Armor & Gear
‘Getting close to the final
look- It took months just to get this far’
The leg and arm guards
pictured below were crafted the old fashion way. With hammer and brute
strength, along with several sizes of GRC pipe, the armor was formed from heavy
gauge sheet metal over the summer of 2006. For days upon end, Donato Cocuzza
and Rick Johnson formed the armor in Rick’s garage, while temperatures reached
well over 100 degrees. After the armor had been formed, Rick then drilled holes
for future strapping points, and began to cover the armor in liquid rubber.
After a few coatings he then padded the inner armor with foam, and added ankle
and upper calf straps & buckles. After a few weeks time all of the armor
was completed, and he then moved on with the task of building the headgear for
the guards.
The helmets were made with
liquid PVC from a mold crafted by Rick Johnson. Rick poured, let dry, removed
them from the mold, and did a basic clean-up, then handed them to Donato for
further sanding. Once D.C. had finished with the sanding, they went back to
Rick, who then cut the slots for each eye lens and drilled out the necessary
areas for switches and lights. He then prepped each unit for fitting. After all
of that, they went back to D.C for a final touch-up, and then each unit
received their respective paint jobs. After the paint fully dried, Rick was at
it again outfitting each unit with lenses, lights, wiring, power supplies, vent
holes, and finally a chin strap along with a detail or two.
The chest plates were found
in a costume shop in southern CA, while Rick was visiting family and friends.
They were very cheap and
flimsy, but he had already discovered a way to beef them up a bit. The
modifications made to the basic plate took several weeks. Each unit received a
nylon reinforced backing, heavy duty strapping, padding, and more than 2lbs. of
liquid rubber applied in several steps to both sides. When asked what the
symbol on the chest plates represents, Rick plainly states, “It is the symbol
of the Army of Darkness, a fiery dark sun, like the heart of one who is enraged
with anger”.
|
Watch out for that arm guard! Many cast
and crew members alike felt the sharp edges first hand. Ouch! |
Tiris’ leggings and arm guard in black and
silver. The Captain is definitely partial to the Oakland Raiders. |
The arm guard pictured eventually wound
up being used for the Sergeant character. Go figure…. |
Kaan’s personal guard sports this
particular unit in the flick. |
|
The leggings were crafted from sheet
metal and formed by hand by Rick J. and Donato Cocuzza. |
Standard guard leggings and arm guard along with light saber. |
Voko’s finished helmet. This particular helmet received special
attention. |
From left to right- Standard Guard,
Sergeant Voko, and Captain Tiris’ chest plates. |
Donato Cocuzza assembled
and crafted the gear pictured above for
Kaan’s personal guard,
which he played during the shoot.
Guard helmets in various stages
of construction in D.C.’s garage.
Several units were
handcrafted, then blue & red light emitting diodes were incorporated.
Each unit was then hard
wired, with switches installed along with a dual power supply.
Each unit weighs
approximately 2.5 pounds.
The armor chest plates have
a plastic inner core and nylon reinforced backing.
All units are coated with more than two
pounds of liquid rubber and then were adorned with metal ornaments.
After preliminary
modifications the armor was then fitted to each actor, and final adjustments
were made.
Final sanding and detailing
of over eight helmets took countless hours.
Rick spent weeks fine
tuning and creating the armor, costumes, sabers and utility belts
that the primary cast members
would eventually don.
The craftsman hard at work.
Comments by Rick Johnson
Rick J. Johnson
Copyright © 2005