The Star Wars Droid R2-D2 Project Launches Nov 1st

The R2-D2 Project is getting ready to launch on November 1. The goal is to have him ready and functioning by September 2009. I have about 90% of the parts required and will build him first before painting. Once everything but the electrical is completed he will be disassemble and painted then re-assembled and the electronics installed. Hopefully I can have him ready to go to his first public showing at Mountain-Con05 held in Utah next September. Here are just a few pictures of him in pieces. He is mostly steel and aluminum and will have most of the gizmo's seen in the movies.

The Robot is becoming quite a celebrity lately with fans coming over almost weekly to see him. So with all the fans dropping by he asked for, and received, some new space in the office. He was in a corner where he was cramped and could barely rotate. His fans also complained that it was hard to get a good picture with him. So as of this past Saturday his display area has been moved towards the center of the office and increased to about 60sf.

He has a very busy week this week starting on Thursday. A Boy Scout Troop will be over to see him and get pictures. They are learning and building robots for scouting activity. Their Scoutmaster heard about him and when he asked the boys, they all voted to spend their night here with Robot. Then early Friday morning the Robot will be making another all day appearance where I work. He was requested to be the Guest Star by the big kids, again. Then Friday night he will be entertaining the Trick-or-Treaters and helping his roommate "The BatMan" pass out his Bat-Candy for Halloween. For the past few weeks the kids and their parents have been asking if he was going to be out this year. Last year he was in pieces getting some systems upgrades. With all these requests for appearances he has been practicing several of his impressions of other famous Robots for his many varied fans. Should be a fun week!

MountainCon 4 Pictures

My Mom thinks the Robot is COOL.

Me and the Grandkids. Pheobe, Gavin and the twins, Hope and Faith.

My Son and his girlfriend. She loves the Robot! Lance isn't too happy about it though.

Actress from Deep Space 9, Penny Johnson Jerald and the Robot She was so impressed with the Robots that she came to see them twice and the second time we got her to pose with them. Very nice lady.

Dr Who Learning about Robots

Darth Vader and Crew

MountainCon 4 in Layton, Utah

Wow, It's almost October!! I have been so busy with preparing the B9 for MountainCon and dealing with some other happenings in real life that it's been a long time since I last posted. Sorry about that. Unfortunately the internal leg supports didn't get completed in time so the Robot's new rubber legs couldn't be installed but several other systems got upgraded. MountainCon 4 is over and it was a blast. Greg and I drove to Utah to attend the convention and display our B9 Robots. We were given tables in the Lobby of the Davis Convention Center and we were suprised to find that R2Builders Club member Lynelle Phillips from Denver had brought her partially completed R2 Astromech Droid and was set up next to us! We were all setup right next to the life size Stargate and it was a beautifull piece of work that greeted fans when they walked in the door. We were very busy as the Robots were a big hit and well remembered from the TV Series. Unfortunately Mark Goddard had to cancel due to personal reasons, but we carried on and had fun anyway. Met a lot of nice fans at this convention and the MountainCon Staff was a pleasure to work with. On Sunday we moved the Robots to the entry of the Stargate and more than a few people came and had their picture taken with the Robots. We had a great time and besides a few minor glitches.the Robots performed great and entertained everyone. Greg and hi Robot even made the front page of the local newspaper!

Robot's New Rubber Legs

Christmas in July. On Thursday, July 10 I received the rubber legs for the Robot. They are made from 100% Silicone Rubber with a 100 year lifetime. I installed them on the treads temporarily so i can measure the height for the steel supports.

Leo and B9-Leo Meet

I had my son and his family in for a visit this past week. I got to visit with my 3 and a half year old Grandson for the first time since he was about 6 months old. He is named, Leo, after my Father as is my Robot. Leo loved the Robot and would want to go see him and talk to him all the time. When I asked if he wanted have his picture taken with the Robot and said "Sure". When I told him to hold the Robots hand he was so excited!

The TV Robot in the Sci-Fi Museum in Seattle

I was at the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle Washington on June 11. I was there to see the 40 year old Lost in Space Robot that was used on the TV Series. I finally got to see the real Robot, well what's left of him anyways. Unfortunately I don't think it is much since a lot of him was discarded after the series was cancelled. The one thing that bothers me is I couldn't take any pictures. I've taken pictures of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre in Paris but they won't let you take pictures in the Sci-Fi Museum. Figure that out. But I fulfilled a promise I made to myself as a kid, that one day I'd look upon the real Robot. I finally did.


Gort from Forbidden Planet