Looking Forward, Looking Back

Every time I glance over at R2 these days, he seems to be looking back at me saying, "Please finish me!"



I'm trying, I'm trying. (I'll let you know if I start hearing voices next.)

R2 is pretty much done from the ankles on up. Things left to finish for the static version, before I move straight on to the remote control capabilities, include:

- Foot shell construction
- Battery box painting and installation (plus harnesses, knurled fittings and hoses)
- Rear power coupler installation

And then there is the drivetrain for the remote controlled version, which is probably the most involved area left to finish.

I was hoping to be all done by now, but that was no doubt wishful thinking. If I can finish by February 2007 (which is still aggressive, given all that is left to do), that will still put my total build time at just about a year-and-a-half.

2006 was my first full calendar year of droid-building. My droid has come a long way from one year ago. Some of the building milestones that I accomplished this year include:

-Finishing and mounting the skins in January
-Getting a skeletal R2 up on three legs in February
-Getting most of the dome done in March
-Scratch-building the horseshoes in April
-Scratch-building the booster covers in May
-Finishing the main part of the legs in July/August
-Dome electronics in September-December
-Starting the foot shell build, finishing filling in holes in body in October
-Starting the drivetrain build in December

I also had some unexpected adventures, like being backstage at the Jules Verne Awards with George Lucas in October, and meeting Ralph McQuarrie in November.

2007 should be a fun year. I anticipate finishing the build soon, and Celebration 4 is just around the corner in May. I hope to meet many of the R2 Builders from around the country and around the world. Who knows what other unanticipated events may occur in the next year?

Finally, a slight change to this weblog. I've been posting the most recent 30 days' worth of entries on the main page, but I realize that this takes a long time to load, and it's probably interminable for dial-up users. In addition, regular visitors to this blog almost certainly don't care about what happened 15 days ago (let alone yesterday).

Therefore, I'm cutting down the number of days displayed on the main page to seven. You can always click on the monthly links toward the upper right of the page, to view more entries. Please feel free to comment (click on "Comments" below) to let me know what you think about this change. Once R2 is all done, I hope to make the blog more useful, and I also hope to make the blog contents into a more readable PDF file one day.

To wrap up, thank you to all the visitors to my blog, especially the regulars. I really appreciate the interest and feedback. Have a safe, healthy and happy 2007!

-Victor