Introduction: Champagne Cork Yoda

Though it was always on my to-make list, I probably would never have made this if it weren't for all the people asking for it after I published the Darth Vader Corky Instructable.
Making Yoda was much more dificult than making Darth Vader, because I had to make him much smaller than Vader (he's still proportionally too big), and the head required much more fine sculpting. But, as Yoda said it, "Patience you must have, my young padawan".

Step 1: Supplies

The supplies you will need, these are. Hmmm.
  • Craft knife
  • Pencil
  • Black permanent marker
  • Brown permanent marker
  • Black colored pencil
  • Soldering iron
  • Solder
  • Paintbrush
  • Acrylic/poster paints
  • Ruler
  • UHU Universal glue
  • Krazy glue/ superglue
  • Lighter
  • Scissors
  • Needle-nosed pliers
  • Wire cutters
  • Sandpaper
  • File
  • Wood glue
  • Third hand
  • Glossy varnish
  • Champagne cork
  • Green and brown sculpey (or Sugru)
  • Scraps of brown and beige fabric
  • Small nail
  • Thin insulated wire
  • Thin wire
  • Aluminium tape
  • Heat-shrink tubing
  • Twig
  • White artificial fur
  • Positive battery contact
  • Green 3mm LED
  • Small button cells (not the ones in the photo)
  • Small slide switch
  • Small female connectors (I salvaged them from an old PCB)
Also: Hotglue


Step 2: LED Wiring

The first step is to cut off a couple of millimeters off the bottom of the cork. This is to even ou the bottom and make Yoda shorter. Then, slice the cork in half with a craft knife, bread knife, hacksaw, or whatever you think will do the job. 
I'm sorry that I don't have very many photos of the soldering process. I forgot to take them. 
Solder all of the components together as shown in the diagram and glue them all in place in the cork with hot glue. 
Use wood glue to stick the two sides together again. For me, the bottom half of the cork didn't have enough space for glue because of all the components, so I wrapped a piece of wire around it.
To make the lid, cut a disc of plastic or sturdy card, punch a hole through the side and attach the disc to the bottom of the cork with a nail. Like this, you can easily remove batteries by turning around the disc.

Step 3: Sculpting the Head

I shouldn't have chosen the quick and easy path as I did with Vader, using Sculpey -- it became an agent of evil (I doubt anyone will get that reference).
I would rather have done it with Sugru, which would have saved me all the trouble, but I didn't have time to order any. And Sculpey also has its advantages. 
If you're using Sculpey, the color doesn't matter that much, as you can easily paint over it later. Anyways, I mixed light green, beige, and dark brown to get a greenish khaki color. 
Again, I didn't take enough pictures of the process, sorry.
I tried to make him look similar to the animated Clone Wars version of Yoda, so I made his wrinkles more defined and his eyes a bit larger.

Step 4: Fixing Up the Colors

After the baking, the Sculpey got a bit darker, so the color wasn't perfect. It was also didn't have enough variation, making it look fake.
With some poster paints I brushed up the colors a bit, darkening the creases and lightening some areas. I also used the paint to fill in the cracks in the Sculpey.When everything was dry I used a black pencil to make the folds and creases even darker.
I also used the paint to fill in the cracks in the Sculpey.
For even more realism, varnish the eyes to make them glossy.

Step 5: Hair

To make the thin, white hair, I used artificial white fur, sticking wads of it to the back and the sides of his head. Only apply a small amount of glue, to make the hair seem looser.

Step 6: Clothes

Step 7: Walking Stick

When I was planning this Corky I thought, "What's Yoda seem more with? The walking stick or the Lightsaber?" Obviously he has many more scenes in which he has his walking stick, but a piece of wood simply isn't as cool as a shiny plasma weapon. That's why I used the sockets, rather than soldering the LED into the cork. With the sockets, the lightsaber can be replaced by the walking stick, depending on the situation.
I based the walking stick on the Clone Wars version. After glueing it to the wire for the sockets, color it dark brown with a permanent marker or a felt tip pen to make it look like old wood.

Step 8: Lightsaber

I made this lightsaber in the same way as Vader's saber, but this one is removable because of the sockets.

Step 9: Done

Which Star Wars character should I make next (Luke, Chewie, Han, etc.)?
What other characters from other movies would you like to see?
Post your suggestions, questions or other comments below. If you get a chance to make your own Yoda (or another Corky), I'd love to see it. 

Battery Powered Contest

Participated in the
Battery Powered Contest

Toy Contest

Participated in the
Toy Contest

Father's Day Contest

Participated in the
Father's Day Contest