# Zombie Suit



## MrNightmare (Mar 2, 2009)

Hey guys, I need to pick your brains! What is the best way to make an old suit look "distressed" and weathered for a Zombie?

Some ideas I have is adding faux moss, lightly spray paint it with; grey, black, brown and splattering the suit with dye. 

I would like to know what you guys think are the best ways to stain and detail a Suit to give it that aged look, other then just cutting it up.


----------



## Toetag (Jan 31, 2008)

-Skull And Bone-


----------



## MrNightmare (Mar 2, 2009)

Thanks for the link ToeTag! The results pictured look great, I better bury the suit now so it's ready in time for my prop. I have 3 suits, I'll use this method for 1 of them and see how it turns out, though I'm sure it will be hard to beat.


----------



## Toetag (Jan 31, 2008)

Might want to wash them before wearing them though. Are you going to be wearing them or just for a prop?


----------



## MrNightmare (Mar 2, 2009)

The Costumes for a Prop.


----------



## Lurks in the shadows (Mar 12, 2005)

You can create holes that look like wear or rot, by placing the material on cement and pounding it with a hammer. 

You can also very carefully attack the cloth with a belt or disc sander.

Very strong tea or coffee can be used to stain the material.

You can "wet" material by brushing clear silicone into the cloth. This works well with a dark red blood stain.

The addition of leaves or moss to the zombie as well as the clothes helps tie the two together. Damage that matches the location of wounds helps too.


----------



## Fiend4Halloween (Sep 5, 2008)

I actually bury mine, add water and leaves ( or some kind of pond water) for a plant rotting agent, and dig 'em up 2 months later. Works like a charm and gives it a look that can't be duplicated.


----------



## MHooch (Jun 15, 2007)

Toetag beat me to it, I thought of the burial instructions, too. Looks absolutely authentic, and if the clothes are for a prop, the smell shouldn't be an issue.


----------



## CROGLINVAMPIRE (Sep 21, 2006)

Right on Mdm Hooch, in fact, one would think the odor would add a nice level of realism...expanding foam around wound holes and front chest area, like brain eating zombies without table manners would have, adds a nice dried gore effect once you play with it a bit while its setting, give it 5 or 10 minutes, and it takes paint nicely once dry.


----------



## MrNightmare (Mar 2, 2009)

Shadows, good Idea using power tools to distress the clothes, and hammering the suit on concrete! I think I will do that first, then bury them this weekend! And as MHooch says, the odor will make it that much better.

Another good idea with the expand foam CROGLINVAMPIRE, that suff is truly great for us Haunters, the uses are endless! I was thinking of using it as guts eaten from a victim. Add dark red paint and clear silicone over the foam for extra gore.

Fiend4Halloween, did 2 months do the trick? Did you add anything to the water other then leaves?


----------



## zero (Aug 27, 2004)

Lurks in the shadows said:


> You can create holes that look like wear or rot, by placing the material on cement and pounding it with a hammer.
> 
> You can also very carefully attack the cloth with a belt or disc sander.
> 
> ...


 ........ great answer


----------



## mr frost (Nov 28, 2008)

the best way to rip or distressed look other than putting it into a hole or doing the whole cement hammer thing is to use a cheese grader. yes that right folks an over sized 4 sided cheese grader works wonders. pants, shirts, sweaters you name it. its one of my favorite tools to age clothing. think i have used it every year. and there cheap as well, just don't slip "winks"


----------



## Junit (Sep 1, 2008)

I like the burial idea! Have never tried that one before, perhaps this year if I think about it long enough in advance!


----------



## shopcomparecostumes (Jul 7, 2009)

You should try ripping it so it'll look really old. And maybe put some mud on it and let it dry. that'd do the trick.


----------



## TheEighthPlague (Jun 4, 2009)

Shoot it with a shotgun! Nothing says zombie like shotgun wounds.


----------



## shopcomparecostumes (Jul 7, 2009)

nice idea... couple it with some blood.. wooooo.. looks real already.. cool...


----------

