UK R2 Builders & Chippenham Sci-Fi Day 2014 - My Event Report

Had a great time on Saturday with Ian (R4), Giles (R2) & Mark with his Steampunk Droid Issa. Having R5 moving and joining in was soooo much fun, I had a stupid kid grin on my face all day! Hahaha.

Arrived just in time for the event opening and set-up R5. Turned the power on and........nothing! WHAT??? My heart sank! Had the radio transmitter and receiver lost their connection?? Then, R5 lurched forward! Connection worked!?! Perhaps it was because it was in close proximity to the other guys systems?? It did it again later on when I turned off and on the transmitter .

Then R5-D4 was rolling :) joining in with the others &having his picture taken. We joined in with photo opps with the Southern Troopers and their Tantive IV backdrop, as well as roaming round to the Milton Keynes Garrison & their backdrop.

There was plenty to see for visitors with stalls and displays as well as Special Guests!
The Charity Sci-Fi group were also in attencance with Darlek's and other costume characters from Dr Who, Judge Dredd, Ghostbusters to name a few.

With all the roaming around before I knew it, three hours had passed! It was suggested that we take the droids outside as access was good and flat. The route had carpet and a slight incline, R5 coped OK with this, 24v power and him being a heavy build pay's off, phew. Then outside we joined up with ST & MK members to entertain the crowds, some not realiseing that the event was even going on.

At which point they then followed us all back inside when we did, result.

Then it was back inside for more roaming and photo :)

Lots of people asked questions about plans, costs and abilities needed to build an Astromech. I hope the people I spoke to were encouraged to not to daunted with what can seem a big build challenge.

Crowds started to quieten down by about 3pm, tho there were still people coming in who had seen what was going on outside. This gave the droids a bit of space to 'play' lol. Kids were still having pictures taken and interacting with them, which is always great to see.

Have to give respect to one Mum who corrected her child that said 'look theres R2!', to which she replied, 'no thats not R2, thats R5!' Most impressed!

Then it was time to pack up, just after 4pm. Another great event attended with my fellow builder friends. Always good to see them and learn and swap ideas and roll around with the Droids! And a great day for Chippenham Sci-Fi as their first event was a great success!

Chippenham Sci-Fi Day Facebook page

Southern Troopers Facebook page

MK Garrison Facebook page