Darth Malgus Costume W.I.P.

Scared you, didn’t I? I thought so.

This guy does look a little terrifying. Then again, what did you expect of someone with the name Malgus who is a Dark Lord of the Sith?

I am planning on this to be my next costume. Already, I am dissecting it based on the model used in the Deceived, Hope, and Return Cinematic Trailers by Blur Studios for Star Wars: The Old Republic. It is a high-definition and high-detail look at this character’s costume.

This is going to be the most detailed costume I have ever done. It will include cloth parts, foam parts, sintra parts, leather parts, lights, makeup, and a lightsaber! Needless to say, it will take a little planning and a lot of help from my local sources (and some not so local).

I am hoping to have the costume completed by the release date of the game, whenever that is. The reason is so that I might troop the release (possibly a midnight release) with my wife, as Satele Shan, and the rest of my Garrison and Base (501st and Rebel Legion). I also plan for this to be my primary costume for Celebration VI next August.


Sources
501st acceptance requires three separate sources.
1) Star Wars The Old Republic Character Biography (Bioware)
This is a character in the upcoming video game from Bioware. The character is illustrated in the link, though a better view of the illustration can be found HERE.

2) Deceived Cinematic Trailer Character by Alessando Baldasseroni (Blur Studios)
This is the version of the character I am making. The trailer itself was created by Blur Studios that took their own liberties with the animations and character models (including both Darth Malgus and the Sith Troopers). The reason I consider this a second source is that the character models were created based on the Bioware illustrations, but they held their own little differences. The illustrator also created the models for the Hope and Return Cinematic Trailers using the same model but with different heads and progressively less weathering.

3) Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived cover art by Marek Okoń (Del Rey)
While the Critria for an EU costume to be discussed on the 501st Extended Universe forums states that it requires three visual sources, I am using a novel. I am not using the novel as a literary reference, but am using the cover art as a visual reference. It is designed by Marek Okoń based on the Bioware illustrations, but with specific details the artist threw in on his own.

That's some photo. I can't wait to see how this custume progresses. It'll look killer if you pull it off!

Dude.... DO IT!!!! lol and then come be in my Fanfilm as Malgus lol. Seriously can't wait to see the progress on this.

One of the things that I am fairly well known for are my costume dissections. To that end, here is my dissection of the Darth Malgus costume based on the Cinematic Trailer Model created by Alessandro Baldasseroni. I have classed this costume as having four separate kinds of parts. The soft parts include the cloth and leather pieces. The Firm Parts are all those that are thicker than the soft parts and made of a less flexible material. The Hard Parts are the actual armors and other related pieces. Finally, the Misc. Parts include the FX for the head, the mask, and the lightsaber.

The first this I am going to do is take the picture I have of Darth Malgus from Alessandro Baldasseroni’s website and brighten it up, make it black and white, and sharpen the details.

Before


After


There, isn't that clearer? Now I can begin a proper dissection for costume creation.

SOFT PARTS
The soft parts are probably the easiest thing for me to make because… I am not going to be the one making them. Last time I used a sewing machine, there was an issue that ended with a grenade and a battle hamster. Don’t ask, you don’t want to know.

So, because of that, my wife will be making as much of the parts as she can make for me. The only thing she won’t be making are the gloves and the boots. However, I have a couple of people lined up who can take care of those for me.



CAPE
The cape will be made of a black gabardine material. It will hang down to the floor when it is worn (unlike in the video, I do not want it to drag for both safety and cleanliness reasons). It will snap to the top of the shoulder blades under the shoulder armor and velcro across the top of the back. The hood is a separate piece that can be pulled up with the drape free.

UNDER SHIRT
The undershirt will be made of a black shiny material. It is only seen on the neck and sleeves. It will include pillow-tucks around the neck and a stiffener or velcro to connect it to the mask. The tucks will have some light detailing to it. The sleeves are tight against the arm and have 1/2-inch seams from shoulder to the wrist. It will include a stirrup for the hand. There will be a line of velcro along the forearm to secure the gauntlet and a snap on the wrist area to secure the gloves.

