The Goonies One-Eyed Willy skull and eyepatch

[bk85]

Time for my next replica! Taking lessons that I learned from making my Raider's goat skull, I decided to embark upon making my own One-Eyed Willy skull and accompanying eyepatch from The Goonies. I know that Indy Magnoli sells an awesome version, but I figured I'd take a crack at it myself. Here is what I am going for:

As with my last build, I started with a free model of a 2 part skull that I found online and modified it to look more similar to the version seen on screen. Here are some renderings of how the skull looked both before and after I started adjusting the sculpt. I worked on the tweaks on and off for a few weeks until I was at a place where I was happy with the look.

The next step was to print it out in a warm white PLA+ on my printer, sand it down, smear on some filler, sand some more and repeat as needed. I got rid of most of the layer lines, but with the paint job I have in mind, I also knew that most of them would be camouflaged. I forgot to take a picture of the fresh print, but here it is after printing and filling (the red stuff), and then one just after spraying some white filler primer. I decided to leave the teeth as unpainted as possible for now so I did mask them off before priming. I wasn't too precious about it though since I know I'll be hitting them with some paint washes later on.

I'm almost finished with painting it, and will post about that next!

 

[ultraman]

awesome!

 

[bk85]

I think I'm in a place where I'm happy with the paint job. I tried to balance the general look and feel of the original, while trying to add some more depth to the color variations. I still need to add some matte clear coat and dust with some Fuller's earth. I did make the paint a bit more vibrant than the original because I'm expecting the Fuller's earth to tone down the whole thing, but we'll see!

First I gave it a quick coat of Burnt Sienna for the base and figured I'd build upon that. I used a stippling sponge for most of the paint work, only using a brush when I needed to get into little nooks and crannies. I also tried to avoid the teeth as much as possible until the end.

Next came a stippling of white. I went with a transparent mixing white since that's a bit less pigmented a standard white

Time to cue the Burnt Umber, which I thinned out with a little water and tried to use judiciously. I also mixed up the Burnt Umber with a touch of black for the cracks and inside of the eye and nose.

I honestly don't 100% remember what all I did in this next step, but it was just a bunch of touch-ups using various blends of my same 4 primary paints from above.

Next I painted the teeth using the same paints but very watered down. I did try to keep some of the major paint landmarks (mostly on the upper front teeth) true to the original, as shown in my first post.

I think when I spray the clear coat, I might try to hit the teeth with a touch of gloss and blend the matte coat into that so that there is a bit of glossy shine on the teeth to replicate the original, but I'm not sure. I was thinking just spray the gloss on the teeth, then lightly covering them with some card or paper that I'd hold 1/4 inch or so in front of it so that there is a subtle graduation of matte to gloss. I've never done that before so it's just theory to me.

I'm happy to take suggestions though! Worst case, I'll just hit it all over with matte and keep things simple

 

[Hanamaid]

This is wicked. Paint job looks great!

 

[bk85]

Got pulled away from this for a few days but I've now finished clear coating and I topped it off with just a super light dusting of fullers earth to take away the shine from the clear coat. Now I have a question for you all regarding the bandana...

I couldn't find a print that was the exact same as the in the movie, so I figured I'd go in a different direction while keeping the floral theme. I did a little research and found that in the 1600's block printed fabrics from India were extremely popular. I kind of liked the idea of going down that road rather than a modern super clean print. I ordered a few fabrics online of some floral hand blocked prints that I liked. I'm glad that I did though, because what I thought was my favorite ended up being my least favorite once I had it in front of me .

I wanted to see what you all thought for Willy's bandana. Here are the 6 fabrics. I think I'm leaning towards the top two. I really like the overall look of the top left but the colors of the top right are more in line with the movie. If you had to pick one of these 6, which would you go for? Or should I start over with a new selection?

Here's a screen cap from the film:

And a pic of my skull right now, just waiting to be glued together:

 

[Hanamaid]

Got pulled away from this for a few days but I've now finished clear coating and I topped it off with just a super light dusting of fullers earth to take away the shine from the clear coat. Now I have a question for you all regarding the bandana...

I couldn't find a print that was the exact same as the in the movie, so I figured I'd go in a different direction while keeping the floral theme. I did a little research and found that in the 1600's block printed fabrics from India were extremely popular. I kind of liked the idea of going down that road rather than a modern super clean print. I ordered a few fabrics online of some floral hand blocked prints that I liked. I'm glad that I did though, because what I thought was my favorite ended up being my least favorite once I had it in front of me .

I wanted to see what you all thought for Willy's bandana. Here are the 6 fabrics. I think I'm leaning towards the top two. I really like the overall look of the top left but the colors of the top right are more in line with the movie. If you had to pick one of these 6, which would you go for? Or should I start over with a new selection?

