Memph, TN The SMT Costume Help Thread

I want to know what kind of hair one uses for those. I heard that they used Yak hair for the original, as they did for the wigs for Cats.

Don't have any spare Yaks laying about, do you, Lin?

 

Lin: Here's some more regarding the Wookiee costume. I think some of this is a reiteration of what Traci was talking about.

Chewie

 

Yeah, that's the same thing. I don't know why I couldn't get it to work as a direct link earlier.

There's always Han....how hard could a white shirt and black pants/vest be, LOL.

 

just stopped by to chime in,,

i am helping somewhat with a friend here in nashville.he's doing a pretty dead on chewie costume.he is Matt or "jeditoren" on the boards.he is 6ft 3inches already and has 12 inch stilts already made.

to create a mask just like they did in the movies we ;first did a head mold.we covered his head in alginate to create a neg casting.this was then pulled off and filled with hydrocal.once dried matt sanded it smooth and we vaccuumformed him a few plastic skulls.
he then took one of the skulls and sculpted the wookie face onto it.
that was then covered in plaster to create a negative.
the negative mold was then filled with plaster to create a postive.then that postive was vaccumformed to create yet another skull.
he now has a plastic skull that is a perfect fit onto his face.he will next attach the larger wookie plastic skull to that one.he lastly has covered the wookie skull in latex and is applying hair to it.

sounds like alot of work ,well because it was!many months in the making and its still not done.he is now reworking the body suit and feet.he is sculpting the feet from foam.then the foam is covered in liquid latex and painted.should look good.

i dont have any photos i can link but i do have lots of photos.
when done he should be one of the best wookies around.go one the nashville forum and look for jeditoren,email him with any questions.

good luck
skip
oh,and i made my son a jawa costume last year.i can help with that if you need it.

 

Thanks guys (and gal) for the info. I was reading that there are synthetic hairs out there which would help keep the bugs down- eek! I did read about doing the vaccuform masks, using cables to help snarl, and using velcro on the stilts. All should help A LOT!

Since I did the stilts and FunnyBonz I've wanted to do either Chewie or a wampa. I'm 5'8" and the stilts are about 18-20", which puts me over the 7' mark, and with a mask close to 8'. I think the wampa could be more fun (a little extra gore around the fangs...), but Chewie would be recognized easier, and less apt to frighten children!

I'll have to show you the pics of 'Heather, the prehistoric fairy godmother/princess' costume my buddy Greg made. It was a big fur costume with arm extentions and fingers that could move. For either Chewie or wampa I'd need extentions and moving fingers.

I've been wanting to get back into sculpting and make-up fx, so looks like I'll have another project to keep me busy...

Man, too short to be a wookie, too tall to be a jawa, and to round to be Luke or Han! I guess that Porkins costume could still be in the running!

Oh- Skip, have you seen the costumes at http://www.gothampublicworks.com ? They sculpt their own bat-suits! And the Harley and catwoman costumes...oh, momma!

Lin

 

Here's another site with SW costumes-

http://www.rebelscum.com/scary5.asp

Lots of cool (and bizarre!) SW costumes, and yes...even some gold bikinis.

Lin

 

Timmy!: Got a proposal for you, Sal, and anyone else who would like to go costume scavenger hunting one weekend. I want to put together a jedi outfit- possibly a charcoal grey/black one for the RMH movie night and any cons we may do. I'd like to hit the fabric stores and army surplus ones (there's a new one by me on Highland!) Let me know if you guys have a free afternoon some weekend this month or next. I still want to do a Chewie suit, but that's gonna take a lot longer and lot more money!

Sal: I also want to get a light-up saber. How much and where do I order one?

 

Count me in!! I've got 2 costumes in mind and need fabric, belts, boots, etc. for both.

We got our lightsabers from Master Replicas, but there are other places. Tim and Sal are the experts there.

 

I also want to get a light-up saber. How much and where do I order one?

www.parksabers.com.
They're more to scale than the FX sabres and have detachable blades, so they're much more practical, and should cost anywhere from $230-300 plus postage.

 

Yeah, the Parksabers are cool, but a bit on the expensive side. Sal and I have been eyeing the EL wire, and are looking for acrylic tubes so we can make our own.

Sal: I found out from this months Star Wars Insider that the new Vader FX saber is not EL, but is made up of 72 LED lights that light in sequence. Why didn't we think of that?

Lin: A shopping trip is in order, isn't it? When do we want to try and do this? You know me- I'm flexible, and love fabric stores. What about this Saturday? We could scour army surplus (they know me at the one on Highland- It's where my sword collection came from), Salvation Army, Hancocks, Goodwill, and wherever else we might think to find stuff for costuming.

 

LEDS.... hummm. I am in need of some new get-up also but I will have to see how my weekend will shape-up first.

 

Saturday would be good for me. Let me know if it's cool for you guys. I could meet you at the army Surplus on Highland, then we could hit the Goodwill on the corner, and then the Handcock on Quince or Summer, or where ever the afternoon takes us!

Ben- thanks for the saber link, those were sweet. The Vader looking one was around $210-230 I think. Still debating if I want to go blue or red...

 

Just went by the Master replicas site. How do you guys like your FX sabers? I'm thinking about ordering one this week, then getting one of the detatchable ones from parksabers before MSC.

 

Let me know if you get a detachable one. I'd like to get one of those.


EDIT: That sounded really bad didn't it?

 

I hear that doesn't happen until after guys get married! There's a great old Sam Kinnison bit about it!

That and the word 'snap-on' comes to mind...

 

I hear that doesn't happen until after guys get married! There's a great old Sam Kinnison bit about it!

That and the word 'snap-on' comes to mind...

[Dark Helmet]So, Lone Starr, I see your Schwartz is as big as mine.[/Dark Helmet]


Tim/Sal, let me know how you get on with those LED/EL blades if you make them. I wouldn't mind trying it myself.

 

Ben: Sal and I were thinking of using a tight coil of EL wire within an acrylic tube. Haven't really proceded with making anything yet, but we'll get around to it.

Lin: I love the Vader FX saber. Unfortunately, mine has to go back to MR- I have a problem with the sound chip. (The humming sound stutters when you wave the thing around.) The blade is exquisite, though.

 

I'd prefer LEDs, but that's just me. You may be able to get brighter LEDs than EL wire, and you could get them to go on in sequence, as with the Vader FX sabre.

 

Man, I've got to give you guys a yell when I need to light my Vader model!

 

before sending that vader saber back try holding it in different positions.if the saber is rotated a certain way it wont behave correctly.
the sensor in mine is really sensative to which way its held.
otherwise its an incredible pc,expecially for the hundred dollar price tag.

 

It's definitely the saber. Tech support sent me a shipping label.

 

I still gotta get me one!

 

Lin: Of course, your idiot taylor (a.k.a.- seamster) forgot to buy interfacing for the collar of your tunic. I'll pick some up during the week.

BTW- Love the fabrics you chose. Hate that they're not MINE!

Oh, and Traci says you should go with black pants for your costume.

 

So what happened with this? Did you guys get together and go to the fabric store?

If not, I need to go at some point, let me know when you guys go again, or maybe Traci and I can go fabric hunting. Trace, let me know if you're up for it.

 

That was my bad, Rhonda. I forgot to call you. Lin, Sal, and I went running around yesterday to find costume stuff for Lin's Jedi costume.

Traci asked me to tell you that she's free this Saturday morning/early afternoon if you want to hit Hancock's with her.