More Details on That Uncanny Rocket Raccoon Costume

And the Mother of the Year Award goes to… Christina Borchardt. The Rocket Raccoon costume she made for her six year old son might not look out of place on a movie set. It is truly amazing that someone who is not a professional prop master, working with a very limited budget, can make something so convincingly real. And the costume has definitely struck a nerve as it quickly went viral when pictures of her son dressed in the outfit for Halloween were posted online.

Borchardt documented her build on the popular Replica Props Forum, a must-visit site for anyone interested in “crafting your fandom,” to quote the site’s motto. While the costume made its spectacular debut this Halloween, it was actually made for family cosplay at next spring’s ComicCon. Borchardt is making Guardians of the Galaxy costumes for her entire family.

The most impressive feature of the costume is obviously the head piece. Borchardt fashioned this by making a mold of her son’s face using low endothermic plaster bandages. A lot of six year olds might not have been able to tolerate this (having your face covered in plaster can be scary for anybody), but he handled it like a champ.

With her son’s face molded, Borchardt made a plaster cast that she was able to sculpt on to create Rocket’s face. From there she pulled a latex mold in six layers. And then she made a resin cast. After adding fur, making a working jaw, and fashioning teeth and a tongue, she moved on to the hands, feet, gun, and the rest of the costume.

You can see her entire build log on the Replica Prop Forum. Her work is so impressive that it even got posted by the Stan Winston School of Character Arts and tweeted by Guardians Director James Gunn. Given the fact that Borchardt did this project on a super tight budget, using Pam spray instead of mold release and latex instead of silicone, maybe the Stan Winston School should consider giving her a scholarship. She obviously has serious talent. If Rocket is any indication, I can’t wait to see what the entire family will look like in their ComicCon costumes.

A brave little boy waits patiently while his mom applies plaster bandages to make a mold of his face.

Using the plaster face cast as a base, Borchardt begins sculpting the character.

Test fitting the roughed out head.

Sculting the teeth and tongue using Super Sculpey and Primo (teeth and jaw) and Sculpey Mould Maker (tongue).

The teeth and tongue installed and the jaw working.

The eyes installed and eyelids added with Apoxie Sculpt .

A test fitting with the fur applied, before giving it a good shave.

The head piece with the fur trimmed and the ears attached.

Beginning work on sculpting the hands, paying special attention to the fingertips/nails.

Rocket’s head is ready to be animated by a 6 year old’s enthusisam.

The finished head on with the beginnings of the rest of the outfit.

The almost finished costume with just a few leather patches and other details to add.