Monster win in London for Co Galway special effects studio

At almost three metres tall and with each foot weighing 20 kilos, “Grummgar” is not a monster to trifle with on the “Cois Fharraige” road running west from Galway.

Fortunately, the giant is within the safe confines of a special effects studio in An Spidéal, which has just won an international award for the creation.

Costumer Julian Checkley of Order 66 Creatures and Effects was awarded the "best in show" trophy for his "Grummgar" interpretation at the Star Wars Celebration Europe III event in London.

The event is a highlight of the "cosplay" or costume play circuit, involving enthusiasts who travel from Japan, New Zealand and the US.

Long haul

Checkley spent 100 days making the character, and spent the same time in training to be fit enough to wear the costume.

"Grummgar" is a giant alien who first appeared in Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens, released last December.

Fortunately, the alien's footprint was not left on puffin, Manx shearwater or storm petrel habitats on Kerry's Skellig Michael, where scenes for the blockbuster film were shot – amid controversy over the impact on the Unesco world heritage site – in 2014.

Described by Star Wars enthusiasts as a Dowutin mercenary, “Grummgar” has a penchant for hunting and killing exotic animals.

As Checkley explains, the character was only seen as a static puppet in the film, sitting down in Maz Kanata’s castle, and “draped with the sexy First Order spy Bazine Natal”.

Stilts and belly

Checkley designed specially adapted stilts, adding animatronic hand extensions and a “real time” voice changer built into the alien’s belly.

It takes two to help him get into the costume, where he can only spend up to half an hour at most, he has to nod his head within the mask to open and close the alien’s jaw.

With one day to spare after completion, Checkley loaded the alien on to a truck and drove it from Co Galway to London for the event.

“The costumes this year were incredible and the technical skill levels are movie quality, so to win best overall was a huge thing for us,” he says.

Checkley and team make masks and costumes costing sums of up to five figures for clients, most of whom prefer to remain anonymous and all of whom share an interest in escapism.

Dental alginate, foam latex and an assortment of recycled materials are used, and a combination of scuba dive netting and hairpieces make for particularly good monster fur, while three-dimensional printing has “revolutionised” the design of moulds, he says.

Extra special

Checkley, who was always “mad about Star Wars”, studied special effects in

England

and has made Mesozoic monsters for the BBC’s

Walking with Dinosaurs

and

Walking with Beasts

.

He also recreated costumes for the long-running television series, Dr Who.

His workshop in An Spidéal has produced a Star Wars wookiee, an even taller Petunia the tauntaun from The Empire Strikes Back

He has also made an array of gruesome visages, ranging from the bald female dark jedi Asajj Ventress to Darth Vader and clones of French electronic duo Daft Punk.