The Walking Dead: The Governor Build

HakSawJak

HakSawJak

Active Member
The Governor Build​

So if you followed my other thread, you know that I'm working on a Rick Grimes King County Sheriff build for my self. However, I am helping a buddy of mine put together a Governor build. Since he's not on RPF, I'm taking the liberty of sharing his progress. We've got a few pieces in progress and no pictures yet but stay tuned. I think this will be a fun build.

We may need some help along the way and I'm confident that my fellow RPFers will be able help us out with some ingenious ideas along the way.

Anyways, here are some screen shots that we'll be basing the build off of:


thegovernor450-717486169222591280.jpg

Walking_Dead_Season_3_Governor_303_a_h.jpg
 
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Sounds like its gonna be cool. Has his shooting vest been identified yet? I know I'd like to have that piece.
 
The Eye Patch​

Well our original idea for the Governor's eye patch was going to include a bandage wrapped the head with a bloody bandage over the eye. I loved that look and thought it made the Governor look bad to the bone.

However, after last night's episode (2/24/13) our plan turned upside down with the unveiling of AMC's version of the Governor's iconic eye patch. It's not your standard velvety eye patch by any means. It definately has some groovy texture to it.

I could use some help with this one! I grabbed a few screen shots from the internet. Any ideas what this is? Leather maybe?

20940-patch.jpg

eyepatches-walking-dead1_500x384.jpg
 
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The Vest​

The vest was ID'd as a Ralph Lauren vest that is now discontinued. Quotes online are somewhere around $800. Here's a link for some reference pictures (couretesy of Feezle-Nuts):

Ralph Lauren Black Label Quilted Zip Vest




A little rich for our taste. We're looking into some options by Orvis. Allthough not screen accurate, we could potentially add some leather to the shoulder to make it a little more legit. Here are a couple options:

Diamond Quilted Outerwear / Men's Barbour® Polarquilt Zip-In Liner -- Orvis

The pockets aren't right but it's quilted with a zip front. Could look nice with a leather on the shoulder.

24PXFHnavy.jpg


Quilted Vest for Men / Frontier Vest -- Orvis

This one has more accurate pockets but it's a button up front instead of a zip. Could be modified maybe.

7C17L2FH.jpg
 
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HakSawJak said:
Yah, that's the shot I used for the patch close up. Any idea's on what it is?
Click to expand...

Looks like a piece of leather cut from something (jacket?) that has it's stiches removed.
or it could be that they first had a bigger strap on the patch but changed it to that thin wire...Thus the cut away the bigger strap leaving the holes where it was sewn

96255088.jpg
 
Ya 800 is a lot. I would think Ralph Lauren would also just be a mimic of a real shooting vest. From the first shots of his patch I told my wife it looked like he had some old lady macramé it. Obviously not now haha
 
I'm no leather expert but I'm think we could take a swatch of black leather, lay two small cords horizontally underneath the leather for impressions, sew/glue that onto a stiffer frame for shaping and then poke some holes in it and weather it. I think we could make it look pretty close.
 
The Gun​

The Governor likes his chromed sidearm. Regardless of the fact that he insists on carrying it cross-draw, it's a nice little piece. According to the Walking Dead firearm WIKI (Firearms - Walking Dead Wiki), the Governor is using the "Beretta 92SB Nickel".

250px-Beretta92C.jpg


However, if you look closely at screen shots from the show, it appears that he doesn't carry the one with the wood handles as pictured above but appears to have the black handled version. This is the highest quality screen cap I could get:
20947-beretta.jpg


So I searched around and I believe I found an appropriate AirSoft version for you to carry to cons. And it's very affordable at $24 (shipping included). Check it out here:
New UHC M9 92 Beretta Spring Airsoft Pistol Heavy Silver Hand Gun w 6mm BB | eBay

mLhzvQ4SfrIFezux_r4gsgA.jpg
 
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The Holster​

This one is tricky. I'm mostly struggling with this one because I'm not quite the weapon expert here. I was able to grab a couple of decent screen caps but I don't know the jargon used to refer to that particular type of holster. It looks like molded leather with a strap across the top with a snap.

I'm going to have to depend on the expertise of my fellow RPFers. Do ya'll know generic words I could call this holster? Fully covered? Top flap? Top Snap? Thanks in advance for the help in IDing this piece.

20948-holster.jpg
 
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The patch looks like it could be textured leather. You could find a cheap handbag with texture at the thrift shop and cut it up to make the eye patch.
 
For the vest, I think y'all are better off just building it from scratch. It's a pretty basic design that anyone handy with a sewing machine should be able to handle easily. You'll be much happier with the results. :)


The eye patch looks to be either buffalo hide leather (or "biker" leather with a heavy grain) with a black combat boot lace or waxed nylon thread (used in leather stitching). If you've got a Tandy Leather Co. nearby (or any custom leather store) a small scrap will be enough. Also, it does have stitching holes presumbly because its a repurposed piece. You can mimick this by carefully punching an awl in a regular pattern, or using a thonging or diamond stitching chisel.


The holster looks to be another reclaimed piece from the cops. It appears to be a plain black "patrol" holster that's meant for right-hand draw on the right hip, but the Gov wears it on his left making it a crossdraw. Here's a link to a Don Hume I found that's really close. New Don Hume Black Leather Beretta Gun Holster Police | eBay
 
What about the knife... The Bowie on the magazine covers vs. the series carry knife
 
The Carry Knife​

The Governor carries a knife on his gun belt and infamously used it to "end" the NG Helicopter crash victims. This knife has been identified elsewhere on RPF as the KA-BAR 1221. It's a high quality blade that is accompanied by a $150 price tag.

Ka Bar Kabar Next Generation Knife Model KA1221 New | eBay

I happened to locate a knockoff version for $30 from someone in the Junkyard. The knockoff looks identical for the purpose of costuming. Naturally the quality isn't as high and the blade is NOT stamped with KA-BAR but it works for me since we're saving $120. Good luck in your decision making.


images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTa3DuAA9C4hCkLLwCvQ3iSeUjOOG04NVo3FoT_-fEd36Av-Upuqg.jpg


As for the Bowie knife seen in magazine promos, the Governor has yet to use that knife on screen (as of 2/26/13). So no good screen caps are available outside of the magazine promos. However, I have seen a pretty cheap potential alternative on Amazon for $20. Try this one:

Amazon.com: Timber Rattler Western Outlaw Bowie Knife: Baby

41Pyc0-3yCL.jpg
 
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Happy to help buddy!


For the bowie, the Timber Rattler blade looks close, but the handle is wrong. The Gov's doesn't have the brass buttplate and the scales are wood.

If you're feeling adverturous, buy the Rattler Timber Rattler Western Outlaw Bowie Knife and this Rough Rider Bowie Rough Rider Bowie Knife - Rough Rider Fixed Blade Knives then put the Rough Rider's scales on the Rattler blade (reusing the Rattlers brass guard).

Or I guess you just buy the Rattler and build your own custom wood handle ... This may actually be easiler in the long run.
 
Sir Angus said:
If you're feeling adverturous,
Click to expand...

Well, since this knife hasn't made it's debut on the show, we're not incorporating it into the build (yet). In theory, it would be possible that the knife may never appear if we were basing the premise on timing. The pics of the Governor holding the Bowie knife in the mag promos are pre-eye-slicing. So one could say that it's possible that since we never saw him hold it before the eye injury then we may never see it.

However, he could very well be using it in the very next episode for all we know. By the time we debut our costumes at HorrorHound on March 22, the Governor could have lots more goodies for us to add.
 
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