Shaak Ti, The force unleashed

[mdb]

My avatar changed recently from Samara from mass Effect 2 to Shaak Ti as I finally started to see some photos appear online Being an official person involved with the convention I was a tad busy to get any photos of my own

Anyway:


I scratch built every part of this and did 90% of the body painting too. All in a bathroom in a hotel. It took four hours to apply and I am not looking forward to doing this again! but I am as I do not have many photos and because I keep changing parts of it!
I am redoing the fabric pieces. I love what I have here and will keep it, I just made a few concessions to wearing a costume like this in public. And at the time I had a pale faux suede on hand but it's not cool toned. I just found a nice cool toned faux suede so have started to cut a new one. It will be more like the game version but will pretty much be for a photoshoot only.

A few other things I did not have time for were the white stripes on my arm and upper hip (The latter would have been hidden). I was going to be late for hotel checkout and for getting costume contest info where it needed to be.
I do have fake nails with the right black stripes. Again it was a matter of not coordinating my time to be able to do them. I know the order of dressing and assembling saber now so it will be doable for next time I will have to write a list up to make it easier

In case you are trying to work it out there were two lots of bodypainting the first was in the evening and the second in the morning. It took about 4 hours to paint and then it took another half hour to put on bald cap and headpiece and another half to dress. maybe a bit more as the leg wraps are wraps so take a little long.

I still have my molds so I am seriously considering making the regular version. I have the robes made and most supplies for the rest I have had one query about casting a headpiece- it takes about a month to do as the latex needs to be laid fairly thick in the head and then the lekku parts need to be thick enough to blend but soft enough to be stuffed and move somewhat.

They were painted in layers with a final airbrushing of acrylic ink.

 

[Drewid]

It looks great! I wouldn't have noticed the missing items if you hadn't mentioned them. Looking forward to seeing the completely finished costume :thumbsup

 

[mdb]

Thank you Yeah, I also have some wrist wraps for health reasons ditto for the sandles. The sandles do come off easily for a photoshoot though

I do enjoy being a Togruta I I have made a set of white and silver headwraps to wear my Leia dress (Shaak Leia) and I may wear my Mara Jade ensemble with it too If SWOR didn't give their Togruta two lekku instead of three I would be all excited and wear my Shae Vizla costume with it as a Togruta Bounty Hunter when it is all finished (and it will be, getting all enthusiastic again) and maybe a different colour as they show some variety in the avatars.

I do have a how I made it post on the Rebel Legion forums and our local Star Wars fan site:
SWNZ, Star Wars New Zealand - View topic - Shaak Ti on Felucia (or Sydney Australia...)
Quite a few members there are also here

 

[mdb]

Sculpting Montrals:
You may notice something different between these two photos:



That green support.... yeah. that'll be because there was about 7.5kg of clay and other support (to reduce the weight of the clay by about 3kg). The pole just popped right through the forehead there... The green tube still dug into the wig head but compared to the head falling through the pole to the floor I think it was a better option.....



Montral molding:


So I hate plaster molding. I really do. Ultracal at least gels and is easier to work with which is great And I have to admit this was actually a lot easier than molding my Asari tentacles as there are fewer fine pointy bits to the mold to break off... It still worried me as there is some shrinkage which as a negative mold means risk of cracking. And this sucker is heavy so it is going to die at some stage just from its own weight. And I have not seen the state of the mold for the last few weeks so i may have to check on it in the morning....
Note the smooth smooth back of the head mold. Sigh. So pretty and clearly was the first part i did when you see the finger grooves of the front.
It's about 15kg of mold so... moving right along.....

Latex casting:

So yeah just to show how big that mold is. Hello little teeny tiny 40L container how ya doin' there?
Three luggage straps to hold it all together and incidentally provide a handy handy to shuffle it across the floor. it's times like these it is good to have a carpeted floor or I would have said goodbye months ago to the mold. it is too heavy to move so it was slowly rolled on the floor to "slush" cast. Not much slushing or sloshing going on!
But it did build up a nice 5mm layer eventually. I think it took a week to get the latex in and then a month to cure. I would need to check time stamps on my photos... The montral tips are naturally the thickest as the latex hunga round there most and also took the longest to cure.


The lekku (or lekky and butterfly butt as the back tentacle became affectionately known) were made as postive molds and the latex painted over the top. I got nice texture from adding paint to thicken the latex and so brush strokes were used to advantage. Again it took a week to get the latex on each piece so took two weeks as I used one mold for both lekku.
Butterfly butt got so named as I realised the shape reminded me of the body of the puriri moth. I got to see one in person and dispose of it after my cat as a kitten brought one home. they are a tad freaky in size and squish factor... So butterfly butt it is and forever shall be.


Goober photos because I could not believe that it worked. And worked so well. Thus why I am wearing coveralls, goofy expression and an untrimmed headpiece.



The lekku (and butterfly butt) were glued to the head with... Shoe Goo! That wonderful super strong but oh so flexible stinky glue. I had trouble once when i decided to cut the tentacles off and reposition them so that the backward bend wouldn't create such deep folds. This was on one of the most humid days of the year and so the glue would not tack. Luckily a fan heater sans heat helped a lot. I have kept the record of that day closed to but a few for a few blue phrases. Or hints of blue phrases.

The montrals are held with foam tubes and fabric and EVA foam all Shoe Gooed into place. The lekku, and butterfly butt, were filled with the stuff used in cuddle buddies and a few pellets. The butterfly butt also has a width of EVA foam from Para Rubber to help keep the oval shape.
The super fine polystyrene filler is kept in place with a width of fabric at the top of each lekku and butterfly butt glued in place with... Shoe Goo. Seriously that stuff is always in my kit. Best glue ever!