GLOVES
The gloves are black leather wrist-length gloves. They have leather patches across the main knuckles. The seams appear typical of driving gloves, but are of a pull-on variant. They will include snaps on the inside to secure to the undershirt sleeve and a set of snaps to secure the hand armor.

TROUSERS
The trousers are made of a gray cloth and are loose but not baggy. They have a 1-inch quilting from the waist to the knee. They will include a normal fly as well as suspenders and stirrups. There is a bit of elastic across the shin in line with the hole on the calf padding to keep the material taunt. There is velcro around the waist to hold the torso padding, velcro on the crotch and butt to hold the cod/butt padding, velcro on the thighs to hold the thigh padding, velcro on the knees to secure the knee armor, and a strip of velcro down the calf (above and below the calf padding hole) to hold the calf padding in place.

BOOTS
The boots are a custom make from black leather, reaching to mid-calf. There is a black toe detail strip that comes to the top of the foot. There are heavy black locking zippers on both sides of the boot (yes, the first actual view of a zipper in the Star Wars universe). The sole is a low boot sole and will require some light sanding and dremmeling to produce the lines visible in the picture. The boot will have a piece of elastic on the back to ensure a good fit (much in the same way as the sides of the Boba Fett boots). It will also have the necessary grommets for the armor connection.

This will be interesting, I will keep an eye on this thread
/D

*edit* this is my 200th post, you should feel honored! Or something :P

Looks at DanielS with and honored smile.

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FIRM PARTS
The firm parts are slightly more difficult, but are still going to be easier than the hard parts. They are solid, unlike the soft parts, but are able to flex and bend, unlike the hard parts. Primarily, they will be made out of EVA foam of 1/2-inch and 1/8-inch.



BICEP PADDING
The bicep padding is made of three sheets of 1/8-inch foam glued together and painted a similar gray to the trousers and vest. The top layer will have the necessary detail lines burned into it on the front and back. The black padding strips will be made with two layers of the 1/8-inch pads with the top being separated along the horizontal with a very slight bubbling and having the detail lines burned into it. The entire set will connect to the vest at the shoulder.

VEST
The vest is made of the same gray cloth as the trousers. It has a series of according folds on the front made with plastic canvas under the cloth. The canvas is sewn over a piece of elastic to it stretches but still returns to its original shape. It will have faux seams up the front, but will zip up the back. It has a small t-shirt sleeve that is permanently attached inside the bicep padding. It includes the necessary snaps for the shoulder/back armor and the necessary Velcro for the torso padding.

TORSO PADDING W/ COD AND BUTT
The torso padding will be made with 1/2-inch black foam. It will be cut into faux strips of approximately 1.5-inches in thickness. The three top strips will have rounded ends and Velcro to the vest and back armor. The two strips under those will be solid and wrap around the body. Below those is a 4.5-inch thick strip that is used to hold the belt. The back of the pieces are cut out for another piece that velcros them together and extends up to also velcro to the back armor. The cod padding is connected to the front and includes sanded down pieces as well as bend pieces. The butt padding is connected to the center piece. The padding will have all necessary detail lines burned into it. The belt piece, cod, and butt armor will have Velcro under them to secure to the trousers and the belt piece will have a strip of Velcro over it to secure to the belt.

THIGH PADDING
The thigh pads are made from three pieces of 1/8-inch foam glued together. The top section is cut in strips and bubbled up slightly. The rear has a 1/4-inch thick flay piece with two holes cut through it. The front have two holes cut through the top layer only. It will Velcro to the trousers.

CALF PADDING
The calf padding will be made of 1/2-inch thick foam. It will be cut with faux strips and will have the vertical detail lines and holes burned into it. The back hole will by cut all the way through. It will use elastic on the front to hold closed around the lower leg. The bottom will tuck into the boots and it will have strips of Velcro to connect to the shin armor and snaps on the elastic.

