Rick Baker Cantina alien mask project: Reference help needed...

I'm pretty anxious to get started on a Rick Baker ANH Cantina character. Going to be sculpted in WED clay (50 lbs coming) and cast in thick latex. Who knows if I'll even make more than a single copy but my copy will be a display copy. I'm a huge Cantina alien fan and can say with 99% certainty that this character has never been subject to a fan-made sculpture and mask. Tom Spina Designs has done a lot of weird Cantina alien masks but even still I had a lot left to choose from that he hasn't already mastered.

Character is Brainiac...aka Pons Limbic (sometimes Star Wars names are really stupid...)

He's not seen a ton but there are some usable photos online. He has a real vintage 50s alien look to him with a nice brain head, simple expression, and cool veins that travel the length of skul and have a subtle blue tinge. Right now I'm looking for reference photos if anyone knows of any. I wish I had access to pre-production polaroids. Not only looking for better shape and detail photos, but color and size reference as well. I'm not too tech savy but I'm sure I can figure out screen grabs. Going to watch ANH again to go through the scene and see where he's visible.

My plan is to sculpt him oversized anyway. It was a static pull over mask and no make-up involved. I generally know how big a mask has to be on someones head and can tell whether it's a tight fit or a lot of space inside. If I sculpt it too big I can always use the first casting as a master copy and make a one-piece copy mold with it. Since latex shrinks 20% after it's pulled out of mold and cures, it would then shrink down another 20% with a one-piece copy mold. So I have 20-40% shrinkage to work with in relation to the original sculpture size. Don't see that being an issue.

I guess my main thing is photos. Not sure they exist but if anyone can help that would be awesome!

Here's a quick photo to show the character and to show what kind of photos I have to work with at the moment. Thanks in advance!

Good for you for attempting this! Completely off topic but it always disappointed me that so many of these "one-off" cantina aliens were never seen again, at least in the movies. With the rest of the OT and PT, it seems like you just see the same handful of species over and over, with a few new ones thrown in.

Many of these one-off masks were Rick Bakers and are currently curated by Bob Burns at his legendary basement museum.

trooper18938 said:

Many of these one-off masks were Rick Bakers and are currently curated by Bob Burns at his legendary basement museum.

Click to expand...

Actually I knew Bob had some in his awesome collection. This character was probably a sculpture Rick did when he was a teen or something but I can only speculate. My wife printed some great photos for me at work. Starting once I can drive 40 min to grab 50 lbs of wed clay, 25 lbs of white clay, and 100lbs bag og ultra cal 30. I'll order five gal of rd407 latex once warms up outside. I also ordered a truform armature. I used to use monstermakers foam bust but it was confining with short neck. This new armature will allow me to get proportions perfectly.

My plan is to cast 5 in a row when done and after I get my prototype paint job done ill do other four then maybe see if anyone wants one. That way people dont have to order and wait and they can all be boxed ready to ship before I even sell. Mostly a personal project but since my collection budget is limited it might allow me to trade with other artists and sell to collectors who like the obscure less mainstream characters like me.

I'll post my website soon theouterrim.net. my goal is to blog star wars and my collection and projects while also having a store for my obscure character masks as there will be more after this one. Plus I can list my canvas paintings and offer some good art services.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Cool! Look forward to seeing how this progresses.

looking forward to the progress, always refreshing to see something rarely seen replicated.

He also appears in the cantina scene in the Star Wars Holiday Special, you might be able to see some new angles there. On YouTube, you have to sort through so-so quality versions. There's a halfway-decent copy of the HS floating around torrent sites. I have it stored on a CD somewhere around the house, PM me if you want to figure out getting a copy to you.

There are also some rear/side angles of the mask in this lesser-known Richard Pryor Star Wars skit as well: Richard Pryor - Star Wars Bar - YouTube

Rick Baker is active sometimes on The Halloween Mask Association forum (thehma.net), you may be able to get some help with additional pics there.

Good luck with the project!