Artee DooToo

CVI

2011-06-07T20:47:00.001-04:00

Well, Star Wars Celebration VI has been announced: August 23-26, 2012, returning to Orlando, Florida.

I've created a countdown clock to help me keep track of how many days I have left to plan...!

Sunday, August 15th: Day Four

2010-08-19T17:04:00.008-04:00

Sunday was a shorter day, since it was the last day. After the group R2-D2 picture on Saturday, I left the Mickey hat on my R2-D2. Since several people loved it and took pictures of my R2 just because of the hat, I decided to leave it there for the rest of the time R2 was in the R2 room. I did take it off to bring my R2 to a friend's commitment ceremony (she & her husband were already married, this was just for fun) but she didn't end up needing my R2-D2 since another had gotten there first with the C-3PO...but my R2 stayed to "watch" anyway.

We were going to leave for home right after the R2-D2 parade, which was at 2:00, but I kept finding people I hadn't talked to yet and it took a lot longer to get going. It didn't take long, however, once we were on the road before all three kids zonked out!

(This is a horrible rendition of the slave Leia bikini, but my kids wanted their picture next to the mannequin anyway...)

On our way home...

Saturday, August 14th: Day Three

2010-08-19T16:01:00.022-04:00

Saturday was probably the busiest day, which is also to be expected. We had the R2-D2 group photo that morning. I had gotten my R2 a Mickey Mouse ears hat (blue hat/silver ears) and I decided to have my R2 wear it for the photo, so it would be easier to pick him out of the crowd.

After our R2 room duty was done for the day, we took the shuttle bus to Disney's Hollywood Studios for their Last Tour To Endor party; which was a lot of fun even though the humidity was oppressive, even after the sun set.

Kinda small, and blurry, but it's George Lucas!

Friday, August 13th: Day Two

2010-08-19T15:40:00.005-04:00

(I completely did not realize that it was Friday the 13th last week!)

Day two of Celebration V. I didn't get nearly as many pictures this day, though I was in the Rebel Legion group photo and Rebel Legion Starfighter Command group photo as well as the smaller snow speeder pilot group photo. I didn't get any of those shots because Jason was in all of them too!

As was the trend, apparently, Benjamin (and sometimes Anna) wanted to be in pictures with just about every astromech that was in the R2 room, even though they've had their picture taken with my R2-D2 plenty of times. Apparently, the astro-droid appeal never wears out! :)

Thursday August 12th: Day One

2010-08-19T14:27:00.018-04:00

The first official day of Celebration V was Thursday, August 12th, 2010. Thursday, I needed to be in a group Leia photo, then the Rebel Legion Galactic Senate (Padme, Leia, Senators, etc) photo, and later I needed to be in my snow speeder pilot gear for snow speeder guard duty, so I had two costume changes for Thursday.

The first day was pretty slow, but that is expected.

CV: Set-up

2010-08-19T13:56:00.006-04:00

Star Wars: Celebration V was in Orlando, Florida from August 12th-15th, 2010. This time, I actually had a completed (well, I plan to make improvements, but he's "done" for now...) R2-D2 to show off in the R2-D2 Builders' Club room. This was the 4th year for the R2-D2 Builders' Club having a room at the Celebration event and I did not want to miss it! Set-up for the R2 room was on Wednesday August 11th, 2010. We were scheduled to set up from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm though we ended up staying past 5:00 pm.

Here are the set-up pictures I took:

Whitecaps

2010-08-19T13:39:00.005-04:00

I realized as I was going to post about CV, that I never posted about The West Michigan Whitecaps Star Wars night on July 24th, 2010. The theme this year was Boba Fett in honor of the 30th anniversary of "The Empire Strikes Back" (ESB). Next year, Brent (the man who usually coordinates this event for the 501st and Rebel Legions) promised me that we will have a R2-D2 them!! :)

Here are the pictures I got:

Group picture (borrowed from Zod) :

Jason & I with R2-D2 at our "duty station", the Rancor/Han in Carbonite photo booth (picture also borrowed from Zod) :

My R2-D2 stationed in the Rancor/Han in Carbonite photo booth:

The Whitecaps concessions are always "changed" to Star Wars characters to fit the theme for the night. The Dippin Dots were changed to R2-D2 Dots:

Lou (from the 501st) using artists pastels to create the night's logo on the sidewalk at the main entrance. Lou did a great job, and he wasn't deterred by the threat of rain (which thankfully held off!) :

The Rancor/Han in Carbonite photo booth:

Lou's art, in progress:

My "brother" Luke (aka Chris Blackstock) posing with the Rancor (this time Luke has his saber!) :

Star Wars In Concert

2010-07-16T22:31:00.004-04:00

It's been too long since I posted a Mission Brief...

