In the original Star Wars film, Zubaz the Garindan (aka “Snoot”) was a spy who informed the Stormtroopers as to the whereabouts of the infamous Millenium Falcon and it’s rebel crew as they prepared to leave Mos Eisley spaceport on Tattooine. I was commissioned to create a mask for a costumer building this character. I roughed out the basic shape literally in minutes, to prove how easy it would be to do – here’s the first picture I sent him.

It’s really just a blob of clay with some welding goggles and my sweatshirt.

Having sold him on the concept, I started again on the sculpture in earnest. After removing the snout for practical reasons I sculpted all the folds in his head, representing a baggy leather skin mask. I paid special attention to the area that would look pulled together once  the goggle strap was added. I realized the goggles would have to be replaced for the mask to be truly screen accurate, but to start I molded it with these welding goggles in place.

Happy with this much, I finished off the snoot and even added holes to accommodate stitching that would be sewn into the final latex mask. This is how it looked ready for molding.

I dyed the latex dark gray – you’ll see the mask came out of the mold with some plaster residue on it. The first step was to trim any excess rubber from around the neck. Then I cut out the end of the snout and the eye holes.

The many holes along the snout were drilled out using a rotary tool and the whole thing was thoroughly scrubbed clean.

To paint this type of mask I use Acrylic or better still Acrylic Enamel paint, with a small amount of liquid latex mixed in – approximately 15% by volume. This helps the paint to stick to the latex mask and makes it more flexible so it won’t flake off when stretched. I painted the whole thing with a very dark gray, making sure to get in to all the cracks and wrinkles.

To make the details stand out, I added a little white paint in with the gray and sponged it on, dabbing gently on to the highlights.

To glue the lens in I used a hard wearing, flexible adhesive like those designed for repairing sports shoes.

I got it in to the inside of the eye holes with a nice clean bead just back from the edge, spreading it in with a long tool.

Taking care not to smear the glue, I inserted the lens from the inside.

Then I aligned it, cleaned off the excess glue and held it in place till set.

Next I take a large needle and some thick elastic thread,

Starting at one end I sew through the rubber and knot the end to itself,

The thread crosses the crease on the outside…

but stays parallel on the inside, I go along two holes then back across on the outside,

it only need to LOOK like it’s sewn.

I use the same sewing pattern to stitch along the top of the snoot.

Lastly I take a strip of black webbing and cut slits in the sides of the goggles and glue it on the back of the mask and tuck the ends in to the slits.

Then of course I cover all my hard work with a cloak and hood.

Wow, what a month we’re having! I’m back in the workshop post quake, not that they’ve stopped – 1069 aftershocks to date in 3 weeks! Things are still shaky and cracks are starting to show in my walls, but not in my art! Continuing with the horror replica masks, I have completed my Freddy sculpt and have molded and cast it and am now in the process of painting the first latex mask.

Had a good run of the Garindan spy mask too and will have completed and kit set versions available in the shop ASAP.

A lot of interest is being shown in my Ninja Turtle suit and parts so I have started sculpting a cheaper Halloween-style latex mask, sans moving parts, to offer to collectors not yet able to invest in the complete customized costume.

Progress is being made on our feature film – our friends at Natcoll are doing the post production digital effects and we expect to have a finished scene before Halloween. New shelves on the mezzanine are helping with the task of organizing 15 years of collected props and costumes and clearing space for our upcoming launch party. OK – enough of the update, better get on with the next job. Expect new photos soon!

There was kind of an earthquake in Christchurch. The photo above is by our pal Logan… as you can see, the city’s a bit munted. It was a 7.0 and we’ve been getting aftershocks ever since, but luckily, nobody got killed. Chester’s (former) house looks pretty busted, but the workshop’s fine for the most part. Go to http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/ and check out the animated info-map thing…

I’m gonna go play Mad Max in the rubble.

Welcome to the new, sort-of-finished Dextar FX website. If you can see the picture of the half-completed monster on the left, then everything’s worked out fine. If not, we must’ve broken something and we’ll get Alexei to fix it.  We’re still adding bits and pieces, so keep checking back, yeah?