Event Report: Droids @ Mshed 2026

Another great event, but...........

The first being that I wasn't able to attend and help out Mike and the others as I have done since the beginning,

but also that [unless things change re: 'the powers that be']

this year was the last one to be held at the Mshed.

The event is a free open to all, showcasing the droids that have been hand built / 3D printed etc. as seen in film and TV shows, along with stalls, lucky-dip, and attended by fellow groups who just want to share in the experience.

These include the Dalek crew, MK Garrison and others.

This year was even attended by, a close friend of mine who I've known now for many many year lol,

Samantha Alleyne [first female stormtrooper] from:

the new Star Wars films trilogy

the anthology films Rogue One & Solo a Star Wars Story

& also the TV series Andor (filmed here in the UK).

Other attendees include......

Nathan Pegler & Brian Wheeler

These guys had a great time and were also popular with the public.

The stalls outside were also very popular and these along with the MK Garrison, in full costume, helped catch the passing public who didn't know about the event.

Here are some photos from the day:

Here are just some of the amazing droids.

Visitors to the event were asked about their thoughts of the day and what they liked most about it.

The response was 100% positive.

(Thanks to everyone)

This years chosen charity was the

Great Weston Air Ambulance

Check out the amazing work they do here.

Total amount raised.....👏👏👏👏👏👏

Mike is looking for a new venue..... so fingers crossed for 2027!

#starwars #drwho #mkgarrison #droids #astromech #bb8 #bristol #mshed #charity #southwestairambulance #droidbuildersuk

The Mandalorian - R5D4 Holoprojector - 1.8 - UPDATE 2026

image of R5-D4's head and his holoprojector
protruding from one of his pie panels

I picked up a visual directory book for the Mandalorian the other day, and obviously, searched up in it for pics of R5. They had a full page spread which included a much clearer quality of his Holoprojector, seen in season 2. [I've not watched the film yet, so I don't know if it appears in it.]

I was happy to see that most of my original idea of how it looked was close to the original design. But having the front view gave me a more detailed vison of the lens housing with it's ridges.

From this I was able to redo my original design, back in 2020.

click link here for Blog post:

The Mandalorian - R5D4 Holoprojector - 1.0

So I have now created a version 2, this one has an independent arm which can be pivoted so the head can move down for easy storage/deployment from R5's dome.

There is a hole up through the arm which allows LED cabling for illuminating the green holoprojector lens.

The lens housing was design around the size for an actual cabochon!

I’ve included two ‘lens’ versions, one for printing out of a translucent filament or a solid one for non illumination, just painted.

Holoprojector in it's folded state
for easier operation from dome pie opening

The holoprojector is printed in parts.

• 2 arm halves
• 2 body halves
• 1 front ring
• 1 lens (solid for painting)
• 1 thin (for clear filament printing)

Or of course you could use a real cabochon.

I have been away and didn't get time to upload the files before hand. This is now all in place and you can find the files here on my Prusa account [FREE].

Only a week to go till DROIDS @MSHED 2026

Just a week more to wait till the Droids and co return to the Mshed, which is next door to the actual Museum.

There have been more than a few hiccups and hurdles to overcome for this years event to happen.

You would not believe the red tape involved in putting on a FREE event, where EVERYBODY wins.

• The public get a great event to added to being by the waterfront and all the amazing sights to see.
• The Mshed gets free publicity from us advertising (at Mike’s own expense) the event!
• Local business also benefit from your attendance, ice-cream van, food placed etc.
• And we…..well, you help us to raise funds for the South West Air Ambulance Service.

So please come on down, if your new to Bristol, check the location map, and help support your local/national droids raise funds for a great cause.

#droidbuildersuk #bristol #mshedmuseum #droids #mkgarrison #drwho #k9 #nathanpegler #samanthaalleyne #swaa 

FunkoPOP droids by me

For a bit of fun, I assembled all my creations in a line-up 😁

FunkoPOP Droids

These are drawn up my hand [no 3D scanning] and have more detail than the original POP's. They also were drawn up for the versions never produced, (left to right) LE5, PHT, Treadwell and Toolbox.

