L3-G0 - Life-size Motorized R2-D2

Name of Model: L3-G0

Created by: Shawn & Lara Steele with help from Nikita Steele, Laurel Lee Steele and Hosik Lee

Found at: http://l3-g0.blogspot.de/

Details: Sure, this isn't a purist LEGO model (it uses both non-LEGO electronics and non-LEGO mechanical parts), and its status as a still-evolving model sort-of violates my own rule of not covering Work-In-Progress (WIP) creations, but this is too exciting not to cover. I think it's safe to say that most of us who have displayed our LEGO creations at events where members of the R2-D2 Builders Club are also displaying their astromech droids have wondered if it would be possible to combine the two. You can stop thinking that's a clever and original idea now, because it's been done, and done very well. Interestingly, the builders of this 'bot actually joined the R2-D2 Builders Club and borrowed ideas from that community, but ultimately had to design a unique internal structure to compensate for the LEGO portions being thicker than most of the materials typically used for building astromech droids. This model has already appeared at BrickCon 2013 as a mostly stationary model (this still involved head movements, lights, and sound), at Emerald City Comic Con 2014 as a functional moving radio-controlled vehicle. You can see it at BrickCon 2014, with additional not-yet-built features. I don't usually like to speculate (it can be hard to find time to get big projects working right), but judging by how ambitious and successful this has been so far, I think by BrickCon it will fit into a matching fully-function X-Wing Fighter.