, I can have a go at creating them myself but yours look great
I joined the astromech website too.... I can't afford doing it the way they do. I only want a static droid. I may get a 3d printer and make one that way. Edit... They sell VERY INEXPENSIVE led's for logic displays.
I'm mostly a quit watcher of your videos and even though my channel is more armour themed and sometimes some scalemodeling I really need to congratulate you on this amazing build and video. Only downside of this video is that I want a 3D printer now and they are not cheap.
Thanks! Printers are coming down in price all the time, but they do still need some improvements in user-friendliness and reliability before they will become really widespread.
I got a 3D printer for 190 USD. I'm almost done building it all I need is a cable to connect the z-axis because I accidentally pulled out a wire. If you do want to get one, what is your price range?
The people walking by was the best part. Shows how much joy little R2 brings to people, and what a rewarding project this is to undertake and completed. I'm taking this on in 2020 and this build series will definitely help! Thank you
very awesome! I'm making an R2 too, and I never even thought of doing a 3D printed dome. Thanks for posting. I'm subscribing to get more good info now.
I'm doing one at the moment but I'm yousing the same persons files but a better one you had those gaps because they are not the correct ones you need to build one from his patron
I have the Dremel 3D Idea Builder, which cost a little over $900, but there are a lot of printers that could potentially work for the project. You just need to make sure it has a big enough build volume to be able to print the pieces.
I'm sure he figured this out by now but for anyone with a 3D printer that experiences that PLA warping he got on most of the parts (or anyone who now wants to get a 3D printer and might run into this issue) the fix for this is to heat up the printer bed more. The PLA plastic warps when it cools unevenly, so increasing the heated bed temp should fix the problem (so long as the print is sticking to the bed). I use 60 decrees C for my bed and it works fine
Are you able to share what the diameter of your dome is, assembled? I'm thinking of taking a hybrid approach to the club's design (3D print the dome as it seems to be the most expensive and hard to get part, wood body and legs, 3D printed detailing).
Great video! I am in the process of working towards a goal of 3d printing all the helmets and droid heads from the starwars movies. I did a shoretrooper helmet in the winter, and a K2SO head in the summer, with a servo in his neck to make him turn his head which is attached to the neck and then mounted on a base. Your R2 Dome video made me really want to get printing an R2 Dome. Tha KS for the video, even if I didn't see it untill over a year since you posted it.
I realize that his may not be seen by you, an old modelers trick is to use the saw dust you take off the model in the initial finishing stage and mix some with epoxy. No need to color match and will actually improve the strength in those cracks and gaps. I learned to clip (binder clips are great for this, an old sheet (no holes) onto my building board (where I am working) to catch the dust. Shake it gently into a container (I like margarine containers), just scoop some out as you need it (plastic baby spoons work good for this), and add about an equal volume of glue. It should make a thick past (too thick to run down a vertical surface after you apply it) spread it on THINLY (unless you really do enjoy sanding that much) let it set for about twice the normal setting time for your glue (I would give even 5 minute epoxy an hour just to be safe). Alternately, you can use some flour (go easy on it) for the white filler.
Hi there, just found your channel. You earned a sub ! I had the same problem (warping) with the PLA. Just reduce the infill and the number of perimeters. When the filament cools down it shrinks. If u use a lot of plastic in the perimeters and/or infill it will warp. Warping happens to all materials, but it is a bigger problem in ABS due to the high temps used o print it
Hi Jabba, i have a favour to ask. i am having a go at building my own. im making a video as i go along. i would love to use your shot of the animation showing the dome split into parts. is it ok if use this in my video? i will name check you ofcourse. I have been speaking to Mr baddley to get my files so will be same as yours.. I love it! well done... great video!
You can use a chemical called Dichloromethane to glue PLA - it's the equivalent of Acetone for ABS. I've read a lot of terrible things about the health hazards regarding Dichlo but as long as you don't splash it all over yourself it's okay. Dichloromethane is used for removing caffeine from coffee incidentally!