I also cleaned the seams and filled them with a mix of cabosil and PA. It really works and I was able to drag a brush through to get a similar texture as I had worked into the sculpt.

Painting montrals and lekku:

Some of the colours. Actually the blue was for Samara but got into the photo as "hey look paint for everything!"
All acrylic art paint so far. Mediums and additives not yet sorted.


First paint run woo! looks pretty but... the flow medium that worked so well on my Samara headpiece did not work for this at all. So all that paint started to flake and peel as paint is wont to do on latex. It was annoying but the fastest way to remove it deliberately was to fill a 40L roller container with warm water and soak the head piece in that to soften the paint to be washed off by hand.
Sigh.

So then I went back to mixing latex and paint and it worked. But naturally left a tacky surface that needed to be powdered. Layers upon layers upon layers:


And then I decided to really test the airbrush after all. Having used it on the fabric components as a test. Naturally this has not held up so well as the latex/paint mix but it lasted long enough and only comes off with cleaner. Next step will be to get some Latona's or similar this was acrylic ink with IA.
The brown tinted black is very different to the blue tinted grey latex/paint mix but adds to the dimention and worn feeling of the original. I wound up though with colouring closer to the movie than game. partly because I knew the pale grey could look washed out in photo from the event. it's also why I really gave the entire piece a wash with the translucent black colour- it would have looked stark white in photos. It's now a dull grey with nearly black markings and it reads much better.

 

[Darth Serberus]

Great work, never seen anyone attempt a TFU Skaak Ti yet. You look great, nice work on the lekku.

 

[mdb]

Thank you I have seen two versions other than mine

I have just about finished redoing the costume parts which will not have the modifications for convention use I'm hoping to get some nice photos of it all made up properly very soon

[URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/glittersweet/costume/starwars/st/sm_2011-02-18172317.jpg] [/URL]

A few in progress of my saber I did do the electronics but due to limited access to components I was only able to get about 100 lumens from my led. So I wound up having to take out the guts and put in a 190 lumen torch instead. I still have the led and it is still wired up and works so I'll use it for some part of my Shae Vizla costume This was a bit of a test for all the glowy parts of her ensemble (ear buds, jet pack etc.)

 

[Darth Mule]

Awesome work as always MDB!

I'm surprised by the length of time its taking you to get your latex pulls though. I'd figure NZ weather would be pretty conducive to latex curing. I'm in the southern United States where it's very humid, and my lekku projects never took more than a couple of days to get a pull. I never slush cast though. I filled the mold to the brim and let it sit for an hour or two, then poured it back in the bucket. Its a lot less work than slushing, and the thickness of the skin depends on how long it sits.

 

[mdb]

This was 5mm thick minimum up to a a couple of dozen in the tips And it happened to be winter when I did the headpiece not summer- Auckland winter is very very very wet. High humidity as well as days of rain on end.

NZ does not have the same climate as Aussie


It's been pretty darn humid this last year. Though my asari headpieces take much less time, in winter it still takes about ten days and in summer about 4-4 days. If it's not a articularly humid summer... My brother builds boats (well "boats" like the Oracle and tpys for muli-millionaires...) and he found this year to be one of the worst as nothing set up on time.

The lekku proper were much faster than the headpiece. That's partly to do with the thickness of the skin needed.

I'd actually have prefered to do these in foam latex but naturally with a headpiece this size I need a walk in oven. I'm looking into alternatives that have a fast set up and longer life. I've got a few leads They are though about four times the cost of course

 

[Sakara]

As always an amazing costume with a lot of skill used to make it.

 

[Warrenzo]

Excellent work on the Lekku, nice costume

 

[mdb]

Thank you As expected the airbrushing is wearing off but I knew it would and will set her up in the corner of my workroom and get stippling with better paint

I did just wear the costume again but as my own custom Sith Togruta:



So much fun!!! So a new saber as well as new armour and fabric parts

 

[batterymaker]

Wonderful work!:thumbsup

 

[mdb]

Thank you I gotta say I love doing original stuff, I just haven't had a chance for a while

 

[The Aviator]

Wow this is some amazing Shaak-Ti costume work! I can't imagine enduring 4 hours of body painting, but it was worth it with the outcome.

 

[mdb]

I did not see this reply sorry So thank you belatedly

I have since had to resculpt and recast my lekku pieces and change my montral mold.


And am also working on the costume pieces to upgrade them:


And the movie costume for family friendly events:

 

[Snxi]

i made a Shaak Ti costume too \o/ Sadly i didnt have enough time to make it so i had to make few shortcuts, but i will finish it properly someday

 

[The Aviator]

Mdb I saw your costume and it was pretty impressive with the mold etc. Snxi I like yours as well and even with a rush job it came out good. I think Shaak Ti is a hard costume to get right to begin with.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

i made a Shaak Ti costume too \o/ Sadly i didnt have enough time to make it so i had to make few shortcuts, but i will finish it properly someday

Don't feel bad. I tried her before and was never able to get all the details right.

Mdb I saw your costume and it was pretty impressive with the mold etc. Snxi I like yours as well and even with a rush job it came out good. I think Shaak Ti is a hard costume to get right to begin with.

:thumbsup

 

[Lando]

Vey nice, shaak ti looks amazing

 

[The Aviator]

I think the Shaak Ti costume is interesting because it is a combination of a few things and when all pulled together it has a very unique look. Plus Shaak Ti comes from a nature planet so there are a lot of sort of primitive decorations she wears. I think that is what gives the character an interesting look.