SHAAK TI headpiece build- Finally FINISHED! Pics in latest post

[duck]

So my friend (and XO of our Rebel Legion base) Meredith has been doing SHAAK TI for about 2 years, but her headpiece was always a sorta interpretation, not an accurate version, since she mainly does fabric work. As a pay back for her helping latch-hook the pants of my Chewbacca, I owed her some new Shaak Ti horns.

The build is pretty basic: the top piece is sculpted pink foam, skim coated in plaster and coated with latex. The segmented connectors (the section from her temples to right below her chin) are molded latex, and the tentacles are gonna be jet set fabric coated with latex. The tentacles with be attached to the connectors permanently with latex, but the 3 joints where the connectors attach to the upper head piece are removable. The have nylon plumbing bolts with nuts and they each go into small wood blocks sunk into the headpiece. that way they are removable for storage and travel.

Her it is as of tonight. A few tweaks, a little more latex work and some clean-up, then it's off to Meredith's for her to sew the tentacles and coat them with latex, then back to me for air-brushing and then we'll figure out the forehead:

 

[Dougie Fett]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

Great start, looking forward to seeing the finished piece.
One of my fav SW aliens.

 

[Darth Mule]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

Cool. Always wanted to see a good Shaak Ti.

 

[foxbatkllr]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

Pretty good start. I'd say the curve at the top of the horns is a little too extreme and the top of the horns are a little too thick. Otherwise you're on the right track.

 

[Stilgar]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

Sweet! You don't see many specimen of this costume...

 

[Darth Mule]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

So. Do you remove the foam and plaster when you're done? Sounds like it would be heavy. I'd love to hear more about the build process.

 

[Darth Lars]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

I think it looks great. Good idea with the segmented pieces! :thumbsup

 

[Eopie Herder]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

So. Do you remove the foam and plaster when you're done? Sounds like it would be heavy. I'd love to hear more about the build process.

My guess is that he is planning on molding it to cast out of a lighter material.

 

[Lorddal]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

lookin good so far cant wait to see more

 

[Amanita]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

I'm watching this with great interest myself, as I am working on my own Shaak Ti outfit and need to have it done by mid october.

 

[punhulk]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

I'm watching this with great interest myself, as I am working on my own Shaak Ti outfit and need to have it done by mid october.

that is looking great

 

[T J]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

Great work!

 

[duck]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

Thanks for the compliments, folks. Getting the curves right was a real PITA and we did finally settle on the slightly more extreme curve up towards the tip because truncating it would have meant yet another round of chopping off the tips and adding more foam, filling the seam, re-sanding, etc, etc, and at the end of the day, both Meredith and I were OK with it being slightly exaggerated. I know a lot of people at the RPF would cringe at "settling", but when it would require that much more work to change something even anal retentive fans probably wouldn't notice without several photo references at their side. Also, the more we softened the curve at the tip, the crappier the profile looked from the side and 3/4 angle for whatever reason (photo references from decent angles for Shaak Ti are hard to dig up).

My guess is that he is planning on molding it to cast out of a lighter material.

Actually, no. The top head piece is the pink foam and it is sanded down so close to the scalp that there isn't as much material their as you'd think. The amount of skim coated joint compound is negligable since so much ends up being sanded off. Mostly just filling in seams and a few dents and nooks here and there. Maybe 2 tablespoons worth when all is said and done. And it only has 2 light coats of latex for a skin, so the whole thing is really only a few ounces. It shouldn't be too bad. Compared to my ridiculously heavy Kit Fisto head, which is around 2 pounds or more, this should be a breeze for Meredith to wear.

 

[Amanita]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

I am seriously thinking of using this method of construction for my headpiece, but I have one concern- how durable is the foam part? Is it really prone to getting dings and dents?

Have you and Meredith figured out what to do for the tooled leather apron Shaak Ti wears?
I've recently produced a very accurate pattern based off of reference pics found online, and the close-up in "dressing a Galaxy". If you like, I am more than willing to share

 

[duck]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

I am seriously thinking of using this method of construction for my headpiece, but I have one concern- how durable is the foam part? Is it really prone to getting dings and dents?

Have you and Meredith figured out what to do for the tooled leather apron Shaak Ti wears?
I've recently produced a very accurate pattern based off of reference pics found online, and the close-up in "dressing a Galaxy". If you like, I am more than willing to share

The foam is relatively durable but I won't lie, it can ding and dent pretty easy is you are clumsy. The real danger is small things, like things that can poke it. Walking into a door frame isn't often something that will dent it bad (unless you really whack into it!) because it's a big flat object you walked into, but little annoying things can leave little indentations.

Like, I tend to get overconfident and lazy when construction gets further along, so I often just plopped it on my work bench while hacking out the inside to build the bolt attachments, and instead of laying it gently in the strip of foam rubber I had to cushion it, it was just on the hard wood table. It was pressed into a few random scraps of whatever was on my messy table and made a bunch of little dings on the bottom side. They are small enough and random enough that they just look like naturally random pock marks on an organic thing, and will be plenty camouflaged after airbrushing, but I should have been more careful.

And the more coats of latex you "paint" it with, the less likely it is to dent. I only did 2 light coats on this, but I did 4 heavy coats on a Bib Fortuna head that you can bounce marbles off and never dent (crappy quick build for a last minute Halloween Parade a few years back when I didn't know what I was doing... I'd build it totally different today)

But I have several other foam helmet/mask/heads that I have built that never even had latex coating and gotten quite drunk in at some cons years ago (and 2 moves ago, not even packed in boxes, just tossed on top of the moving boxes) and they are still in pretty excellent shape. (I'm the Count Chocula in these):

Heck, you can even make really organic looking things like a severed pig head mask:

You just gotta be a little careful. But even though they can dent, you'd be just as careful with an expensive fiberglass or ABS bucket. When someone wears a Vader helmet, they are just as careful to not walk into door frames and pack it careful for transport. The difference is one scratches (and costs big bucks) and the other dents (and is dirt cheap... about $18 for a huge sheet at Home Depot).

 

[Amanita]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

I saw your pics in the other thread, those are hella cool! Now I need to get my butt to Home Depot and get a sheet of the stuff and a drywall knife.

I'll have to remember to put a few coats of latex on mine when I build it- do I need a casting of my head to build it around? I hope not- nobody I know has the foggiest idea how to assist me in making such a thing.

 

[Syagria]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

Have you and Meredith figured out what to do for the tooled leather apron Shaak Ti wears?
I've recently produced a very accurate pattern based off of reference pics found online, and the close-up in "dressing a Galaxy". If you like, I am more than willing to share

I'm actually not going to be doing that version - at least, not immediately (Hi, I'm Meredith, pleased to meet you). I'm actually aiming for the version of Shaak Ti that was used in the concept art for the Force Unleashed video game. For the teeth on the corset, I've carved those out of the same insulation foam, but I will be casting those in resin once I have the time to figure out how to do it - I have never cast anything before in my life, so it should be an interesting learning experience!

 

[duck]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

Getting there.... still haven't made skin flaps that will cover where the tentacle stalk connects to the headpiece, and I 10 minutes after I took these pics, I made some filler wedges to fix the gap where the back tentacle connects (we widened the top of the tentacle stalk to cover more of the neck, so I had to bridge that gap). Anyway, it's getting pretty close to paint time....

 

[Bountys Hunted]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

Wow! That is looking pretty damn good, DAMN good! Impressive Skillz!

 

[Dougie Fett]

Re: SHAAK TI headpiece build

Looks great, a fine job!