Death Trooper Tips

[dashrazor]

Tips for making a 501st Acceptable Death Trooper

 

 

1: want to be a death trooper? first imagine the image of who your stormtrooper was before death.. try to keep in mind that the person inside the armor is now a zombie. by simply applying fake blood to beat up armor you will look more like a badly injured stormtrooper than a zombie. so before cutting up that helmet and armor take a bit of time to plan your build.

 

2. How did your stormtrooper die? Were they shot by blaster fire? Stabbed? Beaten? or all of the above? This is the first layer of putting down your Death Trooper. Every zombie had a moment of death, possibly brutal but it doesn’t have to be. If appropriate, your zombie can have death wounds (such as blaster damage). The older the wound the darker and drier the blood. imagining the way the trooper died will help greatly with adding damage and gore to your armor.

 

3. How long ago did your Stormtrooper die? There is a huge difference between a day old zombie and a year old zombie. Bodies decay, discolor, the flesh on the face and torso sinks and sags. Mold can grow, armor will yellow and paint will chip. There is definitely a lot to work with there. A fresh zombie might have only a deathly pallor where a more aged zombie might have mold and fungus growing (think Beetlejuice), or a mottled texture to the skin . If your zombie was killed a while ago you are going to have almost mummified skin and very little (or no) original glossy white armor color.

 

4. What has your zombie been doing lately? Been eating brains? Just been shuffling along? Been involved in a limb-hacking zombie apocalypse? Sell it. Be specific. Less is more and zombies are one of the easiest costumes to really do well or to really do poorly. acting the part is just as important as appearance.

 

What to avoid

 

1. Don’t just put blood all over everything. I can’t think of a lot of situations where someone, even a zombie, would managed to get blood over their entire head Carrie-style, and poured down over their armor. also you dont want to drip all over the place... time to call the carpet cleaners!!!

 

2. if you do use blood effects use good blood products or paint that fully dries. Commercial blood products sold in novelty stores often have a pink hue that looks nothing like blood , they can also rub off on your fellow non zombie troopers or your surroundings. if a zombie is an animated human corpse, they'd have red blood. Although blood gets darker when it coagulates (very soon after death), so it might be very dark red or nearly-black, depending on age. An old corpse might not have any liquid blood of any color. very dark blood (almost black or brown) will look a lot more realistic than fire engine red..

 

 

 

3. This is not Green Trooper Group. It’s not Red Trooper Group either. Be really selective with the colors you use. A gray/brown color is probably going to give you the best results as a base. Using a base color that is a tinge green, yellow or even blue is not bad, but stay away from bright colors for the base (you aren't a ninja turtle). As you are applying the color, if it looks weird to you it probably looks weird to everyone else. Remember that less is more. Use the paint to give your armor a tinge of color, not to completely replace the natural color of your armor (some white is OK), but the armor should not be bright glossy white. This has a few advantages, it allows for your natural highlight/shadow contours to show through and it gives you a more realistic look.

 

4. If your exposed face is a zombie, your neck and hands are too. Any exposed skin needs to match the skin tone that you put on your face or the illusion is instantly broken. any exposed flesh should appear decayed or mummified consistently throughout the costume.

 

5. Latex and other 3D makeup elements. Latex can make for some fantastic zombie effects. However, it’s definitely not something to try for the first time the day of. Get your bottle of latex, watch some youtube videos, and practice well in advance. There are some great techniques you can do with toilet paper, cornmeal, oatmeal, and other items that I wont go into but are easily found through a google search. also prosthetics and masks would be a practical means on getting that zombie look without the use of makeup.

 

6. Respect the blood paths. Blood is a liquid and runs according to movement and gravity. Make sure you take the time to respect those natural paths, otherwise your death trooper will look disjointed and unrealistic. avoid any patterns as well (like zebra stripes or leopard spots) and again remember Less is more (i know,,, i say this too much )

 

In the end, planning and executing a great deathtrooper costume is more about your thought process than your ability to spend a lot of money or know a bunch of advanced makeup and painting techniques. Even still, there are a TON of terrible zombie costumes out there. So if you’re going to be a death trooper, be a good one, and please, for the sake of all things theatrical, eat the bad zombies, according to their makeup, they’re not actually dead!

[TD-443[501st]]

AWESOME AND ENJOYABLE READ!!!

