V for Vendetta Mask

Me and little bro worked on our V for Vendetta masks on Friday. We had lots of trouble with my cheap airbrush. I finally tried to do some of the shaded areas by hand, but it turned out too dark. I painted over with white, then tried again with Q-Tips. It looked horrible so last night I painted over with white again and gave the airbrush one more chance. It turned out MUCH better (above the eyes) so I am happy now.

Several coats of gloss clear coat and he's done!! I have a hat on order (cheapo one off ebay) and now that Halloween is coming I shoul dbe able to find a Cher wig and trim it to work.

:)

Gold Paint revisitted

I got some gold paint from the UK (THANK YOU GRAHAM!) that is supposed to be a lot better looking than the gold paints available in Canada and the US. It cost me a LOT with exchange, shipping etc so I had a lot of expectations for it.

Here is a before pic with the local cheapo paint.



And here is an after pic with the paint from the UK. It really does look better. It's a bit lighter in color and really shines more. It does make a difference for sure. It's really hard to tell from the pics but you can sort of see the second picture has more reflection in it.




I

Tattoo....I'm a Bleeder!!

Got my tattoo last night. It wasn't that bad for pain, but the tattoo guy said I am a bleeder. He figured me being fair skinned and freckly could be the cause. He couldn't put too much color in as he said it would bleed out so once this has fully healed I will have to go back in a month for some more color to be added.

Still quite raw and sore...or course. The red on the tatt is blood..not part of the pic...

Glad I did it!

New Car/ Basement pre-wired

I spent a day on the long weekend wiring my basement. I have all the receptacles and lights prewired for my first inspection. MAN I hope that goes well. After the first inspection all receptacles have to be put on and the breaker box wired up. I hope I get a nice inspector.

I shoudl be getting my first tattoo tonight! YIKES!

Here are a couple pics of my new car (2007 Civic DX-G Sedan). 6 years of being broke now!

R2 Back Panel...back from Florida

I sent my R2 back panel back to Florida since Kenny Baker was signing at Star Wars Weekends at Disneyworld recently.

Now I will feel ok mounting it (I was always hoping an opportunity to get K.B.'s autograph would come up.



I had some more bad luck on the weekend. I was driving my 2000 Honda Civic home from work and going about 120KPH there was a bunch of blue smoke and it quit. Luckily I was able to pull over and had my cell phone so I called a tow truck. It looks like there are TWO holes in the engine block!! The dealership people were very shocked. Looks like I need a new car. Here you can see the holes:

Small Update

Just a quick update. Last night I painted the battery connector areas metallic and attached the moons on the center foot. The one side is attached with magnets so it will just pop off when I need access to the bolt holding the foot on.

The moons are a bit high, but thats how I had to do it to get access to that bolt.

R2 on FEET! REAL FEET!!

I had some time to work on R2..got the feet painted and put them on.

Looks cool..but ran into unexpected problems. I hope I can solve them or R2 wil be STATIC (not move).

The center foot doens thave the side moons on yet (they arent quite dry yet). One side will just pop on with magnets (same ones I used for the restraining bolt). This will give me access to get the bolt out and the foot off. The problem with the middle foot is the swivel caster it uses. For now I tightened the bolt TIGHT so it will stay parallel to the floor, but I will try to drill & tapp a small screw in to hold it in position, otherwise the shell will push onto the floor and drag badly.

The outer feet have a problem. The scooter drive wheel is at the back and so that the foot doesnt swivel and drag on the ground I have small rigid catsers at the front to hold it flat. That should have worked in theory, but the foot is bottoming out (or topping out) against the ankle. As a result the scooter drive wheels arent even touching the floor. If I remove the front rigid casters then the front of the foot shell will drag into the floor. I am going to try to file the ankle down enough so that the foot pushes easily flat, then the weight SHOULD be evenly dispersed to the scooter drive wheels and the front rigid caster (front of the outer feet).

The feet turned out ok, but kinda rough. They were a nightmare to make and now have lots of scrapes. Oh well..R2 can't look brand new. One foot cracked at a seam while I was pushing it on..so that has to be filled and touched up. DAMN~!

Here are a couple pics...

New Fett Lid, V for Vendetta Mask and some Foot Progress

I recently ordered a V for Vendetta Mask and a new Boba Fett helmet. I DID make a Fett lid from scratch, but this one I ordered is rumoured to be cast from the one they used in filming the Empire Strikes back..so I might not peaint it..just display it 'as is'. I didn't need it, but I was feeling down lately due to recent events so I got impulsive with the spending.

I'll have to take some pics of the 'Mystery Fett Helmet' next to my scratch built.

The V for Vendetta Mask should be fun. I got another one on order for my 'little bro' so we can work on ours together sometime soon! FUN!


I spent a bit more time bondo-ing my R2 feet AGAIN. Man this is the third time....they are taking FOREVER!!! I'm getting closer to where I can paint and mount them. Damn bondo sets WAY too fast in the warm weather. I got frustrated last night..just making a mess.



I had to open up the battery box sides of the feet to allow the foot drives to fit inside. They will be mostly covered by the battery boxes...but still partially exposed. I might try to cover them with some flexible white plastic or something. Man these feet are taking TOO LONG.



