Planet Savareen - Solo a Star Wars Story on location

Recent holiday to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, unfortunately I wasn’t able to visit the exact spot for where the filming of Savareen, took place for Solo a Star Wars story….

Above photo taken from Savareen link 👍🏽

Above image shows location area of filming 

….but was on the island, so close enough and whilst wearing my Solo t-shirt lol.

R5-232 didn’t make it that far during filming lol, thought it would be nice to say I’d been there though.

Checkout the link to trip advisor for photos and reviews (not Star Wars related) for Parque_Natural_de_Jandia

Throw Back Thursday - Han Solo costume for Celebration Europe 2016

This week’s throwback is to the Han Solo costume I made for my Son, to attend Star Wars Celebration Europe back in 2016.

Originally he wanted to go as a Stormtrooper, but I persuaded him it wouldn’t be very practical or that it would last to be worn again. After I showed him a pic of Han after they escape from the trash compactor scene & him wearing a Stormtrooper's belt, he was sold.

The boots were off eBay second hand, but in perfect condition & the trousers were bought from Tesco’s. The shirt, jacket (vest) & scaled blaster, were made by myself with help from Karen.

Here are some of the links to the making of his outfit:

• The beginning
• Never tell me the odds
• E-11 scaled blaster build begins
• The vest work begins
• Boots
• Trousers

Hope these help if your thinking of making something for yourself or your kids.

Birthday Wishes to my Son

Today marks my Sons 14th Birthday.

He's still as excited about R5 and his adventures as he was when he first asked me 'can you make an R5 Daddy!?!?!' all those years ago.

This is one of the most memorable pictures taken back in 2016 at Celebration Europe. It's an old one, but it checks out!' lol

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON!

Chippenham Sc-Fi Day 2016 - Event Report

R5 was loaded up into the car and my Son was attending with me again, in his Han Solo costume. Also, Karen was a volunteer helper for the actual event.

The drive from Bristol to Chippenham is not a long one & we arrived earlier than I had planned, due to there being no traffic.

The short distance from car park to the Hall, R5 attracted a few stares and 'oooh look, R2' lol :D. Inside people were set up & setting up still, I missed Paul Felski with his awesome B9 Robot from the Original 'Lost In Space' tv show, along with other film classic Robots.
Lost the photo of Paul with his B9 robot...but there are pics on the Chippenham FB page.

The event is spread out over a wide'ish area, to include not just indoor, but outdoor too. There was Jedi training in the Emery Gate shopping centre, with Andrew Lawden, and fellow Astromech builder Mark Enright with his Batmobile Steamer, along with other prop cars.

Chippenham Sci-Fi website link

The event opened at 10am and was busy straight away. The Milton Keynes Garrison, Southern Troopers were just a two of the groups attending. Marvel characters as well as Predators & Dalek's roamed the halls.

R5 had lots of fun with kids big and small lol. And entertained all day, even with his 'bad motivator' (more on this in another Blog post).

R5 with some fan's of his lol

what are the chance's of R5 meeting BB8...?

R5 entertaining two new friends (just in front of him)

Late afternoon, Pam & Clem had a walk around and posed graciously for pictures with guests and Cosplay'rs alike.

Pam Rose & R5

A Wookie, Han JJ Solo, R5D4 & Clem So

Pam Rose & Clem So with the MK Garrison

Imperial Officer - Pinup style
Karen told me she wanted another outfit that was a bit informal for events, yet hopefully instantly recognisable.

She had seen a 50's 'pin-up' style outfit that she was able to create without it costing the earth. So after buying the recognisable Imperial belt & buckle, teamed up with a grey pencil length skirt, black body & the hardest item to find.....a short length, plain, grey cardigan she was happy with the look. Black stockings & black heels.

She also found the insignia badge, that she sowed onto the cardigan.

3D printed Imperial insignia

Her outfit for the day drew quite a few admires & lots of positive comments.

She wasn't to happy with one pic I took, but was defo smiling when Andrew Lawden commented on her outfit and happily posed for a pic with her lol.

