Hi all!

I just wanted to share with anyone who has had a little difficulty getting the lightsaber flap to open and close smoothly my little fix.

To start with I found that when I fitted the dome over the frame the lightsaber flap would catch the dome at the bottom edge of the flap, only slightly but enough that it was fifty-fifty. I took some time to consider a solution as I didn't want to bend any metalwork or file or cut away ANY material whatsoever.

After a little while an idea came to mind and it works a treat, no cutting or filing and if you don't get it right, you simply don't fit it, so here goes:

Take one of the clear, plastic vacuum formed pieces of packaging that protect your precious R2D2 components which has a flat section and the lightsaber hinge (the piece of the hinge that has a small nipple in the centre and two holes to screw it to the head frame). Cut out a flat section of the clear plastic slightly larger than the hinge, poke a small hole in the middle Place the hinge on it so the nipple sits in the small hole you made then trim around the hinge. after you have this just use the hing to make two more holes where the screw holes are and that's it.

Now just assemble as per the normal instructions but fit this clear plastic between the hing and the frame (I did have to adjust the size of the holes so I could get the screws through but wasn't hard).

This lifts the whole flap ever so slightly and allows it to clear the dome as it opens. Now it's really smooth but still sit in precisely the correct place! Win Win!

Well I hope this helps to get you out of any flappy trouble! Happy building folks!

Thank God! I was in the process of submitting a post with regard to the very same issue before stumbling across your suggestion. Makes complete sense. I was so thrilled with the way R2's dome was coming together until I tried testing the movement of the ejector cover. UGH! Will follow your suggestion and hope for the best.

Actually, I noticed that if you loosened the two mounting screws on the hinge ever so slightly, the door opens and closes with little difficulty. However, I did add a spacer made from some of the clear plastic packing material and it works fine. Very pleased that this potential headache is gone.