From Design to Cast: Making an Astromech Dome in Resin

[@silviofoj]

This is the real meaning of "family". You're blessed, Brian. Keep sharing your wisdom with us!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thank you, I will

[@sketchyguynv]

Good to see Dan walking around without the need of the AARP-65 droid!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

LOL!!

[@junkyardjedi386]

Haha, Thanks for watching Cameron

[@sketchyguynv]

@@junkyardjedi386 thanks for creating!!! And molding another creator!

[@DougPalumbo]

I love seeing a father and son work together! Great looking domes fellas!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Couldn't agree more!

[@astrophysicistguy]

Just finished pulling the dome for my full scale Dalek. We typically make the domes out of fiberglass so they are light and wont required a large motor to drive them since they need to be cable to rotate 360 degrees. I made my plug out of pieces of rigid wall insulation stacked in concentric circles and then covered with plaster of Paris. The mold is made with a layer of gel coat followed by laying up fiberglass. Once we have a mold the dome is made from them same process - laying down a coat of gel coat followed by fiberglass. The result is a perfectly smooth dome like the outside of a boat that is light weight and incredibly strong

[@paulpisters668]

I’m so jealous of you guys. I really enjoy watching your videos. I learn a lot of them. Many kind greetings from a Star Wars fan from the Netherlands.

[@sald2of6]

Wow! Love that your Dad shares and helps with your passion.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Totally agree with you! Thanks for watching!

[@BittahGenius]

Junkyard Jedi is always a wealth of knowledge.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

He totally is!

[@TheMartinGage]

The Junkyard Jedi has blessed us, this day, with secret knowledge from the archives!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thank you Gage!

[@scratch3406]

You’re blessed to have the wonderful family you have ❤️

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thank you

[@ssskids123]

Brilliant! A lot of people like to be the expert in all things. Love how you aren’t afraid to lean on (and credit) other people’s expertise. I think it’s fantastic and being a great role model!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thanks so much!

[@blackmarketoutpost]

Fantastic I have had the privilege of seeing these droids up close and personal and all I can say is that the engineering and creative problem solving to achieve these builds is second to non !!!

[@junkyardjedi386]

Thank you so much Dennis

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thank you my friend!

[@dustinlbuckner36051]

Another great video and insight into the Junkyard Jedi. Thanks to you all

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@rayneraccoon]

Gosh dangit, you and your dad are so awesome! I wish my dad and I shared something like this. You are both so lucky.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thank you!

[@garlandsworkshop]

Very Cool episode and Droid Process... And I dig the whole Thompson Family Home Evening vibe.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Appreciate that! Lol

[@sharkozym]

Again, y’all amaze me with your family skill sets and how a project comes to be from start to finish. Thank you for always sharing your techniques and inspirations with us. Y’all rock as always never stop creating! Shark!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thank you so much!

[@ResinBelle]

Most excellent video you guys. So cool to see the whole process. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@charlymacias5369]

Artoo would beep in approval.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

LOL

[@crazybird199]

That's really cool! Thank you for showing us!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Our pleasure!

[@asilevinson1479]

you and your dad are super cool it's fun to watch you both on the screen and I love this video !

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Much appreicated!

[@CaptainShack]

That was very cool!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thanks, glad you liked it.

[@jdomyan01]

I really appreciate seeing the process. Thank you for the specifics regarding the materials.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rosascreativeworks5403]

Super duper! What an awesome project! Gotta love the astromech droid! ❤

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thank you

[@Daniel_Palmqvist]

Sweet 😊👍

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thanks 😁

[@thedarkknight803able]

Learning from the the best. Awesome Episode.

[@the_makersden]

What a fascinating process! I fully enjoyed all the thought that went into creating the molds for the droid dome!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thank you very much!

[@WhiteysWickedWorkshop]

Definitely very fun to watch. Anything with casting always resonates with me. thanks for sharing Brian and gang! and PS. Junkyard Jedi is my hero! :)

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Glad you enjoyed it. He’s my hero too!

[@TonyMendyk]

Your dad is a genius!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

I agree!

[@HawkWorley]

I love pulling a freshly poured piece out of the mold! That turned out great!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Yes! Thank you!

[@petermerz2704]

Very cool Brian! Thanks for sharing. 😎🇨🇦

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thanks for watching!

[@andrewdonatelli6953]

I had a good conversation with the Junkyard Jedi at Celebration. It's great to see a video of the process. What a great relationship the two of you have. You're lucky to share interests and creativity.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Glad you got some time with him, that’s awesome! Thanks for watching.

[@andrewdonatelli6953]

@@TheSmugglersRoom I enjoyed it. Your dad's a cool guy.

[@bluewolf236]

i love how this comes out the day after I buy my own cake lid for a droid head

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

AWESOME!

[@CGRTist]

It's so cool to see you guys all having fun with the build! Awesome video!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thanks so much!

[@DavidWWhite1973]

I feel you with those "burnt" molds. That was a hard lesson I learned when making helmets for others - REPLACE OFTEN! LOL! Especially with details that can get lost over time with tears.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Indeed!!

