SHAAK TI headpiece build- Finally FINISHED! Pics in latest post
- Thread starter duck
- Start date
duck
Active Member
Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build
Would you believe that here it is 7 months later and I'm FINALLY getting around to completing this?! But plans have changed... I made some more modifications on it and now I'm casting it up to mold out of various materials (one in latex, one in Dragon Skin with expanding Flex Foam keeping the form). Hopefully I will have pics in a week or so.
If anyone is interested, I'm considering of offering these for sale after I work out the last few kinks.
Would you believe that here it is 7 months later and I'm FINALLY getting around to completing this?! But plans have changed... I made some more modifications on it and now I'm casting it up to mold out of various materials (one in latex, one in Dragon Skin with expanding Flex Foam keeping the form). Hopefully I will have pics in a week or so.
If anyone is interested, I'm considering of offering these for sale after I work out the last few kinks.
thedarkone
Well-Known Member
Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build
Its ok, its been 7 years and im finally getting back around to doing my vader suit lol
Looking great. I never thought about foam being a possible material for head tendrils
Its ok, its been 7 years and im finally getting back around to doing my vader suit lol
Looking great. I never thought about foam being a possible material for head tendrils
YellowMoon
New Member
Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build
Amazing transformation. I can't wait to see the finished product. Loved the Count in your former pics too.
Amazing transformation. I can't wait to see the finished product. Loved the Count in your former pics too.
S
SenatorSelina
Guest
Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build
So,how your work with Shaak Ti headpiece,Duck?
Do you plan to make Ahsoka headpiece too?
So,how your work with Shaak Ti headpiece,Duck?
Do you plan to make Ahsoka headpiece too?
duck
Active Member
Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build
Funny you should drag this post back up.... this project has sat dormant for looooooong stretches of time (which is really not cool of me, since it was promised to my friend Meredith over 18 months ago!), but recently kicked back into high gear, totally reconfiguring it. I resculpted the entire bottom and molded it in Rebound 25 silicon rubber.
I made one tiny little mistake: I had totally forgotten I had covered the horns in a skim coat of liquid latex last year and just zoned out on that little bit of important info. Well, as everyone who has worked with that stuff knows, silicon rubber will NEVER cure if it comes into contact with latex. So I ended up with a very expensive f-up.... gooey inside of a huge rubber mold.
But I was determined to salvage it somehow, so I cleaned the sculpted horns completely, skim coated it with a bit of plaster and prepped it for remolding. I was able to salvage the bottom half of the mold that only touched clay, so I cut off the gooey part and pulled it into the horns and am in the process of remolding the top part. I have one more coat to go before I pull it off and clean up the mold and see how bad the seam is and fix that as best I can. Then I will cast the headpiece and see how it turns out.
If all goes well, I will probably start selling a few headpieces after I finish Mer's and get caught up on a few wookiee mask kits I'm working on.
Funny you should drag this post back up.... this project has sat dormant for looooooong stretches of time (which is really not cool of me, since it was promised to my friend Meredith over 18 months ago!), but recently kicked back into high gear, totally reconfiguring it. I resculpted the entire bottom and molded it in Rebound 25 silicon rubber.
I made one tiny little mistake: I had totally forgotten I had covered the horns in a skim coat of liquid latex last year and just zoned out on that little bit of important info. Well, as everyone who has worked with that stuff knows, silicon rubber will NEVER cure if it comes into contact with latex. So I ended up with a very expensive f-up.... gooey inside of a huge rubber mold.
But I was determined to salvage it somehow, so I cleaned the sculpted horns completely, skim coated it with a bit of plaster and prepped it for remolding. I was able to salvage the bottom half of the mold that only touched clay, so I cut off the gooey part and pulled it into the horns and am in the process of remolding the top part. I have one more coat to go before I pull it off and clean up the mold and see how bad the seam is and fix that as best I can. Then I will cast the headpiece and see how it turns out.
If all goes well, I will probably start selling a few headpieces after I finish Mer's and get caught up on a few wookiee mask kits I'm working on.
duck
Active Member
Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build
Whoa, long time, no post! This project just lingered and lingered and lingered, partial due to my friend Syagria's insanely infinite patience, but mostly due to my horrible laziness and crummy habit of putting my friend's projects behind other sillier ones (like parade floats, Halloween extravaganzas, etc.).
