Event report: Christmas Club Meet 2021

 

What a day!!!

Prior to the meeting/event starting, members had carried out COVID testing 👏🏽

(some members weren’t able to attend unfortunately, because they had already tested positive 😕, though all are well).

Big thanks to you and everyone for thinking of others, hopefully you were able to watch the live streaming and be still part of the day’s events.

Myself and Mike B were up early and were first to arrive at the venue to find Sam just unlocking the doors. Our early arrival was to be able to help set things up. We didn’t have to worry though as others had traveled down and had stayed over the night before.

Not long after, Lee arrived and we all set about unloading his car and setting up the 39.1% race track. Picture below:

The 39.1% A-LT race track being assembled

Yes, Mark T is wearing PJ’s lol
(He was fully dressed underneath)

Next up was the, above picture, cool display stand, brought along by Giles’s R.

As the official 10am start time drew close, more members arrived. Paul F with his Tire 2, R2-D2.

The test track had people testing their ‘driving skills’ with the really fast 39.1% droids. The surface doesn’t help being polished lol so controlling them was NOT easy.

Video of the racing, seen in these pictures, can be viewed on my YouTube channel, see link below.

Check out my YouTube channel for my video highlights of the day.

And…..also watch the day’s events via the Droid Builder’s YouTube channel for the recorded live stream of the day.

The day was for builders, old and new and not just Astromech’s. We had pit droids, a Christmas Gonk droid as well as Mr Baddeley’s custom design builds, including his massive RC controlled, Jawa Sandcrawler!

Some of Mr B’s other attending projects.

There were some emotional moments as we remembered the untimely passing of Pedge, who we had been raising funds for. He succumbed to his illness, Motor Neurone Disease 😞

There was a 1 minute clap in remembering him and his positivity right up to the end.

This is one of the three parches that were made as part of fundraising for Pedge.

Click on the link to watch Pedge’s interview with Sam & Lee

The second moment was for Lawrence ‘Loz’. He suffered a stroke. He was in the process of building a styrene R2, but was unable to finish it. So members organised LozCon and attended a day of building and construction of Loz’s R2 body. He was in attendance to say thank you to everyone who had helped and supported him and ghat he wished he had been a member of the group sooner as he loved it.

He presented two (3D printed) medals to the two organisers as recognition and thank you.

Steve as a great looking Lobot.

Loz, taking a rest next to R2 & R2-KT, who has been mostly assembled by Olivier S.

Mini R5-D4, one of Mr Baddeley’s.

The after/evening started to wind down as those with further to travel headed home. There was money raised for charity, a few MOT’s were carried out, by Darren P. A well needed meeting of people, some we’ve not seen since the last Xmas event which was a few years back now, pre-COVID!

Laughs and memories were shared & even a few surprise guests attended, Amanda W & Stuart B, was REALLY good to see them and a nice surprise.

Someone left there mobile phone, but hadn’t gone far before realising…..am sure they appreciated the group photos left on it lol :D

Lastly for those able to, there was an evening meal at a local restaurant, before myself and Mike said our goodbyes and headed off back home to Bristol.

Another great time had by all.

Check out the video links for more content of the day. Please like thumbs up and share with those who are interested.

Thanks to everyone who attended and here’s to more events next year.

Happy Holiday’s

Merry Christmas……..

From myself and R5-D4

Event Report: 'Stars of Time' @ Weston-Super-Mare 2021

This year Stars of Time, film & comic con, was celebrating its 10th year running!

It was my 1st time attending, as due to family holiday's I've never been able to attend. A few other South West members also attended, which meant we where going to have a great time! :D

I also took my R0 dome & R4's dome, as well as a few other Astromech props and my almost completed GOUD-4 messenger droid, from Solo.

I also carried out a re:MOT on Mike's KN droid.

....Unfortunately, Paul wasn't able to attend with R2-D2, due to work commitments; and Pedge, due to health issues. Mark L from the Northern sector was also not able to attend as well as Matt C and Simon B.

Event Report

We had arranged to meet up at 8:00/8:30am Sunday morning.

It was a clear blue sunny sky that greeted us in Weston-Super-Mare.

The beach, looking South....

Mike's van outside the Tropicana

We unloaded the cars/vans and made our way inside to our area. The entrance we would be using was flat and led straight in off the promenade (just in front on Mike's van). This was where we would be set up for the next two days. The floor is smooth concreate and there is also a ramp leading down to a lower level. There is a door sill leading into the adjacent room, which required a slight lifting of the centre foot, but nothing major.

Table display, banners & backdrop up

As well as the domes, we also had Mark's wood components for his build. Body frame, legs, ankles, feet shells, booster covers and horseshoes, as can be seen in the above picture.

We handed out loads of our trading cards, club pamphlets and stickers.

The domes, R0, R4, R5, R6 (L-R) ...... just missing an R3
(Nik's droid has an R2 dome)

Pit Droids, ready to maintain R5's Bad Motivator.

