Peter Mayhew vs. Chewbacca! (Test Pull on feet)

Zaxmon

Zaxmon

Well-Known Member
Hey folks, I'm in the process of putting together my own Chewie costume and I'm having a hard time deciding which height to go with.

Peter is 7'3" - 7'4" tall
Chewbacca is also 2.28 meters (7'4")

However, Peter has said that he was 7'9" in costume (3" lifts, 3" mask height on average)

So which one should I shoot for? "Screen accurate" or "lore" accurate?

What would you rather see when encountering "Chewbacca"?

Reference: I'm 2m (6'6") tall

Ryan
 
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Re: Peter Mayhew vs. Chewbacca!

i dont think anyone standing next to you would bring a tape measure and tell you you're wrong for making it either size.

im in the "holy crap its chewbacca!" crowd.
 
Re: Peter Mayhew vs. Chewbacca!

If I were you and going to be in the suit, I'd go for what's relative to your height. If you try and add enough shoe lift and mask height to match Peter's overall height, you're going to look disproportionate for Chewie. I think it would be more screen accurate to go with your proportions than trying to get the same height. But that's just me.
 
Re: Peter Mayhew vs. Chewbacca!

I think Screen Accurate is great for two things, screen used props and displays, costumes fall under that category of having to function in the "real world".

Besides, do you think an actual Wookie would give a flying crap if some obsessive-compulsive Fan-Boy tried to give him grief over his height?! :lol
 
Re: Peter Mayhew vs. Chewbacca!

Remember to take back 3" in honor of the most boring man on the planet.
 
Re: Peter Mayhew vs. Chewbacca!

Yeah the height thing is a bit confusing!

You are definitely tall enough to go for the full height of 7'6".
The mask should add 3 inches approx, leaving u with 9" lifts, that shouldn't make you look unproportionate!
 
Re: Peter Mayhew vs. Chewbacca!

I'm 6'3" in real life and my mask adds about 4 inches and my lifts add about 7-8 inches. I top out at around 7'2" and to be perfectly honest, I may be biased, but I think that is plenty tall enough. I have always towered over people and people always lose their minds. The main reason is 99% of the public has never stood next to a person taller than say 6'6", so basically anything over 7 foot will blow their mind and feel the correct huge height. I have had very tall guys stand next to me and guess I'm 8 foot tall... I'm nowhere near that! But people have zero frame of reference. As long as you tower over them and are taller than Darth Vader and bang your head on door frames, they will easily assume you're almost 8 foot tall.

So if you are already 6'6", I'd say keep it simple and shoot for 7'6" (4 inches in the mask, 8 inches in the lifts). If you make your lifts right and more like angled platform boots, you will have plenty of agility and movement and stay natural to the character. Why push for 7'9" and have less stability and a more obvious lift when 7'6" (or even just 7'4") will blow peoples' minds? Besides, the Disney Chewie that everyone gets their pic with is only about 7'1" or 2" and no one sees a problem with that.

That's just my opinion. I'd go for 7'6".
 
Re: Peter Mayhew vs. Chewbacca!

Awesome!

Thanks for all the replies, and it certainly sets my OCD at ease :)

I'll shoot for 7'4" - 7'6"

-Ryan
 
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Re: Peter Mayhew vs. Chewbacca!

Progress on the feet:

IMG_3613.jpg


IMG_3611.jpg


IMG_3609.jpg





I originally made them with the pink foam method, but wasn't pleased with the outcome, so I thought I would make a clay model and cast the 'prosthetic' in Flex Foam-It from Smooth-On.

Has anyone used that material in this way before? Will it glue to the boot?
 
Re: Peter Mayhew vs. Chewbacca!

i agree, someone wont be checking inches, they will just be wowed but the costume.
 
Re: Peter Mayhew vs. Chewbacca!

Test Pull using Flex FoamIt 17 with So Strong brown tint from Smooth On.

IMG_3678.jpg


My high tech compression test:

IMG_3681.jpg


Seam lines are a bit larger than I was hoping for, but it probably won't matter after it's covered with hair. Not many people will notice I think.
It's also a little more brown that I think I want. I'll try the next one with a lighter shade.
It also didn't fill the mold all the way, so I'll get that right next time as well.

It repels water decently, it still retains some, but not enough to get water logged in the rain I hope. I'll pour in a thinner stream next time to reduce bubbles that can catch water.

I'll do some scraping along the ground simulations to see how well it stands up to being walked on. I'm guessing it'll need a rubber sole via latex rubber.
 
Good job, looks great! Thinking of doing the same thing myself!

I used car mats as the sole for my last wookiee but I'm sure latex would do the job just fine!
 
only probs with latex are that its heavy and over time it starts to sag and if you havent treated it correctly after curing it starts to get brittle - also if you dont powder it right away it sticks really bad over time. other wise it looks great!

silicone would work just as well and i think its lighter than latex.
 
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