Boy, this is some great stuff! I will certainly be looking into some
of these things. I'm going to order that video; FXSupply says they
have it. I will probably be retooling my concept. I'm hoping to have a
lifecast and be starting the skull by the end of Feb.

I will certainly be recording everything I can for this. I tested the
DragonSkin, and I think it will be great; very elastic, and it holds
its shape excellently.

Great stuff here!

Thanks again,
--Gene


--- In wookiee@yahoogroups.com, "Matt Pfingsten" <gotwookiee@...> wrote:
>
> Hi, I'm Matt. I started this group and run the Wookiee Costuming page <
> http://rebellegion.com/chewie>. It sounds like you have a pretty
good plan
> here and you've really done your homework. Here are a few tips, though:
>
> On Jan 18, 2008 10:24 AM, wookieenvy <wookieenvy@...> wrote:
>
> > For the suit, I got some of that cheap synthetic hair (Kanekalon)
and I'm
> > going to setup a test case for fabric and the mask. I plan to sew
netting to
> > regular clothes and do the loop-hook technique. I think this will
be best
> > for doing repairs later.
>
> I would avoid sewing the netting to regular clothes, as this will
make the
> suit much hotter. The netting is very nice because a slight breeze
through
> it will cool you off very rapidly. Also, I recommend you reinforce
all the
> seams of the net suit by tying hair into both pieces of fabric at
the seems.
>
> For the head I'm going to do a lifecast of myself, build a positive
of that,
> > then sculpt on top of that what will be the "skull." Then take a
mold of
> > that. I will make a positive of this mold to build what will be
the skin
> > over the skull.
>
> Well, I'm almost finished with my mechanical mask, and I'm not doing
it that
> way. That was the method that Tom Twohy, who figured out the
technique for
> us, suggested. I did some additional research and consulted some
> professional training materials, particularly an old video called "Cable
> Controlled Mechanical Mask" and they started the skin and worked
backwards
> from there, making the skull to fit the skit. I highly recommend getting
> this video. It's out of print and can occasionally be found on eBay,
but if
> you can't find it contact me privately and I might be able to point
you to a
> source for it.
>
> I think I understand why Tom did the skull first and insisted that
it must
> be done this way. You have to make sure that your sculpture is thick
enough
> so that there is enough room both for the silicone skin and the skull to
> fit. The video has several techniques to make sure that works. I
used two
> techniques myself:
> 1) Use a pin to probe the depth/thickness of the clay to ensure that
there
> is enough space between the outer surface of the skin and the stone
> life-cast.
> 2) Once the outer mold was made, lay in a layer of clay into the mold to
> determine the thickness of the core mold piece, then press the life-cast
> into the clay and see where it touches. Scrape away excess clay to
ensure
> sufficient thickness for the skull pieces.
>
> I'll let you know how my results turn out (I'll almost certainly be done
> before you have started your mask if you do the suit first.)
>
> When you start sculpting the mask, get a cheap adjustable desk lamp and
> attach to your work area. This helps to see what you are doing
better. Also,
> get some foam board and print out a couple of pictures of Chewie's
face from
> my resource page and pin them up on the foam board and set them in
front of
> your work area and start sculpting. I found the pictures of the
unfinished
> (bald) Chewie face pieces to be especially helpful. Take pictures of
your
> sculpt regularly and post them here for feedback. I greatly improved my
> recent sculpt by getting advice from the other Wookiees here.
>
> The biggest mistake I see on fan-made Chewie sculpts are this:
> 1) The muzzle is too short. Chewie's muzzle is long and huge.
> 2) Bad upper lip. The lip sort of curves up in the center, and there
is a
> line that connects with the line on the nose.
> 3) Making the eye-sockets too deep. They really aren't that deep.
> 4) Making the forehead too big.
> 5) Making the chin too round. It's fairly sharp and prominent, just
like a
> real human chin.
>
>
> > Using the positive lifecast and the negative skull mode I will
build the
> > actual skull. I still haven't determined from what material the
skull will
> > be made of... suggestions? resin?
>
> That is what I am using. Specifically, I am using C1509 resin from
> Smooth-On. It is "semi-rigid" which means it has some flexibility
and it was
> developed for high-impact tooling. It's very strong. Resin is
actually the
> preferred material for making bucks/plugs for vacuum forming by many
armor
> makers as it holds up to repeated castings better than plaster or gypsum
> compounds.
>
> Tom used Epoxy Glass for his underskull.
>
> A number of others have used fiberglass. The aforementioned training
video
> also uses fiberglass.
>