Wednesday, July 14th 2010 I was able to participate with the Rebel Legion and 501st for the Star Wars In Concert event when they came to Grand Rapids, Michigan. As a R2-D2 Builders' Club member/R2-D2 builder, I was also able to bring along my newly RC-ed R2-D2.

It was a blast! I've never seen a crowd of young fans that were as into the original trilogy as these kids and their parents seemed to be. Typically, the parents like the original trilogy but the kids know all there is to know about the Clone Wars. I saw mostly little Leias and several Jedi Lukes. It was awesome! They all adored R2-D2 and the majority of them were actually quite gentle. I only had to shoo away two kids (one for trying to force the dome to turn, and one for pulling on a utility arm).

We stayed until just before the concert was going to start so that everyone who wanted a picture with R2 could have one. Then, I let him roll down the hallway toward the elevator. It was slow going at first because people who hadn't seen us before kept stopping us so they could have pictures with R2. Eventually though, the famous "20th Century Fox" fanfare started and the crowd was thin enough I was able to get R2 down the hall. In fact, I had a hard time keeping up with him! I'm very pleased with his new batteries. :)

I didn't have an opportunity to take any pictures, but here are some "borrowed" pictures:

Bringing R2 in (pushing him on the dolly to save the batteries for "show time")

Our "station" in one of the halls at the VanAndel Arena. We eventually had to move further down the hall to avoid the blockage that was starting because of R2's photo line! This picture was taken before the doors opened. After the doors opened, there was a MOB around us the entire time.

Testing out R2's controls before the doors opened:

My husband (Rebel Pilot) & I (Leia) with R2-D2 and our new friend Maggie (Jason, our kids, & I were Star Wars "decorations" at Maggie's wedding July 3rd).
Picture Credits:
First 5 Pictures by Zod
Last Picture by Josh Headd

Remembering Celebrations Past

2010-04-20T15:00:00.005-04:00

As I anticipate Celebration V and the chance to once again participate in the R2-D2 Builders' Club droid room (this time with a 100% complete R2-D2) I took a look back at Celebration II and Celebration III.

The First R2-D2 Builders' Club room was at Celebration II. There weren't many of us there, and I didn't have much more than a handful of parts at the time, but it was SO much fun! There was a droid parade and a R2 Builder member even dressed like the exclusive action figure Jorg Sacul. We got to have a Q & A with "Uncle" Don Bies and we got to get close up views of the ILM-built "uber" R2-D2 that was used in Episodes 1,2, and later 3.

At Celebration III, George Lucas came for some special sessions on Saturday morning. My husband & I (with baby son in tow) didn't think we'd have a chance to get in to one of them, so we didn't even try. As we got to the R2 room Saturday morning, people were being herded down the hall toward the ballrooms. We were asked if we'd like to see George, so we said "YEAH!" and followed the herd toward the ballroom where George would appear. We got to see him, which was really cool when we weren't expecting it. As we were heading back to the R2 room, there was a big guy blocking the door. I tried to move past him and he blocked my way saying no one was being allowed inside. I said "Even R2 Builders?!" He said, "Oh! Builders are allowed" and let my husband & I in with the stroller & our son. Once I got past Goliath at the door, I realized WHY he was there. George Lucas was inside, touring the R2-D2 Builders' Club room!! After he looked around the room, he was gracious enough to pose with the members who were present for a picture! How awesome! It truly was the greatest Celebration moment yet! I'm not sure how any Celebration can top that unless George comes again, and this time I get to shake his hand!!

(Click on an image to see it larger)

Celebration II:

The group (I'm in the row of people standing, 4th from the left, the woman dressed as a Jedi Padawan) :

"Uncle" Don and the droids (ILM's R2-D2 is front & center) :

"Uncle" Don, Mieal Deneb (me), and ILM's uber R2:

Me posing with the REAL R2-D2:

Celebration III:

The group with George Lucas, Don Bies, uber R2, and Rick McCallum (I'm the only woman, dressed as Beru Whitesun in the middle of the right side/edge) :

Countdown to CV!

