mannequins?

Aeonjeth

New Hunter
Hey everyone!

I've been looking at some people's Fett displays/progress threads, and was wondering what you guys are using for mannequins? Are there posable ones out there on the web? Or, is it more of a custom job? I'd like to be able to have Fett on display in the corner when i'm not out scaring children (j/k)

Appreciate the help!
 
Here is where I bought mine. I thought they were reasonable, had a good selection, and shipping was fast from New York to Arizona. Here is how my mannequin looks. The only think I changed was his right arm. I cut it then added some metal strapping to give it the bend. I think I paid $150.00 and that included shipping.

http://www.nycdisplay.com/home.php

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I know some people have been building their own, that is what I looked at doing. But even that can cost you a good $50.00 to $60.00. It can be very difficult and not look as good unless you really know what you are doing. I love how mine turned out, it was worth every penny.

I think this company also sells the poseable kind. Do a google search, there are a ton of companies that sell mannequins.
 
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If you're looking for a cheap way to make a mannequin, you can always use pvc pipe. I was on a tight budget a few years back but wanted to show off my Stormtrooper gear. So I went down to Home Depot and bought some pvc pipe and pvc glue. I used my dimensions as a rough guideline when cutting the pieces. I say "rough" because I'm only 5'9" but made my mannequin 6'0" LOL :lol:

I was going to fab up a base for it, but believe it or not, the trooper almost stands on his own when the armour is on. Plus, where I have him in the house he just rests up against the wall. Once I get my Fett pieces together I'm going to build another, but make bases for both.

Just an idea for a cheap mannequin, it's by no means a professional job! :lol:

EDIT: For the hands, what I did was cut some spare wood so that it would fit snugly inside the pvc pipe and attached coat hanger wire to it that I bent in the shape of fingers. This allows the Stormy to actually grip the blaster. Cheap, but effective!

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That's perfect TK1455! Deffinatly going to do somthing along that line. I bet i'll need to tweak it a bit b/c of the fact that some of the Boba Fett bits are soft unlike ST armor. /ponder
 
I bet I'll need to tweak it a bit b/c of the fact that some of the Boba Fett bits are soft unlike ST armor. /ponder

You could always use that as your frame then 'pad' it out in way of thighs etc with soft foam held with tape? just a thought? ;)
 
You could always use that as your frame then 'pad' it out in way of thighs etc with soft foam held with tape? just a thought? ;)


I wanted to pad mine as well to "fill out" the body under the armour. I actually had an old black wetsuit so I dressed the mannequin with that (this was tricky!) and then stuffed cotton batting out of an old sleeping bag in it to fill it out. Seeing as how I don't have a second wetsuit I was planning on doing what Mojo Fett mentioned when I do my Fett.

I don't like to push my luck with the wife when it comes to spending money on these types of projects so I've become fairly resourceful. She still doesn't know how much the Fett costume will cost when all said and done though! ;)
 
My wife flipped out and yelled at me when I put my Jawa together and stuck in the corner. It scared the daylights out of her. I guess I should have told her it was there. I used PVC for the body and a big styrofoam ball for the head and it worked great
 
pvc pipe is a great idea...better than the one i had...i totally covered my wife in duck tape and then cut off the duck tape layer...she had to wear old clothes under it so the tape would stick to them. I then retaped the cut sections and filled it with old clothes on the top half and expandable foam for the bottom.

it worked okay...until the hot temps expanded the foam more and it burst through the ducktape and got all over the inside of her Zam pants! She wasnt to impressed...so i had to quickly make her a new pair before dcon last year, as we didnt realize it happened until just before the trip!
 
I did the duct tape thing for my torso so I could shape my armor to fit me. I filled it with expandable foam. It worked ok but it did get a little lumpy. Air pockets formed in the foam here and there and I had to use a lot of it. If I were to do it again I'd probably go with stuffing it with old clothes.
 
Went with the PVC piping idea. My play was to have fett in a semi reclining position...like he would be in Jabba's Palace: Knee up, holding his blaster nonchalantly. Here's what I came up with. You'll notice the purple smudges from the PVC glue primer leaking from every joint. This was absolutly intentional. I should also warn you that it's important to work with PVC glue in a ventilated area...

so at this point I have a rigid skeletal stucture. I've tried fitting it with an old USAF flightsuit that I had laying around and obviously I need to fill it out a bit. unlike stormtrooper armor, which is ridged, the display will need some meat on his bones. Any Ideas that wont leave him looking lumpy?












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You really don't need to use primer in this application. The only time you would need primer is if you were using it for actual pluming. The joints will leak if you don't.
 
I am also making a mannequin in PVC piping. He will stand about 6 feet tall. The head is a styrofoam head with a wooden broom handle inside (about 12 inches) sitting on the ''frame''. There are going to be two metal brackets to hold the ''skeleton'' standing up about 2 inches from the floor and to be able to slide the shoes in his feet. The metal brackets will be attached to the skeleton with bolts for easy removal and the arms will also be attached with a similar method to help with the dressing up part.

As for putting some material around the skeleton, I was looking at some foam for matress. I will carve it to give a more human look and cut the parts in two halves. Then, I will join the two halves with elastic straps and velcro.

For the hands, I will use some electric cable (big gauge) and put a garden hose around it. The garden hose will make the fingers and the electric cable will bend and stay in that position. All of that will be attached to a piece of wood (palm of hand) and inserted into the PVC forearm piping.

I will post some pics eventually... the skeleton is up but the rest needs to be done. ;)
 
Ive made mine from PVC, and made muscle structure with foam sheeting cut to shape from a 3 metre sheet bought off the roll at a Foam and Rubber mob over here in Australia, Clark Rubber.

I am 5'6" ish.... and i got my needed lengths by measuring each major length in my body, from joint to joint for the limbs.. and using joiners for the joins (knees, elbows, shoulders etc...)

I formed the hands with MDF and Galvanised Wire, threaded through the drilled out finger bones and hand piece, and since i was doing this around Old Hallows Eve last year, i found something good to use for the head :D


Here are some pics to show the progress of it. Sorry about there being so many, but it shows the full physical steps.. Might even make this a sticky lol... :p

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So if you put in the effort with a PVC Mannequin the end product can come out pretty good :D
 
definatley making me think going with the pvc ideal is cheap and worht a shot...maybe pick up some thick foam padding and duct tape and use that over the pvc skeleton to bulk it up. The foam and tape method should allow flexibility in forming a beleivable body shape depending on foam thickness and amount of taughtness when applying the tape?
 
It depends on if you are a Store bought Mannequins size though... many of us are too short for that.. thats why I went with this method.

PVC Pipe+joiners= $30AUD
3m x 1m Foam sheet= $70AUD
Gaffa Tape 20 Metre Roll= $20AUD

had the wood and the wire from a previous project, but they wouldnt cost more that $10 extra... really, if you want one your exact shape this is the way to go really...
 
You know you're right, Alc....they don't make a mannequin nearly my size...it would take twice the plastic to mold, and weigh 220 pounds....and the gut would be most of that weight....:lol:
Rob
 
The problem for me was that I couldn't find any mannequins locally unless I grabbed one from the local department store and took off with it! LOL :lol:

Buying one off ebay was no good either because if they would ship outside the US it was WAY too expensive. This left me with little options. The PVC pipe was cheap, and I had everything else on hand, so it was a good option for me. Making another one for my Fett shouldn't break the bank either.
 
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