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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Admiral Ackbar and Mon Calamari characters

Discussion in 'Costuming and Props' started by FitKisto88, Jun 25, 2007.

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  1. FitKisto88

    FitKisto88 Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Aug 15, 2006
    I've noticed there is no information listed for Admiral Ackbar costumes on the faq section. And I couldn't find any direct reference on the search function either.

    Do any long-time board members remember if costumes for this character/species were covered on this forum in recent years?

    S_S edit: just unlocking :)
     
  2. rodan70

    rodan70 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 1, 2002
    Admiral ackbar would be a cool costume. and not too hard to make either
     
  3. Jedi-Loreen

    Jedi-Loreen Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 2, 2002
    I don't remember anything about this costume here in the last few years.

    The hardest part of this costume seems to be procuring the hands. I know of several people in the Rebel Legion who have been looking for hands for months and haven't located any.
     
  4. Zoom_Cthooga

    Zoom_Cthooga Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 30, 2004
    Somewhere in my "Room of Projects I Put On Hold When I Started Grad School and Then Forgot About After I Finished Because I Got Sucked Into WoW" is a set of Calamari hand sculpts that I was going to use for my Calamari Jedi when I made one.

    I'll try to dig them up this weekend and hope that nothing's been piled on top of them, or fallen next to them. [face_plain]

    I have the head mostly done, too, but I keep it out in the family room to scare children. My workshop's currently full of enough lumber for a 240 foot fence, sooooo once I've got that up in the next month I'll have space again to actually try pulling a mold off it. Which, I might add, I'm scared to death to do. It's pretty big, and the mold will be huge, especially since I'd prefer to do it out of foam latex, or maybe a really light and flexible foam urethane that I can coat with latex so it doesn't come out all clunky and floppy like the lame Don Post or Rubies masks.

    Something like say...a Nerf Mon Calamari Muppet head.

    [image=http://www.octomoose.net/images/calamari_head_02.jpg] [image=http://www.octomoose.net/images/calamari_head_03.jpg]
     
  5. rodan70

    rodan70 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 1, 2002
    How the Heck can you make Admiral Ackbar's arms and hands? Any Ideas?
     
  6. Zoom_Cthooga

    Zoom_Cthooga Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 30, 2004
    OH HAI.

    Oddly 'nuff, I finally got the workshop cleaned out a couple of weekends ago. Looks like I need to update my links, too. Oops. [face_blush]

    For the heads/hands I was just planning on casting a thin skin of rubber and fill it with some polyfoam to give it structure. That's...the over-simplified idea, anyway. The head is going to be a multiple-part mold with an insert to give enough space to fit your head inside. Same thing with the hands, too.

    Oh, and on the hands -- I took castings of each arm from about mid-bicep to my fingertips, and I sculpted the Calamari details on top of those. I made them a little oversized -- I'm only 5'8" and realize that if I ever duplicated these for someone else, it would be nice if they fit a wider range of sizes.

    I've also been clean of WoW for a little over 4 weeks, now, so I may actually be posting some real progress pics on this and a couple other projects soon. Maybe even a tutorial, too, if I feel ambitious. I found a couple of the videos off that site somewhat helpful, too.
     
  7. Zoom_Cthooga

    Zoom_Cthooga Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 30, 2004
    Hopefully in the next month I'll have an almost finished product and will just have to learn how to airbrush latex on latex.

    I don't have any intentions of making an Ackbar costume, though. A bunch of friends and I used to play Star Wars Galaxies a lot, and I always thought that if I ever did a Jedi costume, it would have to be my SWG Jedi. :D And with the Legacy comics being out, doing a Sith-tattooed Calamari would be sweet, too.
     
  8. rodan70

    rodan70 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 1, 2002
    That's really cool and helpful. Thank you. Keep us posted.
     
  9. Zoom_Cthooga

    Zoom_Cthooga Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 30, 2004
    Happy to say that I now have a mold of the head! There were a few times when I thought the whole thing would crash and burn, but I guess being patient paid off.

