Star Wars: Ex Sheffield DJ asks for Luke Skywalker's support for R2D2 charity project after building droid

Now he’d like nothing more than to unleish it on the city to help charities raise money and is hoping to get support for his project from the star of the films, Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker.

Ricky, who was the DJ at the well-known nightclub Romeo and Juliets in the 1980s, has already been asked to take his creation to a shopping centre in Wakefield to raise money for the Forget Me Not hospice.

He said: “I’ve got a Ben Kenobi costume and I’m going to dress up in that for the fundraiser in Wakefield.

"But I really happy to be using it to help a charity and would be open to doing something in Sheffield if there are charities that need my help.”

He said he had contacted Mark Hamill’s representatives to ask them for a video message from the actor in support of the charity project.

Ricky built his model during lockdown originally, but has kept tweaking it so it now has a head that will rotate like the film version, as well as ‘talk’ using the same electronic beeps as the original.

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Ricky, aged 68, who now lives in Doncaster, made the 3.5ft tall replica from plywood, fibreglass and aluminium, 500ft of wiring and bluetooth speakers.

He previously built a replica X-wing fighter from the film series – but later sold that to a television production company in Manchester because he did not have the space to store it.

He built R2D2 as a project with his teenage son, Prince.

Ricky, who is a semi-retired actor, first found a love for the Star Wars franchise when he watched the first film in 1977.

He said: “I've been a big fan of the series ever since queuing up to watch A New Hope in the cinema more than 40 years ago

"I've always liked making things and working with electronics so I thought, 'why not combine that with Star Wars?'

"It's a very long and often a very difficult process to build something like this but I love the challenge because it keeps my mind active.”

He says he thinks his R2D2 may be his last big project.

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