Please take a look at the R2-D2 Terminology wiki entry:
https://www.printed-droid.com/kb/r2-d2-terminology/

Or on Astromech:
https://astromech.net/droidwiki/Terminology

In the best Facebook group ever: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MrBaddeley/

It depends. The latest version needs about ~25kg of Filament. But if a print fails etc. it can go up.

To print the dome and body rings as single pieces you’ll need a printbed with 500x500m. But there are splitted files. So you should be fine with a 300×300 print bed.

If you use more or different printers, make sure your steps are correct. And that the parts of each printer fit in dimensions!

Please read within the group or on Astromech.net (https://astromech.net)

The files are located on Mr. Baddeleys Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mrbaddeley All files for R2-D2 are free. But there’s a folder for Patreons which includes newer versions, special files or even the Fusion360 Files. I recommend the $5 patreon and you’ll have access to everything.

The MK3 is an improvement from the V2, needs less filament, better overall design etc., so go with the MK3 Body and the V2 Dome. They’re compatible

There are 2 Leg versions in the print files. The STD (standard) legs have normal length and the long version is slightly longer (what a surprise ?) As you know in the movies is R2-D2 able to go from 2 legged mode to 3 legged (2-3-2) mode and that’s why there are 2 leg versions in the files. If you plan to go 3 legged all the time, you’re fine with the STD legs. Once the development of the leg retract mechanism is finished and available and you want to swap between the two modes via remote, you’d need the long versions as the extra clearance would be needed. I printed the long legs, just in case the day comes the mode swap is available so I won’t have to reprint the legs.

Yes! There are 3 modules on the R2-D2. The Dome, the body & the legs. They’re compatible. Many people print the MK3 Body, use the V2 Dome and the V2 legs without issues.

But please note that within the modules the compatibility is very limited.
For example: If you print the V2 Body you’ll have to print the V2 shoulders and center leg support frame also.
But the attached legs could be the MK3 version.

Hard to tell. It depends on what printer you have and how many. There are builders that printed the whole droid in less than 3 months. But I think it’s a 6-12months project. The dome alone needs 6-8 days with one printer.

Recommended is PETG or ABS. But many people printed successful with PLA and PLA+ But you need 500-1000g of TPU for the Wheels and the parts that take the weight, like drive system etc. should be printed in PETG or ABS.
I think 3kg are enough for those parts.

Layer height should be 0.2-0.25 some smaller detailed parts can be printed in 0.10 for less sanding afterwards and some parts could be printed in 0.3 (like drive system).

But overall go 0.2. Take your time.

Remember that the layer height is responsible for the details.

Infill should be 25-35%, structural parts ~40%. The number of walls is more important.
Use 4 outer walls. You’ll need them later for sanding.

Tip: Even with a 0.4mm nozzle you can set the extrusion width to 0.5.
That increases the wall from 1.6mm to 2mm without infecting the overall print time

My recommended print settings for the TPU parts are 5 outer walls and 40-50% infill

Almost every part is designed for printing without support. So just place it “flat”.

Hard to answer. Costs depend on what you want your droid to be able to do later and your sources.
It’s minimum $500 for a static droid with lights. But as soon as you want all functions it’s easily $1000 and more.
My Droid will be at ca. 2000USD. But as you make progress with, you can buy parts time after time.

You’ll need a big bearing for the Dome, called a “Lazy Susan”. It’s 450mm in diameter and should be 10mm high/thick. I bought mine on eBay. Search for “lazy susan 18” / 450mm”

You’ll need batteries, servos, arduinos,lights, motors, motor drivers,electronics, etc. There are many options for this. Just read in the FB group, at Astromech.net or here in the Wiki

You’ll need batteries for powering everything up and provide power to the motors. I go with 2x 12V 18AH Lead-Gel batteries in parallel mode. But there are many options. 2x12V in series mode, LiPo Batteries etc.

It depends on what you want to make movable. For making all panels and arms moveable I use 26 servos in total.
22x small 9g servos – SG90S / SG90 (I recommend the SG90S.
SG90S has steel gears, the SG90 plastic gears and they’re almost the same price)

4x standard servos – MG996R

(~20€ for 10x SG90S from eBay, ~15€ for 4xMG996R from eBay)

You need 3 motors. One for the dome rotation and 2 for the drive system.
The dome motor I use is a geared 12V Motor with 200RPM (Pittman motor style).
My drive system motors are E-Scooter motors with 150W at 24V (even with the 12V system I use they have enough power to work fine).

The motors need 2motor controllers from Dimensions Engineering.
The dome motor needs a Syren10 controller & the drive motors need a Sabertooth controller with 2x32A (2x25A is also good, but the 32A is cheaper and better)
You’ll find more information within the Wiki

I use the Sparkfun MP3 Trigger (WIG-13720) and a battery powered mobile speaker.
There are other options, too (~50USD for the Sparkfun MP3 Trigger)
And you’ll need a Micro SD Card for the soundfiles (1GB is more than enough)

The most common systems are the FLTHY Holosystem and the CuriousMarc Holo Lights.
I use the FLTHY Holosystem. The benefits are RGB LEDs.
The FLTHY have a 7 RGB Led Board that produces various colors etc.
The CuriousMarc Holos only have one single white LED
Look at the wiki for more information

You’ll need at least one Arduino Mega 2560 for the control system (depending on control system you’ll need a USB Host Shield with USB Bluetooth Adapter or XBOX Wireless Receiver),
various voltage regulators / step downs that provide 5V/6V,
1-2x fuse blocks,
a controller like XBOX360/PS4/PS Move Navigation Controller/RC Remote (depending on the control system you want to use),
Wires etc.
All this is common and available from eBay, Amazon and co.

The mostly common Dome logics are Teeces or R-Series Logics.
I go with Teeces, they’re easier to assemble and to repair if something gets broken.
Search the wiki for it

Search in the Wiki 😉

That’s one of hardest to answer questions as there are too many options. So please excuse that I won’t go into detail on each system here. Just use the wiki and then decide the route you want to go.
But basically, it’s controlled via controller or a RC remote. Controllers work via Bluetooth and are only good for short/mid-range.
They can cause trouble when used within an environment that has lots of Bluetooth devices etc. But they’re small and good to hide for “stealth controlling”. RC Controllers are mostly bigger, but they have better range, failsafe etc.

There’s lots of information at Astromech or here in the wiki and my latest electronics schematics / diagrams are always here in the files section.

All available blueprints can be found at http://www.astromech.net

What is used for the lens in each Holoprojector is a 1 1/2″ (38mm) diameter acrylic hemisphere called a cabochon. This can be purchased from eBay / Amazon
Just use a plan/convex version