NegativeEleven
Active Hunter
We've started calling her Hanna Solo... sort of a slutty sorority girl Han Solo costume, frozen in carbonite.
Backstory... I'm planning a party for Star Wars Day, May 4th, and an artist friend of mine (who I now believe was drunker than he let on) said to me "I'll build a Han in carbonite, it's easy, just plaster..." and I replied "if you know how to do that, you are more than welcome to use my garage and I'll chip in on some of the supplies." A conversation a week later revealed that maybe he doesn't know how to go about this, but I'd already told a lot of people about it so I had to at least try. My biggest project to date has been my fett gauntlets (cardboard and bondo) and really simple Vader-ish chest armor for a girl out of sintra, so I was not expecting this to go well.
I started thinking about shortcuts... As you all know, when you make a female version of a male costume, you don't have to be screen accurate as long as it's sexy. My friend may not have known exactly how to make the form, but he did have powertools and some free time to help me make the box out of cull lumber from Home Depot (I think it was like $5). Luckily, he also has a bunch of display busts (shoulders and neck to just above navel) from a dept store that he's been decorating and showing at various art shows, so there's like 30% of the form done! I got a styrofoam head from a costume shop, covered it in bondo and sanded smooth. I had another friend make hands out of clay (had to bondo over to keep from cracking). She also let us form the upper thighs on her with plaster cast material because she's close to the size of the torso. Put a shirt on the torso and my girlfriend made the skirt from the unused back of the shirt.
Been covering it with bondo, lacquer and plaster (the stuff for patching sheetrock) followed by lots of sanding for the last week or so. Today we poured a layer of clear resin (envirotex, I think) over it. That's gotta dry for 48 hours, then we're gonna pour another layer, hopefully enough to make the face level with the frame. Then I'll probably use the leftover plaster to make the surface uneven and rough before painting it.
On the sides, I got really creative with **** I had around the house. I cut out one hole on each side (I know Han has four panels on each side, but I'm lazy and wanted to keep the price down) and made some cool looking control panels out of Home Depot Fire Extinguisher signs. They're the perfect size and heavier than "for sale" or "beware of dog." I've got some of the little trays that lighters are sold on in convenience stores that look like buttons, painted chrome and cut holes for lights. I made the screens from clear plastic cut from some packaging and green pencil case bags that I took out of binders when the zippers broke. Made boxes from scrap lumber and mounted lightbulb sockets from a broken lamp.
So far, I've only spent $100 for this, and a lot of that was wasted on trial and error as I have no idea what I'm doing here. I was planning to try and sell it at the party, but it's turning out much better than I expected and I kinda wanna keep it.
Backstory... I'm planning a party for Star Wars Day, May 4th, and an artist friend of mine (who I now believe was drunker than he let on) said to me "I'll build a Han in carbonite, it's easy, just plaster..." and I replied "if you know how to do that, you are more than welcome to use my garage and I'll chip in on some of the supplies." A conversation a week later revealed that maybe he doesn't know how to go about this, but I'd already told a lot of people about it so I had to at least try. My biggest project to date has been my fett gauntlets (cardboard and bondo) and really simple Vader-ish chest armor for a girl out of sintra, so I was not expecting this to go well.
I started thinking about shortcuts... As you all know, when you make a female version of a male costume, you don't have to be screen accurate as long as it's sexy. My friend may not have known exactly how to make the form, but he did have powertools and some free time to help me make the box out of cull lumber from Home Depot (I think it was like $5). Luckily, he also has a bunch of display busts (shoulders and neck to just above navel) from a dept store that he's been decorating and showing at various art shows, so there's like 30% of the form done! I got a styrofoam head from a costume shop, covered it in bondo and sanded smooth. I had another friend make hands out of clay (had to bondo over to keep from cracking). She also let us form the upper thighs on her with plaster cast material because she's close to the size of the torso. Put a shirt on the torso and my girlfriend made the skirt from the unused back of the shirt.
Been covering it with bondo, lacquer and plaster (the stuff for patching sheetrock) followed by lots of sanding for the last week or so. Today we poured a layer of clear resin (envirotex, I think) over it. That's gotta dry for 48 hours, then we're gonna pour another layer, hopefully enough to make the face level with the frame. Then I'll probably use the leftover plaster to make the surface uneven and rough before painting it.
On the sides, I got really creative with **** I had around the house. I cut out one hole on each side (I know Han has four panels on each side, but I'm lazy and wanted to keep the price down) and made some cool looking control panels out of Home Depot Fire Extinguisher signs. They're the perfect size and heavier than "for sale" or "beware of dog." I've got some of the little trays that lighters are sold on in convenience stores that look like buttons, painted chrome and cut holes for lights. I made the screens from clear plastic cut from some packaging and green pencil case bags that I took out of binders when the zippers broke. Made boxes from scrap lumber and mounted lightbulb sockets from a broken lamp.
So far, I've only spent $100 for this, and a lot of that was wasted on trial and error as I have no idea what I'm doing here. I was planning to try and sell it at the party, but it's turning out much better than I expected and I kinda wanna keep it.
jk... I dont live anywhere near there but good luck with the project!