[@ErnestBegley-nl6sb]

I would like to have four of them. I like to make some lights like you did.

[@propsandvillainy]

Loved this video ! Family is the most important thing and it’s cool to see how fun it is to work with your dad ! I’m not crying you’re crying 😢.. later

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thank you so much!!

[@Mu-podcast]

Thank you for sharing that. The process for making one of those domes is more involved than I had first assumed. The jigs that your dad designed are very clever and serve the function wonderfully.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Very welcome

[@jbprospector3638]

Thank you for sharing this video 👍😁

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thanks for visiting

[@ericsweetman9973]

Brian, your dad is so cool!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

He is very cool!

[@blizatrex]

Thank you for sharing the process.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

You bet!

[@LisaHarsh]

That is really quite cool. I love that.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thanks Lisa

[@makeorbreakshop]

Hey I've got one of those. This is so cool to see the process!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Hey! Thanks man! So glad you still have yours. Thanks for stopping by bro!

[@tleander40]

You have the most freaking awesome dad!!!!! :)

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

I think so too! Thank you Tracy!

[@keithanderson4507]

Another great video thanks for the in-depth tutorial.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Glad it was helpful!

[@keithanderson4507]

Thanks for the reply. But I'm still waiting for a reply from your smugglers room web site that I emailed you about over two weeks ago. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[@kurisuuu48]

This is soooo satisfying to watch!!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thank you!

[@Craftlngo]

Awesome Video Brian and Backyard Jedi! I'm learning so much of all your videos.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Awesome! Thanks for the tip

[@DHGamerMR]

Another great video to start my day off right! Thanks for sharing the process here with us.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@emilflognoid1532]

I’ve been collecting peices to build my astromech for a while… It will be about this size, I got a clear punch bowl for the dome, a round drink cooler for the body that I may or may not use, and a lazy Susan hardware spinner for the neck… also have an old power wheels to make it run… that’s the plan anyways!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Perfect!!!

[@paulgertsch7105]

Great job. Love the video.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thank you!

[@FabWorks80]

This is one of my dream goals...I want to make Astromech Droid, one day. Thank you for sharing, Brian.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

You can do it bro!

[@BruGaleen]

I'm dying to make my droid a new dome. I know exactly how I'm going to do it, but I live in an apartment and I don't have a proper workshop area right now. Fingers crossed that I will again one day. :)

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

The kitchen table can make a great workshop in a pinch ;)

[@gorillaau]

Have you got a Hackerspace or Makerspace near you? Plenty of avenues for collaboration there.

[@hectoralvarez2161]

This is awesome, like both the process for the domes and the family cohesiveness. Awesome!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@Mr_Craftician]

Soooo gooood!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thank you!

[@CarlosAlvarez-dv7um]

❤🎉amazing!!!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thanks!

[@basvanderwerff2725]

these are awesome!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Glad you like them!

[@robertvalade2400]

I love it wow

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Thanks!

[@ekij133]

Hopefully this is the start of (another) droid build?

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

It's a good thing you are in the Patreon group ;)

[@astro143_]

I believe you guys have talked about this in the past, but is there a place with instructions on how to make an astromech unit at that scale and resources to get parts? Do you sell the cast domes?

[@JohnFraser322]

That's awesome, do you sell them, I would love to get one?

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

We have sold them on our site in the past. If you are interested you can email us [e-mail]

[@paddyhall523]

Your dads awesome

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

he is indeed!

[@tunasures]

What did you do to the dorms

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Not sure I understand the question?

[@JT99JT]

Are you selling these? If so I am curious as tohow mucb?

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

We used to sell these on our site. If you all are still interested we could possibly do another run.

[@Neon_arsonist]

I know I'm interested in a dome 🙂

[@VdemiconV]

is there a link were we can order one of them from you guys? i want to make a full size R2 for a Grey Jedi Mandalorian out fit im working on from a Star wars D&D type game we had years ago. my character was a Mandalorian force user who didn't care for Jedi or Sith and had a R2 unit made out of Besgar named R6-D9.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Hey there. These droid builds of ours are only 2/3rd scale, not the full size. That being said, if you have a 3D printer or access to one they have incredible print files now.

[@VdemiconV]

@@TheSmugglersRoom true but i was also thinking of building one at that scale to test it out and see how well it worked as well and what all i could put in it

[@jeffreypajela1724]

Wiggle that bowl of jelly Brian 😋

[@DagrtOne]

That looked too weird how much you were getting into slapping that mold. 😂😂😂

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

😳

[@MrJrmint77]

Looks like pizza man flipping his pizza dough fantastic video

[@slysneakly6465]

And I.L.M. haven't hired you YET???

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

LOL! Right??? What the heck? :)

[@drykedorsay8748]

P r o m o S M 🤘

[@RainMakeR_Workshop]

Tease... Showing us an aluminium powder casting and NOT showing it all polished up... That's just mean.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

I know right? Sorry about that.

[@DagrtOne]

The video was Too short.

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

Ok