Life-sized Star Wars Creature Busts for The Mandalorian and Grogu
Creating 1:1 Star Wars Faux Taxidermy
It’s no secret that Star Wars has been a massive inspiration for our team and over the years, we’ve been so lucky to make some small contributions to the ever expanding Star Wars galaxy, building props, set dressing and even some creature masks to the hit shows, The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan and The Book of Boba Fett. We were honored to once again have the opportunity to collaborate with Lucasfim to bring some new large creature props to life for the newest film, The Mandalorian and Grogu.
We were approached to create eight life-sized beast heads in a taxidermy style. The production team provided concept art and a wish list of creatures. We came up with a mixed approach using both digital and classic monster-making fabrication to create the ferocious monster heads and meet the production’s budget and time-frame requirements.
Production chose some wild creatures which have been seen throughout the Star Wars films, including three Barghests, a pair of Nexu, a giant Reek, and two snake-like Vexis. In the film. A lot of work, but to our monster-loving team, it also sounded like a LOT of fun!
To start what would be very much a team effort, our lead 3D artist, Christian Maggi, took digital reference and screen caps from the films to craft the sculptures of each creature. We put extra care into developing each creature bust into its own unique character. The three Barghests, for example, have very different expressions, sizes and details and one of the Nexu features a gnarly scar that took out some teeth and an eye!
The digital sculptures output in-house via 3D printing in a mix of materials including high-resolution resin for detailed areas and translucent resins for added realism on things like teeth and tongues. Due to their large sizes, each creature was printed in sections and assembly was spearheaded by Patrick Louie and Matthew Beagan. Artists Mykaleah Young, Sigrid Cassell, Marissa Vazquez, Sam Abrams and Daniel Flaherty all contributed to the assembly and painting process as well.
To bring each to life, lead painter Melissa Ocampo oversaw the hand-painted detailing for all of the creatures along with Tom Spina, who handled airbrush detailing. Tom also hand laid, colored, cut and styled the hair on all of the Barghests and both Nexu.
In the end, the 8 creatures were crafted in about 1 month’s time with a full-court press by the entire team here at the studio. Production also included a Tauntaun head which we previously created for them for The Book of Boba Fett.
The finished faux taxidermy busts not only turn up as set decoration The Mandalorian and Grogu film, but have also been featured heavily in online marketing for the film as part of the incredible prop and costume display at the studio.
Need custom props, aliens, costumes or creatures for your next production? Email or call today and let’s discuss your project!