2010-04-05T21:10:00.005-04:00

I decided to create a countdown clock so I know how many days I have left to work on projects until CV.

RC Setup

2010-03-31T22:32:00.002-04:00

Here are pictures of my R2's RC setup.

My radio is an Airtronics:

Looking in from the top (dome removed):

Closeup of the Sabertooth setup:

A closer view of the Sabertooth:

Grand Rapids Griffins Star Wars Night

2010-03-09T14:15:00.004-05:00

March 6th, 2010 was the annual Grand Rapids Griffins Hockey Star Wars night. R2-D2 was RCd for the first time and moving!! The week before the event, I got the pocket vents finished up and attached, and then I weathered everything so he looks more "real". It was great fun to have R2 a part of the charity photo booth and see the excitement on all the kids' faces!

TOYS!

2010-02-02T20:22:00.005-05:00

My R2 is a big step closer to coming "alive"! I got my radio, receiver, 2 servos, a dome gear, and dome motor with motor controller yesterday and today (it all came in two packages). I got everything in trade from a friend and fellow R2-D2 Builder's Club member for sewing him a X-wing flight suit.

I'm so excited I'm that much closer to bringing "life" to my little guy. Now, I need a dome bearing* and I'll be able to remotely move the dome!

(The Pottery Barn Kids R2-D2 lunchbox is a birthday present to myself to store my radio in.)

*Being low on funds, I originally had planned to cut down a Sit 'n Spin and use inside the dome (unseen) as the bearing to turn the dome. However, the HPs and various lights interfere with the plastic case of the Sit 'n Spin. I had ideas to cut out the case around the elements inside the dome. However, the Sit 'n Spin bearing hangs up because of the angle of R2's body (& therefore his dome). Sit 'n Spins aren't designed for angles, but for flat on the floor use. So, I'm going to have to come up with the money for an aluminum 17 inch "lazy susan" bearing after all.

Dome Details

2010-01-29T21:21:00.002-05:00

I had a request for pictures of my R2's dome:

Leg Attachment

2009-12-16T14:14:00.006-05:00

I had a friend request close-up images of my R2's leg attachment. I thought it would be easier to post the images here than send them via email. (Click on an image for a larger view.)

R2's legs have an upright board on either side of his body with 4 holes drilled in them, 3 holes are for bolts and one is for foot motor wiring (in my photos, it's just an orange "stand in" wire because I haven't done anything RC yet). There is a 5th, larger, hole drilled into the center between the 4 smaller holes. A length of gas pipe runs from left leg to right leg, connecting them for stability (the gas pipe also makes an excellent "handle" when transporting R2!)

Here is what R2's left leg looks like from outside his body. The shoulder hub has been covered with faux metallic shelf liner to resemble aluminum. The shoulder hub is actually made out of wood.

Looking down from the top at the outside and inside of R2's left leg at the same time:

The inside view of R2's left leg. You can see the three bolts that hold his leg onto the board which is part of his body framework. The gas pipe that connects the two legs together is running through the center of the holes:

Another angle of the interior:

Here is a shot looking straight into R2's body. You can see the ends of the bolts that hold his legs to the boards with the gas pipe in the center.

I also had some older pictures of when I was painting R2's skins.

This image shows the shoulder hub. It has 5 holes drilled into it, 3 of which I use for the bolts, 1 I use for the wiring, and the larger center hole is where the gas pipe flange is attached (on the inside).

This image shows what it looks like without the shoulder hub in place. You can see the 4 holes that have been drilled for the bolts & wire and also the gas pipe.

Here is a very old progress picture of R2 without his skins. It shows how the gas pipe is connected to the shoulder hubs and how the shoulder hubs are attached to the legs. (When this picture was taken we had shorter bolts that didn't go through the boards in his frame, but have since changed them for longer ones.)

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-15T15:05:00.004-05:00

Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas

With hopes for a Wondrous New Year in 2010!

Star Wars Celebration V!

2009-12-07T15:14:00.002-05:00

Finally, Star Wars Celebration V has been announced, and plans are being made! R2-D2 and I, along with my family, plan to be there!!

This year it will be in Orlando Florida August 12-15, 2010 at the Orange County Convention Center.

