Endor Base member Shrey walks us through how she created her Wicket hands and feet. These techniques can also be applied to other Ewoks. Some of the techniques included in this walkthrough are sculpting, soft foam building, painting latex, and working with faux fur. The full original build thread can also be found on Shrey’s Ewok (Wicket) Build Thread on the Rebel Legion Forum.
Additional parts to this series:
- Ewok Build Part 2: Creating the Ewok Hands and Feet
- Ewok Build Part 3: Creating the Ewok Body Structure
- Ewok Build Part 4: Creating the Ewok Fur Suit
- Ewok Build Part 5: Creating the Ewok Prop Weapon
Please always remember to use appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as gloves, masks or respirators, and safety glasses.
Click the images for larger versions.
Building the Hands and Feet
I purchased some alien hands for the hands and Yoda hands for the toes.
I liked the look of the alien hands better for the hands, but they didn’t have fingernails, so I made some out of an aluminum foil base and Sculpey, then Gorilla glued them to the hands.
To paint the hands and toes, I used liquid latex and acrylic paints, I believe in an 80/20 ratio (I honestly can’t recall) — be aware this looks super light as mixed but dries much darker. Also pictured is the Liquitex varnish used to seal the paint on the Sculpey elements and the hands and feet. If you don’t varnish, the latex paint mixture tries to stick to itself at any chance given. I suspect the hands and toes will have to be periodically touched up just through wear and tear. [Note from ed.: You can also use talcum powder, cornstarch, or translucent makeup finishing powder to diminish the tack on the latex, but it may leave a slight white finish on it]
I painted the hands and feet with dark brown first.
I then mixed a lighter brown and dry-brushed it over the darker brown.
I put foam in the fingertips so they would keep shape, since obviously people fingers are not as long as these. I later discovered the latex mix didn’t stick well to the Sculpey fingernails, so I peeled it off and repainted with straight acrylics and sealed it. I hot glued faux fur partway up the fingers, on the back of the hands, and the wrist.
For the feet, I bought a cheap pair of brown boots and hot glued foam on them. I did put foam on the heel but didn’t take a picture of that step.
I gave Yoda a manicure by trimming his fingernails, then glued the clipped fingernails together to close the holes made by cutting. I then painted the Yoda fingers at the same time as the alien hands. I cut the fingers off (sorry, Yoda!), put foam in them to help them hold their shape, and hot glued to the boots.
I then glued fur to the boots.
This concludes the creation of the Ewok hands and feet. Want more? Head over to Ewok Build Part 3: Creating the Ewok Body Structure.