The Definitive Darth Malgus Costume Thread

Stark Cosplay

New Member
Hey everyone, I have been cosplaying for a few years now, but brand new to the RPF. My next project is Darth Malgus from Star Wars: The Old Republic. Now, I know the Thread title is a bold statement, but I am determined to keep at this Costume until it looks as if I stepped straight off the film. I am going to attempt to log my process in enough detail so all those aspiring to do this costume after me have plenty of resources to work with. I hope you'll follow me on this journey and provide any wisdom you may have that will help make this the best costume I've ever made, and the Definitive Darth Malgus Costume in the world.
 
Ok, so here we go. I am using The below picture as my main point of reference, as well as the Sideshow PF Statue. I am cross referencing those two primary resources with some cinematic stills, to make sure this thing is perfect.

Darth_Malgus_poster.jpg100080-darth-malgus-010.jpg100080-darth-malgus-001.jpg

In my quest for perfection here are some things that I have noticed by studying the character like a bazillion times:

1: His undersuit is not one unitard style suit. It is actually two different shades and sheens. the lower have is dull and a lighter gray to contrast the black thigh armor. and the undershirt is is more shiny and a darker shade of gray, again to contrast with the gray bicep armor.
2: The gloves are not these motorcycle style gloves that i see everyone using. they are simple plain low cut leather gloves with plain unpadded leather patches sewn over the knuckles.
3: On the back side under the arm pit is a hex pattern. Not sure if this is part of the back plate or the undershirt. I am looking further into this.
4: Malgus makes use of the most interesting patchwork of color sheen and pattern that I have seen in any one costume. the chest piece alone uses a light metallic color, a darker metallic color, and gloss black, and plenty of shading in all the nooks and crannys.
5: The upper boot armor isn't so much a part of the boot as it is something that slides into the boot and overlaps in the front, with a piece that attached to the back over the ankle.

Just a few observations, for myself and any other Cosplayer that wants to attempt Malgus at a super high quality level.
 
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I started with EVA foam this time. I made an attempt at this costume once before in ABS Plastic, and while there were things i liked about the ABS, EVA is much easier to work with. I went and bought the gray EVA puzzle mats that they sell at Lowe's.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_295099-47189...mat&facetInfo=

The first thing I went to making was the chest piece. I carefully measured and drew all the design lines on the EVA foam while it was flat, and then cut a 10" circle out for my head. My nugget is kinda large, but the 10" was mainly to get the wide collar look the finished piece has.

I then used a heat gun to heat up the eva foam and with the help of my son, I shaped the piece over my shoulders. I don't have a mannequin so all my work is shaped on my actual body. WARNING: Don't be crazy and shape hot EVA foam over yourself wearing just a t-shirt. Thats just asking for it. I wore a t-shirt and then put on a snug sweater before shaping the foam.

Now, while the curves over the shoulder looked great at this point, the shoulder line was perfectly flat still. I had to actually split the EVA foam in the back, up to the collar and then trim off a triangle shape out of the back, so that when I hot glued the seam back together it allowed for a slight slant to the shoulder line.

Here is the initial Chest piece base:

Chest Piece Base.jpg

As you notice the curved cut on the front shape isn't quite as steep as what I have seen a lot of people do on their Malgus Chest Armors. The reason is because 1, in all the reference pics I am using, it has a lot more flat surface area at the bottom than the ones with the more intense "V" look, and 2, is because I am kind of a broad shouldered guy so it wouldn't look right.
 
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So I went ahead and cut out the chest piece center detail out of some thin EVA foam sheeting from Hobby Lobby. I made a stencil in Photoshop to make sure I got all the dimensions right. I have posted it below for anyone to use.

Chest Detail.jpgMalgus Chest piece.jpg
 
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I've got the base piece for the Shoulder Plates added. It's important to note, that there is a second layer underneath the shoulder plate. I almost missed it myself, but if you look at the first reference photo above and then focus on the side view on the far right you can see there is a smaller plate layered underneath the Surface Plate. As far as I can tell this is to make the Shoulder plates sit parallel to the ground even though the Chest plate has a slight slant on the shoulder line. I have the strip for the top of the Shoulder Plates ready, but I ran out of Hot glue, so I'll have to add them later.

Chest with Shoulder plates.jpg
 
One last thing for today... My Under Suit Fabric Swatches Came in today!!!!

I have went through a bunch, but here is what I ended up with:

Undersuit Swatches.jpg

The top one is an Angus Graphite Faux Leather from Fashion Fabric Club. http://www.fashionfabricclub.com. It will be used for the under Shirt, It has a better sheen and is a lil darker as to match up with the Reference photo.

The Bottom is a Dark Titanium Knit-Back Vinyl from Bolta-Soft. I would link their site, but you can't purchase it there, I had to find an automotive customs shop here locally that had it. It has very little sheen and is the perfect shade for the Pants.
 
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Just wanted to bump this thread and let anyone interested know that this is not a dead project, I have just been having trouble finding the fabric that I want for the undersuit, and I have been drawn away to another project as of late. But as soon as I have something new I will update this thread with progress pics. Stay tuned!
 
