Metal hairpiece?

I'm setting up to do an EU Leia costume that's extremely simple except for one thing: the hairpiece. I have very clear reference pictures for myself, but only one so far online for others to see here. (Click on the image for a larger pop-up.) It's gold, very thin and delicate, and involves a lot of curved scrollwork. I have a ton of sheet metal left over from old school projects, so Kris (Benae Q) and I were first going to try working with that. But does anyone else here have suggestions for other good materials that can accomplish this? I've heard the term Sintra tossed around, but I think it would be too unwieldy for this, while simple wire might be too insubstantial.

 

What about bending thick wire around a jig for the scroll part?

metalliferous.com has a catalog with many different base metal types and a variety of thicknesses of wire and tubing.

I've also gotten wire and tubing for a headdress from specialshapes.com - most of the stuff there is brass.

Sorry, I couldn't see the rest of the hair piece well enough for any other advise.

-Kay Dee

 

Thanks! A jig would come in very handy...too bad my school woodshop will be closing for the year after next week.

 

I was thinking you could make a simple jig at home - saw off pieces from wooden dowel rods, nail or screw them to a board and wrap the wire around it to shape it.

You could probably also using round-nosed pliers to hold the wire in place and bend it with your other hand into the shape of a coil. It can then be flattened with parallel pliers.

-Kay Dee