Grand Rapids Griffin's Star Wars Night

2009-04-22T20:12:00.003-04:00

March 21st was the Star Wars night for my local hockey team the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Michigan chapters of the 501st and Rebel Legion participated in a charity event to raise money for the Grand Rapids Griffins Youth Foundation (we ended up raising nearly $8,000...a record so far!) As part of the charity photo booth, I brought my R2-D2.

Here are some pictures from the event:

My R2-D2 positioned for duty at the photo booth.

Ready to be admired and adored by children of all ages.

R2 with a...friend?

Group photo of the costumers.

Me (on the left) as Episode 3 Padme (the baby bump is real) next to Padme from Episode 2...I guess I'm beside myself!?

Foot Cable Progress

2009-04-22T20:04:00.003-04:00

I had a Rebel Legion event on March 21st that I wanted to take my R2-D2 to. I desperately wanted to get the foot strips made and put on my R2's feet before the event, but we kept running into problems. So, I decided I'd at least like to put the cables on, temporarily, for the event without the foot strips. I glued the cables into the knurled fittings coming from the battery boxes but the part of the cable that belongs in the feet would be temporarily stuck into the knurled fittings (which I will remove later when I'm ready to permanently attach the foot strips). With my husband's help, I got the holes drilled into R2's outer feet.

Red Flannel Festival

2008-10-08T16:23:00.008-04:00

I took my R2-D2 to another Rebel Legion/501st event on Saturday October 4, 2008, in Cedar Springs, Michigan for the Red Flannel Festival.

Here are a couple pictures:

The rest of my photos can be seen here

Painted skins!!

2008-09-08T00:08:00.004-04:00

At long last (it seems), my R2-D2 is proudly sporting fresh paint on his skins! Yesterday and today I masked, primed, painted, and topcoated the skins. It meant removing his legs, poor little guy, but I am happy that I was able to get them back on tonight and take some pictures. (You can see the painting progress in my Skins post.)

Here he is, modeling:

Skins

2008-09-07T23:25:00.013-04:00

I purchased styrene for my R2's skins in 2004 and cut them out myself using full-scale blueprints found at the R2-D2 Builders' Club Yahoo group. After several years of just taping them onto the frame with masking tape, I finally got to permanently attach them, add all the little panels, and then finally paint them. Here are pictures documenting my process:

Screwing the inner skin to the frame (front view).

Screwing the inner skin to the frame (back view).

Taping the outer skin to the inner skin.

Preparing the panels for taping to the outer skin.

Panels to be placed on the skins.

Before panels (with my son).

The first panel is attached!

Before the panel...

...after the panel is attached.

Back view before panels.

Attaching panels to the back.

Panels are attached (front view).

Panels are attached (back view).

The detail pieces are masked and I'm ready to prime the skin.

Two layers of white primer were applied, and then two layers of Wimbledon White, then three layers of crystal clear gloss top coat.

After the paint was "touchable", I removed the masking tape and paper from the detail parts.

Cheating?

2008-09-07T23:18:00.002-04:00

My R2's shoulder to body hubs are made out of wood. I tried painting them aluminum, but it just didn't satisfy me. One day, while walking through Menard's, I noticed a display of shelf liners, and my eye caught on a faux metal version. I purchased it, and used it to cover the wood and make my shoulder to body hubs appear like they are made out of aluminum!

Scratch Made Coin Retuns

2008-09-07T23:12:00.003-04:00

With my budget being rather small, but desperate to get my droid finished, I followed the advice of a couple R2 Builders and made my own out of left-over styrene. It took some patience, but it paid off, and I'm quite happy with them. In fact, I don't think aluminum coin returns would have fit in my droid. The styrene versions seem quite at home among the styrene skins I made.

I thought I had taken more pictures of them, but I don't seem to have more than this. Here are my coin returns prior to priming and painting:

Dome Process

2008-09-07T22:43:00.005-04:00

I spent the majority of the time spent on my dome(s) just sanding. And sanding, and sanding, and sanding...which doesn't photograph very well. However, when the more "fun" stuff began, then I started taking pictures. Here's some pictures of my dome process:

Here are the inner and outer domes before cutting any holes in the inner dome.

My husband helped me score the circles with a circle cutting tool on his drill. Then we Dremmeled "tabs" that I could later remove and file & sand smooth.

