instructables

Game of Thrones White Walker Halloween Standing Decoration

by Gothscifigirl

Every Halloween, my husband and I do a huge front yard display for the neighborhood. It usually has a bunch of
little themes that we change or add things to every year. Last year, we got a deal on an animatronic "Winter/Ice
Dragon" that's really cool, but we were stumped because it didn't fit into any of our themes. Sooo, a couple of
weeks before Halloween I came up with the idea to make a White Walker from Game of Thrones to go with the
dragon. I pretty much just did it off the top of my head, so I apologize if this Instructable gets confusing, but I didn't
write anything down, I just kept making it.

Supplies:
Any cheap, old, plastic skeleton
Air-drying clay (I used Paper Clay)
Paper towels
Papier-maché glue materials (I used Elmer's Art Paste)
Bubble wrap (or any material to add bulk to the body parts)
Glue gun and glue
White acrylic paint
Blue acrylic paint
Brown acrylic paint
Black acrylic paint
Tool to make lines in clay
A few sheets of craft foam (any color, but brown would help skip a step)
Fake acrylic nails
Old man wig, basically long white hair
2 blue led lights
Cheap acrylic fake nails
3 batteries(3 volt lithium)
Electrical tape
2 blue or clear glass pebbles
Natural jute twine (or any natural type craft rope)
Craft "glitter" snowflakes
Scissors
Assorted large wood beads
Florist wire (covered in brown rustic material)
1 long thin pipe or item similarly shaped, a little shorter than the skeleton
1 bag InstaMorph Moldable Plastic (or anything similar)
Something sturdy to hang the White Walker on while you create him, mine was created with a large
screw attached to a pipe, which was attached to a wood base
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Step 1: Forming the Shape of the Trunk and Face
For the base of my White Walker, I used an old cheap
plastic blow-mold skeleton. This made it easier to
form the shape of the White Walker's body and face,
since they are basically almost skeletons. The
skeleton I used had a loop attached to his head so I
used that to hang him from a post to make it easier to
work on him. You do need to cut a large hole in the
back of his head, large enough for you to put your
hand in to attach the led lights that will be his eyes to
a battery when needed. You could use this hole to
mount him on something for the painting and building
of the body that will make up most of this tutorial.
Eventually we made a hole in the top of his head and
made a wire hook that we used to hang him on a
stand that we made, making it portable.
I wanted to add a little bulk to the White Walker's
body since they have a tiny bit of "meat" on them. I
started by dipping pieces of paper towels in the
papier-mâché paste and forming them around his rib
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and shoulders. Since the White Walkers have a lot
more height on top of their heads than the plain
skeleton, I used a bunch of wadded up, dry paper
towels on top of the head (I put a bit of hot glue on the
skeleton to provide something to keep the paper
towels in place) to create height, and then papier-
mâché'd over that to hold it down. I also built up areas
of the shoulders and upper arms using this technique.
Since the White Walkers' faces are very skeletal, I did
not add any paper towels to create padding, I started
building up the face with just the air-dry clay. I added
a little extra to create more pronounced cheekbones
and chin, basically following the contours of the White
Walkers face (from reference photos on the internet).
They have a lot of ridges, especially along the sides
of the forehead, so made sure to apply these and
others with the air dry clay.
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Step 2: Detailing the Shoulders and Chest
The White Walkers have some pronounced collar
bones and neck tendons so I rolled thin strips of
paper towels dipped in the papier-mâché glue and
attached them in areas to simulate those bones and
tendons. I then covered the neck, shoulders, and
chest with the air dry clay, smoothing the areas
together to appear more seamless. I also built up the
individual ribs with a small bit of the air clay since
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they are more pronounced on the White Walkers than
the skeleton I used for the base.
Once the air dry clay was applied, I drew lines in it
with a pointed tool, to represent the White Walker's
muscle striations that are visible on the creatures. At
this point, I let the clay air dry.
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Step 3: Forming the Hands and Legs
I added more of the paper towel/papier-maché
mixture to the lower arms and hands to create some
bulk. I used some bubble wrap to create bulk in the
thighs and then covered that in the papier-maché as
well. I also added a rolled strip of paper towels to the
back to represent a spine and attached it using the
papier-maché glue (art paste). I smoothed over
everything with the air dry clay.
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The White Walkers' fingers are a lot longer than the
fingers on the skeleton base I used so I inserted thick
wire (about the same as is used in a metal coat
hanger) into the tips of the plastic skeleton fingers,
glued them in place with hot glue, then covered the
fingers in the paper towels/papier-maché mixture.
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Step 4: Paint the Skin

