# Getting ideas: Zombie Stig



## Alitheredhead (Aug 12, 2012)

That is an awesome idea!!! I'm not sure how you could age the plastic without possibly ruining it but paint might be able to do the job and you could also do some glue mixed with dirt or gravel to I've him that "I just went around hammerhead a little too fast" look


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## nathancarter (Aug 7, 2012)

Well, I guess this is turning into a build thread!

I bought a spare helmet off Craigslist with the specific intention of ruining it... definitely not going to sacrifice my nice Simpson helmet for this!

The new helmet doesn't have the sculpted face/visor that's the signature of the Stig's helmet. So my first step was to find something that would look kinda like that. I used the corner off an aluminum oven tray, formed it and bent it and hammered it to the approximate shape. It's not perfect, but really unless the two helmets are side-by-side the difference is negligible. And it's not quite smooth and slick, but I'm going for damaged/distressed anyway, so no big deal.


ZombieStig_20120810_1965.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


ZombieStig_20120810_1966.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


ZombieStig_20120811_1969.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


Then I went to town with the Dremel tool and the electric drill. 

The staples/stitches are made out of aluminum craft wire from the craft store - it's cheap and VERY easily formed by hand. They're not secured yet, and there are a few left missing where the mask attaches to the helmet body. I'll probably paint them black before the final assembly.


ZombieStig_20120812_1973.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


ZombieStig_20120812_1974.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


Note the slots in the side that are another signature of the Simpson helmet - cut then out with the Dremel but they're kinda hard to discern because of the abundance of blue Sharpie.

Next steps:
- A coat of matte white primer over the whole thing (after some masking with tape and paper, of course). I think I'll go with matte or flat instead of high-gloss because it'll be easier to dirty and distress.
- Coat of spray tint on the visor.
- Find my red LEDs to make the light-up eye, I had a bunch but they've gone missing.
- Bury the suit in the backyard for a week?


I like the idea of the glued dirt/gravel on the helmet surface. That'll probably come before the last couple of steps in distressing/bloodying.


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## Alitheredhead (Aug 12, 2012)

Haha do some burnouts on it if you are not painting it


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Love the Stig!

You could use monster mud tinted in dirt, mold colors to give you that grime you are looking for. It's thick so you'd get a raised texture. Here's a video showing how MM can be used to transform a cardboard box - it can easily be translated to making a costume zombified.


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## nathancarter (Aug 7, 2012)

Monster Mud sounds like a great idea. I was going to just mix up some Elmer's Glue with some coarse dirt and gravel, but I think I'll mix up a little Monster Mud and fling it at the helmet and coveralls from a couple yards away... see what sticks, as it were. Then as it's drying, pat on some rougher gravel and dirt.

A couple of burnouts on the suit sounds like a reasonable idea, to get it torn up a bit and mangled. I don't have a belt sander :/

I think I'll be doing the acrylic paint based fake blood, since i need it to dry securely to the suit and helmet. I don't want it to smear off in the car or on my camera or (heaven forbid) on my wife's costumes).
http://www.ehow.com/how_8527453_fake-blood-acrylic-paints.html


I'm still a bit at a loss as to how to burn the arm of the coveralls without really destroying them. Maybe a combination hitting it with the propane torch and spritzing it with water to control the burn. I don't want to burn through it so much that my skin is readily visible through the suit, since I'm hoping I won't have to make up any part of my skin. (I'm planning to wear a black morphsuit mask under the helmet so my face is obscured)


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## nathancarter (Aug 7, 2012)

Update on the helmet:

I extended the cracks and stitches to go down the back side, and added a small gaping hole in the back.
Banged on it with the claw end of a hammer just a little bit - surprisingly ineffectual. Took to it with a coarse wood file.
Masked it with tape and paper, then gave it a spray with Krylon "DUAL" primer and paint, in flat white.
Let it dry overnight.

Then today when I got home, I took it outside and gave it five minutes of hell with the propane torch.


Zombie_Stig_20120814_1975.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


Zombie_Stig_20120814_1976.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


Mixed up a tiny batch of Monster Mud, incorporating a fair amount of dirt and grit - I just scooped up about half a cup of dirt from the gutter at the end of the driveway. I also added a bit of extra water so I could sling it at the helmet from a few feet away - so it was less of a paste, and more of a thick pea-soup consistency.