Holes in the inner dome, ready to have the tabs removed.

Inner and outer domes (front view) with holes all cut and polished.

Inner and Outer domes (back view).

Both domes permanently together, main eye permanently attached.

Attaching the first "pie panel".

Several detail parts have been glued (using Liquid Nails) in and clamped for drying.

Parts drying.

Parts drying, inside view. (You can also see my "Uncle" Don autograph.) :)

Sterling Heights Library

2008-09-04T21:21:00.005-04:00

August 23rd, 2008 was the Star Wars day for the Sterling Heights, Michigan public library. We made the 2½ hour drive there with R2 (and our kids) to participate.

This picture is sort of random, but I love it because it shows how my son was being so protective of R2. Once, a boy (older than my son) came up to see R2 and started punching R2. My son, said "NO! NO! NO! Not your R2!" My husband said, "It's okay, Benjamin." But I whispered, "No it really wasn't okay." I think the boy's mom heard Benjamin and told her son to stop. It was cute to see how protective Benjamin was of R2!

Star Wars: Clone Wars Premiere

2008-09-04T21:09:00.005-04:00

For the premiere of Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie at midnight on the 15th of August, 2008 a small group of Rebel Legion and 501st members gathered at the request of the Celebration Cinema North Thursday night to entertain movie goers. R2 came along for his third event. I had to get a ride to the event with my brother since my husband worked until 10:00 (getting home around 10:30) and we were to arrive at 7:00. My brother intended to drive his family's minivan to work and then swing by my place to pick me, and R2, up. However, he forgot to drive the van, and instead drove his Dodge Neon. It was quite interested trying to delicately CRAM R2 into the backseat of the Neon! But, he fit (barely!) and we made it to my brother's house okay. Once we got to my brother's house, we transferred R2 to the van! When my husband got out of work, he joined us at the theater.

A.J.'s Star Wars Day

2008-09-04T20:58:00.004-04:00

My R2's second "official" event was for A.J.'s Family Fun Center's Star Wars day on August 2nd, 2008. He was part of the photo booth area, helping to raise money for the Make A Wish foundation.

Here he is at the photo area.

Hangin' out.

Me and Artoo.

R2 with one of his biggest fans, my daughter.

And of course, he picks up new fans where ever he goes:

(This trooper added his own caption!)

Building Journal

2008-09-04T18:54:00.011-04:00

My R2 Building and Events Journal
(after collecting parts for 5 years & some preliminary building, the REAL stuff began)

