May 28, 2007 by bob.

Well, the weekend had officially unofficially come to a close with my safe arrival at home base…Ah, well.  Only 417 days until Wonderfest ‘08 starts…

I would like to thank some people whose time, generosity, and assistance made this year’s web coverage possible:

John Pekich, Jeffrey Griffin and Pat Amaral for sucking up the slack in the photo department while I was running hither and yon…

Steve Wilson for chipping in wherever he could, helping me move equipment and monitoring the web cam broadcasts…

The gang from the Starship Modeler forums for their encouragement and enthusiasm, which kept me going when I was chugging along on will power and only a few hours sleep…

John and Linda Lester for fostering a home on the web that welcomed me in and introduced me to the amazing experiance that is Wonderfest…

Lee Stanton, Dave Hodge, Dave Conover, Donnie Waddell, John Davis, and their crew of volunteers for putting on the best event for monster/sci-fi/GK/B-Movie geeks on the planet…  You guys do a helluva job every year, and it keeps getting better!

Matt Usher, Steve Iverson, Terry Webb and David Fisher for taking time out of their busy schedules and patiently answering my  questions… several of which I’m sure they have been asked a thousand times before.  Despite that, they were each enthusiastic, informative, and very supportive of my efforts to cover the show.  Terry also gets big-time credit for sparking my interest in garage kits a few years back, and all the blame for my wife’s annoyance at the growing mountain of resin in my workshop…*grin*

I’ve got what will amount to a few hours of video - A walk-through of the Dealer’s Room, and several Sci-Fi U seminars.  As soon as I can get everything edited, they’ll be posted in the video section.

I’ll also be adding captions to many, if not most, of the pictures, to help put some perspective on things.  Considering the amount of photos I have to go through, it’ll probably take a week or two, so please check back often.

Finally, thanks for all the kind words from the site visitors.  I’m glad I could help feed your Wonderfest hunger.

I’ll do it again next year!  Till then, get yer butts in the shop and build something!

Bob

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May 28, 2007 by bob.

All of the models from the Amazing Model Contest are posted in the Pics section.  There’s also a couple of podcasts featuring Matt Usher from Fine Scale Modeler and Steve Iverson from CultTVMan.  There will be a special extended podcast with Terry Webb and David Fisher from Amazing Figure Modeler in the next couple of days, once I get a chance settle down and edit the big audio and video files.

Also coming soon:  A video walkthrough of the Dealer’s Room, and several presentations from Sci-Fi University.

Thanks to everyone who allowed me to shove a microphone under their nose or a video camera in their face!

*sigh*

Another Wonderfest is history.  The day after has got to replace June 21st as the longest day of the year.  Saying goodbye to friends you won’t see for another year, packing all the Dealer’s Room swag into the car, and making the long trek home… The weekend goes by way too fast.  This year’s show was amazing.  I’ll be counting the days until Wonderfest ‘08!  (And naturally, I’ll post the countdown clock on the new website: wonderfest08.paulystuff.com!)(It’s not up yet, but it will be in a few weeks…)

For those planning for next year already, remember:  Wonderfest ‘08 is over July 19th and 20th!  (Yes, that’s right!  Not Memorial Day Weekend.  We have a FOURTEEN MONTH wait, sports fans…)

Keep checking in for site updates.  I’ll start putting the remaining pictures and other goodies on line once I get home and settled in…

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May 27, 2007 by bob.

I had to share my ultimate Wonderfest Moment.

Last night, while sitting around at the pool party, A friend of mine, Pat Amaral (who has taken a ton of the pics on this site. Thanks, Pat!) walked up to my table. On it sat a couple of models that I hadn’t had time to finish for the contest, but since a big part of the pool party is “show and tell,” I thought I’d share. One of the models was the 1/72 scale QuestJet by Annubis Productions, from the classic cartoon series. Pat was up with another fellow, who starts to tell me how much he admired my QuestJet build up. I thought it was very nice of the guy, and explained all of the flaws and unfinished things that still needed work, but the guy was insistent that I had done a beautiful job.

I was flattered, until Pat introduced the guy. Then, I was flabbergasted.

“Bob, have you met John Eaves?”

John Motherfrakking Eaves. Designer of the USS Enterprise. Production designer extrodinaire. PROFESSIONAL Model dude. The guy responsible for designs and models I have probably drooled over for weeks of cumulative time. One of my inspirations as a modeler. Complementing my work.

It was akin to having Shakespeare tell you he admires your writing.

I wish Pat had a camera ready at the time, because according to John, I looked pretty damn funny with my jaw bouncing on the floor. I literally had to go outside for a smoke after that, because the shock of finding out who this incredibly kind admirer of my model was had the same effect on my nerves as a post-coital moment.
And the best part? After talking with him for awhile, I realized that John is also one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. I’m honored to be able to say I met him.

Thanks, John and Pat, for making my Wonderfest this year!

John Motherfrakking Eaves Kung-Fu!

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May 27, 2007 by bob.

I’m still trying to get material for the podcasts.  Terry Webb and David Fisher of Amazing Figure Modeler, Tracy Hodges at Federation, and Steve Iverson from CultTVMan have all agreed to chat, but as you can imagine, they’ve all been busier than a group of one-legged men in an ass-kicking marathon…I hope I can catch them at a peaceful moment today.  More later…

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May 27, 2007 by bob.

Pictures of Iron Modeler, Sci-Fi U, and a bunch of contest pics are up in the photo section.

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May 25, 2007 by bob.

The results are in, and the winners of Iron Modeler 2007 are…

The Florida Peacekeepers!  (Erin Lantz (Das Phule), Pat Tomlinson (Padawan V2.0), and Tom Roylance)  Congrats, guys, on a job well done!

Other participants this year were:

The Rookie Rangers (Tyler Lindsey, Joe Cox, and Brian ?)

The Rosses and Ian (Chris Ross, John Ross, John Ross Jr, and Ian Walsh)

Commies Team 1:Red Oktober (SueAnn Merrill, Brad Guy, Matt Jacobson)

Commies Team 2: Bolshoy Sputnik (Mike Smith, Vern Clark, Craig York)

Commies Team 3: Kalishnikovs (Robb Merrill, Dan Holmes, Sean Branin)

Styrene Catharsis (Andrew MacDonald, Tony Wootson, Andy Mihail)

The Pittsburgh Pipelayers (Scott Scariot, Jimi Glancy, George Seletas)

The Oak Ridge Boys (Joe Brown, Wayne Walls, “Bandit”)

Well done, everyone!  Thanks for a great event!

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May 25, 2007 by bob.

We’re live!  Web cam coverage of the Iron Modeler contest is available on the web site.  What’s Iron Modeler, you ask?  It’s like Iron Chef, but with models.  Each team has four hours to build something fantastic from a mystery kit and assorted parts.  Only one can be the Iron Modeler!

Iron modeler is sponsored by  Starship Modeler, Iwata, and Aves.

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May 24, 2007 by bob.

It’s Thursday evening and we’ve arrived in Louisville.  Tonight is for getting settled and putting some finishing touches on one of my entries for the contest, then is time for a good night’s rest - probably the last I’ll get until very early Monday morning.

Let the fun begin!

Check in often!  Site updates begin tomorrow afternoon, and will continue until Monday morning.

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May 12, 2007 by bob.

Less than two weeks to go!  I’m still working on four entries for the Amazing Model Contest.  Crunch time!

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