Slave Leia costume advice

[Shaak Ti (Erin)]

Hi gebgeb.

I have made my own Slave Leia costume and there are no resin parts at all!

I used electrical wire, sintra (first I used a textured lino but it was pretty heavy), lots of glue and gold spray paint and some texture paint for the skirt plates and then gold puff fabric paint for the designs on the plates... I will link you to my production pics if you have anymore questions just PM me.

http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b364/ms_ventress/Slave%20Leia%20Costume/

[Kay_Dee (Kathy)]

[padme911 (Becca K)]

I do know that LMB does have forums now so that might be a better to discuss how to build a costume. I have a feeling that the Yahoo group is not being used(to be honest, Yahoo groups are such a pain anyway )
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"We'll take the long way."

[Mieal Deneb (Rachel Orange)]

Yeah, the Yahoo group has been pretty quiet since CIV...it's probably just that the mods are busy doing other stuff. I know the guy who set the group up sells resin parts for R2-D2 for the R2 Builders' Club and he gets swamped with emails and might not see the request to join. It's a hit or miss sort of thing, I think.

When I made mine, I used a wire framework that I wrapped Sculpey around. I baked it, then glued string to it for the details. Once it was painted, you really couldn't tell the details were string! For the front and back skirt plates I used mostly cardboard! Some of the details were baked Sculpey and string with crinkled aluminum to give it the textured look. My collar and snake armlet are both Sculpey with a wire base, the end of the braid decoration is painted craft foam, the hair decorations are cardboard and string, and the bracelet is actually a plastic orange juice concentrate container with string and baked Sculpey details!

Of course, I don't wear this to cons...so I'm not sure how well it'd hold up in public. If it falls apart while I'm wearing it for my husband it doesn't matter!




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~Mieal

[Padme of Hidden Lake ()]

Mieal - how well does baking Sculpey with wire in it work? I've been afraid to try and destroy the Sculpey (or start a fire!) But I have a lot of projects that could do with the extra support.
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[Mieal Deneb (Rachel Orange)]

For me, I didn't have any problems. I made sure the oven was to the correct temp before putting my clay in it (I love that my oven beeps when it reaches temperature!) and then I only baked it as long as the package recommended. I do notice that when the piece first comes out of the oven, it is flexible for a while until it fully cures. I did have a bit of problem with the top "U" shape (between the breasts) slipping during baking and the clay ended up cracking on the inside a bit. If you prop the bra (or anything else) up really well, you shouldn't have that problem. Just make sure whatever you use to prop your piece(s) with is not flammable.

*Edit* I forgot to mention that the wire I used was copper wire. I'm not sure if it makes a difference or not.
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~Mieal

[Mieal Deneb (Rachel Orange)]

I created a "mini-tutorial" on how I made my bikini with a few pictures on my blog. I had more pictures, but they are on my old computer which died so these are all I have left. http://costumesandartwork.blogspot.com/2009/05/return-of-jedi-slave-leia-bikini.html
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~Mieal

[Padme of Hidden Lake ()]

Thanks so much Mieal! I think I will try remaking my Lake gown necklace with more support first to test it out before I try something this complex. I definitely appreciate your advice.
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[Mieal Deneb (Rachel Orange)]

Glad to help.
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~Mieal

[Kay_Dee (Kathy)]

It took forever, but I finally got into the Yahoo group (pretty much after I'd gone through all the stress of trying to figure out the costume). I think once I contacted Jamin he may have gone through and done a round of approvals into the group.

Anyway, since it was so impossible to find any useful tips about this costume, I have put together an informative web page. I hope it will help others with hair styling options, undergarment options, how to do touch up and repair painting - etc.

But I didn't make my own kit, so it is not an in depth tutorial on how to make your own costume from clay I only made my chain links and earrings. And well, I had to repaint many of my parts too so there is a little tutorial on that.

http://kay-dee.net/costumes/slave_leia/index.htm

I know this might sound silly, but I hope that the fact that I'm pointing out for reference sake that her bun is not braided won't ever become a standard or requirement for our club. You can hardly tell when the decorations are covering it. I think little cheats are OK and saying that 'it was done this way in the movie so we require it to be this way' isn't always a valid argument for a standard
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Rebel Legion - Endor Base

[Mieal Deneb (Rachel Orange)]

Nicely done, Kathy! Though I don't think you need to worry about your shape not looking good in that bikini!
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~Mieal

[Leia (Vera Campbell)]

Awesome tutorial, Kay Dee! I was always wondering how the top part was done! *saves this for when I can ever get the cash for this costume*
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RebelsHaven.com
verdaera.deviantart.com
Alice Project: http://alice-kingsley.livejournal.com/

[Kay_Dee (Kathy)]

I'm happy if the information helps demystify the costume for any would be Leias. There is a part of me that wanted to post photos of how the inner bikini and thong attach... but I worry that might be crossing the TMI barrier for some men As it is my page may be TMI for some. But this is a contraption of a costume and I struggled to figure it out, only remembering tidbits of conversations I heard around cons or message boards about taping the skirt down, using clear elastic on a thong - etc.

(By the way, I had made a publish last night or this morning without finishing the paragraph or proofing it. I keep re-proofing the page and finding typos here and there. Hopefully it's all cleaned up now.)

[Daritha (Christian)]

[Kay_Dee (Kathy)]