Zombie_Stig_20120814_1977.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr

Splattered all over one side, then took an extra handful of dirt/gravel/vegetation and splattered it onto the surface of the wet mud.

Pardon my lovely assistant, she has to be "helpful" every chance she gets.


Zombie_Stig_20120814_1979.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


Next steps: 
When the mud has dried, give it a once-over with a thin brown wash to bring out the damage and gouges and crevices.
Then think about it a bit... maybe sponge on some green-brown?
Then maybe ignore the helmet for a bit while I work on the coveralls, and help my wife with her costumes.

I think I'll save the blood for DEAD last (mu hu ha ha) so I can do the helmet and the coveralls at the same time, to get matching splatters and coloring. It's hard! I just want to jump right in and do the fake blood right away.


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## witchymom (Oct 6, 2008)

looks great!!!!!!!!


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Burning the helmet was a master touch. Love how it's turning out.


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## Lord Homicide (May 19, 2012)

What does Mr. Bigglesworth think about??


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## DeathDealer (Jun 18, 2004)

Looks great so far! If you want a car part sticking out that isn't too unwieldy, what about a windshield wiper blade? If Stig flew through the windshield with the wipers on it might be possible.


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## nathancarter (Aug 7, 2012)

Well, I told a little fib, and worked on it more tonight.

The mud dried much faster than I expected.
I gave it a wash with a very dilute mixture of brown acrylic and water. I left the tape and paper on it, so as to not soak the inside, held it over the sink, and just poured a cup full of brown wash over the surface. A little bit of the mud rinsed off, no big deal. The wash took about ten minutes to dry.

It brought up some of the smaller detail but didn't really emphasize the deep gouges like I liked.
So, um... yeah, blood it is. About 4 parts red acrylic, 2 parts brown, one part green, not diluted with water.
I used a Q-tip to dab and poke the blood down into the deep gouges, and smear it along the big cracks.
The q-tip started to come apart so I splatted and dragged the fraying cotton bits over the surface, and smeared a bit with fingertips.

Hmm, looks like I mixed up a little too much blood. Whatever shall I do? A huge filthy handprint, that's what.

My wife was kind enough to pick up some black-coated aluminum craft wire (12ga) from Jo-Ann so I didn't have to try and paint the silver wire. The black looks SO much better.

Assembling the stitches was a bit time-consuming but not difficult. I just shaped them into U's and C's that fit the drilled holes, and used hot glue to hold them in place.

The visor still needs work. They sell cans of spray tint (like spray paint) at the auto parts store, but for FIFTEEN bucks a can, it's more than I need to spend on this project. I'm going to check out a local automotive window tint shop or two, and see if they have any scraps I can have or buy cheap. The blue-iridescent tint is an unmistakable Stig signature.

I *might* scribe a smashed-windshield spiderweb pattern onto the visor as well. It's a coin toss, really - I don't want to sacrifice visibility too much.

Definitely needs some blood splatters and maybe some mud on the visor.



ZombieStig_20120814_1980.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


ZombieStig_20120814_1988.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


ZombieStig_20120814_1987.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


ZombieStig_20120814_1986.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


ZombieStig_20120814_1990.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr

To do:
- Tint the visor
- Age/distress (mud? spierweb cracks?) the visor
- Mount the glowing eye to the inside of the visor
- Mount lights behind red translucent plastic behind the side vents
- Spray/splatter on a bit more blood (last step, in conjunction with staining the coveralls)



Lord Homicide said:


> What does Mr. Bigglesworth think about??


As far as I know, he still believes me to be dead.



DeathDealer said:


> Looks great so far! If you want a car part sticking out that isn't too unwieldy, what about a windshield wiper blade? If Stig flew through the windshield with the wipers on it might be possible.


Great suggestion, and I'm still on the fence about it. At this point, I don't think it needs it.


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## nathancarter (Aug 7, 2012)

Had to take a break on this one for a bit to help my wife with her stuff. Gave the visor to a buddy to tint, should have it back tomorrow so I can wrap up the helmet.

