March UFO Sightings in the Workshop

I've been running way behind on posting anything at all lately.  As is usually the case, whenever I've got time to write it feels like I've got nothing to write about.  Then whenever I've got interesting projects going on, I can't find time to write.

I will write more detailed write-ups as these projects get completed and I find breathing room.  In the meantime, here's a shotgun blast of photos of UnFinished Objects around the workshop lately.

Let me be clear, there's a lot of them:


Those are just some of the several hundred parts that we've been making for the Mandalorian Death Watch and Night Owl costumes we'll be showing off at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim next month.  Here's one of them strapped together for a quick duct tape test fit on our smallest wearer:


As part of that project, we're making no less than 19 jetpacks:


On the subject of Star Wars, I'm also making a few Sith Acolytes from the Old Republic MMORPG.  Here's an in-progress shot of the mask:


I'll also be dressing the Lady Shawnon as Shae Vizla from the same game:


I'm a bit touched in the head, so cranking out thirty simultaneous Star Wars costumes* is apparently not enough.  That's why I've also been tinkering with my realistic interpretation of Captain Rex from the Clone Wars:


On the subject of helmets, I'm still making slow headway on my War Machine helmet from Ironman 2:



Of course, there's also the really big, super secret project going on over on the main workbench.  It's starting to get difficult to take any photos in the workshop without having some part of this thing visible in frame:


I can't tell you what it's going to be (other than "awesome" of course) but hopefully I'll get a chance to show off the finished result some months from now.
The next couple of months should make for some pretty exciting updates.  There will be Star Wars Celebration: Anaheim, the Bay Area Maker Faire, and Shawnon's next visit back in the states all coming up in short order.

So stay tuned for further updates...

A New Utility Belt for Batman

A while back I was in Japan helping with an ad campaign (featuring this commercial and print ads like this one) and had the pleasure of meeting one Kevin Porter.  Kevin has made a name for himself appearing as Batman in a variety of short films as well as conventions all over the world.  You may have recently seen him in the Batman vs. Darth Vader Superpower Beat Down video.

He mentioned to me at one point that he'd like me to make some parts for a new version of the utility belt he wears with his costume.  By the time we were done discussing it, the project had grown from "can you make me a smaller version of this little buckle?" to "How about three complete belts instead of two?"

I guess that's how these things happen.

Here's he is in character as Batman wearing one of the uitility belts I made for him:


For more pictures and a detailed explanation of how it was made, read on...

Two Years Ago Today...

...I met up with my sister and her friends for dinner and met the most amazing, intelligent, beautiful woman a guy could ever ask for.  It turns out her name was "Shawnon," the first sign of the perfect match that makes us about 150% too cute together.

Withing a few short weeks, I'd happily given her the keys to my everything.  Here she is driving my car:

She's been away at school for most of the time we've been together, but when she's in town, we spend every waking minute together.  Even though I'm always in the workshop, she's right there with me:

Even with all of the separation, we've manage to squeeze a lot into the past two years.  Here we are diving in the Caribbean:

And touring Disneyland: 

And wandering the streets of Tokyo:

Somewhere along the way I've travelled to visit her at school a couple of times and we've managed to enjoy all sorts of road trips and other adventures together.  Last year I even had her made a Baroness of the Principality of Sealand, so she can be properly referred to as a lady in her own right.

Suffice it to say, it's been a wonderful whirlwind couple of years and I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of our years have in store.