Need guidance on mounting Wookie scalps—Comicon in 2 weeks!

[JiM]

Yep, I did everything to build a RotJ Boba Fett (from scratch—even gloves and shoes) except mount the Wookie scalps and tie those damned barrel knots. Trying to find a good tutorial on that but the ones on YouTube are awful. Please advise mainly on how they are supposed to be mounted. Thanks so much in advance!

 

[BudaFett]

Mounted, as in, when they're completed and putting them on your costume?

I've seen people use a safety pin to keep them attached to the vest.

 

[JiM]

Yes. I figured maybe there was a similar setup like they did with the cape but with a piece of fabric.

 

[ShortFuse]

Here’s the tutorial I used for the pineapple knot, also known as a ginger knot.

I have used a safety pin to secure the braids and it works well. Currently, I have them secured with clear monofilament that is attached to the vest.

 

[Irongladiator]

JiM
That knot goes by many different names it seems. I've seen Barrel Knots, Ginfer Knots, Pineapple Knots, and a few others I just can't recall. The YouTube link above that ShortFuse shared is the same video I used when tying up those knots - and yep, unless you're someone who's great at tying knots, fully expect this to be a major pain.

But here is what I was able to conjure up....

Let it be known that I didn't tie these knots directly onto the braid itself but I tried mine up on a pencil and then transferred it over to the braid. And to assist I also got and used....

Which helped out tremendously. I honestly don't know how you can achieve tying up that knot without it. I no longer rock these braids and I've updated mine to a Woodman version.

Best of luck on your endeavor!


Cheers,
-Iron

 

[JiM]

This is all good stuff! That is the tutorial I saw like 10 times! It’s awful. Going to try it again. Wish me luck.

 

[Mythosaur]

That tutorial is missing a part at the very end, to get the knot to look right you need to have the lace go over-under-over-under to get the criss-cross pattern. I also suggest tying it on something else and transferring it like Irongladiator mentioned, and keep the knot loose at first and gradually tighten it up as you go, that helped me out quite a bit. As far as attaching the braids to the vest, I have a piece of leather that pokes through the vest and ties on the inside, works fantastic!

 

[Irongladiator]

That tutorial is missing a part at the very end, to get the knot to look right you need to have the lace go over-under-over-under to get the criss-cross pattern. I also suggest tying it on something else and transferring it like Irongladiator mentioned, and keep the knot loose at first and gradually tighten it up as you go, that helped me out quite a bit. As far as attaching them to the vest, I have a piece of leather that pokes through the vest and ties on the inside, works fantastic!

Mythosaur
And for the very end - I finished it off with a drop of Superglue which held it in place nicely. (I did the same thing for the tedious thread wrapping on them braids too.)


That's interesting the way you have them attached in your picture. I had a small piece of velcro sewn onto the flak vest and then a small piece of velcro sewn into the Wookie Braid via a clear thread. When attached, ya can't see any of it.

-Iron

 

[Mythosaur]

Mythosaur
And for the very end - I finished it off with a drop of Superglue which held it in place nicely. (I did the same thing for the tedious thread wrapping on them braids too.)


That's interesting the way you have them attached in your picture. I had a small piece of velcro sewn onto the flak vest and then a small piece of velcro sewn into the Wookie Braid via a clear thread. When attached, ya can't see any of it.
View attachment 239730

-Iron

I had velcro like that as well originally, I really didn't like it very much, so I searched for different ways to attach them. Upon searching through the MOM photos, I came across these 2 pictures:

it appears to me they did something very similar, I believe they actually used embroidery floss to attach them, so I opted for something a little stronger since I would like to be able to remove them if needed hence the leather lace.

 

[Irongladiator]

I had velcro like that as well originally, I really didn't like it very much, so I searched for different ways to attach them.

Mythosaur -
To quote John Nash: "Like multi-variable calculus, there is often a number of solutions for any one problem."

-Iron

 

[JiM]

Another, and hopefully final, question. What did you use to tie the knots with? I was looking at using balloon ribbon but its not very cooperative. Parachute chord is too thick. What is something that is flexible enough to fold around a pencil but not so gaudy that its extremely protrusive, and where do I get it? (I guess that is technically three questions)...

 

[Irongladiator]

JiM
Happy Fett Friday!
So, when we were locked down for COVID ShortFuse sent me the material necessary to accomplish this task. I had a small strand left over, and when stores started to re-open I took the material to a nearby Michaels and found (and bought) this stuff....

(Of which I'd use the lighter cord)

I can pay Shortfuses kindness forward and ship this to you if you'd like - no charge (I'll even pay for shipping) . Just send me a PM if interested. I'd ship it out today, which means you should have it by Monday.

Best,
-Iron

 

[Mythosaur]

I used the same stuff but 3/16", (not sure if it really matters) each knot took about 2 feet. Also, looking back I guess I kept the knot tight at first then loosened, not the other way around as I previously stated, apologies.

 

[JiM]

JiM
Happy Fett Friday!
So, when we were locked down for COVID ShortFuse sent me the material necessary to accomplish this task. I had a small strand left over, and when stores started to re-open I took the material to a nearby Michaels and found (and bought) this stuff....
View attachment 239755
(Of which I'd use the lighter cord)

I can pay Shortfuses kindness forward and ship this to you if you'd like - no charge (I'll even pay for shipping) . Just send me a PM if interested. I'd ship it out today, which means you should have it by Monday.

Best,
-Iron

Iron,
I may take you up on that but let me check local Michaels and Hobby Lobby first. Knowing that it is leather cord for beads is fantastic intel (wish I’d thought of that). Hopefully they will have it or something like it. I’ve had to improvise a lot. For example, dad to use a long blonde wig from Johnny Brock’s vs horsehair since not a lot of violin bows need stringing in East of East StL. (And weaves are too expensive!)

 

[Irongladiator]

3 yards of the lighter cord is equal to 9 feet. I'm trying to recall how much Shortfuse sent me, but I wanna say it was less than 2 feet per knot. Its been awhile though, but 9 feet of this stuff should suffice, yeah? It'd give JiM more than enough should it be that mistakes are made.


Just give the work JiM and I'll have this sent off to ya!

-Iron

 

[Mythosaur]

Irongladiator Yeah, I would think that would be more than enough cord for sure! JiM if you need horsehair, Amazon usually has blonde violin bowstring, I also go to Crazy Crow Trading Post too, but it's harder to get long blonde hair from them.

 

[JiM]

Ok, I took y’all’s advice, went to Michael’s and got some leather beading strips. Unfortunately, they weren’t white and I had to paint them. Also got some very thin paracord to practice with. Couldn’t get the pineapple knot to come out but I was successfully able to tie some very tight headhunters knots (which I think are more appropriate given he’s a bounty hunter (assume the knot isn’t referring to a recruiter). Anyway, posted some pics. Did my best to match the coloring and placement. The brown section on the top was to hide an ugly bit and that was the color I had. I might paint it or change it out later since it’s not completely accurate (my costume actually makes use of a lot of non-1980s technology as I suppose everyone’s does given it’s 2023).