Maladi WIP

[Guest Anonymous]

So I'm currently making a Maladi. I have this strange attraction to body paint for absolutely all my costumes that I can't really understand and she just seems perfect since she seems to be wearing plenty of clothes as well.

 

Anyway, I've finished making her top and am currently working on her skirt. I'm going to do her armor as soon as I can afford enough sintra for all that. The only problem I seem to be running into is her lightsaber. The picture in the reference images is of a silver tube with designs engraved in it http://www.theflagshipeclipse.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=20&pos=26), while I found this other picture

where it's much more like a gnarled, twisted branch, kinda like Talon's. Does it matter which one I make? Which one is the actually acceptable one?

 

Thanks,

Sen'ika

[Twi'lek Pam]

Hi,

 

You've asked a good question about the saber. If you take a look at the standards discussion thread, you'll see that the saber is the one part that still doesn't have any text, because I'm still trying to figure it out myself! My preference would be to use a design created by Jan, rather than artwork from the "filler" storylines where the other artists tend to put in their own details. I'm planning to go through the Legacy comics soon, to compare artwork throughout the series and see if there is a consistent lightsaber design to be found anywhere. If there isn't, then we'll just have to accept a variety of designs, or decide that maybe she has more than one saber and switches them out. Since Star Wars women don't seem to carry purses, maybe she likes some variety in her other "accessories" that she carries.

 

Pam

[Guest Anonymous]

Ah, okay. Let me know what you find out!

 

Meanwhile, I'll be working on the rest of the parts since I finally got the right hair for the wig!

[Twi'lek Pam]

Mystery solved. I went through the entire Legacy series, and found that Maladi's saber has a vong coral hilt, like Talon and most of the other Sith.

 

This is the correct saber:

 

 

 

This saber belonged to the Sith who was sent to assasinate Roan Fel. When the Sith was killed by Fel, a messenger was sent back to Maladi to deliver his saber as a sign of his failure. She then kills the messenger with the saber that he delievered, to keep him from telling anyone else. So, it's not her saber, and wouldn't be appropriate for a Maladi costume. (You can find the storyline in Legacy 13.)

 

 

Pam

[Guest Anonymous]

Oh yay! That's awesome! Her lightsaber looks much, much cooler and I was hoping that was the one!

 

Thanks for all your help! The knowledge is helpful!

[Guest Anonymous]

Okay, so I've been MIA for a long time, I know, but I have been working on Maladi and many other costumes! Let me show you my progress!

 

Skirt:

It has small pleats in the back to let it bell out a bit. Pretty much the easiest part of the costume.

 

Shirt:

Lots of really hot, black, pleather. I'm still not happy with it, I'm working on making it not stick up so much around my neck...

 

Shoes:

They 4" and they bring me to 6'2" so I can tower over my enemies and instill the proper amount of fear in their hearts.

 

Hip armor:

It still needs to have the backing put on, sanded down, then painted silver with a black mist. Then I can attach them to my belt and I'm done!! The design on those were a major pain in the bum to cut out. Never again.

 

Makeup:

This is only a little test to make sure the makeup worked well on the face because the face gets greasy and moves a ton so I wanted to make sure the makeup could handle it. Also I was experimenting to get the color right.

 

The whole enchilada:

Front-

Not great pictures, sorry for the glare, no one was around to take them for me and I was using my camera phone.

Side-

Here you can (kinda) see the belling of the small train in the back. Didn't want to make it too long so it doesn't get stepped on at cons.

 

All that remains to be done: Saber hilt, collar, wig, head armor, pony tail rings, arm braces, belt and ring, tattoo templates, and a nervous breakdown.

 

SO, what do you guys think so far?

[Guest Aysel]

the glare from the flash washes out a lot of the details, so from the parts I can make out it looks fine so far. I'd recommend either setting it up on a sewing dummy (if you have one, if you don't, you may want to consider getting yourself one, they are very helpful) or just making a friend take some better pictures for you

 

I do have a concern though, or it may be something that you don't have to worry about, the laces on your shoes, are you going to do anything to cover them or are you doing to let the full skirt do that job?

 

Katie

[Guest Anonymous]

Yeah sorry, I'm working on getting better pics taken but I'm in the middle of a move and wanted to take those before I packed all my costumes and makeup up.

 

The shoes are nicely covered by the skirt, the most you ever see of them is the black tips peaking out when I walk.

 

This the makeup after a good night sleep on a towel and two meals, and I didn't even seal it. Hopefully this means I'll be able to wear the same makeup on multiple day cons with only limited touch ups. Yay! That makes my day a little easier!

 

More later!

[Guest Aysel]

oooooooo *claps* what are you using for your make-up?

 

Katie

[Guest Anonymous]

It's Mehron F/X effects, $4 a tube at your local costume store and a tube goes pretty far, and a light sponging of Aquacolor over top to add a little more rust and even out the color. I'm a currently a really big supporter of this combo, it goes on super easily with no special equipment other than your hands, a makeup sponge and some baby powder. Also I could probably do my whole body in 45 minutes this way and it's suuuuuuuper cheap which is awesome for a costumer with no income.

[Guest Aysel]

does the stuff rub off on other things?

[Guest Anonymous]

Yeah, but it comes out really easily with soap it water. But also keep in mind that I didn't seal it all and that probably would have prevented that problem.

[Guest Aysel]

I was just thinking maybe it's something that could be used in an emergency if you run out of your normal paint (i.e. twi'lek costumers/Thrawn those sorts of costumes) alcohol based body paints don't rub off, Pam uses/talks about them all the time.

 

[Guest Anonymous]

I have a deep dark grudge against alcohol based paints, mostly cause the smell starts making sick after the first five minutes, so I stick to water based one. Currently I'm on a quest for water based paints that rival the look and easy of applying of alcohol paints. Way less than thrilled of the Ben Nye stuff, partly for cost, and partially because it took forever to apply and dry, even with a airbrush.

 

On the update front, I went and got some PVC pipe for my lightsaber hilt. I'm not going to have a blade for it, I have a tendecy to break things, wack people, and hurt myself whenever I hold other people's lightsabers. However you look kinda stupid posing without some kinda prop so I have to be holding something.

 

Ciao darlings!

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm back!

 

I'm also planning to have my Maladi done for our upcoming con here on the 30th, so I've been working on finishing up all the little parts.

 

The hip armor is mostly done, but I still want to black mist them for definition and weathering. But I'm a derp and forgot them at a friends house, so I won't have pictures up of them until this weekend.

 

I re-did my shirt, after a couple of quick re-read-throughs of the CRL's showed that I didn't have them over-lapping right.

 

My wig came in the mail!

(Kind of a creepy picture of me...)

It's crazy long, so I'll be cutting a lot of it off, and pretty cheap, so it'll be only temporary. It's fun to wear though since I haven't had long hair in 6 years.

 

The lightsaber was started today, out of Crayola's Model Magic, (which is great stuff if you need something like lightweight, mold-able foam), and PVC pipe. Her lightsaber is about two and a half times the length of the heel of her hand to the end of her thumb, so that's approximately the scale I went for on mine.

 

Comments, questions, haikus always welcome!

[Guest Sarah1968]

You're really clever and that saber is looking awesome so far. Such a simple idea yet so effective.

 

Congrats and look forward to the final product.

 

Regards

Sez

(Darth Nihilus wannabe )