Lets be honest. R2D2 is the true hero of the Star Wars universe. There, I said it. Think about it, if R2D2 didn't stop the trash compactor, Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie would have been bantha fodder and the Death Star would still be operational. Not to mention it would have been a short movie. The Astromech droids are iconic and R2D2 is a fan favorite. I new I wanted one for my collection. I enjoy taking him out to events and see all the attention he gets. It makes the many hours of work to build him worth it.
People are genuinely interested in his construction and ask a ALOT of questions. I have compiled a list of questions that I typically get from people with the most popular questions listed first.
How long did it take to build him?
For me, he took 2 1/2 years. Realistically speaking I probably could have completed him in 8 months, but I have other responsibilities that prevented me from working on him every day. I think this would be considered an average build time. The amount of time you have to put into it each day, week, or month will vary. Also the availability of parts can affect the time it takes to complete a Droid. Whether you buy parts or build them yourself is another factor. Some members have built droids out of inexpensive and easy to work with materials in only a few months. Others have spent several years collecting parts and doing research on the different ways to build a droid.
Whats he made out of?
My first R2D2 was 3d printed using Mr. Baddeley's files. At the time of construction he was entirely 3d printed with the exceptions of the foot drives and electronics. His body is printed in PETG filiment while his greebles and accessories hare resin printed. Unfortunately I did inadvertantly cause a crack in the ankle after tightening it down too tight which drove me to replace his legs with wooden legs. He has been actively trooping with the Galactic Alliance for 3 years.
I have also been working on a full aluminum build where the entire astromech is made from aluminum machined parts. This version has taken about 1 1/2 years to complete as parts for a full aluminum builds can take time to procure. He is almost completed and only need to finish the dome before he makes his first appearance.
How much does it cost to build a Astromech?
That is a very good question, and one that builders are asked the most often. The Answer: It all depends on what materials you use, what skills you have, and how much of the work you do yourself. A nice looking full sized, motorized droid can be built for as little as a few hundred dollars and some members have built static or scaled down versions for less. Or a droid can be built for many thousands of dollars and have all the bells and whistles, all custom machined aluminum parts, with every panel, door, and accessory operated by remote control.
It all depends on you. But don't let the above statements frighten you. There are many members who started out on a low budget with little or no experience, who now have complete or nearly complete droids. The great thing about this club is that there are many people willing to help you get started and give you advice, as well as many different ways to build a droid within various budgets.
There are many ways to keep costs down. It all starts with doing the work yourself rather than buying machined parts. As mentioned above, the more you can do yourself, the more you'll save, but you'll have some choices to make and possibly some new skills to learn. You'll make the best choices if you spend some time and research how to go about your build.
This also doesn't take into account your time, any tools you might need, or adhesives or screws/bolts, etc. But it does show that if you do the work yourself it is cheaper. This is not to discourage you from purchasing parts, however. The club produces awesome quality parts for the best price possible. But if you're on a budget you're going to have to plan on fabricating some of the parts yourself.
How much your's cost?
For raw materials only and not including the cost for the 3d printers, I spent approximately $3200 to build him from 3d printing material. Add the 3d printers and the cost goes up about another $1500.
Will you sell him?
Nope. Simple answer, but there is more to it. LFL and active droid builders community prohibits the sale of Astromechs for profit. Doing so will land you in a heap of trouble with Lucas Films and the Astromech community - very much frowned upon. Astromechs are build to the intended use for the person who built them. However, with that said, there is one avenue to purchase a fully operating 1:1 R2D2. Disney is the only company who has licensing to build an Astromech for commecial use. You can custom order him by visiting Galaxy's Edge and expect to pay a hefty price of $25,000. Your best be is to build one yourself unless you have some residual cash floating around. Besides, the Astromechs we build have more features than the one Disney produces.
Are you an engineer or a computer programmer? How did you build it? I don't think I'm skilled enough to build one.
Actually you are. If I can build one, ANYONE can build one. You just need 3 things: The ability to follow directions, motivation, and parts. By trade, I am an Environemental Health and Safety professional - not even close to an engineer. The builders club is here to get you through it. You really don't need to worry about software coding or fabrication and design modeling as everything needed to build and Astromech is open source. Donations are always appreciated to those who put in the hard work, but everything is free to the public - Sharing is caring.
How do I get started?
That is the most important question you can ask! The amount of information available on building a droid can be overwhelming for someone that wants to build one but is new to the concept. The first thing to do is to visit the Astromech.net website and register for an account - Boom you are now part of the club! Easy huh? Take some time to familairize yourself with the forums and and see how things are organized.
Get a feel for how the group runs things. You will find an enormous amount of information posted there as well as on the R2 Builders Group on Facebook.
