Same As Always...

Is this thing on?

2011-09-02T01:29:00.000-07:00

It's been well over a year since I've updated this blog and my absence has been for a variety of reasons. It started with lack of progress and general apathy towards my website and other projects and hobbies but eventually turned into the realization that I had to get off my ass and do things that I had neglected for far too long. I've spent the past year and change completely turning my life around, I've just about done a complete 180° turn and things are looking up for the first time in a long while.

But enough about that. I've got a lot of new and exciting projects in the works and I plan to make time to document them and share them on my website(s). I've already posted some preview shots on Facebook with more to come soon.

Marching Orders

2010-03-21T02:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of weekends lately with two back-to-back parades I trooped as a part of the Neon City Garrison and Coruscant Base.

On March 13th we had the St. Patrick's Day parade in Henderson, I wore my "The Clone Wars" Anakin costume.

Full Gallery:
http://public.fotki.com/DanakinSkywalker/2010/st-patricks-day-parade/

Then on March 20th I traveled to Laughlin to walk in the Laughlin Townfest parade. This time I wore my EU Mandalorian costume, Fenn Shysa.

Full Gallery:
http://public.fotki.com/DanakinSkywalker/2010/laughlin-townfest-parade/

Thanks once again to the NCG for having me back, I've been having a blast trooping with them.

Run For A Wish 2010

2010-02-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I trooped the Run For A Wish event here in Las Vegas, put on by the Make A Wish Foundation. The event was a walk/run for people to raise money for the foundation and I was part of the Star Wars group there hanging out and taking pictures with the crowd while they prepped for their run. I joined the 501st's Neon City Garrison for the first event in nearly four years and I thank them for the opportunity, I hope to do it again very soon.

A gallery of pics from the event can be seen here: http://public.fotki.com/DanakinSkywalker/2010/run-for-a-wish/

Mandalorian Customs

2010-01-28T12:06:00.000-08:00

Just a quick site update, I've added pics of two new custom figures - Jaster Mereel and Fenn Shysa.

These are the first customs I've done in a year or so, I think they turned out pretty well. The Fenn Shysa figure is based off of the full-size costume I made last year. You can see more pics in the gallery.

Rex Progress

2010-01-22T11:57:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile but I finally got around to painting my Captain Rex helmet. I started by removing the visor area and priming it. Next came several coats of satin white. The details came next, and it was a tedious process masking off the whole thing four times for the different sections of blue/yellow.

I haven't decided how I'm going to do the dark, grimy weathering. It's really worn down in the show but I'm afraid it may look too dirty when transferred to a real helmet, I've got to find a nice balance. I also need a visor and rangefinder, all in due time.

Time flies.

2009-11-24T07:53:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how much time can pass when you're not paying attention. I started this blog with the intention to keep up with my projects and website but, right on cue, life gets in the way. I've been busy with other crap the last couple months but hopefully now I can get back on track.

I've been updating my website this morning with some long overdue additions, including EXPLOSION SAUCE... it's good on it's own...

New projects.

2009-08-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks to some very generous friends I've recently acquired an awesome "The Clone Wars" Clone Trooper helmet kit, made by the Sci-Fire G2 team. This is absolutely the cleanest cast I have ever seen - there's only one seam line running down the middle of the helmet, the rest is near immaculate. I plan on turning it into a Captain Rex helmet for display.

I've also started making a Mandalorian costume for my girlfriend. Thus far I've gotten the chest plates made out of two layers of 1/8" thick sintra, making the armor 1/4" thick; soon they'll be heated and shaped. The leg armor (she's doing a Jango-styled suit) still needs to be cut out but it'll be double-layered as well.

Comic-Con 2009 - Part 2

2009-08-05T04:16:00.000-07:00

Now, it wouldn't be a Comic-Con without me wearing an Anakin costume and this year was no different, I brought out my new(ish) costume based on the "The Clone Wars" TV series.

It was a big hit, particularly with the cast and crew of TCW that I met at the con - Dave Filoni (director), Matt Lanter (voice of Anakin) and Ashley Eckstein (voice of Ahsoka)!

They were all very nice and complimentary towards my costume. Ashley even called me "Skyguy" when I first went up to her table! How cool is that?

Comic-Con 2009 - Part 1

2009-08-04T02:28:00.000-07:00

It's already been about two weeks since Comic-Con but I'm still reeling from it. It was a crazy weekend that I'll never forget. I wanted to document some of the memories but there were so many that I'll have to do it one piece at a time.

To start off, here was the view from our awesome hotel room:

It cost a pretty penny but it was so worth not having to get up extra early and march across town.

Being so close also allowed me to debut my new costume with ease and comfort. I spent the first half of 2009 working on my new Mandalorian, specifically Fenn Shysa from the classic Marvel Star Wars comics.

I had a blast trooping around in it with my fellow Mandos for the first time in five years. It was truly rewarding to see all my hard work pay off. The costume even held together pretty well for its first run, so I was very happy.

New beginnings.

2009-08-03T03:40:00.000-07:00

I never really got into the whole blogging thing. Every now and then I'll post one on my MySpace page but they're usually just links to event galleries and stuff like that. But I figured if I started one of these I could post more frequent updates on projects and other things and just generally be more "out there" than I have been in recent years. It's really boring being a friggin' hermit.

So, here goes nothing.