Kali Costume Part 4: Wardrobe, Hair, and Make-Up

This is the fourth and final article describing the various parts of the Kali costume which I built for Hi-Rez Studios to promote their recently released game "SMITE."  In case you missed the other parts, you can read them here:

Part 1: Chest

Part 2: Arms

Part 3: Props

With those bits out of the way, I'm going to detail the making of the skirt, the armbands, the shoes, and the hairdo, as well as the thoroughly entertaining process of turning this girl:

Into this goddess:

If you want to see tons of additional pics as well as the step-by-step description, read on...

Kali Costume Part 3: PROPS

I've already written a couple of articles about building the Kali costume for Hi-Rez Studios multiplayer game SMITE.

Part 1: Building the Rack of a Goddess
Part 2: It's Hard to Find a Model with Four Arms

Since she now has four arms, it's time to give her something to hold onto.  In most traditional depictions, Kali is shown carrying a sword or trident, a severed head representing the human ego, and a skull-cup or "Kapala" to catch the blood draining from the head.  Here's the way she looks in SMITE:

If you'd like to see how I went about making the swords, the cup, and the severed head, read on.

Kali Costume Part 2: It's Hard to Find a Model With Four Arms

In my last post about the Kali costume for the Hi-Rez Studios game SMITE, I detailed the making of the prosthetic chest.  The main reason for making the chest prosthetic was to be able to rig a harness to hold up the extra pair of arms she needed attached to her back.

Here's how I made the extra arms:


If that doesn't make it crystal clear, read on...

Kali Costume Part 1: Building the Rack of a Goddess

Some months ago, in addition to the Blood Eagle Pathfinder I've already written about, the good folks at Hi-Rez Studios commissioned me to build a costume to turn a model into their rendition of the Hindu goddess Kali from their recently released game "SMITE."

The challenge: make a healthy human female look like this:


No problem.

My first concern was securely attaching a pair of prosthetic arms to her back.  Unless they had a model that would let me drive screws into her shoulder blades, there was no way I could glue them on that would be guaranteed to hold up the severed head and the cup she's supposed to be carrying.  At least not if she's planning on walking around all day on the show floor at a convention.

After some careful consideration, I decided that the best option was to make the chest prosthetic as well.  That way I could make the breasts, collar, and extra arms into a harness that could be strapped on with no risk of having any slippage that might result in unanticipated nudity on the show floor.  As an added benefit, the prosthetic breasts would counterweight the extra arms. 

With most character builds, I focus a lot of time and energy on the parts that will get the most scrutiny.  This is usually the head or some particularly iconic prop.  In this case, it seemed pretty obvious where most of the attention would be drawn to.  It wasn't going to be her eyes.

The rest of this article is safe for work and family-friendly, but be forewarned: there are pictures of an attractive, young, topless woman being coated in purple goo.  If you're okay with that and you'd like to see the step-by-step process involved in making a girl with a 32B bra size into something more like a 32F, read on...