Gonk Droid Costume: My First Big Build!

[Pifman]

Fantastic! Keep going. The Gonk droids are a wonderful prop because you can really let your imagination fly and have fun with all the different greeblies!

Exactly! When I started researching this project I was going to try and be as movie-accurate as possible. But then I realized that it would not only be impossible without the correct bins, but it's way more fun to make it your own and have a little fun with it!

Of course we kept the big E on the side because his name is Eli. Happy coincidence.

 

[SofaKing01]

Exactly! When I started researching this project I was going to try and be as movie-accurate as possible. But then I realized that it would not only be impossible without the correct bins, but it's way more fun to make it your own and have a little fun with it!

Of course we kept the big E on the side because his name is Eli. Happy coincidence.

Screen accuracy can be both an education in patience and frustration or achievement in execution and results! The first gets you close to the real thing, the latter lets you stretch your creativity! But both are rewarding in the end!

Again, BRAVO!!!

 

[Pifman]

Now for the first step in weathering it! Although this is pretty much my first time weathering something to look Star Wars-y, I wish I had more time to add more layers of color, but the first layer still ended up looking pretty rusty, so I was happy. I used some, I think Barn Red and some sort of Mustardy yellow acrylics...



Starting to look pretty dirty and rusty, yay!



Then I hit all the nooks and crannies with some black wash. And lemme tell ya, not easy on this guy. The surface was so rough and porous that it looks way too harsh going on, then almost disappeared once it dried. You can see on the top half in the 3rd pic below, it looks dark and sort of wet before drying, and then really faded out - but was overall just really hard to judge depending on the light - which I didn't have much of working on this during the night!

 

[Pifman]

And then the magic happens...

Giving this the final layer of Silver acrylic paint with a dry-brush technique to make it look scratched up! I was both very excited and very terrified to do this step. While I sometimes felt like I was over-doing it, I had to keep reminding myself that it's a Halloween costume and the features should be exaggerated, not subtle. While I had to paint over a couple blobby-looking areas, I really really like how this turned out.



(note that the top half isn't pushed on all the way)



Fun Fact 1: All of the buttons, switches and knobs all worked!

I wanted to give other kids something to interact with while checking out his costume and the idea totally worked. Kids were amazed that they could mess with the buttons and switches:



Fun Fact 2: Secret greeblies!

Look closely and you'll see a hidden R2-D2 in the bottom vent AND my son and I both collect PEZ dispensers (nerds!) so I had to put part of a PEZ dispenser in there. In the 2nd pic, that's the inside sleeve, upside-down, of a PEZ dispenser.



I'm really happy with how it worked out. After this, all I had to do was make the hoses running to the feet look greasy and dirty, which I didn't get a pic of beforehand.

 

[Pifman]

And here it is, in all it's glory. And you might be asking yourself, "But how does he get candy?!" - Just watch the video!

Oh and I didn't even show that he had a little tap light inside that shined into his door so that he could easily see what kind of candy he got! I put a little hood over the top so that it didn't shine directly into his eyes.

Everyone loved it, even though many didn't know exactly what he was, which was expected and fine. The hidden candy door especially was a hit. I'm really proud of him for being such a trooper! He clunked around in that thing for nearly 2 hours. I think he's ready for his first Comic-Con!

 

[SofaKing01]

That is awesome! Well done! Welcome to the RPF! Looking forward to seeing more from you!

 

[Panaflex]

Fantastic job! 1 million DAD points!

 

[modelcitizen]

LOL It's great!

 

[Iggy]

Holy cow! That is great! Love the little door too.

 

[MB Trooper]

That is awesome! I wish I was small enough to make my own Gonk Droid Costume. By the way I much prefer the term costume to cosplay!

 

[Fuzzual]

oh man, i absolutely love it! The Gonk droid is one of my favorite creations in the Star Wars universe, I never tire of seeing them, and this one is top notch. I love the weathering. When i saw that candy drawer pop out on the video i almost fell out of my chair!!!!