Anyway, here's how things turned out. The first set turned out useless because when I molded them, I let too much latex puddle up in the horn tips and even after 4 weeks left forgotten in my dry 100 degree attic, they still never dried 100% (the silicon mold doesn't allow for moisture to leave the latex except through the exposed side and that take s a million years to cure apparently!). When I pulled them, everything looked amazing except the horn tips which where horribly wonky and screwed up. I tried grafting new tips on and slow sanding the seam with a Dremmel, but they never looked acceptable, so I started over from scratch.
The second go round, I did thin layers and altered the angle of the mold each coat so the latex distribution was varied by coat. I also switched to a slightly different latex that was softer and more wiggly (the brand is XXX Latex, who have a great deal of 2 gallons for $66 and free shipping). I was worried that the softer latex would cause the horns to collapse or just not look right by being limp, but they actually came out great.
To allow the tentacles to sway and swing a bit and be much lighter, I made them out of sewn Jet Set fabric (a cheap alternative to spandex), glued them to the tentacle stumps and them coated them with a layer of brushed on latex so the skin texture was the same. They have a slight leathery skin but are still soft and flexible.
Here is the set the night before their debut at our annual Halloween parade. Now note, the horn tips are spread out pretty far when the are on the stand ... when they are on a head, it tweaks the headpiece into the correct shape. Basically, when they are on a head, the design pushes and pulls everything into the proper shape, much to my surprise and total relief!
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And here are the horns on Syagria in the parking lot as we wait to leave into the parade (she hadn't seen the horns outside of a test fitting 3 months earlier of the first set that ended up in the trash, so she never saw these until that morning):
[/IMG]
They need some tweaks and re-trimming of the forehead since the new set sat a bit further back on her brow, and the forehead of the piece wasn't painted but done with messy greasepaint in the lot in pretty cold weather and nowhere to sit, but overall I think they turned out pretty good. I'm excited to further work on them and get them really rocking.
Whoa, long time, no post! This project just lingered and lingered and lingered, partial due to my friend Syagria's insanely infinite patience, but mostly due to my horrible laziness and crummy habit of putting my friend's projects behind other sillier ones (like parade floats, Halloween extravaganzas, etc.).
Anyway, here's how things turned out. The first set turned out useless because when I molded them, I let too much latex puddle up in the horn tips and even after 4 weeks left forgotten in my dry 100 degree attic, they still never dried 100% (the silicon mold doesn't allow for moisture to leave the latex except through the exposed side and that take s a million years to cure apparently!). When I pulled them, everything looked amazing except the horn tips which where horribly wonky and screwed up. I tried grafting new tips on and slow sanding the seam with a Dremmel, but they never looked acceptable, so I started over from scratch.
The second go round, I did thin layers and altered the angle of the mold each coat so the latex distribution was varied by coat. I also switched to a slightly different latex that was softer and more wiggly (the brand is XXX Latex, who have a great deal of 2 gallons for $66 and free shipping). I was worried that the softer latex would cause the horns to collapse or just not look right by being limp, but they actually came out great.
To allow the tentacles to sway and swing a bit and be much lighter, I made them out of sewn Jet Set fabric (a cheap alternative to spandex), glued them to the tentacle stumps and them coated them with a layer of brushed on latex so the skin texture was the same. They have a slight leathery skin but are still soft and flexible.
Here is the set the night before their debut at our annual Halloween parade. Now note, the horn tips are spread out pretty far when the are on the stand ... when they are on a head, it tweaks the headpiece into the correct shape. Basically, when they are on a head, the design pushes and pulls everything into the proper shape, much to my surprise and total relief!
And here are the horns on Syagria in the parking lot as we wait to leave into the parade (she hadn't seen the horns outside of a test fitting 3 months earlier of the first set that ended up in the trash, so she never saw these until that morning):
They need some tweaks and re-trimming of the forehead since the new set sat a bit further back on her brow, and the forehead of the piece wasn't painted but done with messy greasepaint in the lot in pretty cold weather and nowhere to sit, but overall I think they turned out pretty good. I'm excited to further work on them and get them really rocking.
The-Clayster
Sr Member
Can someone tell me where we can buy pink foam at? I looked locally at Home Depot and Lowes, they looked at me like I was crazy.
It comes in 4x8 ft sheets (It may be blue as well) and it is in the insulation section (StyroFoam Insulation sheathing). You can get it in many thicknesses like 1/2", 1" 3", etc...
I would be interested in buying one of your headpieces, my wife wants to do this character. How much are you asking?
