SCULPTING THE ARMOR

In this section we will go over the sculpting of a Stormtrooper Armor. Not soo much as the physical sculpting of it .... but the details that are in the costume that you may not know about. I have provided an extensive number of photos for you to refer to in this section. I actually got to take VIDEO footage of one of the $5000.00 "LucasFilm Stormtrooper Mannequins". Be sure to check out our "Magic of the Myth Measurements" web site, as we have a number of measurements taken of an ANH stormtrooper costume from the LucasFilm Archive.

Sculpting the armor onto a body cast is encouraged in order to ensure accurate sizing of the armor parts, but a body cast is not mandatory. If you can find a dummy mannequin, or a body form, that is close to the size of your intended wearer, you will be okay. You need to make sure that the parts you sculpt will it onto the body of the wearer.

I have seen stormtrooper costumes made without sculpting them onto a bodycast/mannequin. The artists drew 1:1 scale blueprints and used those to ensure accuracy when sculpting the vacuum mold shape on the workbench. Additional time needs to be budgeted into the project to do this method, but you can save money by doing it this way.

With that said, this sculpting tutorial will focus on the body cast sculpting method.

Next...THE BASICS

Star Wars Visual Dictionary imageThe Star Wars Visual Dictionary is an excellent reference book for detailing your armor/helmet. Highly recommended. Amazon.com has the best price too. Click Here to buy it.