View attachment 1813884
Here's a screen cap from the film:
View attachment 1813887

And a pic of my skull right now, just waiting to be glued together:
View attachment 1813889

The top rights’ colors are the most visually similar when I do a quick glance at the screen capture and back at the fabric. I like the middle left too although it’s a little bright. I wonder what it would look like after aging it a bit. Super cool though! Had to google it but I never knew what block printing was until today… Learned something new!

 

[bk85]

The top rights’ colors are the most visually similar when I do a quick glance at the screen capture and back at the fabric. I like the middle left too although it’s a little bright. I wonder what it would look like after aging it a bit. Super cool though! Had to google it but I never knew what block printing was until today… Learned something new!

Cool, yeah it's funny... the middle left was actually the one that I loved online, but don't like so much in person. I thought it would be perfect after aging, but I'm just not a fan of the weave of the fabric. It's pretty loose, low thread count, and there's this pinstripe kind of line that's woven in every few rows. I still might see what it looks like after a quick coffee/tea dip though!

Yeah, I had never heard of hand blocked prints either until I did a search of 17th century printed fabrics. I am absolutely no expert in period fabrics but once I started looking at screenshots for the build, the original fabric just seemed really really anachronistic to me. I get more of a 50's-70's vibe from it, rather than something that's a few hundred years old. I think it's the kind of "flower power" shape of the flowers on it. But again...I'm no expert

 

[Hanamaid]

Cool, yeah it's funny... the middle left was actually the one that I loved online, but don't like so much in person. I thought it would be perfect after aging, but I'm just not a fan of the weave of the fabric. It's pretty loose, low thread count, and there's this pinstripe kind of line that's woven in every few rows. I still might see what it looks like after a quick coffee/tea dip though!

Yeah, I had never heard of hand blocked prints either until I did a search of 17th century printed fabrics. I am absolutely no expert in period fabrics but once I started looking at screenshots for the build, the original fabric just seemed really really anachronistic to me. I get more of a 50's-70's vibe from it, rather than something that's a few hundred years old. I think it's the kind of "flower power" shape of the flowers on it. But again...I'm no expert

I didn’t notice the pinstripe originally but I could see how that’s distracting. Another great point on the character of the original pattern looking like something more current. I didn’t pick up on that right away but I can see it now. And yeah I only just started dabbling in the maker space within the last year so take my opinion with a grain of salt!

 

[bk85]

I didn’t notice the pinstripe originally but I could see how that’s distracting. Another great point on the character of the original pattern looking like something more current. I didn’t pick up on that right away but I can see it now. And yeah I only just started dabbling in the maker space within the last year so take my opinion with a grain of salt!

Sorry, I missed this! Yeah, same here. Just started about a year ago too, and I wish that I started doing this long ago. But hey, better late than never, right?

 

[bk85]

I had to put this aside for a while because things at work started ramping up lately. Hopefully I'll have this finished this weekend.

The time has come to work on the eyepatch. I spent time tracing screenshots in illustrator until I got close enough for my liking. I tried my best to get the edges where I thought they were, but it was kinda hard since the patch curves around the skull. Kept doing some tweaks here and there and ended up with the following.

There's a better quality .pdf file with just the patch pattern in attachments, if anybody would like to use it! I put little white dots where the holes for the gems need to go, slashes for openings for the strap, and a little dot for looks like a small hole in the upper right corner

For supplies:
-2.5oz (0.8-1.0 mm thick) black leather off of Amazon
-Set of imitation pearl earrings off of Amazon (I went with the 7mm size for my patch)
-Two sets of 4mm and 5mm plain silver stud gemstone earrings off of Temu
-2.7mm faux suede brown cord off of Amazon
-Various adhesives to pick from during assembly

Decided to cut out the leather and temporarily attach the earrings by sticking the posts through the holes I made with my pattern and attaching the backs to them. Just wanted to see how their placement looked IRL.

That's all for tonight, I'll hopefully work on permanently attaching the gems tomorrow

 

[bk85]

Change in plans. I wasn't super happy with how messy my lines were where I cut the leather. There aren't any straight lines, so I definitely had difficulty with that using the tools that I have on hand, and the fact that none of them can compensate for my lack of leather working skill.

I'm going to have to put this aside for a bit until I can get what I need and practice my cutting precision... or just get a Cricut and let it do the cutting for me

 

[Jintosh]

There is a 4x6 Cricut. Should be the cheapest of what's available.