Alas, no it isn't finished yet, however I have been making progress! I got interrupted by another costume, Ronan the Accuser. When the creativity strikes you just gotta go with it you know? I have a bunch of new progress pics I'll get uploaded when I get home tonight.
 
Wanted to do this when the game first came out....mainly because I am bald...and he looks badass. Looking forward to seeing the completed costume.
 
Alright guys so I promised Progress Photos and here they are! So I kinda got side tracked along the way and decided to build a Ronan the Accuser Costume that turned out pretty sweet, you can Check it out Here:

http://www.therpf.com/f78/ronan-accuser-build-227123/?highlight=Ronan

But Now I am back to Malgus and in full force since Celebration VII is only 82 days out! So while I waited on my Faux Leather Fabric for the Undersuit to come in, I worked primarily on the mask. I followed the same template as my previous build since it was already sized for my face, but this time I made sure to take the extra time to hit all the little details and fine tuning before the resin as opposed to trying to sand in all the details to the resin and bondo. This is what came from that...

Mask Pieces Cut Out.jpgMask Construction 4.jpgMask Construction 3.jpgMask Details 2.jpgMask Support Braces.jpgMask Sides 2.jpgMask Trial Fitting.jpg

So as you can see it is looking pretty sweet. My plan is to adhere black elastic to the insides of the segmented cheek pieces to make it actually stretch around my face, in stead of trying to squeeze my fat face into the stationary sides like last time. The middle mouth piece will be covered with a plastic vented plate that I will cast from resin. That plate will be then backed with black window screen mesh to hide my face if anyone wants to get in real close.
 
Then The Fabric Came in!!!!!

It looked as amazing as it did in the swatches and it was indeed the perfect choice. I got started with it right away and did some test patterns on how exactly I wanted to do the quilting for the suit. I had a few different Ideas based on ease vs. what will look the best, with looks winning out. The Ideas were:

1: Cut the leather into strips, Add batting and backing to each strip, and then Sew the strips together.

2: Cut out the whole shirt shape, Add Batting and Backing to it all, seam up the edges, and then go back and sew the "quilted" lines in.

3: Cut the Leather into strips, Sew all the strips together, then add batting and backing ans seam all the edges.

Options 3 was the clear winner. It looked way better than option 2 in which you just couldn't see the lines well enough and they definitely looked cheated on there. As for Comparing Options 1 and 3, There wasn't a lot of difference visually, and Option 3 was way easier to do. So without further adieu, The pictures!

Undershirt Measuring Strips.jpgUndershirt Sewing Strips Together.jpgUndershirt Strips Sewn Together.jpgUndershirt Pinned on Mannequin.jpgUndershirt Batting Added.jpgUndershirt Sewing.jpgUndershirt Sewn No Sleeves.jpgUndershirt Sewn No Sleeves 2.jpgUndershirt With Armor 1.jpg

I have the sleeves cut out and ready to sew, so that's what I will be doing tomorrow, and then I'll start on the Arm Armor. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have those sweet Gauntlets Foamed out. I'll post up some more photos once the sleeves are on.
 
good work, I wonder where you got the cast of the mascara because eh searched everywhere and can not find it ..... Greetings from Uruguay
 
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diosmodock posted:
good work, I wonder where you got the cast of the mascara because eh searched everywhere and can not find it ..... Greetings from Uruguay

I assume you meant to type Mask. There were no casts made. All parts are made from scratch out of 5mm EVA craft foam. The only things used were stencils that i made myself on Photoshop. If you'd like, I'd be more than happy to share the stencil, just be sure to credit me for it.
 
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***COSTUME UPDATE***

So I haven't been posting much because i am working pretty nonstop on this build trying to make deadline. However, I have gotten quite a bit done since my last post.

1: Sleeves are on the Under Shirt. They were a complete pain in the ass and i had to redo them like 4 times because i wanted the sleeve to fit snug, but I made the sleeve "hole" too small in diameter so it was cutting off my circulation via the armpit. once I got that issue fixed it fits like a glove, and the zippers on the wrists went in with ease.
View attachment 449477




2: Arm Armor is fabricated and ready to go. I used another self made stencil to get all the light positioning correct. I did the ribbed part on the upper arms by taking a strip of 3mm foam and gluing one side to the arm piece, and then squishing it down a bit till it kept a slight curve to it and then glued the other side.
View attachment 449478View attachment 449479View attachment 449480


There is a lot more done but those pictures are still on my camera. I'll get them uploaded hopefully tonight and post them.
 
from already thank you agradecere in your post because I can not create my own post or how to do it , eh I wanted to upload one of darkside and baby -command thank you very much and sorry for the inconvenience and my English is very bad while I do not wear in practice and google translator sometimes wrong lol
 
let me think about that you had no dummy ..... looks I'll have two and they are easy to do ..... 'll need one or more people more , adesiva broad ribbon with which boxes are sawn or cartonb larger bag film .... is this that fine average sticky with which food is top ...... not as it is called in your country and polyurethane foam which expands the ... .... Vestite with a sporty and buso and then surround the films of 3-5 times and then tape 3 also completely covered these delicately fold that I talk cocoon, and then paste it rrellenas polyurethane and ready .. .... in 3 days you got one dummy (if incuerencias in inlges blame google translator)
 
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