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This is the conclusion for my highly detailed review of “Build your own R2-D2,” a “partworks” kit designed and sold by De Agostini/Modelspace.
Should I buy it?
Well, if you've always wanted a little droid to have around the house as a fun toy, if you aren't put off by the high price, if you enjoy a little casual building for a few minutes every weekend, or want a base for some customizing, this is your kit! That's how I view it. My wife and I spend a relaxed weekend afternoon every couple of months, assembling a little R2 kit together.
Yes, it’s an expensive kit - probably about 50% more costly than I'd personally like. Now, in part that’s because it’s more difficult to engineer a part-kit like this - something which can easily be assembled by ordinary customers - than a finished factory-assembled product. And the electronics and motorized parts also go to justifying some of the expense. (to an extent, that is – an Orange Pi CPU is only $25, non wholesale from the manufacturer, for example!)
But that said, there’s also no competition. Nobody else makes a commercial R2 model as big as this - it’s the only game in town. Certainly not one with as many motorized parts. The discontinued Hasbro "Interactive" R2-D2 at 38cm is probably the closest thing, and it's not a kit. In terms of static models, the Bandai 1:12 tiny styrene kit is probably the most accurate R2 model kit I've seen. The Sideshow Collectibles 1/6 R2 and the Tamashii Nations Chogokin 1/6 R2 both look good in photos – I've never seen the actual products. The Disneyland "Galaxy's Edge" droid is clearly a toy, and is much smaller than half-sized.
However, if you want a full-sized droid, or think it's too costly, or demand 100% accuracy, or want something that's an investment, or think it's too easy to build, or think it's too hard to build... then you should probably look elsewhere. Of course, if money is your primary objection then just wait a year or two, and snap up one of the part-finished and abandoned R2 sets that will inevitably appear on auction sites.
Now, some fans may think I'm being a bit harsh on the accuracy of this kit. But I should point out that, according to De Agostini's own breathless advertising, it's a "movie-accurate" replica, it’s "authentically detailed," and it's the "ultimate working... droid." Talk about puffery! "Movie-accurate" is a demonstrably exaggerated marketing claim.
In short, the De Agostini one is definitely a fun product to assemble, despite its many and unnecessary small flaws. It also makes an excellent basis for modellers who want to mod their kit into something more accurate!
What about a full-sized R2?
Until recently no company has ever produced a working (ie: non-static; not an actual artificially intelligent droid!) full-sized R2-D2. The costs would be really high, and thus the market for such a product would be prohibitively tiny. For a while the closest thing was the full-sized and not entirely accurate static sculpture by Sideshow Collectibles at $7500 US. In 2019 the Disneyland "Galaxy's Edge" theme park announced a seemingly fairly accurate full-sized droid for eye-watering $25,000 US. There's a reason the De Agostini R2 is so small!
So where do those full-sized motorized R2 units that you see at fan conventions and shopping centres and children's hospitals come from? Well, those have all been handmade by fans! Lucasfilm has wisely allowed a subculture of dedicated hobbyists to build their own droids for their own entertainment; merely preventing people from selling finished robots openly.
In years gone by it was really difficult making a movie-accurate droid. Not only were the necessary mechanical parts expensive and hard to find, but real information on the film props was actually very limited. Today, however, there's a whole online community of hobbyists trading information on how to make that perfect droid. Miniature computers are cheap and accessible. There are people selling limited runs of difficult to make parts. And there are extensive specifications and blueprints online.
The place to go for this is Astromech.net, the R2-D2 Builders Club. Registration is required to get to the good stuff. There are two basic sets of specifications - the original Club Spec Legacy (CSL) material and the updated and more accurate Club Spec Revisited (CSR) material.
Even if you're building a little De Ago R2, this stuff is extremely useful if you're considering customizing your build for accuracy. Check it out – the work these folks have done is impressive.
Links.
De Agostini Modelspace UK:
https://www.model-space.com/gb/build-the-r2-d2.html
De Agostini Modelspace USA:
https://www.model-space.com/us/build-r2-d2.html
Model Space official online instructions:
http://forum.model-space.co.uk/default.aspx?g=topics&f=446
Now, because the Model Space website frequently craps out, resulting in tons of broken image icons, I've slapped PDF files of the instructions I was able to download here:
https://sites.google.com/site/deagor2instructions/
Official feature list:
http://forum.model-space.co.uk/default.aspx?g=posts&t=22145
Official De Agostini assembly videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAUMlkDf1XphYZW9OUKndCE_wekwtnEGN
Official De Agostini setup instructions (user guide):
De Agostini troubleshooting page:
https://forum.model-space.co.uk/default.aspx?g=posts&t=30247
De Agostini battery activation procedure:
https://forum.model-space.co.uk/default.aspx?g=posts&t=28414
Battery safety. An article on the subject of lithium cells, from a UK company which supplies them to vapers, R2-D2 builders, etc.
https://18650.uk/r2d2-battery-safety/
"Build your own R2-D2" Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BuildR2D2BuildDiaries/
R2 Builders Club - info on full-sized droid building (requires registration):
http://astromech.net/droidwiki/index.php?title=CSR_Overview_and_Files
Discussion of R2-D2's inconsistencies (requires registration):
https://astromech.net/forums/showthread.php?2880-On-Screen-R2-D2-Oddities-and-Anomalies
Trustpilot rating for De Agostini UK:
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.deagostini.co.uk
Trustpilot rating for ModelSpace UK:
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.model-space.com/gb
A fan build diary:
http://www.eyres.me.uk/models/build-r2d2/the-build-starts/
Individual build diaries by fans:
http://forum.model-space.co.uk/default.aspx?g=topics&f=447
A 1978 article on the original movie R2 props
http://cyberneticzoo.com/early-mobile-robots/1975-6-r2-d2-from-star-wars-john-stears-british/
Some information on building a full-sized R2:
https://makezine.com/projects/building-your-first-r2/
A list of R2's various tools, arms, etc:
http://www.r2-d2.de/index2.htm
Some fantastic 3D models for free download by the designer Michael Baddeley. These are designed for full-size R2 units, but could of course be scaled and adapted:
https://www.thingiverse.com/mrbaddeley/about
An interesting customized build:
http://forum.model-space.co.uk/default.aspx?g=topics&f=471
Partworks discussion forum:
http://www.partworkmodels.co.uk/phpBB3/index.php
Industry article about partworks:
https://www.printweek.com/print-week/feature/1160232/the-publishers-who-put-it-all-together
I – About De Agostini’s R2-D2 (Kit Review)
II – Problems and Fixes: the De Ago R2
III – About Partworks Kits
IV – The Actual R2-D2 Movie Props
VII – Part List and Downloadable Instructions
This review is © 2018-19 Millennium Falcon Notes.
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