I look forward to seeing the finished costume! Good luck!

Thanks Jayn!

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HARD PARTS
The hard parts are going to be the most tricky to pull off. They will be made of EVA foam and sintra. Some pieces will only use the foam as a padding, but others will use it as a base.



SHOULDER ARMOR
The shoulder armor is made of 1/2-inch foam. Both sides are identical and it is also mirrored front to back. The detail lines will be burned onto it. The top also contains a pair of 1/2-inch foam pieces glued down 1/8-inch from the edge. There will be a Chicago screw under the top foam detail to connect the shoulder to the chest/back armor. It will also include a pirce of elastic to keep them from spinning or moving around.

CHEST/BACK ARMOR
The chest/back armor is made with a base of the 1/2-inch foam. Detail lines are burned onto the chest. The center piece of the chest has a piece of sintra over it with the various details built on it using sintra. The lights will be pieces of red acrylic that are back-lit by LEDs. The shoulders have a black stripe at the top made of a 1/8-inch piece of foam for strength above and below. The back armor includes inset details and some 1/8-inch raised pieces of foam. The back also includes a 3/8-inch raised ‘Y’ that goes down to the belt piece. Additionally, there are three 1/8-inch faux strips on the edge. A small ½-inch box is located on the right side of the back. Finally, there is some detailing on the armor toward the sides which can be burned on carefully. The neck piece appears to be solid and has a pair of red back-lit acrylic pieces. It includes the necessary velcro to attach to the torso padding.

GAUNTLETS
The gauntlets are made with 3 sheets of 1/8-inch foam as a base. It will be made to separate at the underside of the arm with a Velcro piece to connect it. The gauntlets have two white acrylic back-lit pieces on either side of the display. The display itself will be made of sintra and include the necessary pieces of back-lit acrylic with the details painted on them. The hex pieces on the top of the gauntlet are designed with layered sheets of foam. It includes a strip of velcro to attach to the forearm.

HAND ARMOR
The hand armor is made with 3 layers of sintra with a 1/8-inch foam base. The detail work is built-up layers of sintra. It secures to the glove with a set of snaps.

BELT
The belt is built with a series of layered 1/8-inch foam pads and sintra. The silver details are made of sintra while the belt layers are the foam. The back of the belt has a connection piece with a flap that is 1/4-inch thick. The rear detail is made of layered sintra and hides the connection point of the belt in the back (as well as the belt foam). It has Velcro that connects it to the torso padding.

KNEE ARMOR
The knee armor is built with a piece of 1/2-inch foam under a sintra box. The base wraps around the entire leg and uses a piece of 1/8-inch foam to appear flush to the box. The details are built into the box with a sintra box over another piece of the ½-inch foam. The details are sanded into the sintra. The back has a piece of velcro to secure it to the trousers and it slips onto the leg.

SHIN ARMOR
The shin armor will be made with layers of sintra over a foam base. It will have a single layer of sintra with a single layer of foam under it as a base. The top detail includes another 1/8-inch piece with a third in the center for the raised detail. The wrap around piece will be made with foam and velcro under the calf on one side. A single piece of sintra is located under the top detail. The lower detail has separate “wings” on the sides with the main face being a single layer with a second layer over it that has a piece cut out, and a third layer over that. A separate strip will be included to provide the detail in the cut-out. It connects to the calf with velcro and belt-clips/snaps on the calf armor straps.

ACHILLES ARMOR
The achilles armor is made with layers of 1/8-inch sintra over a foam base. The main piece is bent and formed. It will have a sintra band across the top of the face. The sides will have a piece cut out and a separate piece under it that extends out a little on the top. Foam is used to give it the appropriate thickness. The four holes are used for Chicago screws to secure it to the boots (and hide the elastic back to the boots).