8-23-08, Saturday. Took R2 (still in same unfinished condition, poor little guy!) to his fourth event. Sterling Heights Public Library in Sterling Heights, Michigan was having a Star Wars day there. R2 again took his post in the photo area, this time helping to raise money for the Friends of the Library.
8-14-08, Thursday. Took R2 (still the same, unfinished, condition) to his third event, the Star Wars: Clone Wars movie premiere at Celebration Cinema North in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Found out he will fit in the back seat of a Neon, though not advisable!)
8-2-08, Saturday. Took R2 (still in same unfinished condition) to his second event at A.J.s Family Fun Center's Star Wars day. He helped out at the photo booth again, and again helped raise money for Make A Wish.
6-28-08, Saturday. Took R2 (such as he is) to his first real event -with the Rebel Legion and 501st at the West Michigan Whitecaps baseball game, Star Wars night. We raised money for the Make A Wish foundation.
6-27-08, Friday. Finished putting outer skin on. Attached coin returns. Played around with door so it would stick better.
6-26-08, Thursday. Started attaching inner skin, but ran out of double stick tape. Got door cut out of skin & edges of door frame sawed off to fit opening in skin.
6-25-08, Wednesday. Jason & I notched frame for side vents, cut top off left side vent (to fit), and attached inner skin with screws & glued side vents in place.
6-23-08, Monday. Cut pill bottles for PSI light surrounds. Painted utility arm blocks black (to match rest of box). Glued pill bottles to dome behind milky plexi lenses. Double sided taped rest of movable HP to dome (I didn't want to epoxy it in case I needed to open it back up later). Glued large data port to frame.
6-22-08, Sunday. Jason & I worked on attaching power couplings and octagon ports. I spray painted the coin returns. Jason added blocks to the utility arm box to keep the arms from sinking back into the box too far. Started making grooves for the side vents. Glued PSI lenses (milky plexi) to dome.
6-20-08, Friday. Jason & I drilled holes in the logic surrounds & I mounted the lenses & fiber optics behind the front logics. Temp. taped back logic lens & lights. Temp. taped front logic lights.
6-19-08, Thursday. Put Velcro in dome to attach light kit. Made coin returns (X3) out of styrene and got them primed.
6-18-08, Wednesday. Can't do anything to wait for the Liquid Nails to dry.
6-17-08, Tuesday. Attached dome panels to dome. Scraped paint off detail parts before attaching; then attached HPs, logic surrounds, and dome bumps to dome.
6-16-08, Monday. Filed & sanded holes for main eye lens. Cleaned outer dome (inside) and inner dome (outside) and placed them together. Painted silver details on main eye & brown paint (for weathering and to hide the inside) on inside edges of main eye. Screwed main eye to dome(s).
6-15-08, Sunday. I removed all the tabs from the holes in the inner dome and filed & sanded the edges of holes smooth. Jason & I drilled holes for main eye through both domes, then cut holes for main eye lens in both domes. I re-cut opening for dome bumps & filed front logic holes to fit.
6-14-08, Saturday. Jason & I cut the rest of the holes in the inner dome and re-cut the ones we cut on Sunday.
6-13-08, Friday. Attached center vent box and coin slots. Sort of attached power couplings. Trimmed skin to fit power coupling. "Attached" sound (though it need soldering to work properly, tape doesn't do it).
6-12-08, Thursday. Filed top center vent inserts again to fit in surround. J.B. Welded remaining inserts.
6-11-08, Wednesday. Filed center vent inserts. J.B. Welded some of the inserts.
6-9-08, Monday. Painted utility arm box & center vent box black.
6-8-08, Monday. Jason & I put together the center vent box and started cutting holes in inner dome.
6-7-08, Saturday. Jason helped me "perfect" the utility arm box. I marked holes to be cut on inner dome.
5-31-08, Saturday. Took R2 (such as he is) to a prop party hosted by my brother.
5-30-08, Friday. Worked on utility arm box with Jason.
Month of May: Sanded inner dome, sanded inner dome, sanded inner dome, sanded inner dome...!
5-17-08, Saturday. Took R2 (such as he is) to the Motor City Comic Con to be part of the R2-D2 Builders' table there.
5-4-08, Sunday. Sanded inner & outer domes.
5-3-08, Saturday. Jason helped me with the utility arm box and coin slot block, made the large data port opening larger, and misc. figuring.
4-22-08, Tuesday. Sanded inner dome.
4-21-08, Monday. Sanded inner dome.
4-14-08, Monday. Sanded inner dome.