Which 3D printer did you use? What is its print bed size? I'm looking at buying a printer, but am on a tight budget. So I need to know which printers can pull it off.
I wouldn't recommend the exact printer that I used here. For someone on a budget, the CR-10 or CR-10S from Creality are still pretty good choices. I have reviewed them on this channel, and they are big enough to print all of the parts without a problem
It's the Dremel 3D Idea Builder. It has worked pretty well, all things considered, but I think there are probably better options if you're buying one now.
Excellent project, I could offer one very useful suggestion for the remainder of this build, rather than 5min Epoxy I would highly recommend IPS Weld-On #3. It is by far the best way to bond PLA that I have used and it can be used to make a slurry just like acetone for ABS.
Thanks Michael! I think I may do that because the epoxy is probably going to be too difficult to use for some of the later parts that require putting lots of thin plates together to build up the legs and other parts. Someone on Thingiverse recommended Weld-On #4 recently as well. It sounds like the difference is mostly the working time? Never used it before so I'm not sure.
Yes the working time is the key difference. I prefer the #3 because it works like super glue when joining PLA parts. When used as a slurry it will be good for over a month in an airtight container. I am working on a studio scale star destroyer and weld-on has proven itself the superior solution and I tried most of the main options out there,
thanks for replying but i ment in what order the 9 middle parts of the dome should be glued in becouse they all have their unique holes and stuff. Is there any instructions somewhere?
Infinity Artz Well I don’t really recall there be being any question of the order when I did it but it’s been a while. You can go to the creator’s Patreon page and and questions there if you like. I believe I link it in the description to the video
I'm not an expert by any means -- this was my first time using it. I have heard that you need to rub it a lot to get it to work well. The friction is part of what helps melt the wax I guess. I just used an old cotton sock to apply it. It might also have helped that I had painted and sealed it first. I kind of wonder if the surface you're applying it to needs to be slightly rough.
I didn't use one setting for everything, since there are lots of different kinds of parts. For the dome parts and dome panels I used a .3 mm layer height because I was going to be sanding them smooth anyway, and it saves a lot of time printing. But of course there's nothing wrong with using a finer layer height if you don't mind spending a lot time printing the parts. And with the more detailed parts -- especially things like the holoprojectors that I can't really sand -- I used .1mm. As for infill, I used 100% for a number of things like the dome panels since they are so thin anyway and will be sanded. Other things I used a lot less, but I did make sure to use 4 or 5 outer perimeters to ensure that they could be sanded without making a hole.
Alright thanks because im thinking of printing one and there are the infill and layer thinckness and i wasnt sure what to choose. Thanks for replying fast, just earnt a sub.
+Matthew Nelson I used the Dremel 3D Idea Builder although there are probably better options available now. I think an 8-inch bed would be tricky since many of the pieces are longer than that if I recall correctly
It’s really the time spent finishing more than the printer. Most decent printers can create these parts, but you do have to take the time to sand, fill and paint them
I'm using the Dremel 3D Idea Builder, although it's not necessarily the ideal printer for this project. I think having a heated print bed would be helpful, and my printer doesn't have that. I'll make it work though. You do need to make sure you have a big enough build volume (similar to a MakerBot 2) to be able to print all the pieces.
+shadowgoldwww I have one leg printed, sanded and primed, and ready for paint. Most of the parts for the other leg have been printed. But my printer is down for the moment and I'm having some issues getting it repaired. Also the sub-zero weather means that I can't really paint anything so I'm putting the project on hold for a little while
The designer of the model based it on the "standard" Makerbot 2 size, which is about 24.6cm long X 15.2 cm wide X 15.5 cm high, I believe. My printer is the Dremel Idea Builder, which has a 23 x 15 x 14 build platform, but it was just barely big enough. It does seem like I'll have to get creative with the positioning of items on the build platform when I move onto the body to make them fit. So basically, you need a printer with a largish build volume, but it doesn't have to be huge. I'd definitely try a lot of smaller projects before jumping into something like this though. The things I learned printing and finishing other things definitely came in handy for this.