Today marks the one year anniversary of my droid building career. A year ago I read that building a droid takes 12-24 months and now I understand why. It was last January that I ordered my first parts, and have now collected nearly everything I need to complete the appearance of the droid. Once the battery boxes arrive, I will have 90% of the cosmetic pieces needed to complete the droid. The rest will be made by hand from styrene and other cheaper materials.
The last year has certainly been eventful. November and December 2006 I did tons of research before ever buying a part. By January 2007, I had purchased the legs and frame kits. Later in January, I went to my first builders' meet in Cincinnati. By May I was out meeting more builders in Los Angeles at Celebration IV. By the end of the summer I had published the 300mm Dome tutorial, and at the end of the year finally had a dome of my own virtually completed. As it stands now, many of my parts are partially completed. The skins need only a few hours of work to get them done, and most of the details are painted and ready to go. The legs need a few pieces attached and some paint to complete them. The feet will require some clean up, but the center leg is almost done.
Over the last year, the biggest challenge to building has been moving and side projects. I have built two other domes over the last year using them to help write the tutorial. These side jobs took lots of hours, but were well worth. Moving back and forth between home, school, and different apartments has also consumed a lot of time and held back progress. I have worked on my droid in one dorm room, one basement, two apartments, and in two different cities. Moving the parts and tools back and forth has caused considerable delays. Considering these setbacks, I am very happy with what has been completed, and cant wait to settle back in and grind out some more.