4-4-08, Friday. Weathered main eye. Scraped excess blue paint from main eye. Glued lens to main eye.
4-3-08, Thursday. Cut tubing to 12" and inserted into foot cables.
?-?-08. Purchased faux metal shelf liner for leg to body hubs.
?-?-08. Purchased tubing to insert into foot cables to prevent crushing.
8-4-07, Saturday. Took R2 (such as he is) to the Midwest Builders' Gathering at Tom Jozwiak's house. Received foot cables from Tom.
8-2-07, Thursday. Tried to tape ankle bracelets to ankle (didn't work). Ran "dummy wire" through shoulder & body down leg & out ankle, into battery box. Put legs back on body. Attached ankles to feet (permanently). Jason helped me cut key holes in shoulder horse shoe hubs & screwed to shoulder. Put screws in horse shoes and "hung" on hubs -in place.
7-31-07, Tuesday. Painted leg (shoulder) to body hubs again so they would be shinier.
7-30-07, Monday. Scraped paint off harnesses (more) & boxes, glued harnesses to battery boxes, glued knurled fittings to bat. boxes, screwed bat. boxes to feet, scraped paint off center foot & ankle cylinders, glued center ankle cylinders to center foot/ankle, weathered-painted leg where leg would should through booster covers, glued booster covers to legs.
7-29-07, Sunday. Scraped paint off battery box harnesses so pieces would glue. Glued bottom pieces on harnesses. Glued ankle cylinder holders, cylinders, & wedges in place on ankles. Jason helped me drill holes for battery/motor wire in ankles & battery boxes and drill holes for knurled hose fittings.
7-28-07, Saturday. Continued to scrape paint so cylinders, cylinder holders, & wedges would glue to ankles. Scraped paint so ankle details would glue. Adjusted wedges so they sit flush against ankles and cylinders. Painted alu/silver details on booster covers and notches where under shoulder details go. Glued ankle details (& clamped).
7-27-07, Friday. Glued leg struts together, cut leg strut shaft to proper length, glued leg strut into booster cover, cut & sanded so ankle cylinders would fit ankles, scraped so shoulder hubs would fit in their holes again.
7-21-07, Saturday. Jason & I worked on box for utility arms, & backings for details parts in frame. (Cut pieces out of wood.)
7-7-07, Saturday. Finished clear coating feet, legs, etc. Repainted fixed HPs, ankle cylinders, leg struts, ankle details, & shoulder hyrdros silver/alu.
7-6-07, Friday. Painted feet, legs, ankles, battery boxes, skirt, horseshoes (used 4 more cans!) and started clear coating.
7-4-07, Wednesday. Painted feet, legs, ankles, batt. boxes , skirt, horseshoes (used 4 cans, 2 were used previously) and it STILL wasn't enough!
6-20-07, Wednesday. Sanded inner dome.
6-19-07, Tuesday. Sanded inner dome.
6-18-07, Monday. Sanded front logics & fit them to alum panel for dome. Other misc. figuring.
6-16-07, Saturday. Painted black parts on HPs (x2). Sanded inner dome.
5-26-07, Saturday. Took R2 (such as he is) to "Alternate C4" at Darryl Sorensen's house in Beloit, WI.
5-25-07, Friday. Jason & I worked on attaching dome, center foot, & legs.
5-24-07, Thursday. Painted "alu" parts. Repainted utility arms, large data port, & main eye.
5-23-07, Wednesday. Started painting legs & feet, ran out of paint.
5-22-07, Tuesday. Painted all blue parts.
5-21-07, Monday. Sanded dome panels & power coupling greeblies. Washed panels & greeblies and wiped with rubbing alcohol. Washed/wiped with alcohol: dome ring, octagon ports, power couplings, coin slots, battery box harnesses, and ankle details. Looked at pictures and watched ANH for research into paint details.
5-20-07, Sunday. Sanded more on inner and outer domes and dome panels.
5-19-07, Saturday. Sanded inner & outer domes. Sanded dome panels. Sanded shoulder horse shoes.
5-18-07, Friday. Sanded some parts. Sanded & filed parts that were J.B. Welded. Primed a bunch of parts. Jason helped me put the half moons on the outer & inner feet. I put the other details on the outer feet.
5-17-07, Thursday. J.B. Welded holes in resin parts.
5-16-07, Wednesday. Sanded & cut sprues off resin parts, washed resin parts with alcohol and soap & water. Dried and re-wrapped/relabeled everything. Got gas pipe & flanges and more paint.
5-15-07, Tuesday. Sanded & cut sprues off resin parts.
5-14-07, Monday. Sanded resin parts.
5-12-07, Saturday. Cut sprues off resin, sanded resin.
5-11-07, Friday. Finished filing panels. Started cutting resin.
5-10-07, Thursday. Filed dome & panels.
5-9-07, Wednesday. Cut panels off dome. Filed dome & panels.
5-8-07, Tuesday. Watched ANH and looked at pictures for research and inspiration.
5-7-07, Monday. Got resin parts in the mail from Keith Henry.

