Re-introducing an old friend!

[STEVE THE SWEDE]

All those recent Threepio threads got me inspired to go back to work on my old "zorg" head, kind of wamp him up a bit. One thing that struck me though was that everybody seems to display him clean. As you all know he only looked like that during the end scenes in the classic trilogy.

I recently got my self a DLP home theater projector, man is this the bomb to have for prop ref stills. When I checked ESB on it for the first time I was totally blown a way by all the details that I never been able to see before. Especially how dirty Threepio really was during the show. I quickly decided that I wanted to try and "re-wamp" my old "zorg head" to how it looked after it was blown away by the troopers. However, I feelt that just a new weathering layer wasn't enough so I also got myself a pair of "russrep" eye grills to replace to old resin ones. Man, these sure made a difference. So after five days of work I'm finally ready to re-introduce one of my most beloved replicas, Threepio ESB style.

[image]http://www.wackychimp.com/uploads/threepio-reweathered-1.jpg[/image]

He's been given a multi layer weathering over the vacu plated gold which is very hard to photograph. He's actually Way more dirty in real life.

[image]http://www.wackychimp.com/uploads/threepio-reweathered5.jpg[/image]

A close up of Russreps excellent brass eyes. These were a totall paint to install in the eyesockets of Zorgs head but I finally got them there. The lense material was cut out by me from a lamp reflector material sent by a helpful board member. Looks great doesn't it.

[image]http://www.wackychimp.com/uploads/threepio-reweathered7.jpg[/image]

Eyes all lit up. Each eye has a setup of three grain of wheat bulbs (no stinkin leds here) wired up by my brother. Some of the grainy weathering/dirt patterns can also be seen here.

[image]http://www.wackychimp.com/uploads/threepio-reweathered2.jpg[/image]

From the other side. Blaster scoaring can be seen around the neck bolt.

[image]http://www.wackychimp.com/uploads/threepio-reweathered-10.jpg[/image]

Last one. A close look of some of the blaster marks/burns.

Thanks for looking, hope you like him as much as I do. Now he has to go back to he's a IKEA cabinnet and whine about how I messed up he's shiny chrome plated face. Poor Threepio.

Steve.

 

[Prop Runner]

BEAUTIFUL... :love

- Gabe

 

[Jack Bauer]

Holy MOLY.

SWEET.

I LOVE the idea of weathering stuff like that. EVERYTHING in Star Wars should have a little "space dust" or at least a little "used" look.

BRAVO.

:thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

 

[RedTwoX]

Originally posted by Jack Bauer@Jan 23 2006, 04:45 PM
I LOVE the idea of weathering stuff like that.  EVERYTHING in Star Wars should have a little "space dust"  or at least a little "used" look.

[snapback]1166166[/snapback]​

I agree. That "lived in future" is one of the things that really set Star Wars apart from the sterile look of other SciFi.

Well done Steve. Definitly a piece to be pround of.

 

[Clutch]

Looks nice. So what'd you do to weather him?

 

[Captain Needa]

Wow.

 

[STEVE THE SWEDE]

Originally posted by clutch@Jan 23 2006, 09:53 PM
Looks nice.  So what'd you do to weather him?

[snapback]1166173[/snapback]​

Thanks a bunch guys.

First my good friend Jez had him plated over in the U.K. I then masked certain areas that I wanted to appear chiped (which can be seen on the real helmets) with liquid latex masking. The helmet was then coated with a thin layer of satin clear. I'm pretty sure this was done to the ESB and ROTJ helmets too. Aparently they did this in order to prevent reflections from the crew. This gives the helmet a clouded and slightly duller look which aren't as reflective as the bare chrome. When the clear was dry I peeled of the masking latex to reveal the chrome to simulate a chiping clear coat look. I also rubbed down the entire head with some white spirit to smooth out clear coat, making it thinner in certain places and thicker in others. Finally I airbrushed the entire thing with thinn mix of black/brown acrylic. When this had dried up I rubbed most of it off with a car polish. This method left a grimy and gritty look that I think can be seen on the real heads. As I said, it's VERY hard to make the weathering justice on pics, all due to the gloss and reflecting surface. I'll try and see if I can get it to show better with some pics taken in plain daylight.

Thanks again,

Steve.

 

[DL 44 Blaster]

Looks great Steve.....

 

[Kris]

looks really awesome .. I'm sooo jaleous on all the 3PO owners out there, as he will be just always out of my price class.

 

[blufive]

Beautiful. You did a great job.

 

[The Manlet]

looks like it came fresh off the set

 

[Lello999]

And once again a great piece of art. Thanks for the pics

Domenik

 

[RickDTM]

He looks fantastic. The new eye grills definitely make a world of difference, and the eyes are sweet. Great work.

 

[fettster]

damn, im gonna have to redo mine know.

Awesome job.

 

[Star Wars Helmets]

It looks okay....

although I think the one I just made is more accurate







[image]http://www.halloweencostumes4u.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000003/2866.jpg[/image]

:lol :lol :lol

Brilliant work - as usual mate

Cheers

Jez

 

[Bountyhunter Niko]

Very Sweet.

 

[rmschneider104]

Very, very cool. I'm not a huge 3PO fan, but that's a great rendition.

 

[Funky]

u suck.

 

[Boba Frett]

Looks great Steve

 

[WebChief]

Steve that is simply gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.