At first glance, CW Maul appears to be a simpler build than original Maul however the necessity of armor and LEDs can quickly complicate things. Taking a step back we see a red/rust colored undershirt, a black tabard, belt with fixtures, arm-guards and what looks like cargo pants with large pockets that complement a pair of standard metal legs. Tons of respect and admiration goes to the preexisting CW Maul thread(s), they have the CRL down to a science. In the graphic below I have outlined the various pieces. As for patterns, I will be butchering a Simplicity 5840 pattern as well as making my own which I will digitize and upload. I am including the shoulder pieces in the garment section because they move seamlessly with the undershirt and at some angles look embedded into the shirt itself. I am going to try attaching leather to a base of craft foam or stiff interfacing and sew it by hand to the shirt.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1o43lq ... C8AfMchasK
The legs appear to be in three parts, a knee, calf and foot which are divided by a ball joint at the heel. The knee piece looks hollow which allows the knee to bend. The thickness of the legs themselves don't indicate that the metal shape would exceed the dimensions of organic legs. Keeping this in mind, I will be using materials that won't make my legs look bigger with the costume on, since the prosthetics don't exaggerate his form. I will be making the legs out of 2mm and 5mm craft foam and TerraFlex thermoplastic. This method will allow me to carve the details into the foam and add texture/weathering without sacrificing mobility. TerraFlex is a thermoplastic that can be easily molded with a heat gun onto the foam and is very sturdy. With proper priming, the TerraFlex will be smoothed out and painted. Weathering will be a big part of this build. My goal will be to look almost exact to the animation, similar to the weathering requirements of some Clone Troopers.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Y5rMm ... UHcraPjSeu
Below is a comparison image of Maul's horns. I think they are bigger, lighter and more angled in CW so I will be carving them accordingly out of columns of air dry clay and adhering them to a base of latex. I want to emulate the chipped/carved look of the animation as closely as possible. As for the makeup itself I will be following the primary CRL guidelines with attention to the texture shown in the animation. Since his face is more oval shaped in Clone Wars, I will be spacing out the black designs a little differently on the bridge of my nose and across my forehead. I am going to experiment with Ben Nye, Mehron Paradise Paints and Diamond FX water-activated face paints, as well as cosmetic favorites like long-wear makeup primers, liquid eyeliners, matte lipstick and precision brushes. I want to target problem areas such as around the eyes, waterline, corners of the mouth and ears with the cosmetics. While they would not replace the industry-standard theatrical makeup by any stretch, I find that 'luxury' cosmetics are marketing more long-wear matte product lines. They look promising as quick-fixes and sensitive-skin alternatives for this sort of application. I will not be shaving my head for this costume, although I am sorely tempted. I will experiment with different bald caps and application methods as well. My goal is to create a big chart that compares different products and measures their longevity, pigmentation, blending, storage and harshness on the skin. I love makeup, so I am really excited to gather data for this chart!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tE8R5 ... XGTzQ6bEZs
I always begin patterns with saran wrap and green frog tape. The idea is to wrap the leg in saran wrap first and then cover it with tape. Once the leg is covered with one or two layers of tape, free the pattern by cutting a straight line down the front or back. Where you want to conceal the seam later will determine whether you cut on the side, front or back. I chose the front because the calf has a rectangle cut out of the top to fit the knee. Here is a visual guide to how I go about this process. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gbZaY ... wOD96VdCtY. Once I had my pattern for the calf, I started drafting the knee. Here is a link to the knee pattern.https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DNXfU ... ssSfAYbkhkIt is a jpeg image on my google drive I use for 501st related costumes. Feel free to private message me if the link doesn't work. (You'll have to resize the jpeg to fit your needs.) It should look like this https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GAujk ... iQzYUHa-kW once it is cut out and taped together at the upper piece. It will form a hollow, inverted trapezoid once all the sides are taped together. This process is entirely dependent on the shape of the crafter's body. Measure twice, cut once. I ended up making several paper patterns because I cut too much off trying to fit it right. All that is left of this stage is to cut these pieces out of foam, glue them together and adhere the thermoplastic!
If these mini-tutorials are helpful additions to this build thread, let me know and I'll make sure to make more. I didn't plan on making any for the clothing or the foam-thermoplastic steps because I know methods vary for armor construction and sewing. I should have time this coming week to cut the pieces out of foam and cover them with thermoplastic due to Easter holiday, so I'll make sure to upload pictures of the finished product after gorging myself on discount chocolate eggs. Thanks for suffering through five paragraphs of babbling!