R5-D4 and R4-D4 (both versions of mine) have the restraining bolts fitted and my screen accurate centre leg [single cylinder].

R5-PHT (second from left) has his unique dome with the extra holoprojector. This droid was seen in Solo a Star Wars Story.

All are in three leg mode which wasn't a 'thing' until Celebration 2023 came along with the R2-D2/R5-D4 twin pack.

All of these are 1:1 POP scale lol and all but Toolbox, have base holes to fit onto the original stands, if required.

Check them all out on my Prusa page, in there FunkoPOP collection folder, free.

....not included in the line-up is R2-D2 with the sail barge drinks try attachment.

......ooops and soome of the droids in Carbonite [like Han Solo] 😀😀😀

3D Printed Upload - Control panel with working dials & buttons

Here's another control panel, which has options to have push button activation and also two rotary dials with stops.

The main centre area has the option of being separate so different panels can be printed and fixed in place. The first one is a 'planetary display screen'. This is a modified version of my other planetary panel [longer], which can be back lit.

I'll add alternative panels to my Prusa account. This along with others is free to download.

#3dprinting #prusa #starwars #controlpanel

.......UPDATE 16/6/2026

New Yavin IV screen uploaded here.

3D Printed upload - Circular Astromech skirt - Prusa

Just uploaded the circular 3D printable astromech skirt

that I created from the awesome artwork of Mr Jake Lunt Davis (click for his website).

His creations for new astromech droids, had lots of new interpretations from the standard R2 design, without being unrecognisable from the originals.

Check them out over on the Wookieepedia page.

Click image for direct link to the files on my Prusa page.

The Droids of 'Star Wars' website - featuring your three favourite R5 droids

Droids of Star Wars

Sharing this website as it has been refurbished and has lots of droids listed. Including three of my favs:

R5-SK1 from Rogue One,

R5-232 from Solo a Star Wars Story,

R5-2JE from The Rise of Skywalker.

My surprise find those was a behind the scenes picture of R5-SK1 in the hanger bay on Yavin (scroll down the page to view).

#r5sk1 #r5232 #r52je #rogueone #soloastarwarsstory #tros #starwars #droids

Blog view hits: 600K

Wow this came around quick!!

Blog has reached 600,000 views, thanks all.

If you have questions about any of the posts, topics etc, please comment or you can message me via socials.

Happy to help if I can.

Linktr.ee

......thanks to Dave for hitting the 600k hit 😀

**UPDATE end of July: much to my disappointment, most of the 'site views' are in fact, bots 😞😞😞 **

CAD Designing a prop - Andor [season 2] micro-prop 4

 I recently got asked if I could produce a CAD model for 3D printing of a drinking vessel / flask shown in the Andor-zine.

Did a search online for sizes and this came back with sizes based on the fluid oz each one can hold. Not knowing this I went with dimensions that best matched the square'ish image above.

I then did a quick test print, including a cap and catch arm.

As you can see, this wasn't the best orientation lol, a vertical one would be better suited to the front detail, but this was the main item requested. The catch arm is pivoted and I drew this up as a separate part to be glued on at the position that best suited being able to lift off the cap.

I needed to do a few more alterations for myself to be happy before sharing the files, see link below.

Here's the link to the post over on the RPF Forum, to follow for updates.

The files are up on my Pruse account here. I've included the stp files as well.

Event Promo for Droids @Mshed 2026

Here in the UK we have been experiencing a change in weather lol, sunshine & HEAT!!! 😎🌞🌞🌞

 
Mike braved the extremely hot weather and set up some of his droids outside his work hut to advertise this Summers Droid’s @Mshed event.

Displaying his two latest creations.....

WALL-E & EVE

#mshed #bristol #summerevent #droids #r2d2 #walle #dalek #mkgarrison #greatwesternairambulance #k9 #drwho #starwars #kermit #elmo