The middle foot will have one side that opens. They one side pieces will come off easily. I have some STRONG magnets I will use to attach the panel, and if I neet to remove the foot I pop off the cover and then have access to the screw that *hopefully* keeps the foot level.

Popcorn Cart and Threepio progress

I have about 4 ppl that would check my blog...and 2 of those (a good freind and my mom) passed away unexpectedly in the past couple of months so I'm a little saddened posting again..but here goes..

Anyways...here is pic of my pocorn cart. It has an 8oz kettle...makes a nice sized batch every time...tastes great.




Here is a bit of progress on my Threepio. The torso isn't finished..I just sprayed it a long time ago to test the gold. The head is mostly done..I will repaint with a better gold paint when I get it.

Threepio Head....and a Challenger!

Did some more work to Threepio's head...have the eys left to do. Will be getting a better gold paint soon, but this works for now. I also have some lights for his eyes on order...



I also assembled a cardboard kit for a Battle Droid. Went together very well..great design!!!!!!!

C3PO Head progress, Pics Framed

I managed to get a bit done on my 3po head this week. Glue, bondo, glue, bondo, sanding, bondo, sanding.

Man metallic paint sure shows ALL the flaws. I SHOUDL have used a finer grit sandpaper so smooth it off....but hopefully after a few coats of paint it will look ok. I plan to weather the droid anyways...so all flaws are acceptable. Man I love that about the Star Wars universe.





I got my newest signed pics framed.!! :) I may not have room to hang them until my theater room is done tho. :(

Grass! YARD IS DONE!! And a Gift from a Friend!!

We finally got MOST of our sod in the yard. Man it looks different back there now! Went from dirt and rocks and no fence to a FINISHED YARD!!!



This was a surprise i the mail yesterday! Signed pic by the guy who played the Jawa that shot R2-D2 in STar Wars and a signed card by the girl (yes girl) who played Greedo for some scenes.

THANKS CALVIN!!!


I got one of these Boba Fett concept figures on ebay (the US version with the Boba Fett artwork in the background. The Canadian packaging is shown on the left (got at wal-mart). It has the Vader artwork. Weird.

Fence.....DONE!!!!!!!!

I am FINALLY done the fence. This weekend I had to dig 3 holes (holy that's hard work), put in posts, mix and pour cement, frame them and board the fence from the sides to the house. I had to also build a gate and mount it.

We never did get our grass yet so we HOPE they put it in in the next day or 2.

Fence progress

I got a fair bit done....then it rained like crazy so I had to stop. I tried to work in the rain, but it was tooo messy and muddy!

We SHOULD be getting grass today or tomorrow!

Fence Building

Well...since I've been too busy to work on the new basement theater, R2, 3PO, or any other projects..I figured I mighgt as well post what I HAVE been working on...boring as it is...

This weekend is a long weekend so I should be able to get a fair bit done. It's supposed to be rainy, but that is not going to stop me.

The fence at the back is going to be 3' boards at the bottom with a 2' lattice above to keep it fairlyu open looking since we back onto a park/walkway. There is no point blocking that off completely.

Hannequin

Ok..lame title...best I could do. Han's mannequin arrived. I had to cut a lot of the neck away to fit the bust.

Wohooo!!!!

Han Costume with Head....NEED MANNEQUIN!

Just a quick update to show the head on the costume. If I ever find a mannequin should look pretty cool!

Han Solo Costume Arrived

I just got this in the mail. Well done! I'll have to dirty it up a bit somehow.

It will go well with my Han Solo head I HAD on my Stormtrooper body. Now I need a proper mannequin so I will have a 1:1 Han Solo...MAN they are tough to get a hold of!!!

Any suggestions?!

Boba Fett.....DONE

Well...mostly. His Jetpack thrusters broke off in the move so I need to replace a couple parts..but you can't tell from this view.

Fett Blaster..DONE

Finished off Fett's blaster last night. Looking forward to seeing it in my 1:1 Fett's hands!!

Mal Gun...IMPROVED!

I was staining my Fett Blaster stock and thought maybe I could brush the stain on the stock of my Mal gun to make it look more like wood. It looked GREAT (no longer just cheesy brown paint), but was sticky. I had to get some polyurethane to finish it off.

I brought it into work today and showed people. They all thought it was reall wood. :) SUCCESS!!!

Here is an older before pic (from before I even had the brown paint on it)
















Here is a pic I just took with my phone:

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I finally had a chance to work on my blaster a bit (we just moved...things have been crazy). I chiselled out the recess for the stock. The connector piece I made at work from aluminum. I am going to paint it black, then rough up the edges with sandpaper...to "wear" it.

The stock itself a buddy made for me (THANKS!).

Here are a couple pics!

R2 Back Panel SIGNED!!

I got my buddy in Florida to get my back panel signed by Kenny Baker (the guy inside R2 in the original trilogy). Now it is signed by him and Don Bies (made R2's for Episodes II and III).

Thanks Aaron!!!

2 Feet Foward

Just thought I'd post a little progress on R2D2's feet. Made these pieces from aluminum.

a few more details and it will be time to mount them