Fan Art?

2008-07-21T18:40:00.005-04:00

On June 29th, my oldest sister Amy and her family (visiting from Arizona) came to a birthday party for my daughter. While at our house, my nephew David took a picture of my [incomplete] R2. He later took that image and enhanced it using Photoshop. This is what he sent me today:

I think he did a really cool job.

West Michigan Whitecaps' Star Wars Night

2008-06-28T23:20:00.004-04:00

I've been working feverishly to get my R2 "done" enough looking to take him to a Rebel Legion/501st event for the first time. R2's first event was a charity event for the Make a Wish foundation held at the West Michigan Whitecaps Baseball team's Star Wars Night tonight, June 28, 2008.

It was so fun seeing all the kids' reactions when they saw R2. One little boy, sitting on his father's shoulders nearly fell off when he saw R2 he was that excited! He kept shouting "IT'S R2-D2! IT'S R2-D2!!!".

I didn't get many pictures, since it's hard to "troop" and snap pictures at the same time, but here's one of my favorites:

Mieal Deneb (Rachel Orange) and Jacen Deneb (Jason Orange)
R2-D2

I'll post more on my progress to this point later, but for now I need to flop on the couch! It was a fun but exhausting day!

Motor City Comic Con 2008

2008-06-10T18:12:00.005-04:00

Motor City Comic Con was May 16, 17, and 18, 2008. My R2-D2 went to MCCC with me May 17th, 2008 to be part of the R2-D2 Builders Club display. Here's how he looked:

The utility arm box was still not perfected, which is why his arms are kind of sticking out funny. To see the rest of my images visit: My Flikr Photostream

Many thanks to Mark Swartz who put everything together for the Builders booth. See you next year!

Grand Rapids RPF Prop Party

2008-06-10T17:57:00.004-04:00

On May 31st, my brother hosted a prop party. My R2-D2 went along as did some of my costumes. I didn't get too many pictures, but here they are:

"Once you know worm, that's what you'll yearn!"

"NEVER read from the book of the dead!"

"Must be a probe of some kind."

"R2, you should know better than to trust a strange computer!"

"What do you mean, naked?"

An underweight glob of grease?

Progress!

2008-06-10T17:22:00.003-04:00

At long last, the weather has warmed up and I can go outside and sand, cut, etc. and work on my R2 again!

Here's what I've gotten done so far, some with the help of my husband. :)

You can't really tell, but this is the utility arm box that my husband & I created. We made our own frame (before there were plans for such) and have had to alter and change it several times to fit detail parts in the skins. So, it's mostly a "trial and error" sort of system, but we finally got it right!`

Here's the box we devised for my R2's center vents. It will also house the sound system. I have two speakers (one is a box from Radio Shack that has a volume control) so I mounted those behind each vent. I have since painted the parts of the box that will show through the vents flat black . I still need to file the inserts for the vents so that they fit inside the surrounds better. Once I get that done, I'll attach them permanently to the surrounds and then attach them to the box and the box to R2's frame.

One step at a time, he's getting there!

R2-Orange

2008-05-16T19:57:00.003-04:00

R2-Orange!

For over 6 years I have been a part of the R2-D2 Builders' club. I met my husband shortly after I officially joined the Builders' club and I have slowly been "infecting" him with the R2-Building bug. He has expressed an interest (when time, money, and space afford) to build his own R2 unit. Based on his description, I've created an image of "R2-Orange":

Progress so far...

2008-04-03T14:24:00.003-04:00

Here is how my R2 looks right now. He still has a lot of work that needs to be done, but I'm waiting for warmer weather (it's coming!!) so I can work outside. I'm looking forward to getting more done on the dome! I have almost every part (notice the box at his feet) for him, I just need to get everything in place!

Painting

2008-01-28T22:10:00.001-05:00

Before I could start the process of painting, I had to prep the parts. Most of the detail parts are resin, though I do have some aluminum detail parts. The legs and feet are wood.

Prepping the resin required me to sand off some flues/flashing and do some sanding. After that, I needed to wash the parts to remove any mold release that might still be on the parts. This was an important step because if any mold release remained on the part, paint would not stick.

Here are my resin parts after washing as they lay out to thoroughly dry after blotting with paper towels.

After washing, I had to mask places on some parts and sort out which ones were to be painted aluminum color, which were to be painted blue, and which were to have white. Then, everything needed to be primed before I could add the color. When the primer was dry, I started with painting the blue parts. I still have a few detail parts that need painting, and R2's skins need to be painted white, but other than that I am done with painting.

After everything is painted and installed in my R2, I will "weather" the parts so that he doesn't look like he just stepped off the factory assembly line. Weathering will help make him seem more "real".

Dome

2008-01-28T22:03:00.000-05:00

(I have the 1st run R&J dome) I haven't gotten far visually on my dome, though I've put a lot of work into it so far:

I've cut out all the panels
Painted the blue panels
Sanded the inner dome...which still needs more sanding.

I'm waiting for warmer weather so I can continue working on the sanding of my dome. I'd rather not get aluminum dust in the house!

2008-01-28T21:57:00.000-05:00

Here I am at Star Wars: Celebration 2 with "uber R2" the R2-D2 that was created by ILM for use in Star Wars: Episodes 1, 2, and 3.