We had to leave early, due to pre-arranged family commitments. But we had a great time & got to meet up with friends. Roll on next year.

Han Solo costume for my Son....... Complete 2.1 ** #SWCE BONUS UPDATE **

Just a quick short update on my Son's costume.

Sunday was his day to attend Celebration Europe with me, wearing his Han 'JJ' Solo costume. He was up at 7am along with me and we arrived at Excel around 9am, but weren't allowed in (exhibitors only, no kids) until 10am. He waited patently and standing! Once in he met up with all the other builders and enjoyed the positive feedback for his outfit. His smile on his face said it all, that he was a real cosplay character :).

Both Lee & Oliver were very busy organising things, but managed to time things and was able to get a picture of Lee & Jacob together, he was very happy to meet him, and so was my Son lol

JJ walked around the event with me all day (we did get some short breaks), he helped out on the R2 Builders Stand, had numerous photos taken with R5 by the attending public. He did himself proud and me & the Builders Club too. He finished up at about 5:30pm where children were again not allowed inside the main area once taking down of the stands had started. He had this smile all day, even in the car driving home.

Did yourself & me proud Son!

Han Solo costume for my Son....... Complete 2.0

Blaster update:

With building R0-D4's dome in the available day free time & getting my Son's Han Solo costume made on the evenings, I'd not totally forgotten about finishing off his E-11 blaster......

......OK, I had. I last did any work on it back in February!

It was boxed up and then the box moved around the garage to access other stuff and I 'lost' it. So with some urgency I got on with finishing it off.

Not much work needed really, as this is only a simplified, 'child proof' version.
(and by child proof, I mean drop'ish/knock proof lol)

So I cut out some wood disc's and shaped end cap and nozzle.

The end cap is not 100% accurate, just for show.

The front nozzle I made the shape to roughly match originals.

I applied some rapid Araldite over joins and gaps to secure. This stays flexible, which is good, rather than brittle (breaks if blaster gets dropped), but it also looks like weld.

These's were the last bits to make. Next was primer spraying all the bits separately.

**   Due to time, I didn't get a chance to take   **

any completed pics of the blaster,

but I will do and post up next week

Full costume complete:
What a weekend..... material cutting, stitching, sowing, mistakes, redo's, you name it, it happened. But LATE Tuesday night, with the help of Karen, I managed to complete my Son's costume.....phew!!!

Never have I been so relieved to never be sowing Blood stripes onto trousers EVER again!! lol. There far from perfect, but they will do for this version.

Again, there wasn't any time to take pics of him actually wearing it...and he's not fully tried it all on yet either (tonight, Wednesday) he will, before I pack it all up to take to Celebration Europe with me.

I did take some quick pics of the finished items,

Blood stripes, boot's & Trooper belt in the bag

not great pics, taken via mobile phone, but will post up some better ones of him next week or even via my Twitter account @JamesR5D4. Which will be getting used a lot the next few days. So click and follow for #SWCE event pics.

Han Solo costume for my Son....... Trousers 1.1

Blood Stripes!

This has been THE most fiddly, most time consuming, frustrating part so far!!!

If we'd of used the correct width material to start with, life would of been slightly easier lol [this was my fault]. It was double the width needed. So it was folded over and stitched, then the ends [to stop fraying] were stitched, all by hand, as the machine was pulling the material. Next comes sewing onto the trousers. This was done with the sowing machine.

A few hours work and still have at least five more stripes to sew on this side alone.....

Still have the other side to do too....

PS: Big thanks to Karen

Han Solo costume for my Son....... Stormtrooper Belt 2.1

This leather look material was used for the belt. I'd already measured my Son's waist ages ago, but double checking is always a good thing :D

So after measuring him, extra added to length for poppers. The material was cut to length. We doubled it over and inserted stiffener to help it keep its shape. Then I stitched it all the way round.

Next will be locating the poppers to best suit my Son and then fixing on the main front section of the belt.