- A Guide for Beginners
- Reference material
- Building tutorials and techniques.
- Parts that are available for order or purchase, which will include Runs of machined parts (usually aluminum) that are either currently in production or being planned.
Astromech.net now holds most if not all of the "Official" plans that we use for building our droids and making parts. These can be located on the Official Blueprints page. Please note that these files are available to all members here but are strictly NOT for sharing outside of Astromech.net and the R2 Builders Club. There are intended solely for personal enjoyment and building replicas. They are NOT to be used for commercial profiteering in any way.
Introduce yourself and get to know the other builders! There are club members located all over the world and there is a good chance that someone else may live in your area, so tell us where you live, and ask if anyone else lives nearby. It can give you a big boost getting to meet a local, fellow builder and seeing their droid or even their prized collection of parts up close in person.
The next step is to start doing your research! Figure out what you want your droid to do and what materials you feel comfortable working with, and are within your budget. Then start compiling the information posted that you can use when building your droid. A very good suggestion which many members have done is to get themselves a thick notebook or binder to keep printed plans, material, ideas, etc. in.
Learn who the trusted part suppliers are and what parts are currently available. When a part run is Builders Council approved, you can be assured that great care has been taken to get the highest quality part, in a reasonable amount of time, without any major problems.
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My Astromechs
A little note regarding my astromech building experince. I have built three astromechs and have begun building a fourth - I think Im finished after this. Where I did not relegiously document my building process, I did take pictures here and there along the way. Below are pictures of those journeys.
Astromech #1 (R2-D2 - 3D printed)
This is my first build that started as a project due to COVID-19 lockdowns. I started printing the body and after printing the main 3 sections I lost motivation and it sat in my garage. I relocated to Houston due to work commitments and met up withthe Houston Droid Builders while attending Comicpalooza in 2022. We started chatting about droids and they told me, "the club is for droid BUILDERS, not droid finishers." I think that is what I needed to hear. After the convention, I went home and started building. It took me six months of dedication and on Christmas Eve, 2022 my first astromech was finished. He was printed entirely of PETG due to concerns with weight and the Houston heat. I didn't want to risk any warping due to leaving him in the car for a period of time. Nonetheless, he has been very active in the Houston community and has been a staple in the Galactic Alliance troops for the past three years. Other than the minor issues that creep up due to natural wear and tear, the only modifications I have made was to replace his legs with wooden legs due to a mistake on my part when I tightened his ankle bolt too tight and cracked his leg.
Astromech #2 (C1-10P - 3D printed) collaboration with my wife
C1-10P ("Chopper" from Rebels and Asohka) was a joint build with my wife. After seeing the success of R2-D2, my wife wanted to join in the fun and become a droid wrangler too. She has an afirmation of the Rebels show and really liked the appeal of Chopper. Personally, I think its his attitude. Chopper was also printed exclusively in PETG and no other modifications were made structurely. I have to admit he is pretty cool and built solid. We did take him to show him off at the Houston Air Show where he had a minor mishap where he hit a low spot causing him to fall over. His dome hit the gound and we feared the worse. The only damage was to his aerial antenna which was a quick print - whew! Other than that, no major issues other than keeping up with the normal wear and tear that is expected due to trooping.
Astromech #3 (R2-D2 - aluminum)
After trooping with my 3D R2-D2, I decided I wanted to GO BIG. I jumped in and started an aluminum build. Because these are so expensive and aluminum parts are not necessarily easy to procure in a timely fashion, he has been a 2 year project. It acturally started off as a hybrid wood frame/aluminum body build, but scraped that and decided to go full aluminum. When you see the photos you will see where it started as wood and converted somewhere down the line. My intent is to mainly troop with my aluminum R2-D2 and convert my 3D R2-D2 into R4-D2 (bad motiviator droid). As of 8/18/2025 the aluminum R2-D2 is fully built; however the electronics need some fine tuning before he is ready for the public service.
Astromech #4 (R2-Q5) currently under construction
So, after building three astromechs you can imagine all the parts the is accumulated over time. Since I am a pack rat and have a hard time getting rid of these extra parts -because you never know when you'll need them, I found that I have enough to nearly build another astromech.
This build will not be exclusively 3D printed or aluminum, instead, I decided to build a hybrid, Frankenstein if you will. It will be an aluminum frame with a mix of aluminum, ABS, 3D prints, and resin accessories. I have decided that this time the bad guys will get some love as this varient will be loyal to the Empire.
You can read about R2-Q5 here: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/R2-Q5
I hope this inspired you enought to consider building a droid. Please remember you are not in it alone. The Houston Area Droid Builders (HADB) are here to assist. Whether its mentoring you through a build challenge, software issues, or having a droid build party, we want you to succeed.