Servo - May 2008

fostering the construction of high-quality replica robots, founder Everett was determined that the club put measures in place to ensure parts compatibility and also safeguard against profiteering. This prompted a brilliant and inspired move: the assemblage of a Builders Council. This five-person council approves each and every one of the club’s parts suppliers. These suppliers — who are also members of the group — work from R2BC’s “official blueprints” and offer all their robot parts at cost.

“It is not a venture to be undertaken lightly. As such, Jedi instruction is rigidly structured and codified to enforce discipline and hinder transgression.”¹

The official blueprints for building R-series astromech droid replicas were developed by early members of the R2BC. This research and design phase lasted a couple of years. Everett recruited a small group of Builders to assist him in this endeavor. They collected measurements from Star Wars exhibits and dimensions from actual droids. These Builders then used this information to draft blueprints and perform test builds. They created their initial R2-D2 replicas by hand and adjusted the blueprints as needed. This process enabled them to make sure all the pieces fit together. The accuracy of the resulting blueprints provided the group with standardized plans, which ensures the uniformity of the robot parts made by Builders, as well as parts suppliers. So, if an R2 Builder in Paris, TX bought a pair of aluminum outer ankle brackets from an approved supplier in Paris, France, those French brackets would be compatible with that Texan’s other aluminum robot parts. (To read more about how the R2BC official blueprints benefited a German fellow who was creating an R2 on his own, visit www.r2-d2.de/index5.htm/.)

When enough R2BC members post to the group expressing interest in a particular robot part, an approved supplier will offer a “parts run.” First, the supplier collects payment from all interested parties. Then, the supplier pays a shop (for example, a machine shop) to make the part that has been requested. The supplier also submits contact information for the chosen shop and that run’s buyers to the Builders Council. Longtime R2BC member Craig Smith explains: “The R2BC does not offer complete R2-D2s for sale. Group parts that are available from time to time are made by Builders for Builders as a hobby. The parts are not mass produced for profit, and no kits are available.”

Once a particular batch of parts is created, the supplier ships those parts to the Builders who ordered them. The duration of a parts run can vary from weeks to months — even years, in some cases. Soon after the shipments are made, cheers of glee are emitted around the globe as Builders collect their newly crafted parts from their porches. At approximately the same time (particularly if the shipped parts are aluminum), UPS and Fed-Ex carriers the world over