Started Addressing Foot Shell Sag on Droid #1

Today I began working on an issue with droid #1's foot shells that has been bothering me for about 18 years. The way the motors are crammed into the battery boxes and foot shells causes R2's foot shells to sag toward the center. It's more noticable when looking at the bottom edge of the foot shells, as they are not parallel to the ground. It's not super-egregious, but it does bug me. I didn't get any great "before" pictures, but it's kind of noticable on the foot shell on the right in this photo.



The problem is that the NPC-2212 motors are a little too big for the PVC battery boxes I am using on the droid. I had been trying to avoid cutting so much material from the battery boxes that the motor mount would show from underneath, but I decided the trade-off was worth it. So I finally decided to mark what material had to go, so I could begin cutting.



I then removed the material using a Dremel with a cutoff wheel.



I reinstalled the battery box, and things looked better from the inside. Just a little bit of light can shine through now, so I didn't overdo it.



I did the same procedure for the other foot. Afterward, I reinstalled everything to see how it looked.



Well, this is a lot better. Now, instead of the foot shell and battery box assembly being forced down from the inside toward the body, it's gravity that is causing them to lean a bit. That is also fixable, but not for today. Maybe I'll get around to it on, oh, I don't know, let's say April 24, 2026.