 

[bk85]

So I totally lucked out and have an amazing family. I couldn't justify the cost of a Cricut right now, but my Dad and Sister split the cost of a Cricut Maker 3 for an early Birthday present for me. It came super early and was actually here on Saturday. They had already ordered it earlier last week. I've had it on my birthday list for a while and I had no idea that they would actually buy me one, much less have it sent to me weeks before my actual birthday when I needed it most. They're awesome!

Forgive the lack of actual progress pics because I was so excited I just carried on without thinking of recording my progress. Once I got the Cricut, I promptly ran to the hobby store and got the correct blade, Cricut mat, and some vinyl transfer film so that I could cut the leather. I then turned my pattern into 2 .svg files. One for the top layer that's just a border, and one for the full size 2nd layer of leather. I have attached both .svg files to this post. I then lined the back of the leather with the vinyl transfer film, set that on the mat, loaded up the cuts, clicked start and it was time to party!

Here is a picture that I just took of the off cut from inside the border, just to show how much cleaner it was than when I tried to cut by hand.

Next I glued the border to the main piece (where the gems go) using some Barge cement. It's my first time working with it but apparently it's super toxic nasty stuff, so I made sure to wear a respirator and did it outside. I bought it for my next project (It's not easy being green ) and figured this would be a great application for it as well. Let me tell you, it was a massive pain in the rear getting it to line up without ruining it, even after tests with my original cuts. Once that stuff sticks to itself, it's a done deal... so hopefully you get it right the first time.

I then inserted the earrings in the appropriate pin holes that I made using my template as a guide, making sure to use a needle to put the tiniest drop of superglue to the base of the gem holder thingie just to hold it in place, slipped the post through the pin hole, cut off the additional length so that just the tiniest piece of stem poked through the back of the leather, and added a few drops of superglue to the back. I tested it and it seems secure enough for my needs but I would recommend a different method if you want to wear the eye patch. Reenactment below

Once the glue was set, I got to weathering. This was done with a razor blade, wire cutters, rasps and files, paints, and Fuller's earth. I tried to match the original as much as possible while still letting it have a life of its own. Here's a pic of the current state of it, along with a close up of the original for comparison, and a pic of the back of my eyepatch showing the glue. I wish I could have found the right sized/color earrings that had the right number of claws holding the gems, but it is what it is. Also the on set lighting/color timing was super orange in this scene, giving everything an extremely warm color.

Next steps are to put the a green velvet backing on (which I only noticed for the first time last night even after looking at these stills 100 times before) and add in the head strap.

 

[bk85]

and.... I already have another update. My last post was the first time I saw pics of my eyepatch and the real one side by side. The weathering looked WAY too unnatural to me (though part of that is just how cameras capture things), so I quickly hit it with the rasp again, made some of the bottom cuts a bit more prominent, and used some acetone to remove some of the brown paint.

 

[Hanamaid]

and.... I already have another update. My last post was the first time I saw pics of my eyepatch and the real one side by side. The weathering looked WAY too unnatural to me (though part of that is just how cameras capture things), so I quickly hit it with the rasp again, made some of the bottom cuts a bit more prominent, and used some acetone to remove some of the brown paint.

View attachment 1824729

The weathering looks great! There’s a couple Star Wars props I’m dying to make here in the short term but seeing this build has me contemplating a reorganization to my priority list haha. Awesome work!

 

[bk85]

I know I already have a tendency to be a bit wordy in my posts, but buckle yourselves in because this one is a ride and a half.

As mentioned in my previous post, when I revisited my reference photos, I noticed a green velvet backing on the eye patch, so that's what I tried to do. I also noticed that it seemed oddly thick but thought nothing of it at the time, more on these points later... On to finishing the patch!

My next step was to put some faux suede cord through the two upper corners of the patch. This was a pain and a half trying to get the cord pulled through small holes but I got it done thanks to a large needle that I found! Once I had the headband/loop positioned, I tightened it to fit the skull properly and tied off knots at the end (front of the eyepatch)

Now comes the time to put on the green velvet backing. I employed the use of my Cricut again, using the same .svg that I uploaded earlier, just scaled it down so that it would be 1/4 inch smaller than the patch. Here was version 1

I was STOKED, the time had come to put this on Willy and see it in its full glory! And... it sucked. It looked pathetically lifeless, deader than a Norwegian Blue Parrot pining for the Fjords. All this work and research to get to this point and I was totally disappointed. Nothing was pointing in the right direction, the way it wrapped the skull wasn't right, it just looked off.