 

Keep in mind as well that the Blackwing Virus (Yes, thats what it really is called) is an airborne virus. You had to be alive and inhale the virus to become a death trooper (I guess trooper helmet dont filter that good lol). If your were killed before the virus was released and just happen to be laying in the infected area your not going to re-animate. Had to be inhaled first. Some human and other species might have been immune (Han Solo... imagine I am legend if you will).

 

The blood I use is made by Ben Nye, its called fresh scab. It dries but still has that wet look. I apply a white powder to my face first as well, its made by Ben Nye as well, it helps to keep my skin from getting sweaty/oily under the blood makeup. In my mouth I squirt Ben Nye mint flavored fake blood every now and then to keep my teeth red.

Edited August 18, 2011 by TD-443

[dashrazor]

i haven't finished the book yet but i have always had a thing for zombies but i did read somewhere that dead tissue could become infected by the Blackwing Virus, wasn't the virus also able to infect plant life? i thought only the weaponized version of the virus was airborne?

[TD-443[501st]]

i haven't finished the book yet but i have always had a thing for zombies but i did read somewhere that dead tissue could become infected by the Blackwing Virus, wasn't the virus also able to infect plant life? i thought only the weaponized version of the virus was airborne?

Good question! Let me ask Joe.

[Sonnenschein]

That was disgusting to read. Lol. And entertaining!

[dashrazor]

where blood might be ok in some instances in my opinion it alone does not make one appear undead. take the photos below on the far left the two people simply put on fake blood and act like a zombie (acting the part is only part of the costume).. but couldn't they also also pass as a person that just got in a fist fight? the pics just to the right are obviously zombies with rotting flesh and clotted blood.. and the right side of the photo shows comparisons of good VS bad zombie masks. the ones marked in green i would defiantly say are undead zombies ,but the other 2 are well.... being sold as zombie masks but really don't look like zombies to me.

 

 

IMO when it comes to making a death trooper these kind of things are to be considered.. does just adding blood to cracked armor make one a deathtrooper? in my opinion NO.. busted up armor and fake blood could have just as easily been a result of a conflict with a angry wookie it does not in any way give the illusion of being undead.. is it scary?,, yea,, is it gory?,, yep,, good for Halloween?,, sure thing... good for 501st standards? myself i don't think so.. but that's only my opinion

[stormtrooperguy[501st]]

I love this conversation so much

 

I'm going to hit my local costume shop tomorrow to see what they have for masks. My thought was to get some sort of full face mask but cut the top part of the head off for easier breathing / coolness. keep from about the nose down and wear it like a big rotting neck seal, with a tattered up real neck seal over it to help hide the seams.

 

Then I can tear the vocoder out and have that showing.

 

We'll see how it goes!

[TD-443[501st]]

On 8/19/2011 at 3:16 AM, dashrazor said:

where blood might be ok in some instances in my opinion it alone does not make one appear undead. take the photos below on the far left the two people simply put on fake blood and act like a zombie (acting the part is only part of the costume).. but couldn't they also also pass as a person that just got in a fist fight? the pics just to the right are obviously zombies with rotting flesh and clotted blood.. and the right side of the photo shows comparisons of good VS bad zombie masks. the ones marked in green i would defiantly say are undead zombies ,but the other 2 are well.... being sold as zombie masks but really don't look like zombies to me.

 

 

 

IMO when it comes to making a death trooper these kind of things are to be considered.. does just adding blood to cracked armor make one a deathtrooper? in my opinion NO.. busted up armor and fake blood could have just as easily been a result of a conflict with a angry wookie it does not in any way give the illusion of being undead.. is it scary?,, yea,, is it gory?,, yep,, good for Halloween?,, sure thing... good for 501st standards? myself i don't think so.. but that's only my opinion

 

I agree with you all except the bottom left, not all zombie have had time to severely decay. That would take time. My death trooper represents a fresh infected trooper. That was LFL and Del Rey wanted so thats what we made. I do also owna very close GG helmet replica but thats not the helmet Im going for approval with, because I would also have to mod the rest of my armor to look like GG and im not interested in doing that. Im going for approval based on my armor which is published and also resembles published work.

 

Been a career firefighter for a while now and have seen my fair share of rotting corpse and to be honest really none of those look like the sunken, rotting, maggots exiting holes faces that are decaying that Ive seen... minus maybe top right, thats the closest.

