Get to Know Your MI501st :: June, 2012

Jennifer Rodriquez
Legion ID: 9711
Joined March, 2007

Jennifer joined the 501st Legion in March of 2007. The inspiration came to her after attending Star Wars Celebration 2. "I saw how cool the costumes were and wanted to make my own after that", says Jennifer.

Since becoming a member of the club Jennifer has attended almost 20 events. One of her favorites is the Motor City Comic Con. "Everyone has great costumes and the GLG really goes all out so everyone has a good time", Jennifer says about attending the convention.

"Joining the 501st has changed my life…" says Jennifer. "I've met some cool people and have gone places I probably wouldn't have. If I hadn't joined the 501st I don't know if I would have discovered how amazing it is to make a costume. It sounds simple but it's a complicated thing. There are trials and errors and it's really rewarding when you find a way that works to bring your vision or goal to a reality. It's helped build my creative confidence. If I can build or create one thing, what's stopping me from doing something more difficult? I'm not as worried about things looking stupid because it's a process and the harder you work towards it the more rewarding the end result is. With this hobby the end result is being part of a group that does good things for people and I'm happy to be a part of that. It's been good for me".

For Jennifer that creativity has not been limited to just Star Wars costumes. She has many non Star Wars costumes that she has created and she is also into prop building and recently built a life size Tauntuan! "I don't remember if I was watching Empire or not but I just thought it would be interesting to have one. So I asked my husband if he thought a Tauntaun would fit in our house. It does", says Jennifer.

It took her about six weeks to build Mumford (that's her name) with about a month dedicated to sculpting and molding all the parts. Another week to get the skeleton structure made then another week to assemble, fur, and paint her. Jennifer explains what she is made of. "She has a silicone face and ears, a resin skull, horns, claws and teeth. She has a steel skeleton so people can sit on her with foam padding and fur fabric".

Mumford the Tauntaun now has appeared at many high profile Star Wars events with the Great Lakes Garrison, including Saturday, June 2nd at Comerica Park for the Detroit Tigers' Star Wars Night.

Jennifer would like to make more life size Star Wars props. "I have a few ideas I've been kicking around but haven't decided on anything yet. I'm not sure where I would put things.

When Jennifer is not building costumes and life size props, she stays busy as a homemaker taking care of the needs for her children and husband. "I keep the household running and as chaos free as possible. That's not easy to do with 3 kids and a husband that works a lot of long hours every week, sometimes out of town or out of state. They always come first and that's what I'm most happy with", she says.

View Jennifer's profile...