Wednesday, February 25, 2009

What's wrong with this pic?

One more pic and story about Fanboys. I was up until 3:00am Friday morning trying to put AL together. The arms were the last thing to go on before putting the skins over it. I usually put at least one arm out so the skins will hold in place. Friday night while setting him up I noticed I couldn't do this. See if you can figure out why (I knew immediately and did the "could've had a V-8" slap on the forehead!). I promise to correct it all later, as soon as I get another coat of paint on the arms.



Until next time,
Jawa Jaka

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Fanboys Pictures

Here are the pics from Fanboys Denver Premier. My friend Azman couldn't make it due to a nasty flubug, so AL graciously stepped in. I hope you're feeling better, Azman!


First and foremost, I'd like to thank the management of the AMC Westminster theater that put up with our antics. They, too, had a lot of fun.


Members of the 501st Mountain Garrison, MileHi Squad. I'm absolutely going to make the snowtrooper outfit, get some white ski boots, and tear down Peak 10 on skis in my outfit!! These two snowtroopers actually got their picture taken in the blizzard occuring at the same time outside the theater...


Not much crowds (snow scared them away?) but those few there had to say hi to AL.


OK, AL is also an armrest apparently. LOL Holding up our local rebel pilot.


At least the Jedi gently rested her hand on AL. I think they were telepathically communicating through the hand ("talk to the hand") (OK, you can say boo now.)


This is what Fanboys was all about. The sweatshirt says it all!

Drinking through a straw through the facemask under a helmet...

Even AL got into the "nerdy" act. Can someone please make him a bucket that'll fit him? LOL
All in all, we all had a great time.
Until next time,
Jawa Jaka

Monday, February 23, 2009

Fanboys Opening

After asking a bunch of people if they knew about Fanboys opening in Denver, I finally called the 501 local sqad leader on Wed. He didn't know for sure at that time, but was working on a special gathering on Fri night at one of the AMC theaters in the area. So, just to be safe, I worked on AL somewhat Wed night and all of Thur night (getting about 4 hours sleep) putting his utility arms back on and some other smaller parts, like pocket vents and side panels. I also taped all the skin panels back on. The legs got the booster covers and details attached, middle foot details screwed on, and some other odds and ends that I can't remember off hand.

And while I was in the middle of this building blizzard, still no call or commitment on the event. Until Friday morning! Azman had become ill and couldn't make it, so it was up to me and AL for all the photo ops. Boy, were there a lot of cell phones out taking his pic. Everyone had fun with him, and the best part, everyone respected him by not touching or touching very gently. One kid said he was delicate because he was special. "Pet him gently, he's not feeling well" was another kid remark. It's kinda nice having the kids monitor and protecting AL for a change.

I counted nine 501st members in costume, and me and AL. Not bad for a very, very short notice event. I suppose more people would have made it except it was snowing and nobody really knew where it was! All in all, it was a great event with lots of fun. The two snowtroopers even went outside in the snow to take pics. Imagine, snowtroopers in the snow! They should submit it to Bantha Tracks! We had so much fun, and everyone was soooo grateful to have AL there, I think I'll keep in contact with this group.

As for the film, well, what can I say. It's a moronic tale of young virgin men on a road trip. Need I say more!? Let's face it, it did deserve it's D-/one star rating. However, every Star Wars fan should see this at least once. It's all about the van, man! And if you do see it (which you should anyway) count how many SW/Star Trek celebs are in this film! I'm sure I missed a couple (darn, now I've gotta see it again!).

I'll post pics as soon as I upload them. Bottom line, we all had great fun! (and go see the movie!)
Until next time,
Jawa Jaka

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Well, once again not much done on AL. I did, however, end up at Home Depot for some carriage bolts for the dome bumps. I've got a lot of sanding to do on the top of them since there are three letters stamped on the top. It doesn't look like these bolts are rounded enough on the top but I'm determined to make it work somehow.

The booster covers and pocket vents came in this week. I also paid Wayne for the side vents. Sometime this month (we hope) JAG (I think) will be offering the aluminum horseshoes. I've got to save money for that. At this point I'm spending only on parts I need, not want (like the COM-8 frame, a truly magnificent anodized beauty!). I might splurge later for the rear door, but I'm going to try to figure out how to make one myself. Seems simple, a couple curved runners, some thin pipe, and a couple hinges. Of course, being a jawa, I always turn simple into a major undertaking!! LOL We'll see....
Until next time,
Jawa Jaka

Monday, February 2, 2009

New blog for my house project!

I've got a new blog for my new (old) house project at http://houseofjaka.blogspot.com. I've also added this into my "Visit these" link list. It's mostly about how I'm transforming an old house into my own personal haven. You'll find pictures of the house there (as soon as I post them) and my house projects updates. And yes, as promised, AL will have his very own bedroom - er, astromech lab....

Also, if anyone is following this blog, there is now a new feature called "Followers". I've added it to my side bar as "Who's Looking?" so that if you want to be a "follower" you can just click the link and you're automatically added. I don't know how I'll be using this feature, but I've got one follower already!

Until next time,
Jawa Jaka
And don't forget to visit my other blog.