 

If we want to get into prostetics, I usually use various premade cuts to the side of my mouth that are pre-made by I belive Hollywood Magic, I also use there adhesive and adhesive remover. My thinking was the mouth is gonna be cut up from objects, people fighting off and my own helmet cutting me as I feed. I'll post close ups of my helmet later so you can see what im talking about. When I also cut into my helmet I used the star wars visual books that shows the interior of trooper helmet to somewhat mimic what it would look like if a trooper really ripped the front of his helmet to shreds.

Edited August 22, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working removed

[dashrazor]

i know there are several different types of Zombies (fresh and rotted),, but that is not the question..anybody that is a fan of zombie flicks knows this.. i also have seen my fare share of real dead bodies working at a hospital for many years.. i even got to hold a real brain during an autopsy but they were not the living dead.. the question is what the legion is going to recognize as a zombie stormtrooper. and i disagree about the bottom photo

 

 

 

yes the girl is acting like a zombie but if she were not doing that she would just look like a bloody person.. would one say the photo on the right is of zombies? well they look like they might be zombies but were just in a unfortunate shamwow incident the same principal applies to this costume. i think you should be recognizable as a zombie no matter how you are acting.. (like the zombie in the post above drinking water)

 

one could argue that the Rubies stormtrooper costume is a good likeness of a stormtrooper and should be fine for trooping, but that would never get it legion approved

 

as far as not wanting to mod or replace your armor.. that is a big part of the costuming hobby.. i am currently getting a new costume approved and it was not cheap or easy by any means. it take time money and more importantly .. a whole lot of research i say if you have the helmet, why not go the whole way???

 

but as of right now there is no 100% approved CRL and even when it is approved it will likely be changed as new issues or new reference materials arise..

Edited August 22, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working removed

[dashrazor]

back on topic now. this was my idea for my next project.. take a Zombie Ground Breaker Mask (cost about 40$) http://www.opentip.c...-p-1427269.html

 

and cut off the flesh parts that are hidden under the armor to use on other sections of the costume (like arm damage ext..) in the rough mockup it looks like there will be tons of extra rotted flesh to play with

 

Edited August 22, 2021 by gmrhodes13
photo updated

[TD-443[501st]]

as far as not wanting to mod or replace your armor.. that is a big part of the costuming hobby.. i am currently getting a new costume approved and it was not cheap or easy by any means. it take time money and more importantly .. a whole lot of research i say if you have the helmet, why not go the whole way???

I shouldnt have to mod or replace it. Paul and my costume should be considered references.

 

I like your idea with the ground breaker mask. I bought a GG style death troopers helmet from a trooper on here and re-did it to make it look more like GG for display purposes. I am not seeking 501st approval in it because I've already got enough reference with my original one.

And thats one of the great things about Paul and my death troopers is you dont have to demolish a full kit to do this. Any trooper can use his old bucket and find a b grade chest piece and have at it.

 

Before:

 

After:

[dashrazor]

I shouldnt have to mod or replace it. Paul and my costume should be considered references.

 

 

 

 

 

"I shouldnt have to mod or replace it. Paul and my costume should be considered references." > not really my call, but after looking at the photos i would say they are a great starting point but to me personally they aren't what a deathtrooper should look like, not trying to bash your armor by any means that's not my intention at all.. it's just my honest opinion as a zombie movie enthusiast and a armor builder

 

"I bought a GG style death troopers helmet from a trooper on here" > Eddie, you do know it was me that made that helmet ? love what you did with the paint job BTW!!

[TD-443[501st]]

hahahaha! small world! lmao

[TD-443[501st]]

I also added helmet decals, a lense, shave down some of the skull so it wasnt scratching me, drilled out the frown holes, added mesh, removed padding, trimmed bottom of helmet, and added the black neck ring

Edited August 18, 2011 by TD-443

[stormtrooperguy[501st]]

On 19.8.2011 at 12:02 AM, TD-443 said:

I shouldnt have to mod or replace it. Paul and my costume should be considered references.

 

I'm sorry to say that will not be the case. We are not going to use fan made costumes as 501st reference, regardless of what they may have appeared in. Many 501st members have been used in official LFL materials: My local friend Bob Gouveia has been on a licensed T shirt and the Hasbro Boba Fett voice changer, but we would still not use his costume as an official Boba Fett reference.

 

You may disagree with this stance, but it's not something that Jason and I are likely to be flexible on.

 

You can see the quote from my co-LMO here, in response to a query from a member of his garrison:

http://whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=16161&view=findpost&p=195565

[FryGuy]

I just have to say that I am excited about the DeathTrooper being approved. I have been gathering parts for about a month now for this very thing!