My Bossk meets the 'real' Bossk at Celebration V!

[Bossk]

This was a great year for Bossk. I began the costume last fall, and its first showing was last December, but I really didn't bring it to its current state with the more screen accurate head until this spring. It has been a big hit everywhere I brought it, and was literally mobbed anytime in public by fans. It wond the "Best Star Wars Villain" in the Celebration V contest, and "Best Star Wars Costume" at DragonCon 2010. But the biggest thrill was meeting the orignal Bossk, Mr. Alan Harris at C-V, who congratulated me on making what he said was the 'best Bossk' he had ever seen. He seemed quite astonished when I appoached him while he was signing autographs at his table. We spent a long time talking about the costume and the one he wore, and the next day, kindly signed the photo of us that I was able to have printed overnight at a local drugstore.

There was a wall with a great 'Wanted Poster' of Bossk on it, which was an ideal location to take pictures.

 

[Trap Joe]

congrats. Great pictures. I love your feet and armsthumbsup:thumbsup

 

[MooCriket]

Fantastic story and pics

 

[hc8719]

I just watched ESB last night, dead on!

 

[phase pistol]

Meanwhile Zuckuss is on the phone to his agent.

 

[DL 44 Blaster]

Fantastic Bossk!! A costume that I would have loved to do from head to toe, but not sure if I'll ever get there. Very cool meeting Alan Harris in costume!

 

[mbmcfarland]

Great costume! Bossk was one of my favorite action figures.

I especially love that blaster....what's it made of?

 

[anakin]

Looks like you clipped your front claw - hangnail?


Great pics!!

 

[slave1pilot]

Alan Harris is a big part of star wars history
He played Bossk in ESB and ROTJ
He played Merril in ESB
His body was molded for the Han in carbonite
He was a double for Anthony Daniels in the Threepio suit
and most importantly (for me anyway) the Boba costume was built around his body

 

[ChaseKiefer]

That bossk was the best costume at CV.
I would give up a kidney to have a really good bossk costume like that.
How did you make your jumpsuit?

 

[Forestmoonstudio]

Fantastic job! I love it!

 

[superjedi]

I especially love that blaster....what's it made of?

Seconded! I'm a blaster nut and replicas of Bossk's rifle are notoriously rare.

 

[Bossk]

That bossk was the best costume at CV.
I would give up a kidney to have a really good bossk costume like that.
How did you make your jumpsuit?

Thanks, I heard a lot of people say that, but there were definately a lot of other great costumes there that took a lot more time and money to build, though a lot of hard work did go into making this one. It was great to hear several people at CV say that they thought I had found and bought the original prop!

I used a converted USAF, waterproof, enviromental flight suit to make Bossk's which is why it looks like real military equipment, and not just another flimsy yellow cotton jump suit. If you search the RPF for posts on Bossk you will be able to read the whole story of how an original RAF Windak, High Altitude pressure suit was used for the costume. That's how I approached this costume, making this complete costume as an accurate reproduction of the actual flight suit with all ofits accesories seen in the Bossk suit, rather than just looking at it as a "Sci-Fi Costume". In our conversation Alan Harris was quite surprised when I explained what all the costume parts actually were for when it was worn by a high altitude bomber pilot in the early 1960's. Some of the same features can be seen on Mercury Astronaut space suits.

 

[ChaseKiefer]

I have done some reading on the Windak suit and was curious on how you did it because I knew you couldn't find an original windak suit. Bossk is a personal favorite character of mine and would love to start on a bossk costume. Thanks for the reply.

 

[SithLord]

Bossk is one of my favorites from ESB...and your costume is terrific...thanks for sharing! :thumbsup

 

[Homer]

Man , I went to C5 and I was one of the many that followed you around. Your costume is the best I have ever seen. Way ta go man. Here is a photo of my self and your awesome costume.

 

[EyeintheSky]

Your costume is quite indistinguishable from the original one!!!! :eek :love
The only thing that could be maybe corrected in a second time - but maybe is an effect of the picture - is that it seems to be a gap between the Bossk skin of the gloves and the tissue of the jumpsuit - the hands appear to be more gloves than real hands and forearm as they are supposed to be compared to the suit.
Except that, the final result is absolutely amazing, congratulations!!!!

 

[CJ 617]

That is an amazing costume and certainly the best Bossk I've ever seen!! Great to read your story...

 

[Bossk]

Great costume! Bossk was one of my favorite action figures.

I especially love that blaster....what's it made of?

To make the Blaster, I first blew up a pic of the original prop to exact 1:1 scale using a resin copy of the scopes for scale. The main barrel tube is an Army Camouflage net support rod made of metal impregnated fibreglass, and strong enough to launch pyrotechnics from. Then extra pieces of pipe pvc and fittings were added. The receiver is a broken paint ball gun that had the same shape. The stock is an old Iraqi AK rifle stock I brought back from the Persian Gulf War and finally found a use for it!
You can see a dramatic pic of it being fired on this previous RPF thread, as I cannot post the same image twice on the forums.

http://www.therpf.com/f24/anyone-making-snow-scene-photos-their-movie-costumes-post-them-here-79896/

 

[propologist]

Your costume is quite indistinguishable from the original one!!!! :eek :love
The only thing that could be maybe corrected in a second time - but maybe is an effect of the picture - is that it seems to be a gap between the Bossk skin of the gloves and the tissue of the jumpsuit - the hands appear to be more gloves than real hands and forearm as they are supposed to be compared to the suit.
Except that, the final result is absolutely amazing, congratulations!!!!

i noticed that on many of the bossks , that the hands and feet are thin and look like gloves too much. Just needs thicker castings IMO . Incredible costume that I want to do oneday as well.