Committee Members

Chairman: Lee Towersey

Lee started Droid Building in 2007 after discovering the Worldwide R2 Builders Yahoo Group. Completing his first R2D2 in 2009 he attended Charity Events and Comic Cons through the Rebel Legion as there wasn’t any active groups for UK Droid Builders at the time. In 2011 Lee & Oliver helped create the UK R2D2 Builders Club and over time as the variety of Droids became more apparent it was decided to create DroidBuilders.uk to help encourage more than just Astromech Building.

Since 2013 Lee has worked for Neal Scanlan in Creature Effects at Pinewood Studios. Having worked on Star Wars Productions for over 10 years he has accumulated a tally of 15 Astromech Builds and involvement in over 100 other Droid Builds. Lee continues to build droids in his spare time, with many unfinished projects on the go at the same time!

Lee is always looking to develop the Droid Building Community and is always open to ideas from anyone to help improve the group.

Treasurer: Giles Redpath

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Design: Nik Harber

Nik first found inspiration to build his first droid in 2016 after an enlightening visit to Celebration Europe in London. Realising that astromechs could be built from materials other than aluminium he set to work on his R5 unit and completed it a year later.

Two more astromechs followed along with a plethora of static builds which feature his now famous weathering techniques!

Prior to joining the committee he had already taken on the design role and started producing the clubs branding and merchandise artwork. Becoming a committee member was the next logical step forward.

Nik is responsible for the clubs visual identity and artwork for events, patches and clothing, he’s also an active member of Rebel Legion and acts as the club liaison to Elstree Base.

Tech/MOT: Darren Poulson

Darren first met the UK R2 Builders at a Milton Keynes CollectorMania back in 2013 and soon after started on his first droid build.

After completing his R2D2 (eventually) and getting the first MOT for it he became an MOT officer, and eventually was asked to run the MOT process for the club.

As part of this he wrote the first version of the Droidbuilders Portal, originally just for the tracking of MOT status, but eventually it grew into a more fully featured system for running the club in general. Along with the portal, Darren also set up the various websites for the club and is generally the tech goto for any IT issues online.

Outside of the committee duties, Darren organises a few part runs for the club, most notably the Astropixel light kits.

Events (Scotland): Doug Inman

Doug first started in the prop building arena back in 2004 always having intention to have his own droid. After lurking on the forums for many years in 2019 he started construction on his first R2D2 taking full advantage of the lock down period to get it finished in 2020.

Being based in Scotland, he quickly became the clubs most northern based MOT officer, supporting other builders around Scotland.

With Celebration on the cards in 2023, Doug nearly 100% completed his 2nd droid in time for the event, and now travels about all over the UK to support the club, with the possibility of many more on the cards.

Events (North): Mark Leigh

Mark joined the R2 Builders Club in 2015, beginning a journey that has led him to construct an impressive array of droids and props. His first build was an aluminum R2-D2, which he completed over 18 months. Since then, he has created two additional droids using styrene and 3D-printed parts, along with a BB-8 droid, a Mouse droid, and various other Star Wars-inspired props.

Beyond building, Mark has made significant contributions to the club community. He has been involved in organizing events for many years and hosts the annual Northern Builders meetups. As one of the club’s MOT officers, he oversees quality and safety checks for droid builds. Additionally, he has managed several “part runs” for the U.K. Club, helping fellow builders access essential components.

One of Mark’s proudest moments was assisting in the refurbishment of an R2-D2 belonging to his good friend Pedge, an honor he was grateful to be part of.

Events (South)/Worldwide R2 Builders Liaison: Oliver Steeples

Oliver was one of the first members of the R2 Builders Group on Yahoo pre-millenium. He is also responsible for multiple people joining R2 Builders/Droidbuilders.

He had his first R2 ‘almost’ ready for the original Celebration Europe in 2007 which he organised, since then he has organised (with help) Celebrations in 2016 and 2023.

He has built far too many droids, but using this as a learning experience to make future droids better.

Droidbuilder wise he is one of a team doing events, and planning events such as DBUK.