The White Walker skin is a shade of white mixed with
a hint of blue, so I started with a light blue coat on all
the areas of skin that will be visible. I darkened the
shadowy areas (near joints and between bones, etc.)
and indentations with black acrylic paint. I then
painted over everything with a dry/damp brush of
white paint, concentrating on raised areas, and using
less in shadowy areas. Feel free to use as much
white paint as you like, as for the most part the White
Walkers appear white with the slight hint of blue in
their skin.
Only the area on his knees will be the visible part of
his legs, so I scratched lines in the clay to indicate
shriveled, wrinkled, skin in that area and painted
accordingly.

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Step 5: Make the Faux-leather Kilt Armor
To make the faux-leather kilt I cut strips of craft foam
sheets - I had grey sheets on hand, but if you
purchase brown foam sheets, it may help you avoid
painting the base layer. I cut a strip of the foam sheet
long enough to form the belt-like waist that the other
strips attach to (with hot glue). I estimated the size by
wrapping it around the waist of my White Walker...I
did have to bulk out the waist area with paper towels
and papier-maché a little bit to make the area look
proportionate in relation to his rib cage and the rest of
the body. The kilt hangs from the waist to just above
his knee area so I cut enough strips to go around his
body with them hanging vertically from the belt piece
I cut the bottom edges of the strips that make up the
kilt in random jagged patterns to make it look like it
was made out of random, raggedly cut pieces of
leather.
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I then painted the strips and the waist-piece brown,
including the edges After the first coat dried, I
randomly brushed on various shades of brown (lighter
and darker) to make them appear more like worn
leather. Next, I glued the tops of each strip to the
back of the waist-piece and made sure all of the strips
were hanging somewhat evenly, but not perfect.
After the glue dried, I glued the entire foam-leather kilt
around the White Walker's waist with hot glue. Once
that dried and set, I glued a long piece of twine
around the waistband of the kilt, tying it in a knot in
front and leaving 2 long pieces of twine hanging with
several random wooden beads tied to the bottom of
each.
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Step 6: Make the Faux-leather Vambraces (Forearm Armor) and Greaves (Lower Leg
Armor)

To make the vambraces (forearm armor) and greaves
(shin armor), I cut pieces of the foam that were large
enough to wrap around the forearms and the calves. I
detailed the cut of the vambraces slightly by cutting
the front top of the vambrace in an arrow shape
facing up, and then a downward arrow shape facing
down for the back of the vambrace (see examples of
vambraces on the internet). The front of the vambrace
reaches from the top point at the elbow to the bottom
which is around the wrist. The greaves I cut straight,
like a cylinder, long enough to reach from just under
the knee to the top of the foot. When cutting, make
sure that the "seam" (where you glue the edges
together) will be facing the back of the White Walker.
Once the pieces are cut, I painted the sides that
would be facing outward in the same way that I
painted the pieces of the kilt, distressing them to look
a bit worn. Noting that the seam will be at the back of
the armor pieces, determine what part of the foam
piece will be the outward-facing side for each leg.
Along the outer sides on each piece, I used twine to
make a series of "x"s in a straight line on each, to
simulate what would be stitches holding the pieces
together. I made holes in the foam first and then
strung the twine through, gluing the ends to the
underside of the foam.

