Walter Invites Me on an Adventure

When my friend Walter Dean, of Dean’s Lyst, first approached me to recreate the armor for the Dora Milaje episode of Marvel’s “Becoming” web series, I knew right away I wanted to take part. Like everyone else, I had watched each new trailer with growing anticipation for the film’s release. Friends had been sending me photos of Ruth Carter’s amazing work for months as the costume’s made the rounds of the summer convention circuit. The costuming was going to be an amazing part of the film’s look. I was also very excited to work with Walter. He’d subbed out work to me before, but this would be our first real collaboration. We have similar personalities, so I knew we’d be able to support each other and turn out something great without some of the extra stresses that come with a team effort.

Challenges

Time

The arch nemesis of every creative. Unlike some episodes, we hadn’t already constructed Okoye and Nakia’s costumes. It was mid-December when I was brought in and Marvel wanted the episode completed before the film’s release in February. We now had a little less than a month before they’d arrive in Atlanta to shoot the episode. Due to NDAs, we also weren’t going to be able to bring in additional non-cleared help.

References

Marvel provided access to images from the production, but most appeared to be continuity or reference images taken for other purposes. We did, however, have images of the ever-elusive BACKS of the costumes and closeup details. We used a combination of those photos, web searches and images our friends at Dr. Law’s Photolab had taken during the costume’s stop at San Diego Comic Con. Leigh knew I’d likely get a lot of commission requests (his being one) and had taken 100s of images at the show.

Model Availability

Blikku was local, but Alicia Marie wouldn’t be physically present until the day of the shoot. (To compensate we acquired extensive measurements of both ladies with Blikku serving as a fit-model when possible. Some items were shipped coast-to-coast for try-ons.)

Materials

Almost everything in the film was hand-crafted (1/19 Update: Ruther Carter got a well-deserved Oscar nomination for her work!) and unique in both texture and appearance. We weren’t going to be able to find a lot of everyday equivalents.

The Build

The Neck Pieces and Gauntlets

Perhaps the most iconic part of the Dora’s regalia are the large statement neckpieces. The neck pieces were handmade by Los Angeles-based jewelry designer Douriean Fletcher. From the images, I could tell that each necklace was crafted in two parts: the larger neck bangles and the more decorative spade and cones beneath. The other challenge was the sheer number of components. Each necklace was made from dozens of individual components.

My mom is a jewelry designer, so my first thought was that I would be able to recreate the pieces  by modding mass-produced items from a big box craft store or finding components at smaller custom shops that deal in high-end jewelry findings and materials.

Yeah, that didn’t work.

After countless hours trolling online dealers and two days of driving around to Atlanta shops, it became obvious that I would also have to hand craft the necklaces from raw materials. Only…I’m not a jewelry designer.

I spent a few days fiddling around with random beads and other jewelry crafting materials with varying results. None of which looked close to the pieces from the film nor readily allowed me to reproduce the parts fast enough to create the two full neck pieces plus the rest of the armor.

For me, that left either creating a mold or 3D printing the parts. Molds would be a more intensive process, so I went with a model and print. Those could run in the background, while I worked on something else. I am not yet an adept modeler, but I managed to cobble together viable parts using a combination of Illustrator, Tinkercad and 123D Design, the latter of which I discovered was no longer supported by Autodesk. I’d taken a few Fusion 360 course, but decided that time spent fiddling in an unfamiliar interface was time I didn’t have. I created the base shape in Illustrator, then extruded and combined in the other programs to achieve my final designs. I then printed the parts using PLA.

I tried several store-bought options to replicate the bangle-like upper portion of the necklace. Most commercially available options were either too thin or well outside our budget. I found several online options which said they were created with “plastic tape”. After much Googling, I found chromed automotive molding was available at my local auto parts store. I used a ¼” strip cut, drilled and sewn with fishing line to a vinyl base to keep the strips together and allow easier fastening with velcro. The same process was used to create the Okoye gauntlets.

Nakia’s armor is based on the base Dora uniform, which included thinner, more plentiful bangles for both the neckpiece and gauntlets. The ones used in the film appeared to be a hinged 3D print, which in some images looked to either have been created as two parts or separated from use. I found a ribbed rubberized vinyl to save time. Both the neckpiece and gauntlets were cut and glued to thin eva foam with sewn velcro to enable closure.