    It only took...umm...120 pounds of hydrostone, and about 12 hours in a 30-40 degree garage over the course of the weekend to do. It's a 2-part beast. Yoiks. Got a lot of pics, and am working on a tutorial. The mold itself is massive, and doing the initial slip cast is going to be rough. I've casted numerous Klingon prosthetics and superhero eyemasks, but I think the heaviest mold I've ever had to deal with was maybe 15 pounds, and they were all pretty 2-dimensional and required very little movement to get the latex where I needed it.

    It's going to take all week to clean up this mold. Will post pics once it looks pretty.

     
  10. Sister_Sola

    Sister_Sola Manager Emeritus star 4 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 19, 2002
    Unlocked for recent query :)
     
  11. kay_dee

    kay_dee Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 15, 2002
    Well, I figured this would be as good a place as any (in addition to Rebel Legion, since my post will auto delete there in a year) to post my notes about the film used Ackbar Costume that is on display at Lucafilm in San Francisco. I was not expecting to see the costume at all on a recent trip there, and only had a chance to take a few quick notes (no photos allowed).

    1) He wears white twill coveralls (they seem to be standard poly/cotton blend)! I didn't have a chance to look at the collar, but I did see that there were square chest pockets on either size of the center front. And there are regular diagonal pants pocket openings. The coveralls looked very much like this: http://www.randmh.com/mens-poly-cotton-coveralls-white-size-5050-ct10wh-50/shop-coveralls/?cid=F81100

    or these: http://www.bestbuyuniforms.com/detail.asp?id=802

    The sleeves on the coveralls just had to be hemmed to 3/4 length so that Ackbars arms could fit.

    2) There is a yellow side stripe on the coveralls (I think it went from the bottom of the pant hem up to the arm cycle?) - another very easy thing to apply... it's just yellow 1" polypropylene webbing! Yellow Gold light weight from Strapworks may be a match (unsure). http://www.strapworks.com/Lightweight_Polypropylene_p/lwp1.htm

    3) The vest is made of white (or slightly off-white) felt (possibly wool felt, or just regular felt). It fits over the head due to a keyhole opening in back at the top of the neck... maybe 8" long? There are multiple layers of felt that seem to be bonded together (probably with spray on fabric adhesive of some sort?). The bottom portion of the vest had 2 layers. Getting closer to the middle of the vest where it is thicker there is a 3rd layer sandwiched in between the two pieces of felt... I can't tell if it was a very thin white foam or just more felt. It seemed to look a tad different and thicker than the felt so may have been a very thin white/offwhite foam. The bottom edge of the vest (or any edge of the vest for that matter... including that key hole opening in back) is not sewn at all, the felt is just cut and they layers stay together due to whatever adhesive was used.

    4) The belt is 2" white Poly Propylene webbing, and it velcros closed in the back.

    5) His belt 'pouches' (not sure what to call the square decorations) are hollow molded plastic (probably vac formed). The are open on the back side that is against the body (another thing which suggests they are vac-formed) They cut slits in the sides of the vac formed shapes to insert the belt webbing through.

    That's all the info I've got!
     
  12. AramysStrael

    AramysStrael Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 9, 2004
    Impressive. Thanks for the detailed report! I've always thought it would be cool to do an Ackbar costume. I don't know if I could ever pull it off, but the information is always appreciated. You're awesome!

    - Bill
     
  13. Zoom_Cthooga

    Zoom_Cthooga Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 30, 2004
    I actually haven't done much lately. My project blog is linked in my signature, but lately over the past few months I've been taking more classes, and working on stuff for an art submission to a couple game companies.

    We have a local sci-fi convention coming up in a month, though, and I've thought about finishing one of my Calamari costumes for it, but I have 2 other helmets that are shelved right now that I've thought about finishing the costumes for, too.
     
  14. Antilles01

    Antilles01 Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 5, 2001
    I for one would really like to see your calamari costume complete. The sculpt looks *really* cool. Utilizing the information kay_dee recently added to this thread, you can be the talk of the convention circuit.
     
  15. JedHead1

    JedHead1 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 20, 1999
    I have yet to see a good Ackbar costume. Hope this turns out great!

    There was an auction on ebay for a fan-made head and hands. Pricey, but better than the Don Post version.
     
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