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Step 7: Detailing the Hands and Making the Feet
I painted the hands (lengthened in a previous step)
the base blue with black shadows and white
highlights, as was done with the rest of the body. I
then took some acrylic fake nails, and cut the edges
into ragged spikes. I glued these jagged nails onto
the tips of the fingers, and then painted over the nails
with some thinned paint in colors like black, brown,
and green, to make them appear rotten.
The plastic skeleton base that I used had small feet,
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so I added some bulk with paper towels and papier-
maché'd over that to make them a little longer. I
painted them blue with black shadows and white
highlights like the rest of the body. I then took some
regular clear fake plastic nails, cut them fairly short,
glued them to the toes of the White Walker, and then
used some diluted brown, black, and green paint to
make them appear discolored.
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Step 8: Apply the Hair
At this point I cut up pieces of a few cheap white wigs
that I had purchased and glued long chunks of it onto
the White Walker's head. I made note of where his
hairline should be (pretty high up on his forehead)
and made sure the hair looked like it started there by
gluing the hair closely to the skull using clear glue. I
attached more hair under the hair that I glued onto the
front so that it looked like it was combed back and got
longer all the way to his waist.
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It's important to have a good chunk of white hair
covering the back of his head as it will be covering
the hole that allows you to access the led lights and
connect them to a battery.
This White Walker also had a short beard and hair up
the sides of his jawbone. For this area I cut short
patches of white hair from the wig and glued it to to
his chin and jawbone areas in clumps using hot glue.
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Step 9: Prepare the Eye Area
The eyes of the White Walker will be lit up by 2 blue
led bulbs so the first step is to make some small
holes in the eye sockets to place the bulbs in. The
area around the led bulbs will need to be painted
black to simulate empty eye sockets. The led bulbs
should have long enough wires to attach to a battery
pack later when needed (using electrical tape).
Next take 2 similarly sized clear or blue glass pebbles
(often sold as vase filler in craft stores) and make a
small black dot in the middle to simulate a pupil. I
tried various methods (permanent marker, black
paper, etc.) and ultimately was the most satisfied with
gluing a black thick paper dot in the center of the
back of the glass "eyeball". Gluing it to the top of the
pebble blocked the led light too much so it's important
to put the pupil on the back of the glass pebble.
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Glue the pebble with pupil into the eye socket so that
the led light is in the middle of the pebble. Make sure
the eye pebbles are about the same size as the eye
socket as it's easier if you can just wedge them in
there, only using glue where the top and bottom of the
pebble come into contact with the bone around the
eye socket.
When I wanted the blue eyes to light up, I attached
the wires of the led lights using electrical tape to 3
stacked 3-volt lithium batteries. If you're electrically
inclined, you can probably rig up some sort of on/off
switch, but since I just needed the eyes lit up for
Halloween night, I taped the batteries to the wires,
and then removed them at the end of the night.
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Step 10: Final Touches to Face and Exposed Skin

I went back and added more white paint to edges of the Walker's skin, to make it seem that the edges of his skin
were more frozen than other areas. I put some craft glue on some more prominent edges, like his nose and
cheeks, then dropped some of the "ice flake glitter" onto those areas. I also sprinkled some of the ice glitter in his
beard and hair.

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Step 11: Make the Ice Spear
InstaMorph is a product that is a bunch of plastic
balls, which when heated (in boiling water), becomes
solid and pliable. There are many different brands of
this type of moldable plastic. When heated, the
plastic becomes clear, but as it cools turns white
again. The shape has to be created before it
completely cools, but it ends up being a cool white
that seems slightly translucent, which is perfect for an
ice spear.
While pliable, I shaped the mound of plastic into a
point, and then flattened it out with a rolling pin. While
still pliable, I also made an indentation in the bottom
of the blade to fit the pole I had to attach it to. You
can use any kind of pole that comes up to around the
shoulders of the walker. Once the blade was cooled
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completely, I used hot glue to permanently attach it to
the pole. Next, I covered the spot where the blade
meets the pole with hot glue, and wrapped it multiple
times with wire wrapped in a rustic vine-type paper
(this type of wire is used in floral arranging). After
many layers of the wire had been glued on, I wrapped
some of the twine used for the Walker's "belt" around
the wire, multiple times with glue, and ended it with
an "x" design on the white part of the blade.
Not shown in the photos above, I then wiped some
light blue alcohol marker ink on the edges of the
spear to make it look icier. I smudged it pretty well to
make it appear faded.
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 Wow.....really cool decoration.... brilliant idea... you guys did it ...!!!

Thank you!
This is terrifying, I love it.

Thank you so much! I appreciate it. Making it was a lot of fun!

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