A while back a friend of mine asked me if I could help him build a replica of Han Solo encased in carbonite to hang on the wall in his basement bar (which he'd themed to look like the throne room of Jabba the Hutt). So while I was sitting in the cafe one morning, poring over photos of the original prop, my friend Jenny wandered in and asked what I was doing.
So I told her.
"Can you really make that?" she asks.
"Sure," says I, "it's actually not such a big deal."
"Does it have to be Han Solo?" says she.
"No," I replied, "it's actually easier if it's someone who can come into the workshop for lifecasting. That'll save me the trouble of finding or sculpting a copy of Harrison Ford's face."
"What if it was me?" says she.
The conversation ended with her gleefully agreeing to come to the workshop and put in all of the labor and pay for all of the materials required to make the project possible. My role was to provide parts and technical advice.
So here's a decent photo of how she looks on any given day (shamelessly stolen from her Facebook page without permission):
Here she is encased in carbonite in my workshop:
To see how it was done, read on...
