Every time I post here I have great intentions of actually moving forward with my build, but then, like the proverbial freight train to my proverbial damsel in distress tied to the railroad tracks by the weasel-faced villain in a top hat, real life comes barreling down on me.
Foremost, the hardest part about this build has been lack of space. I know people have built an R2 in far less space than I have available, and to their ambition I heartily applaud and salute their work. I just can't work like that - cramped up at a folding card table or on a balcony of an apartment building. I need to lay things out and examine what I'm doing. Thankfully this is about to turn around for the better. My family is moving in the next two months to a larger house, and part of that larger house is a separate garage with an attached workshop. Space shouldn't be an issue after I get settled in.
Second biggest hurdle has been time. When I started this project I had far more free time than I do these days. Roughly five years and three kids later, I find that whatever time I have to myself seems to consist of the hour or so I get as I'm going to bed - unless I want to stay up later than usual just to hammer out some things, usually on a Friday or Saturday. Oh and forget it if you want the kids to stay out of these projects too - their little fingers love to mess with anything and everything they see. Againm thankfully, we'll have the aforementioned workshop - a place I can leave things out and lock the door to keep little hands from messing things up. As for time, well, I think once I get things in place it'll make working on R5 that much easier. I can work on something and leave it all, then come back and pick up right where I left off (instead of having to clean up and pack away everything every time).
Money, so they say, is the root of all astromech builds today. I'm glad to say that it isn't TOO much of a hindrance for my R5. It used to be that parts were really tough to come by and you had to 'strike while the iron was hot' so to speak - spending hundreds of dollars at a rip because who the hell knows when you'll be able to get these things again... Not so much anymore, thanks to 3D printing and a handful of dedicated resin makers.
What I'm trying to say is - yes, I'm still doing this droid project. Soon I'll be able to dedicate myself to it a little more regularly.
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