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Topic:
Ackbar Costume/Hands
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Dawgeth
Registered:
Apr '08
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Date Posted:
4/15 8:34am
Subject:
Ackbar Costume/Hands
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I did a search on the forum, with no luck, so I thought I'd post this here. Admiral Ackbar has those crazy hands that I'd like to recreate to match my mask that I have coming in. I was wondering if anyone in the past has had any luck recreating these. I know that there used to be a costume set out there, and you CAN potentially find them, but I assume they'd be fairly expensive. Would carving these out of styrofoam, or trying to make them plush type material be easiest? Any advice would be great.
As far as the rest of the suit goes, easy. White jump suit, yellow strips of material, and a light brown bib is what it looks to consist of.
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Maulfly
Title: Moderator Emeritus
Registered:
Oct '01
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Date Posted:
4/15 5:14pm
Subject:
RE: Ackbar Costume/Hands
- Date Edited:
4/15 5:31pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Maulfly
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Limited costuming experience talking here, but here goes an attempt at being helpful. 
You never know how much those gloves go for unless you look around. I recently discovered that a local costume shop still sells the old licensed Greedo mask, which hasn't been in production for years, and relatively inexpensive, too. Do a search not only on auction sites, but also actual costuming stores, and you might be surprised.
Since you can never find something when you're looking for it, though (dang Greedo!), creating your own Ackbar hands might be necessary. If you have sculpting ability and access to the proper materials, you could create them out of latex. Since the mask itself is likely made out of latex, this may come the closest to approximating the texture/look of the mask, though for the Popeye-like forarms you'll likely still need to use some sort of padding to fill them out.
As long as you do your research, using latex (non-bake methods) isn't too hard. I managed to pull off a decent Rodian mask my very first try (never got to finish it, though). The main concern would be how to apply color after the molding process is complete since some paints can actually breakdown latex. That and you've gotta make sure you don't accidentally lock your project into the mold...but looking at what the hands look like, you should be ok on that score.
Carving them out of styrofoam or making a plush version would probably also work. Again, it really depends on how good you are at using such techniques. That and if you can find an approprate material (be it fabric or whatever) to use as the "skin" (or probably "shell") that you could make match the masks as closely as possible. It's all a matter of creating the overall illusion. No need to reinvent the wheel. If you can find a pair of gloves or padded forarm guards used in martial arts inexpensively, you could use those as the base of the costume gloves and attach materials to them to build them up to look like your desired result.
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"Does that boy have a death wish, or is he just...'special'?"-Roddy semi-cranky old farts' home resident Grand Instigator Owner/ball and chain of GrandAdmiralStrife...   http://www.austinfanforce.org
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blueeyedpadme
Registered:
Nov '07
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Date Posted:
4/15 5:46pm
Subject:
RE: Ackbar Costume/Hands
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this is awesome where did you get the latex from???
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http://samart.etsy.com Don't Dream It Be It - "Rocky Horror"
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Maulfly
Title: Moderator Emeritus
Registered:
Oct '01
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Date Posted:
4/15 5:51pm
Subject:
RE: Ackbar Costume/Hands
- Date Edited:
4/15 6:08pm (2 edits total)
Edited By:
Maulfly
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I'll have to do a search, but I think I remember the company's name.
In this forum I'd have to PM the answer to you, right?
Edit:
Just to be safe, PM sent.
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"Does that boy have a death wish, or is he just...'special'?"-Roddy semi-cranky old farts' home resident Grand Instigator Owner/ball and chain of GrandAdmiralStrife... http://www.austinfanforce.org
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Dawgeth
Registered:
Apr '08
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Date Posted:
4/15 7:08pm
Subject:
RE: Ackbar Costume/Hands
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Thanks for the tips! I will check out a few of the local costume shops.
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abodeofthedamned
Registered:
Dec '04
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Date Posted:
4/15 9:57pm
Subject:
RE: Ackbar Costume/Hands
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Maulfly posted:
As long as you do your research, using latex (non-bake methods) isn't too hard. I managed to pull off a decent Rodian mask my very first try (never got to finish it, though). The main concern would be how to apply color after the molding process is complete since some paints can actually breakdown latex. That and you've gotta make sure you don't accidentally lock your project into the mold...but looking at what the hands look like, you should be ok on that score.
PAX paint. 50% Pros-Aide (a makeup adhesive) and 50% liquiteX acrylic paint. A lot of mask makers are using airbrush ink as well. Then theres the Naptha based paint formula. I would'n't recommend going that route though.
You can probably carve a decent pair from hobby foam available through places like Michaels for relatively cheap.
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navarre1095
Title: FF Secretary/Treasurer
Evansville, IN
Registered:
May '05
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Date Posted:
4/16 10:07am
Subject:
RE: Ackbar Costume/Hands
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You could also sculpt them out of clay and do a two-part plaster cast. Then slush-mold them with liquid latex. I get mine a quart at a time from my local Dick Blick store. There are some good tutorials for the budget conscious here:
http://www.hauntproject.com/projdetail.asp?category=Molding/Casting
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Maulfly
Title: Moderator Emeritus
Registered:
Oct '01
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Date Posted:
4/16 3:48pm
Subject:
RE: Ackbar Costume/Hands
- Date Edited:
4/16 4:36pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Maulfly
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I got my latex and intrinsic coloring agent from Monster Makers. Seems to be a pretty good site for such supplies. When I ordered my lot, they included a tutorial booklet full of pictures, which was helpful even though by that point I had already done quite a bit of research on the process.
To make the Rodian mask, I basically did what navarre1095 said using oil-based clay. To reduce the amount of clay used, you can create a armature to use as a base that's almost the approximate size/shape of what you want your final product to be. Also keeps the weight down on larger projects. I don't even want to think about how much that Rodian head would've weight (and cost) if I had done the entire thing in clay. Same principals should apply for making gloves, feet, or anything else out of latex using a plaster cast/slush-mold technique.
abodeofthedamned posted:
You can probably carve a decent pair from hobby foam available through places like Michaels for relatively cheap.
Probably so. Especially if you don't already have all the tools/materials necessary to create a proper plaster mold.
When deciding what method to use, also consider how much you plan on using your hands as well as how long you plan on wearing the costume. For example, depending on the type of latex you use as well as how thick you create the gloves, there may be some trade-offs between durability and range of movement (and probably weight as well).
-----signature-----
"Does that boy have a death wish, or is he just...'special'?"-Roddy semi-cranky old farts' home resident Grand Instigator Owner/ball and chain of GrandAdmiralStrife... http://www.austinfanforce.org
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