Krull
Krull was a science fiction adventure set on the planet of `KRULL`
Lysette Anthony played Lyssa, Liam Neeson played Kegan and Robbie Coltrane played Rhun.
The `Beast` and his warriors
The Beast and his warriors had invaded and ransacked the planet, taking princess Lyssa as captive.
Ando so it goes on…..
Where to make it.
Andrew had moved out of the factory at Shepperton Studios and back to his home and studio at Twickenham.
The cellars in the old Victorian part of the premises proved ideal to make the characters
The `Beast` warrior
The `Beast ` warrior frazzled in battle.
Warriors on horseback.
The challenge was to make the `beast like` characters that were tough enough for horseback riding, durable enough for serious battle scenes, and light enough to be worn by the actors.
Creating a `Beast`
Andrew sculpted the character in clay over a regular mannequin. The body was then section up to cast plaster moulds to reproduce the surface texture. These were set in a framework with an internal mould face, thus creating a cavity.
The framework had clamping devices that allowed Polyurethane cushion foam to be injected into the cavity. The plaster faces of the mould were washed with latex rubber, which coagulated on the surface forming a flexible skin.
The result was a body piece that had a durable rubber surface, backed up by a flexible cushion foam.
When all joined together, the finished warriors costume not only was durable enough for fighting, but it offered a significant amount of protection for the actors.
The finished `Beast ` warrior
The various flexible body parts were all fastened to an undersuit, although the costume department seemed to struggle with the rather baggy calves which rather detracted from the overall athletic warrior on the warpath.
The palace guards
The theme for the palace guards was again an athletic character with exaggerated chest , shoulders and biceps.
The helmet was to be a,closed type, completely covering the face.
This is always a challenge, as ventilation becomes a real issue on a hot film set.
Impressions from the clay sculpt.
Andrew sculpted the head and body together as exaggerated proportions could easily become disconnected, out of balance and look ridiculous.
A plaster impression was taken from the body, from which Andrew cast vacuum forming tools from the various sections.
The hard vacuum formed parts were moulded in clear, extruded acrylic, for durability and excellent surface finish. This was back painted to the desired colour of a rich maroon with gold epaulets.
The undersuit to hold all the parts together was glass fibre woven cloth, but instead of the normal Polyester rigid laminating resin, Andrew used liquid latex rubber, heat cured with a sprinkling of plaster dust.
Easy dressing
The flexible undersuit that all the body parts were attached to, meant that the actors could dress easily and quickly.
It also meant that there was leaway for the varying build of the actors, with little or no chaffing on sharp edges.
Quite a clever suit really…..
Fighting fit
The palace guards also had to perform fight scenes against the `Beast` warriors, and so the costumes had to be just as robust as the invaders.
Problems arose with the full face helmets. Quite apart from the heat build up the vision for fighting was nowhere near enough.
A great solution.
Andrew modified the helmets to open up the face yet still retain an illusion of a fierce fighting force.
The new front face guards hinged up for parade and hinged down for battle.
Borrowed from Star Wars.
For those in the know, Andrew actually used the back swoop of the `Rebel` helmets from Star Wars ( ANH ) . He planted them onto the back part of the helmet in reverse and cut a couple of slots for eyes.
Job sorted……….
In fact they looked better than the original concept.
Prototype.
Someone always has to dress up in the prototype.
Judging from the rather malnourished carcase and the limp efemorate pose, it has been deduced that this poor soul was actually Andrew Ainsworth.
No wonder he is wearing the full face helmet.