Han Solo costume for my Son....... Vest 2.0 - lining

This weekend has been a very busy one, lots of sowing, cutting and stitching. I was starting to worry that the costume wouldn't be finished in time! But thanks to Karen giving up her free time to guide my sowing, help and advice, I'm still on target lol, for completion.

So, last week's work, since last post, was to sow in the lining. Easy you might think. In hindsight, the lining would of been better sown onto each panel BEFORE stitching them together, but hay ho. On the plus side, doing it this way we combined the hemming correction of the rear neck, which needed re-stitching anyway.

cutting out using a template

sewing the first front inside lining in

First inside front lining finished

Working out the neck hem, ready for sowing.

neck hem pinned

Karen picked up material at the weekend for the shirt and leather look material for the Stormtrooper wrap around belt.

This weeks work, Stormtrooper belt, shirt, trouser modification & Blood stripes!

Han Solo costume for my Son....... Vest 1.9

Managed to get back on with working on Jay's costume for Celebration Europe [Sunday 17th July].....thanks Karen.

First off was cutting out the three remaining loops and these along with the rear pocket, were hemmed.

I next added the stitch lines to the upper chest and across the rear, along with the stitch line around the lower waist line.

Next was then machine sewing on the pocket. flap & loops.

A stitch was added to the opening edges of the pocket to help the flap sit flat

Next for the Vest is the lining.....

Han Solo costume for my Son....... Boots 1.1 *arrived*

..............Boot's have arrived!

The Boot's came week's ago [March]. But due to family health issue, I've not been able to do much more than for Jay to try them on, briefly.

Hopefully, this project will be able to get going again soon.

Han Solo costume for my Son....... Trousers 1.0

Was in my local Tesco's store the other week and decided to have a quick look for suitable trousers for Jacob. They had some Chinos, which were soft and would be comfortable to be worn all day, result! 

The only problem was that they are 'twisted' seamed and this could of been a problem. The turn-ups aren't stitched and the actual length of them will be possibly shortened to suit his leg length.

So a few days later I went in with him so he could try them on. Thankfully the 'twist' part doesn't start till way past his knee and below the top of where his boots would reach.

They will need to have the fake rear pocket buttons removed, but these are on stitched on the outside of the pockets, no holes.

Han Solo costume for my Son....... Boots 1.0

When I first started looking at this costume for my Son, years ago, one of the really off putting thoughts was the cost of the boots! But gradually as you search the internet, I found that long riding boots could be an option and second hand ones, even better [price wise].

For those who don't have kids [lol] they grow! My Son is one of these 'growers'. School shoes, out of school shoes, sports shoes for astro [football] & then football boots, sizes vary with make, then the thickness of the socks..... It's a nightmare! So the cost of buying him boot's that he might's only get to wear a few times in one year was a bit off-putting!

Thankfully, second hand boot's are available on eBay. As I've said before, this costume is more for the look than it being 100% 'screen accurate'. So only go this route if your doing the same. For the right boot's check out the Forums etc.

These were a bargin & at this price, won't break the bank if I need to ever get a larger size in the future.

This label will need removing

Just hope they work lol, they should be here Thursday this week.

Han Solo costume for my Son....... Vest 1.8

Front pockets complete......

....................almost

Last night's work consisted of adding lining to the two pocket flaps and stitching them on and the two pockets themselves.

I wasn't going to do this, but Karen suggested it and it does look better with the lining on.

This all took about three hours, which seem's a long time :D but there is a lot involved and am still learning. Also the thread kept breaking, which meant having to re-do some of the stitching.

Lower pocket & flap sewn into position

Side on view of pockets

Next will be the rear loops and large rear pocket.......

Han Solo costume for my Son....... Vest 1.7

Pocket Flaps

My 'assistant' Karen suggested the other day about using fabric stiffener for the pocket flaps. To help keep there shape.

She had some already, so I cut it to size, hem material was folded over and ironed to help it stay flat & then sewn inside of hem flap edges.

Second of the three flaps I made

Front three done, Sunday night.