Published: August 31, 2008 10:52 pm         

R2-D2 is real

Ever wish that R2-D2 and the other droids of “Star Wars” fame were more than just a passing image on a video screen?

Well, hardcore “Star Wars fans” in the Goshen area will soon have a chance to build their very own R-series droids with the arrival of the R2 Builders Club — Goshen Chapter.

Leading the charge in establishing the Goshen chapter is Thomas Clark, a local robotics expert and self-proclaimed “droid nut” who stumbled upon the idea for the club while surfing the Internet.

“Well, I got the idea while surfing on YouTube a couple weeks ago, doing some research on other things. I’m really into science and robotics, and was actually doing research on solar technology when I ran into a video on R2-D2,” Clark said. “I just kept clicking on the links, and eventually stumbled onto a guy that had actually built an R2 droid, and his site had a link to the main club site, www.astromech.net.

“It’s amazing how on the Internet you can be looking for one thing, and end up finding something completely different,” he said with a laugh.

According to Clark, the original R2 Builders Club was first established back in 1999 by Australian robotics expert Dave Everett, and has since grown into a vast international network of techies and “Star Wars” aficionados numbering in the thousands.

“The club really got its start in 2000, from the information I’ve gathered. Officially it began in 1999 with a small group of people building their own units out of recycled material. Then, in 2000, they started to come up with actual standards for building the droids,” Clark said. “Nobody really had official blueprints back in the beginning because George Lucas never had them made. They just had official photos to go by.

“Since then, the club has come across the original prop from ‘Star Wars,’ and they were actually able to take measurements and get official details and make blueprints. It’s really quite amazing,” he said.

After stumbling across the main club Web site and taking some time to absorb what he’d found, Clark said, it didn’t take him long to decide that a Goshen-based chapter was the next logical step.

“After I discovered the main club, I started a blog, http://r2-d2droid.blogspot. com, which is kind of like a history of where I started from just a couple weeks ago up to where I am now,” Clark said. “So far I’ve got photos and some site links put up, including the main Web site for the club, as well as the sites of a few very active members.

“I’ve also had some cards and flyers made up with the club name and my contact information,” he said.

With most of the groundwork for the club already laid, Clark said that all he really needs now is members.

“Finding other like-minded individuals is really why I decided to start the club in the first place. If I’m going to build a droid, it’d probably be a lot easier if I had other people helping me, like maybe somebody good with electronics for putting it together, or someone who specializes in eyes, the head, etc.,” Clark said. “Ideally it would be great if I could connect with people who have access to parts, or maybe a little machine shop they keep as a hobby where we can build parts. Things like the molding of eyes, and some other parts that we have to either build or make ourselves, like plaster casting and resin — all of that is needed.

“If there’s anybody out there that has a background in those areas, that would really help out, because if I was to go out and buy all the parts myself, it would cost literally thousands of dollars,” he said.

That’s right — he said thousands.

“Some of the people out there are building their droids completely out of aluminum, and some of the parts are costing around $100 for each individual piece. So in the end, it will probably cost up to $5,000 for the finished product,” Clark said. “Others actually choose to build their own parts, and while that tends to be cheaper, it can still end up costing you between $1,000 to $3,000 for a finished droid.

“And then of course you have the really hardcore members, those guys who have invested several years and upwards of $40,000 for all the gadgets and gizmos they’ve put into their droids,” he said.

Clark was quick to note that such hardcore cases are at the extreme end of the R2 Builders spectrum, and are by no means indicative of a typical club experience.

“For me, at least for my first droid, I’ll start out with cheaper parts and upgrade them later,” Clark said. “What’s nice about building your own droid is that you can do that with pretty much every part of the R2 unit.

“Everything is upgradable,” he said.

As to where and when members of the new Goshen chapter will meet, Clark said that this aspect of the club is still a work in progress.

“Right now I have a couple different options. I need to check with Goshen College to see if they have a place we can meet, like perhaps the Science Department,” Clark said. “In the club, there are what we call droid build days, which are little events scheduled by members, usually held on Saturdays or Sundays, where all the club members from the area get together and work on their droids, look at how the droids of other members are coming along, and basically just have a good time.

“That will be our most likely route to start off with, and from there we’ll just see how things go,” he said.