As I kept staring my failure in the eye(patch) I realized something. It looked...hollow, sunken. And that's when the lightbulb clicked. THAT'S why the original looked so freaking thick and bulging. Phrasing. The original eyepatch must have been stuffed. I thought the screenshot above looked a little sloppy with separated layers and a weird crinkly/messy part that was folded over but that wasn't just a quality issue, it was to secure stuffing. I convinced myself that this same thing must have happened originally and they decided to remediate the issue by stuffing the patch so that it had some volume and lift, which is why the quality had a bit of a rush job look to it (no offense). If that's not what actually happened on set, I don't care. It makes me feel good about my own original failure

Well, I don't have stuffing laying around so I dug through all of my supplies for something, anything that would work. I came up short. I looked in every nook and cranny of my apartment, then remembered I had some round cotton pads in my bathroom. EUREKA! I cut these down to small circles, and put about 4 of them behind the jewels. I noticed in one of the other screenshots that the immediate area around the jewels looked a little puffy. Originally I put this down as weathering or how the jewels were secured, but now I realized that must have been the stuffing being highest in that area. I went to work and made adjustments for version 2. I used 2 different widths to help form a smooth rounded transition. This was put on top of the already adhered velvet, I didn't want to risk pulling that off. I then cut another piece of velvet and covered it all up...again.

And I was dissatisfied again. The front looked better when seen on the skull but the back looked ridiculous. It was just a random lump in the middle. Nope, absolutely not. I came this far I wasn't going to have this be the final result. Plus, I should have pulled in the edges a bit more so that the face of the patch would be rounded, fuller, and cupped towards the back, not the velvet that nobody gives a crap about because they'll never see it.

Third time's a charm?

I was kinda over it but also excited for the problem solving so no pics, but I ended up trimming 2 cotton pads to fit around the existing lump, just to have a smoother back. I then cut out another piece of velvet and made another layer. If you're keeping track, we're now at leather/velvet/cotton/velvet/more cotton/a final velvet. This eyepatch was stuffed more than I am on Thanksgiving, so problem solved I guess?

Here's the final look of the back and profile sides. Much better, if I do say so myself.

How it looks on Willy:

I think that's it for the patch! Join me next time when I'll be working on the bandana, cause ya know, cutting a piece of fabric into a square deserves its own post, lol. Actually I'm going to probably skip the block printed fabrics I previously purchased and will be working with something I saw at the fabric store the other day. I haven't decided yet, so we'll have a bit of a fashion show. The new alternate fabric is a more modern floral print, so I've got to fade and age it. Any tips on fading fabric prints that don't involve setting it in the sun for weeks? I was going to try some super diluted bleach on a test strip and see if I can time it right but I would love any better or less risky ideas if you have one!

 

[Kreativebox]

looks great, love the texture

 

[bk85]

Time to put Willy to bed!

I wasn't too sure about the hand blocked print fabrics that I got earlier, but I happened to stumble upon a floral print fabric from Hobby Lobby that I thought would work better, after some work was done to it. It's a print of poppies, and doesn't have enough leaves but I gave it a shot and was pretty happy with how it turned out!

The first step was to try bleaching the fabric a bit since it was way too saturated. Let me tell you, whatever ink they used in this fabric is one of the most indelible things I have come across. I started with a mild bleach solution but had to go to full strength bleach to even see a minor difference, even after soaking for about 10 minutes. The black poppy stamens disappeared almost instantly, the leaves faded about 50%, and the red petals only went down by about 10% but at least it was a start.

Before and after bleaching:

Next I ran it through the washing machine and dryer and then soaked it in a mixture of tea, coffee, Fuller's earth, white paint (just hoping to desaturate it more) to age it a bit.

Next I folded it into a triangle, cut out a square the width of the fabric, and weathered the freshly cut edge so it blended with the other 3 sides, tied it to Willy's skull. It was still too new looking so I doused the sucker in Fuller's earth and that worked out really well. It dulled the colors more than I had hoped, and I was finally happy. One thing to note, the bookcase that I have this in is pretty dark which is why I went a bit lighter overall with painting the skull and aging the bandana. In person, the shadows make everything a few shades darker once it's situated in its final resting place.

Here are a few screenshots, a few shots of my Willy, and pics of my Pirate shelf with treasure. I also use it for overflow props that don't really have a home elsewhere. Bonus points to whoever can name the most props/movies displayed. Extra bonus points if you recognize the makers. Fair warning, some of it is just junk I got for cheap off of Temu to bulk out my booty, or give me some "close enough" replicas.

That's it from me. Thanks to those of you who have gone on this journey with me! This was a super satisfying build, and probably one of the most enjoyable that I've done so far.

Bonus pic of Relicmaker's gorgeous Map and Doubloon, framed as movie accurately as I could do on a budget.

 

[Krats]

Looks great. I'm loving the results you're getting recreating bone with your 3D printer.

 

[Hanamaid]

That turned out awesome! Phenomenal work… Pumped to see what else you create.