Pit Droids, ready to maintain R5's Bad Motivator.

For a short 5min video of the droids in action,

click on this link to my YouTube channel.

The doors opened to the public at 10am and there was already a que for people to come in! The morning was a very busy one with lots of people asking questions as well as photos. Also fun as people were unaware that the droids actually moved :D, and jumped when they did!

Mark T was looking after R2-XL, helping people climb up and inside the super-sized droid for photo opps.

Mark & R2-XL (left of picture above)

Mike rewarding Mark by letting him wear his R2 dome lol.

   Donations were collected for   

                  Pedge                   

                      &                       

      Motor Neurone Disease    

      raising just over £123.00     

Mark's C-3P0 shoes.....

Pit Droids keeping the Astromech's in check.

The local news channel were there and filmed interviews with the organisers, they also filmed Mikes R4 droid (green) in action, next to the Milton Keynes Star Wars wall (below).

Milton Keynes Garrison

This was Mike's first official event driving around with his R4-KN droid. I had cleared and passed it earlier in the day as part of the UK MOT system.

Both days there were parades which were led down to the Pier direction, how far it actually went, we didn't see :D, but we did join them on their return for a group photo opportunity outside the front of the main entrance. There were a few interactions with Daleks :D but we managed to avoid any intergalactic incidences.

After this, we retuned inside, to keep Mark T company.

GOU-4 droid being inspected by a Pit Droid

Nik H's droid

Mike B's droid

James F's droid

..... the afternoon was quieting down, so we took the droids for a wander down into the rear room. There Garrick Hagon kindly obliged to a photo shoot with the droids.

www.biggsdarklighter.com

Garrick Hagon with our droids

As you can see, he was most taken by my R4 astromech lol.

The event finished at five PM, but most of the traders were already starting to pack up. So we also made a start on the non essential equipment. Nik & Mark, had the furthest to travel home, and due to the M4 traffic, I had to take the back way back to Bristol. Wasn't so bad a journey though.

Another successful event with the guys, looking forward to the next one!

THE South West Droid Builders MOT Day - Sunday 4th July 2021

Just a quick rundown of the days event.....

Firstly I have to give a

massive thanks to Mike Berry,

of Vinyl Designs.....

www.vinyldesigns.co.uk

...... for making all of the arrangements, printing banners etc, sorting out a large outdoor open air area, covered with

pop-up gazebos [which where needed for both the Sunshine

& the rain], free parking, PPE/sanitizers and food/drinks.....

.....phew, think that's everything.

nothing but droids.....

Mike, Mark T and co, had set up the above (picture) ready by the time I arrived around 9am. Because Bristol's harborside is now a thriving area, with lots to see and do, as well as the M-Shed Museum, there are small shops and food places, the area around the Droid tent was busy with lots of passers by, with children (and adults) eager to see R2D2 and friends.

Mike's R2-XL ride in droid

Glynn T arrived with his A-LT droid(s) all the way from UP-NORTH! A very long 4hr drive each way!!!

There were a quite a few droids in attendance, most requiring MOT's some just for advice etc. Thankfully Oliver S, was able to assist me with the MOT'ing, thanks  mate, it was much appreciated!

A big thanks to Paul F for bringing his laptop as it was needed lol.

We also welcomed a few 'Pit-Droids', some 39.1% droids a Mouse Droid and one massive, full scale, IG-11 droid (Paul S)

Pit Droid

Pit Droid 2 with Paul F's R2-D2

Pit Droids 3 & 4 towered over by IG-11

Special guest appearances from 😁

Mr Lee Towersey,

Mr Sam Prentice,

Mr Oliver Steeples,

Mr Giles Redpath .

Sam brought along his red A-LT droid and also 'went live' via his You Tube channel, for a walk around the enclosure.

In between the MOT'ing, the weather changed from hot to wet with a few light showers, and the droids that were driving around outside on the test track area, would have to make a run for the covers lol. But the sunshine came back and so did the passing public.

Mike Berry's R2 domed Clone Wars droid

Nik H's - R2-A5 droid (his fourth build)

I managed to put R5's utility arm/trade card dispenser into action for the first time. Thanks to Giles for checking that R5 had actually dispensed a card 😁

Mike's R2-XL was part of a 'feature', but I can't say more than that.....you'll have to wait and see.

As well as re-MOT testing, we now also have a few more new droids ready for events: Nik Martin [R2-D2] & Nik Harber [R2-A5] 😎

Around 3:30/4pm the rain came down harder than before and that sealed the end of the day's event. The few remaining helped pack droids away, barriers, signs and the gazebo's before saying thanks again to Mike for organising and driving off into the sunset..... rain.

Not mentioned everyone, sorry, but for those who did make it, thank you for making the journey and being able to catch up with everyone was definitely needed! Big thanks again to all! :)

Check out Sam's channel for his 'Live' video here.

#bristol #droidbuildersuk #astromechdroids