Sci-Fi Conventions

WonderFest 2005 - Louisville, KY

I had a wonderful time meeting other B9 Robot builders and many fans of the show. We didn't get there until 8 PM on Friday because of traffic delays. It appeared that there was a traffic accident on the only bridge that crossed the Ohio River in Cincinnati. It was a 3 hour delay. But once we got there we were greeted by Mr. Pat Burns. Pat brought his Jupiter 2 Flight Console replica. What a cool set and backdrop it provided for the whole weekend.

A special thanks to Pat Burns for coordinating the entire B9 Club attendance at the show. This guy wore a permanent smile and was non-stop from the time he arrived until the last item was packed to go. What an awesome J2 flight deck he built. It'll be really neat when it's done. Pat was building much of it on the spot. Where is he going to put it when it done is what I want to know? He kept us supplied with food and refreshments most of the weekend. He had one corner of the room set up with all the treats..

Setup went well. My son helped me out and it was greatly needed. As you may suspect, setting up a robot is not a one man job. He not a total "geekazoid" like his dad, but he is a sci-fi fan (thank you Star Wars) and he appreciated what the club members have done. I also never realized how hard it was to stand and talk with people all day.

Here I captured Mark Goddard (Major Don West) goofing in front of the set. He re-enacted the classic "campy" way they would tilt the camera and run side to side whenever the ship was hit by asteroids.

What a great guy Mark is. He puts up with all of the B9 builders, their crazy questions and poses for all fan pictures.

Fright Vision 2004 - Cleveland, Ohio

My son and I attended Fright Vision in Cleveland. The B9 Robot Builders Club had on display 5 full size B9's. We had a great time and I was able to meet many of my fellow B9 builders that I have only previously chatted with online. If you missed the show, plan on attending next year as I'm sure we'll be there. I asked a lot of questions of the other builders and I took many pictures.

Both Bob May and Mark Goddard were there. I was even able to have my picture autographed by Mark. That was neat.

My First and Last Model Contest

At FV2004, they also have a model contest. There are several categories including Horror, Sci-Fi, Diorama and Comic Character. I had brought along my scratch built Twilight Zone Mystic Seer to see if I could enter it into the contest. I was not sure if it was appropriate, so I left it in the van and showed a picture of it to the contest organizer Terry Webb of Amazing Figure Modeler Magazine. He said it was fine and I was entered into the Horror category. I was up against many awesome models including Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Thing (from the original movie). It was so cool to watch people react after seeing the Mystic Seer and remembering the TZ episode. Terry tracked me down at one point and told me a few people were looking for me. I guess they were really interested in it.

I gave Terry a few of my pictures which had my web site address on them. I also placed one next to the Mystic Seer. Later a fellow B9'r handed me a note from one of them which included their email address. So I'll be contacting him directly. Hopefully others will find their way here and be able to build their own.

When the awards were presented they announced the top three prizes for each category. I was disappointed when I didn't place in the Horror category. But then they presented the "Best of Show" award and that it went to my Mystic Seer. That surprised the heck out of me. They said that it was the model that got the most comments. I won a $100 model from Amazing Figure Modeler as the prize. It was a great weekend (except for the snowstorm I had to drive home in). So, I think I may retire from Model Building Contests. I'm 1 for 1. That is unless the opportunity presents itself again.