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R2-D2 Return Of The Jedi "A Plastic Model Conversion"

Bought this model from Sparts1954 over on Ye Olde Rocketry Forum ... his brother had started to build it, so I figured it would be a great candidate for a PMC (Plastic Model Conversion) to a flying rocket.

The kit is actually a 1983 Re-Boxing of the kit released in 1977 from the original Star Wars movie. Basically a new box and re-printed instructions. Nonetheless... it's made in the USA... which is awesome.

The kits all there... I did an inventory of all the parts. In fact, it had an extra part from another kit... it is marked "Made in W. Germany". Thanks again Chris.

It's about a 6" tall R2-D2. I figure an Estes D-12 will be a great motor for this PMC, with a rear eject spool.

Here's what all the pieces parts look like:

Here's the box art... pretty cool... I'm a sucker for Star Wars stuff:

Here's the MPC assembly instructions:

And finally... a photo of that extra part (with an Estes C6-5) for scale... kind of looks like an ejection seat for a fighter plane?

2026-03-12 Body Mods Day 01

Glued the miscellaneous model pieces to the body and then installed a piece of cut down BT-80 internal tube.

2026-03-13 OpenRocket Simulation

Body Mod's Day 02

Cut the 1-1/4" dia. hole in the upper body for the BT-55, then sanded the bore with a Dremel to fit the 1.325 O.D. BT-55.Cut the BT-55, the Bulkhead and the 1/4" Dia Dowel.Did a mock up for BT-55 height inside the Upper Dome.

Injected glue into the cavity between the O.D. of the C-80 and the I.D. of the body. Also started gluing the Bulkhead and Dowel into the C-55.

2026-03-14 Attaching The C-55 to the Body

The wood glue that was injected into the body between the split C-80 and the Body really did a nice job of firming up the Body. This is critical for the Rear Eject Spool.

I used Testors Model Cement to glue the C-55 Sub-Assy through the top of the Body. There's glue in the bore of the hole, and fillets on both sides.

Ring Fin

Using a Ring Fin as a display base for the R2-D2, which will also make the rocket stable.

I used a Quaker Oatmeal container and cut (4) rings that were over 1" long. The inner rings were then cut to fit inside the previous ring.

Outer Ring : 5.03" O.D. X 0.029" Wall

Ring I: 4.972 O.D.

Ring II: 4.914 O.D.

Ring III: 4.856 O.D.

The (4) rings were then slathered (it's a technical term) with Wood Glue, assembled together, and set aside to dry.

2026-03-16 Ring Fin - Cutting it to length

This came out really nice. 4 ply cardboard glued, 0.16", and its nearly equal to basswood in strength. Super stiff.

Cut this to 1.15" long on my table saw. Weighs 1.23 ounces.

2026-03-18 Glue: Shelf Life and a product Test

This "Flying Plastic Model Conversion" involves gluing using Plastic Model Cement of the Polystyrene pieces parts. These will be structural joints now, instead of just static displays so I wanted to get some sort of feel for the strength of the glue joints.

In the past (50 years.. wow) the go to glue has always been Testors. In 2026, all the local Ace Hardware had was "Duco", and it's labeled as being for "Polystyrene". Using the ole "sniff" test it's obvious that the Duco glue is different than the Testors glue. It's still nasty smelling, really nasty. But it's just a different nasty than the Testors.

So, being prudent, a glue test is in order. Nothing to hi-tech, just gluing of similar joints to see if one glue is better than the other.

Disclaimer: The Testors I'm using was purchased 12-29-2021 for my Mercury LES, which make it about 4 years old.

I took part of the R2-D2 polystyrene tree that held the plastic model components and cut it into separate parts. I then made a glue splice in the tree, making sure to push the pieces together so the glue could dissolve the polystyrene.

Instructions state 2 hour glue time. I glued the parts at 12:30 pm and at 4:30 pm the 2 test assemblies still weren't dry. They were stiff, but not dry. I'll check them tomorrow morning.

So in the morning the pieces were inspected and the glue had indeed dried. Both parts were satisfactory. It took significant force to pull the glue joint apart. The glue joint did fail, but the point being both took about the same amount of force.

Good enough.. Duco Plastic Model Cement seems as strong as Testors.