On to the jumpsuit.
I decided to go a slightly different direction: Instead of a straight-up Zombie Stig, the stitches on the helmet directed me toward a Franken-Stig, of course with zombie influences. Fans of the show will remember Black Stig from the first few seasons, and the death of White Stig a couple years ago. Well, I trawled the ocean floors and the junkyards to recover their body parts for this creation.

SOME SAY... that he sank to the sea floor in a nitrous-powered Jaguar, and was crushed by a piano in a Morris Marina.
AND, that his need for speed is second only to his hunger for brains.
All we know is, he's NOT The Stig!
He's The Stig's horrifying, shambling, reanimated undead cousin, Franken-Stig!


Started out with a cotton painter's coveralls/jumpsuit. Cut off an arm and a leg, and dyed them black. Meanwhile, my wife sewed in some pockets on the sides, and two pockets inside the breasts, because this thing had NO pockets to start with - not good for wandering around a con.

ZombieStig_20120818_1996.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr

After cutting off the arm and leg, I gave it a wash to soften it and fray the edges. And whattaya know, it shrank in the wash so it fits me MUCH better now!
Picked up a scrap of upholstery fabric that looked like it could pass for muscle-and-tendon. Hot-glued the dyed-black arm and leg back on, using the upholstery fabric as a bridge between the two pieces, so the skinned muscle bits could show through the seam.


ZombieStig_20120818_1995.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


ZombieStig_20120819_9161.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr

Then I had my wife hop in her car and slowly drive over it, while I spray painted the tire dripping wet black as she rolled forward. 

GREAT SUCCESS



ZombieStig_20120822_9165.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr

You can see where I've started loosely stitching the leg back on with black cord. Cosmetic only, it's the hot glue that's holding the pieces together.

I also have a pair of white cotton gloves, I dyed the left one black to match the re-attached black arm.

Still needs work but it's coming along. I have a week and a half left before Dragon*Con.


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## Killamira (Oct 14, 2009)

This is pure awesomeness! I believe Captain Slow will be his first victim.


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## Instant Monsters (Jun 15, 2011)

I love the idea of using upholstery fabric to hint at the gore. So simple, but it works!


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## nathancarter (Aug 7, 2012)

Thanks, that was 100% my wife's idea, we were just scrounging through the remnants at Jo-Ann's and she found it.


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## The-Dullahan (Feb 26, 2011)

So you made it to the "Orlando Comic Con" from Tampa, Eh?

So...will Zombie Stig be appearing at Ultimate Horror Weekend for the Zombie Walk down International Drive?

If he does, I promise to let him get a photo of himself test driving a Hearse or two.

Also, does anyone remember Jimmy Gibbs Jr. from L4D2?


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## nathancarter (Aug 7, 2012)

Spooky Empire (Ultimate Horror Weekend) looks like fun, but I don't know if I'll be able to make it - I think we'll be involved in the Lakeland production of Rocky Horror that weekend. We might be able to make it over on Sunday.


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## nathancarter (Aug 7, 2012)

Didn't really have time to make any more updates, I was scrambling to get it done in time for Dragon*Con.

Here are a couple of finished shots. I'll get some more detail shots next time I have the camera and lights out.


DragonCon_20120901_2814.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


DragonCon_20120902_3256.jpg by nathancarter, on Flickr


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

The eye is the perfect touch. You looked amazing!


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## nathancarter (Aug 7, 2012)

Thanks! The eye looks even better in pictures from a point-n-shoot where there's a lot of lens flare. It's a REALLY bright LED (not a laser) - so bright that it's uncomfortable to look directly at it, so I had to be careful not to "look" anyone directly in the eye.

The side vents on the helmet light up in red as well, but they didn't show up as well with the flash photos. I'll get better shots of the lighted vents when I get the detail images.


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## nathancarter (Aug 7, 2012)

Someone's photo of this costume was featured on the Facebook pages of Clarkson, May, and Where's Stig.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Oh, congrats on that! Well deserved


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## verruckt (Sep 19, 2012)

Very impressive sir. I love me some top gear and the stig. Throwing in some zombie/frankenstein elements only makes it better


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