ESB Yoda puppet progress - FINGER & TOENAILS! see post #108

GINO

GINO

Sr Member
Well, after a couple of years of putting off finishing my foam filled latex Yoda puppet, I decided to take the plunge and get him painted up.

I would have painted him right away like I did with our Darth Maul (and soon Emperor), but because I knew I was always going to want to change Yoda's pose (being a puppet and all), I didn't know what I should use on his latex skin that wouldn't end up cracking over the years.

It's nuts just how different the colors look in person under different lighting conditions. Not to mention how different lighting affects the way the pics end up looking. It was a bit nerve racking for me to settle on his colors, and for a long while ended up chasing my tail going back and forth altering them. I'm pretty satisfied with it now though.

After making those slight changes I mentioned above, I'm going to get hard to work on distressing his robes. I'll take some more pics after that.
Then all that will be left is to do is punch the hair, finish the nails, and get Phil to work with me on a new flute



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Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

Still like this sculpt. It's really a great piece of art. The end result with the painting will probably turn out as good as the Maul, as you won't stop until you're satisfied, even going that extra mile with the finishing.

He looks a little pale and in the bluish hue. I know you probably already know your next steps and may not be interested in thoughts, but when I experimented with colors on Yoda, I found that the best colors that just seemed right, had a little yellow in them 5o break up the blue and grey tones.

Also, for latex paints that won't flake, there is always thehunterslair forum for Predator costumers for inspiration. There are several threads there about various brands that work and those to avoid.

Have fun and looking forward to seeing it finished.
 
Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

Thanks Carsten.
I'll keep messing with him until either I am happy, or get so frustrated that he goes in the garbage.

I know what you mean about the colors. I must have changed his colors (dramatically) about 4 or 5 times before landing here. I had his colors more intense with yellows and lime green-ish tones, then went back to the more subtle palette, then back to the more intense colors then back, etc...
Drove me nuts!

Here's my hero pic that I'm using (as far as color palette goes).
Still not 100% but I think it's close. Need to up the contrast just slightly by darkening the dark tones.

0772326.jpeg


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Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

If you are talking about the Canter/Nissel ones, then they are close, mine are from there as well but are slighty different than the run we did way back when. I did work with the person who originally made them for ESB though (she is still there after all these years).

In my pics they look very dark because the light isn't being directed straight into them, but in person they are much lighter.

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Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

One thing I learned was that lime green is absolutely the wrong color to use. In my last mix I used blue/grey mixed with yellow and white - think there was german ww2 army green in there as well - and that created a nice pale green color. I also thought the lime green color was the right one, but it was just all wrong. I learned the hard way that green isn't just "the right green"... and any green just doesn't work for Yoda.

He's very tough to nail. And you seem to be going in the right direction... and it really isn't bright yellow or much yellow you need... just a tiny squich of pale yellow, probably.
 
Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

I know what you mean.
PS, I didn't literally mean 'lime' green, I was just using it as a term to define the intense end of the spectrum (with the super pales being on the other).

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Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

I know. I use the same term when trying to describe his color - pale lime green seems to be what feels most right. Just saying that the color "lime green" in my head isn't similar to any off the shelf paint called lime green... all I'm saying, so things don't get too confusing for people trying to follow what we're talking about.

:thumbsup
 
Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

I like the basic green tone but I might suggest giving him a dirtier appearance to accent some of his features....even though it might seem too much it will look perfect under proper display lighting.
 
Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

Looking good!

Yoda is a very tough colour to nail. I suspect that the original puppets may have slightly varied in skin tone, too.

Be carful when using the sealer though - although the PAX paints won't crack easily, the sealer on top might.
 
Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

amazing likeness, Gino! best Yoda i´ve ever seen...

but hey, time for some hair... :love
 
Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

You can use a matte acrylic sealer on No-Tack Pros-Aide PAX with no problem. AirTex makes one that can be sprayed from an airbrush out of the bottle. It it's tacky at all, a Neutral Setting Powder will stop that and also take any shine off the surface, without making him look dusty.
Be aware that PAX will attract dust no matter what you do to it, so a case might be the way to go with him.
Laffo.
 
Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

Trilogy said:
Extremely impressive as always, Gino.
Click to expand...

Cool. Here are some pictures of my Yoda silicone puppet I did in 2002

http://www.starwars-union.de/sw/fan_makingyoda/

http://web.mac.com/zenlyons/iWeb/Site/JEDICON 2008.html

http://www.digitaldesignteam.de/cpg/index.php?cat=4http:e/JEDICON 2008.html

My Yoda has moveable eyes, ears, hands, eyelids and of cause mouth. I played him on several shows on the Jedi Cons 2004 and 2008 and other Star Wars events and Fan movies.
 
Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

Your Yoda is the reason why I wanted to make mine in the first place... Couldn't get an original... couldn't get yours... so had to build my own, so you are to blame for this version :lol
 
Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

Hi Cyberman. thank you! That indeed is a big honour. It makes me proud to hear from you that I was a part of your inspiration... Continue your sculpting work and focus on it. Be concentrated and keep away from "evil envy".
You are a very fine sculptor!.. :)

Yes, in these days i didn´t even kow about the RPF. When I started SW projects like that, not even the internet wasn´t developed for public.
 
Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

Laffo said:
You can use a matte acrylic sealer on No-Tack Pros-Aide PAX with no problem. AirTex makes one that can be sprayed from an airbrush out of the bottle. It it's tacky at all, a Neutral Setting Powder will stop that and also take any shine off the surface, without making him look dusty.
Be aware that PAX will attract dust no matter what you do to it, so a case might be the way to go with him.
Laffo.
Click to expand...

Thanks again guys.

On my yoda, the entire surface is coated in thin washes of acrylic paint and no actual prose aid (pax) is exposed on the outer surface.

I tried powder but it had no effect on reducing the dried acrylic's semi-gloss sheen.

I was going to spray through an airbrush liquitex matte varnish (which is acrylic based). I don't know if this will completely remove all traces of a sheen, but that is the goal.

If anyone has any last minute tips regarding removing any and all gloss from dried acrylic paint, I'd love to hear them.

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Re: ESB Yoda puppet progress

Okay.
I finally got around to tweaking the paint. Still have to try out the matte varnish but I figured I'd post pics with each step.


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