How to make a wookiee costume

How can make one or where can i buy one in the uk

 

Try this link:

Chewbacca Costume

There are also some members here who had done or doing this costume.

 

Jedi Toren from this board is doing this costume as well. I'm sure he'll see this post.

 

Thanks

 

Yep. The link that Darth Eagle posted is the page where I have compiled my resources, knowledge, and links. Thus far I am gluing hair onto the suit and I have a Chewie bandolier.

A warning: this is not a cheap costume. Even the budget version is $500-$1000.

Basically you have two options for the hair. Either you drop $2500 into synthetic hair from National Fibre Technology or you do what I and many others are doing or have done, get lots of synthetic KaneKalon hair extensions from beuty shops (roughly 1.99 per bag but you need a lot). I am using a hi-temp glue gun that I got from Wal-Mart to attach the hair in small clumps. I will then use a hair-curling iron on all of these clumps all over the suit to make the hair more or less wavy as well as to clump it like it looks on film. Just call any beuty shop and ask for KaneKalon hair, they will have it. Just don't try wig shops you'll pay much more for that.
Faux fur or shag carpet have been discussed in the past and they just don't look right.
BTW, the glue works well. There is a myth amongst non-Chewie costumers that glued hair sheds and will not stay in. This glue is a little too strong at times. I started off with the wrong color hair and let me tell you, it was NOT easy to get the hair out when I realized what I had done.
There will be two kinds of synthetic hair at the beuaty shops. The $.99 cheapy version, and the $1.99 KaneKalon synthetic braids. Don't get the cheap stuff. It sucks and it will melt when you try to glue it, and probably when you try to curl it with the curling iron (although I haven't gotten that far)

The mask is it's own special adventure. I haven't started on mine but from I have learned, if you want to make one with an articulated mouth, you'll need to create a fibreglass or vacuum-formed plastic underskull with a hinged jaw. Once I get some other parts finished and I can afford the supplies, I am gonna get a life-casting kit ($50) and make a life cast of my face. My buddy skip who posts around here now and again, is going to vacuum-form the parts for me. In the end I'll have a plastic underskull with a hinged jaw with springs on it to keep it closed. The teeth will also be mounted on said skull along with some CPU fans, a speaker, and a sound effects chip for roaring. Over that there will be a foam-latex mask that will have the painted mouth area and nose, with the rest being covered by hair.
Don't waste your money on the Don Post masks of Chewie. While they look halfway decent on the catalogue pics, they are nothing more than giant explosions of fur in real life. Even the Illusive Concepts Chewie bust is like this. If you wanna do it right, u gotta make it yourself.

Peter Mayhew is 7'4". I'm 6'4". Most Chewie's that I have seen have used drywall stilts. I have a link to place that sells 14" drywall stilts for $150ish. My dad is making me a set of 12" custom stilts (they will basically be drywall stilts, but they dont make drywall stilts that small). If your gonna do Chewie, or any Wookie for that matter you gotta do the height. There was a Wookie at SWC2 who had an awesome costume but looked to be about 5'4" and it was kind of funny looking because he/she was so small for a Wookie. I wanted to yell "Lumpy!!"

For keeping cool I am going to make a cooling suit like this one guy did on the RPF. Basically he got a small windhsield washer pump from a local junkyard, a few aluminium CPU heat sinks, some acquarium tubing from a pet store, and some batteries and a cold gel pack and basically the water is puumped through the hoses, which run around his body and absorb heat, and the water is cooled by the gel pack and the heat sinks. He said it works all day real well.

Since the mask will make it virtually impossible for anyone to hear you when you are in the suit, I am gonna make a little translator droid prop. I picked up a cool looking soap travel dish at Wal-Mart the other dayt for something like $.30. I am gonna mount a small microphone in the mask and run it down to a speaker mounted in the box

 

This so rocks!!!!!!! I have found my next project!!!!
Thanks guys!!!!!!!!

 

Just make sure u know what you are getting into. It's time consuming and expensive and is not a good first project. You'll need a lot of patience and it might help if you are obsessive compulsive.
If you ever plan on wearing it to cons, be prepared to stay at the hotels that are within 10 min. walking distance from the con itself. You will need to change in and out of the costume often as you will never get to see anything when you are Chewie. YOU will be the attraction. I just watched Dan as he walked through SWC2 in his Chewie suit. Everyone wanted their picture taken with him.

 

BUMP

 

What is the most simple way to make a chewie mask, how much does it cost to make a wookiee mask (both budget and expensive versions).