BOOT ARMOR
The boot armor is three pieces and made of 1/8-inch sintra with a foam base. The forward piece is made of a layer of sintra with a second piece on the top and the detail lines carved into it. The rear will include some foam to give it the appropriate thickness. The rear piece on the top is made similarly to the forward piece, including the foam to give it thickness. Both pieces connect to the boot with Chicago screws. The wrap-around piece on the back of the boot will include a detail carved onto it, as well as a bit of a detail bend around the bottom. It uses Chicago screws and velcro to connect to the boots.

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This is going to be it for today... Tomorrow begins the fun part of actually beginning the build!

marking to subscribe to awesomeness!!!

I lied, I forgot a section...

MISC PARTS
These parts aren’t part of the actual costume, but I’ll post them here anyway. They mostly include the FX of the makeup, the lightsaber which I am custom ordering, and the mask that I still have no idea how I am going to do it exactly.


MASK

The mask is probably going to be made of sintra and attached to a wrap-around piece made of PVC and rubber tubing. It will include a pair of back-lit red acrylic buttons and a pair of silver mesh panels. The main mouth piece will have a mesh cover hiding a fan (for air and to give the chopped sound to the voice). I do not know exactly how the mask is held on besides it bracing to the nose with the neck piece pulling it around the jaw (possibly spirit gum on the top of the back to hold it up).

MAKEUP

The makeup will include a set of Sith Eyes contacts as the main part. The scaring on the cheeks will be done with collodion and some light shadowing. The eye sockets will be darkened with makeup. A bald wig with paintd details will be used for the top of the head and will be spirit-gummed to the scalp. The bald wig will also connect to the neck piece in the back to help support it. The bald wig will be long enough to cover the eyebrows.

LIGHTSABER
MOD EDIT: Image removed at request owner
The lightsaber is 15 inches long from pommel to tip of the emitter. There is a pair of blades on either side of the emitter. It appears to have a MR Force FX battery pack/speaker in the pommel. There is no clip for the belt on the lightsaber and it has a single button for the activator.

As for the contacts, I have just the thing…

I'm loving your detail in the references and costume breakdown, I wish I could even plan a costume as well as you have done.

The costume inspiration everyone is getting from SWTOR at the moment is fantastic.

I think it's a wonderful costume idea... I myself have already started my respirator sculpt a few weeks ago . This will soon be the new character to be. I can't wait to see how you go about your build. Great planning though

Hmm, I think the Incubus style contact lenses may be a better match.

I have never seen such thorough planning on a project. It's gonna be awesome.

Yes, great break down of what you need and what you expect to accomplish. Very well thought out. I can't wait to see more progress

The saber would be relatively easy to pull off. T-grips on the pommel, leather wrapping, a little milling at the top of the hilt, a red LED switch, choke and emitter. Not too bad (except trying to get the blades solidly mounted to the emitter).

This is going to be a fantastic costume. Look forward to seeing your work.

Cool, thanks for that.

The zipper is a surprise. First because it shows. And because real boot zips are on the inside of the boot, not outside, to protect it from damage.

I would love to get some pics of the zabrak jedi in the Return cinematic
/D

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terryr said:

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The zipper is a surprise. First because it shows. And because real boot zips are on the inside of the boot, not outside, to protect it from damage.

Check out these boots.

terryr said:

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The zipper is a surprise. First because it shows. And because real boot zips are on the inside of the boot, not outside, to protect it from damage.

I thought the same thing, too. Like I said, though, it surprised me even more that the zipper was visible.

DanielS said:

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I would love to get some pics of the zabrak jedi in the Return cinematic [IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Jason/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image001.gif[/IMG]
/D

Send me a PM and I’ll return it with the link to the download once I get it taken.

Zaxmon said:

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Check out these boots.

Zaxmon, those are amazing. If my source for the custom boots falls through, I will definitely check those out.