A New Wave of Modifications

Summer has arrived and along with heat waves we’ll be working on a whole new wave of modifications.  They range from quick fixes (including a few details we missed after repeatedly studying the reference images) to complete rebuilds and new structures.

Jake and Will are working on carving this foam block into a new and improved rocket.

After a few days of sawing, and sanding the rough shape is starting to materialize.

Chris has been working on our engine after we had some minor engine trouble.  We should be back on the road shortly.

Jake studied the details of various screenshot and made a few design tweaks to our door magnets.  Here’s a quick look at our new and improved magnets which now feature pepperoni, peppers and mushrooms!

…

In addition to working on the truck we plan on taking a few cruises over the summer.

Drive around outside Comic Con?

D23?

Stay tuned…

Catch Up.

It’s been a while since we last updated the blog but fear not! It’s time to catch up.

Here’s a “quick” clip from our trip to LA.

With a little help from our resident photo wizard Robert the truck has gone as far as our imagination can take us.  Here are a few “snapshots” from recent stops.

The crew headed into the studio to reminisce about the road trip for the interview portion of the final film.  Above is brief clip that shows the the kind of environment we work in.

Last month we met up with T.J., Julie and Partysaurus Rex himself from Pixar Post and took them all to Joe’s Ice for some local flavor.

During a quick trip Phelan we had a catastrophic systems failure with the rooftop rocket.

However with a bit of elbow grease, patience and a whole lot of packing tape we were able to prepare the rocket for display at the Heroes Complex Gallery in LA for their Righteous Rides and the Dudes Who Drive Them exhibition.

Akiba, a longtime friend of the crew and extended tripod supplier (Marco borrowed his tripod 8 years ago and just returned it), provided the elbow grease along with a steady hand to fix the rocket.We met up with Ezequiel and his crew from “Beyond the Gate” which made for an entertaining photo op for passing motorists.

A few days later we participated in our first car show at the 2013 Rossmoor Community Festival.  When we first rolled up we were directed to park “near the other food trucks” but we soon found our place between some exquisite vehicles.

…

As you can see we’ve had a busy few months and with summer swiftly approaching we have even more outings/events/cruises planned.  Stay tuned for some update later this week…

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Happy Holiday season everyone! It has been a while since we posted about our recent adventures, so here goes:

“Thank Yo”

Last month we drove to Burbank for the CTN Animation Expo (Thank you Chase Shields for the invite!) where we had the opportunity to park right next to the entrance to the convention.  Just about everyone who lined up for a panel ended up queuing right next to the truck.  We ended up handing out quite a few of our fliers while many a convention attendees took pictures around the truck.  We even met up with a few longtime followers of the project who we hope to meet up with again down the road.

…

We are in the process of fine tuning many of our existing elements as well as working on some brand new additions (more on that later).  We recently reinforced the structure of our rooftop rocket so the previously repairs would withstand highway speeds without worry.

 We have also been experimenting with alternate lighting methods for a brighter rocket.  Various incandescent and LED bulbs have been considered and we will be testing many over the holiday break.

The recent string of wet weather in Southern California (along with a finals and holiday hours) has prevented us from taking the truck for a spin.  The persistent humidity has also delayed an important step in the process of making a new addition to the truck.

…
Editing continues at a steady pace.  What starts as a simple “quick editing session” turn into a late night/early morning editing session where the ideas flow more freely.  In fact, most of the progress has occurred after midnight.  As we get closer to a rough cut we hope to organize a screening or two in the local area.

If we are overwhelmed by our schedules again and are unable to post before the new year we wish all of our followers Happy Holidays and a safe New Year’s.

We’ll Be Much Safer in the Cockpit

 

This week work began on our seat covers.  We found all of the necessary materials at a local discount fabric store.  The toughest color to find was the yellowish orange.  We guess there isn’t much demand for bright orange vinyl.

We dusted off a family sewing machine and got to work.

After a few hours of work, and one broken needle (due to machine fatigue, not user error) the first half of the seat is finished.

We’ll be picking up another sewing machine from a friend later this week and finish the job.

Phelan Good

The modifications continue! We took a quick trip to Phelan to switch out our bucket seats for a more movie accurate bench seat. This fellow is a 1993 Toyota truck that has sat in the back of the property for some time.  We pulled the truck up beside it and began work.  We had some trouble unbolting the bucket seats from the Pizza Planet Truck for some reason and after a bit of handiwork we figured out why.  It turns that the bucket seats weren’t the original seats.  The previous owner drilled some new holes to accommodate them.  So, it turns out that seats were being held in with only two bolts per seat.  Luckily for us we found out the easy way about this installation flaw.  The good is the new bench seat fits like a glove and looks great.

We now have room for three people in the truck cab!

….

Now for the modification:

Will we match the multicolored version from Toy Story?

Or the weathered burgundy colored leather from Toy Story 2?
Stay tuned…

Adverse Weather Conditions at the Launch Site

A few days ago we had a mishap with our rooftop rocket.  We will be working on repairs this week.

Use the Wand of Power!

We recently removed our old stick shift knob. When we purchased the truck it came with a sturdy and well built all metal stick shift knob that had its own spinner. This came in handy when we were stuck in traffic since it gave our hands something to do while idling.

However, by the time summer arrived and the temperature rose we figured out that our all metal spinner had to go.  After more than one spot on impression of Toht, after grabbing the stick shift (as well as anything else metal within the cab),we thought it would be best for the truck and our hands to switch the grip.

Since it only appeared as a blur in Toy Story, we planned to modify the stick shift to resemble how it appeared in Toy Story 2 .  Unless we switched out the stick in stick shift we would be close to how it looked.  An easy fix.  But we had other plans….

We drove to our local auto supply store and grabbed the only round stick shift knob.  The 8 Ball!

First coat(s) of color.

Cadillac Range

Odds and Ends II

A few weeks ago we met up with Tom and Jessica at our local In-N-Out for a quick lunch stop. Luckily there was parking right out front, and while we took these pictures a steady flow in intrigued onlookers gathered, snapped a few pictures and left with fliers in hand. We’ll stop by again very soon.

….

We are also making progress on many “side projects” we’ve been meaning to work on to add a more authentic and personal touch to the truck. The first part includes a bit of painting here and there.

We even repurposed the Peanuts Psychiatrist booth as a mini spray booth in the backyard.

Disturbance in the Force Art Show

We had an awesome time at Hektattoo‘s Disturbance in the Force art show in Huntington Beach.  We had a reserved spot right in front of the gallery that had an assortment of Star Wars related artwork.

Respectthefett standing guard when he had time to spare between his frequent photo requests from fans.

As the sun set they started up the projector and screened A New Hope in the parking lot while the Kogi BBQ truck served some awesome food.

We didn’t see the tumbler roll up. Maybe he took the Bat to the show.
Marcus and Tyler provided color commentary for the lightsaber battle.

Many a Force FX lightsaber died during the lightsaber battles.

In the end it was a rather awesome night of great food, art and of course, Star Wars.