 

There are two ways to do the mask. A static mask, and a mask with a moving jaw. The moving jaw will require a fibreglass or vacuum formed plastic underskull, with a latex (not foam latex mind you) mask over this.

You'll need to start by making a full-head lifecast of your face. I recently ordered the supplies for this from FXSupply. Their face casting kit is fine for sculpting small prosthetics (noses and such) but you need a full head cast to make a mask. Here is the supplies I ordered:

5 lbs. Accu-Cast 880 Alginate: $48.00
(this is what you use to make the impression/cast of your face, kind of like the stuff they use to make dental casts)
ALG-880-5

4"x 5 yd. Plaster Bandages: $3.75
(goes over the alginate to give it structure and firmness)
GYP4

25 lbs. of Hydrostone: $22.00
(For making the positive cast that you will sculpt on)
HYD-25

Economy Bald Cap: $3.50
(so you don't have alginate in your hair)
1567

"Techniques of Lifecasting with Rob Burman" Training video: $34.95 (you need to get one of these otherwise you will waste materials doing it wrong)
VIDEO51

Sealube, 8 oz jar: $4.00
(a release agent to prevent the alginate from sticking to your eyebrows and facial hair if you have one)
SEA-8

Total: $116.20

It is a common misconception that you plaster or plaster of paris to make a life cast. Plaster sticks to the skin like glue and is very hard to remove. Don't try to save money by using cheaper methods you think will work. ALWAYS call a place like FXSupply and ask before trying wacky alternative methods/materials. In fact, call them no matter how you do it. That's what I did. Being stuck inside a lifecast is scary and terrible. The main reason I mentioned this was because I don't want someone, who in the interest of doing it even cheaper will jusy say "That's too expensive. I'll just go the art store and buy some plaster and use that."

After that, you will need to get a sculpting compound. I am going to use an oil-based clay. Water-based clays will dry out quickly, sulpher-based clays won't mould well with silicone, but oil-based clays won't dry out AND you can use a variety of materials to make moulds out of them. You can also melt them and pour them into moulds for making casts in clay. MonsterMakers sells good clay for 11.25 for 5 pounds.

If you want to make a movable jaw, you will need to sculpt the mouth partially open so it will flex well in both directions. You will also want to make some teeth and build up gums around them, although the teeth will be mounted onto the skull and go through holes in the latex mask designed for the teeth to fit through. You can get a complete set of Acrylic human teeth from MonsterMakers for $24.95. I plan on making the sharp canine teeth using friendly plastic or sculpy.

You'll need to buy some mould-making materials. I've heard that silicone is much better for this since the only thing sticks to silicone is silicone, plus it will be flexible. Although it is considerably more expensive than rigid mould materials. MonsterMakers has both rigid and flexible moulding compounds.

Then of course, you'll need some mask latex. Again, MonsterMakers carries this. You don't want to use foam latex as it deteriorates very rapidly (a few months at best before it is all gone). Since my mask is going to have a moving mouth, I am going to get a fairly soft grade of latex so that it will flex easier.

Now if you are doing the moving jaw there are a few things you should know. A buddy of mine has a vacuum-form table and is going to help me vacuum-form the skull parts. Basically I am gonna vacuum-form some plastic over my lifecast and then make a negative mould from the inside of the latex mask and vacuum form another piece of plastic off that. I will then combine these two pieces, cut them up a bit to allow

 

Thanks for all of that info! Mony and time will definatly not be a problem for me, I enjoy doing long term projects. I have reserched your site and put this project into consideration for quite a while the only problem I can think of as you said is my age. This will not be my first project and I know what I am in for. Thanks for warning me of problems I might incounter.

 

There's another really good reason to have a second, more common costume when you do Chewie:

When you are Chewie all you will be doing is posing for photos. When you take it to a con you will never see anything or be able to hang out with friends. It will be one photo after another. Sounds cool now, but I'll bet it gets old fast. It's always good to have a Jedi costume as a backup so you can still cruise the con in costume but not get swamped with photo requests.

I recommend a Jedi as a first costume. It allows for customization so you don't have to nail something perfect (i.e. do it 5 times) and you can inject your own creative ideas into it. Not to mention the fact that there about 5 million lightsabre and Jedi costume tutorials on the web. And you will only have to pose for a few photos at the cons.

In the meantime you could start stockpiling Wookie hair, just don't open the package until you are ready to use it, if it gets really tangled and messy its useless.

 

Thanks for the advice I have already made a jedi costume except I am waiting for the boots to come in.