> I am fairly certain that the original trilogy underskull was made of
> polyurethane resin.
>
>
> > Once I have the skill, build the skin of the mask using
DragonSkin. Glue
> > the hair to that using ProsAide, and maybe some hair punching.
>
> According to the folks who built the EP3 Wookiees, some of the hair was
> glued on using ProsAide, but most of the face was punched in. Also, they
> punched in single-strands of hair crossways to help hold the hair down
> against the mask. A lot of us have had trouble with the hair going
all over
> the place and our masks looking much larger than they really are. This
> technique would seem to work pretty well. Here is the quote from the
page:
>
> "The Elsey's also explained that they punched in several hairs going
> cross-wise to help tame the hair and keep it down against the mask.
Darren
> guessed that they would have punched in a single long hair running
ear to
> ear over the top of the head with it being punched in every inch and
a half
> or so. This hair would be concealed by hair from the face and would give
> something for the top most layer of hair to bond to using hairspray."
>
>
> > I haven't gotten to the hands, feet, stilts, or bandoleir yet as I
figure
> > the mask will be the most difficult, and the suit the most time
consuming.
>
> The original trilogy hands look like simple leather gloves. You can
even see
> the stitching when you get up close, but it looks like the hair
covers the
> top of the hand and the first third of the fingers, but not the palm
or rest
> of the fingers.
>
> The RotS hands are clearly sculpted rubber hands. I use black cotton
gloves,
> but I am in the process of designing and building mechanical arm
extensions.
> I plan on covering the mechanical hands with sculpted rubber hands.
>
> The feet I am working on going to be slip cast in latex rubber,
painted and
> furred and attached to my stilts. I have already sculpted and molded
them, I
> just haven't gotten around to casting them yet. My current feet are
carved
> from upholstery foam and coated with latex rubber. They are also
designed to
> look like the ambidextrous feet from RotS. My new feet are sculpted
to look
> like the classic trilogy feet.
>
> I plan on laying in some snaps on the top of these feet, and sewing
matching
> snaps into the bottom edges of my new pants. It appears that they
did this
> with the RotS feet, to prevent the pants from moving away from the
feet and
> exposing the shoes underneath.
>
> For stilts I highly recommend 14" Dura-Silts. They are very
light-weight and
> they also have spring and hinge system so the feet actually move.
They are
> very easy to walk in and I have walked in several parades, gone up
and down
> hills, and now routinely go up down large flights of stairs without even
> being near a railing. They are quite easy to walk in and much better
than
> the 20lbs. plate steel ones that my dad and I made before.
> I recommend bolting on a pair of your old shoes onto the stilts.
This is the
> key to making them more comfortable and more stable.
>
> I also recommend you buy a tall, folding director's chair for those
events
> where you don't have a high table or chair to sit on to put the
stilts on.
> It's much easier then sitting on the trunk of your car or some
precarious
> table. Also, get a small folding step ladder. It will help your
handlers to
> easily comb and style the mask hair without having to strain themselves.
>
> I also recommend building a foam insert that goes in front of your
shins to
> help make a smooth transition between your legs and the stilts,
rather than
> having an obvious "shelf" where your reel feet are.
>
> The other option for height enhancement is to use use shoes with
lifts. Even
> though Peter was 7'3" and the other Wookiee actors in Ep3 were similarly
> tall, they all wore 4" lifts, even in the original trilogy, because
George
> wanted Chewie to be 8' tall (the mask forehead also added a few inches).
>
> Both methods are popular amongst Wookiees.
>
> BTW, how tall are you naturally?
>
> As for the bandolier, I had a friend make mine, but he hasn't been
in the
> prop community for many years now. I would just find one of the many
leather
> prop builders and ask him/her to make it for you. If you decide to do it
> yourself, please take lots of notes and pictures so you can make a
tutorial.
>
> There is a guy in the UK who makes pressed aluminium bandolier
blocks. They
> are hollow and look pretty good. I recommend that your blocks be
hollow and
> light weight. Mine are solid wood (although I am replacing them with
hollow,
> vacuum-formed plastic ones) and they are quite heavy and my shoulder
gets
> pretty sore after a few hours in costume.
>
> From those more experieinced wookiee makers... does this sound like
a good
> > plan? I'll be documenting what I find, and taking pictures as I go.
>
> Sounds good. Keep us up to date and good luck.
>
> --
> Matt Pfingsten
> GotWookiee.com
> MightyWookiee.com
> TuxFilms.com
>