Help fund a good cause, and build the 1/2 Cylon Raider.

[GoldCylon]

OK everyone I have seen the generosity of the members of this page first hand. (Thanks to all of you) Now I see a good cause that we can all get behind to help out. Gene Haggerty over at Colonial Cylon Alliance http://bsg-cca.org/. He has single handley taken the time, effort, and money out of his pocket to build the 1/2 scale Cylon Raider. He built this for a few reasons, and now is the time to help him wrap this up. Besides donations, he would like a helping hand. Anyone in the Florida West Coast is highly encouraged to help. Now to what this is really about. The Cylon Raider will make it's debut at Galactica 3 if it is finished, but that doesn't look like it would be a problem at the current rate. It will make other appearances to other Con in mostly the South East part of the Country. So once finished Gene will be selling chance for you to sit in the cock pit, and have your photo taken. All moneys raised will be donated to his favorite cause and that is http://www.kidsandcanines.org/ The entire build cost is out of his pocket, and no money raised for the photos will go to him. He has a company that he is able to get low cost materials, and is doing all the work himself. With a projected cost of $10,000 to start to finish build and not ask a dime back from photos sales is a amazing person in my book. Now not everyone here can help or even see this, nor live close enough to give Gene a helping hand, but we can help him pay for this project that has has spent a lot of time, and money on the project. Below is a copy in his words what he has done so far to date.

Good morning Dale. The timeline is as follows

In September of 2012 after a meeting of the CCA advisory board we decided to move forward with the Raider project.
On October 10th the chassis we decided to use was delivered to our facility in Pinellas Park Fl.
The base chassis is a 1978 Cochran Airport Systems model 660 belt loader that was originally a e350 ford chassis. These are used on the airports to load baggage into the aircraft.
The decision to use this chassis was mostly because in a belt loader the engine is at the center of the chassis but in addition it already has a hydraulic system to start with.
We spent $1,100 purchasing the unit and $800.00 in freight getting it here from New Orleans La.

We began disassembling the unit on 10-12-12. Removing the body and sheet metal as well as all electrical and hydraulics. Till we had nothing but a frame and 2 axles.
The axles were removed and the suspension was removed. Then the axles were reinstalled in a solid position so there would be no wobbling of it after it was finished,
At this point we had about 52 hours into it.

Since then we have been assembling and building and have at least another 150 hours of time
Total spend so far is Approximately $1,900 Purchase
$2,800 in steel
$4,200 in hyd cylinders, valves and hoses.
$500.00 in switches, wiring and solenoids
$9400.00 total so far

There are a couple of reasons we decided to go forward with the project. First of all for the fans of BSG and for the members of our group as well as the other BSG groups. We also realized that we may be able to acquire donations for our charities.
By selling pictures of fans in the raider.

At this point we could use some help with the construction we are about 1/3 of the way to completion and have to be done in time for G3 in May of 2013.

We will still need to purchase steel to complete the superstructure,
Fiberglass to install the coverings and
all of the cables and controls
Tires
Brake lines and booster
Gauges and under lighting
Sheet aluminum
Hardware
Paint and custom decals.
I would expect the total to run up past 20k by the time we are done.



For those who are gracious enough to donate we want to make sure they get recognition for it.

Starting with

Donations

All donations above $20.00 will have there name engraved on the standing plaque that will be with the unit on display
Donations Between $20 and $100 will in addition receive a autographed picture of the raider mailed to them and emailed if requested
Donations from 100 and up will receive in addition to the picture a tee shirt and there name engraved on the plaque inside the unit as well as on the standing plaque.
Any donation above $500.00 we gain them a opportunity to drive and operate the unit at one of the conventions such as Dragon con, Shoreleave, Cons in Orlando such as Vulcon, Hurricane Who, Away mission. We also are looking forward to it going to New Orleans for the Backus parade.
At this point we plan on having it at G3 in Houston, At Dragon Con in Atlanta, In Orlando at Hurricane Who and at Away mission if they can find us some room.

Best Regards Gene

Now with that said we all have a chance to be a part of a good cause. Gene will be excepting Pay Pal donation here shortly. A Charity type of account is being looked into for this fund raiser.
Once we have that I will be making a donation in the name of BYC on the behalf of those that made a donation to me a while back. I'll also make a personal donation.
Below is a few photos of the build.
Thank you everyone for your support.
keystonegse@verizon.net
Dale aka GoldCylon

[Jenne]

wow

[Cylon-Knight]

WOW is right!
The talents and kindness of clunky old evil robots from space never fail to amaze me

SO - where can we send the donation? Do you have a paypal account, etc. for Gene or his crew until they get the "company" one going?
I want to be sure my name is on the plaque and have a photo of that bad boy for my collection too! I'd be more than happy to help in my own little way to see the Raider "take flight" and help raise future funds for a good cause.

Let me know where / who, and I'll click *send*


P.S. I hope it has a ByYourCommand.net Bumper sticker when it is done
WE BRAKE FOR NO LOWLY HUMAN

lol

[Red Eye]

Love the idea with the bumper sticker!

The project itself is amazing for sure!

[GoldCylon]

Hit us, and "Apparently it wasn't as big as a surprise as we had hoped for", but we will shoot you anyway.

[GoldCylon]

Pay Pal email address posted to make a donation to Gene's build.

keystonegse@verizon.net

[Flyboy]

COOL!!