Mask

  • According to an interview with Stuart Freeborn, the original mask had a polyurethane mechanical under skull. When Peter Mayhew opened his mouth, his jaw would force the mechanical jaws open.
  • The movement of the mechanical mouth pulled the lips back to reveal the teeth whenever the mouth was opened. In one of the photos of the under skull, you can see a channel cut into the skull that goes from the lip down to the lower jaw. A bicycle brake cable could make something like this work. You would need something flexible like silicone for it work. Standard mask latex is too rigid.
  • Chewie's facial structure has more in common with an ape than a dog or bear.
  • Chewie's teeth are human except for his upper and lower canines, which are sharp, animal-like fangs.
  • There is a large gap between his upper front teeth and his upper canines, probably to create room for the lower canines when the mouth closes.
  • The pattern of Chewie's hair radiates from his eyes. He has a mustache-like feature as well.
  • There are two holes in the back of his mouth, probably for ventilation and/or drinking. A mask with such a feature could allow the wearer to drink through a straw.
  • The mask is the single most important part of the costume. If you are looking for short cuts on the mask, find another costume. It doesn't matter how good the rest of the suit is, if the mask is mediocre then the whole costume suffers.
  • There is a vertical line in his nose and it runs down to his upper lip.

There are many tutorials online for lifecasting and sculpting. Here are a few:-

 

The Life Cast

Since the mask is one of the real defining factors in a great wookie suit this is where I decided to start. Now I've done several face casts of people over the years, but obviously you can't do one on yourself. Because she'd watched me do several I managed to persuade my wife to cast my head for me. Now unfortunately due to her lack of experience it didn't come out to well but fortunately enough it had just about enough detail for the purpose intended.
 
Materials Required
   
  • Get the victim to wear a skull cap and then vasleline any hairy areas such as eyebrows and lashes - I'm not showing the pictures of that bit as its particularly unattractive. LOL
  • Start applying the dental alginate making sure its pushed into all the little nooks and crannies. Obviously make sure the nostrils are always clear of alginate.
  • Once sufficient alginate thickness is built up (I like it nice and thick about 1". This is one place it went wrong as the alginate in a lot of places was just to thin) start to build up a plaster bandage jacket.
 
 
       
 
 
         
Important Kenny Announcement - Once the plaster is wet, wring out the excess water or it will take days to dry!!!!
         
  • The plaster bandage jacket needs to be at least 3 layers thick with extra thickness around the edges.
  • Once the back half is dry add some clay keys to the edge - this will help seperate the two halves later one
  • Cover the edge of the back half with mould release or vaseline.
  • Repeat the process for the front half keeping the nostrils exposed.
 
 
 
  • Once the plaster is dry the clay "Keys" can be removed and the two halves seperated and placed to one side.
  • You then need to make a cut up the back of the alginate from the bottom of the neck to the top of the head
  • Carefully have the victim lean forward and whilst manipulating their face carefully remove the alginate mask.
  • Place the alginate back into the jacket, glue up the seem and tape up the plaster jacket.
  • Place the whole thing upside down and pour in the plaster
  • Leave overnight then demould
  
 
   

The Sculpt

         

I sculpted the under skull using water based clay and since I'm trying to achieve a movable jaw the main mask and the lower jaw will be sculpted and molded separately.

 

  • The rough shape was first fleshed out on the head cast
 
 
         
  • The detail was then better defined and the shape cleaned up
 
 
         
  • Nearly there - just not happy with the teeth!!
 
 
         
  • The teeth were removed (these will be added later) the sculpt a little more refined and then the whole thing covered with thickened silicone.
 
 
         
  • Once the silicone mold had dried a mother mold was made from plaster bandages. In order to aid its removal from the clay sculpture this mother mold was made in two halves.
 
 
         
  • Don't forget to add mold release to the first half of the plaster jacket before starting the second. Also add a few clay keys (visible in first picture) to aid the removal.
 
 
         
  • The silicone and plaster molds were then removed and the lower jaw was sculpted.
 
 
         
  • The molding process was then repeated for the lower jaw.
 
 
         
  • The two halves of the plaster mother mold were then rejoined with more plaster bandage, ready to take the silicone mold and begin fiber glassing.
 
 

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