Tauriel (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug)

Hey, guys! Long time no see!

Just wanted to show what I've been making.


Tauriel, from the Hobbit!

I'd ideally like to make a short fan film using this costume for my portfolio. (I'm a Digital Arts Student AND a giant nerd, hahaha.) Here's a related early test shot with a giant spider of Dol Guldur.


Note: I did NOT make the original mesh of the spider. That came from here. I did resculpt, retexture, rig, animate, and composite it, though.

Anyway, I haven't got any really good photos of the costume yet, but I hope to take some over the winter break.

As for what I've done so far, here's a brief overview...

I ordered the ears from a seller on etsy and the wig from Amazon. Those were the first things to arrive.
Early wig and ear test:


I took up leatherworking over the summer, so I made my own bodice out of 4 to 5 oz. veg tanned leather.

I drafted a pattern out of paper and cut the pieces, hand tooled them all to have patterns similar to those on Tauriel's actual bodice, then laced them all together. (I would like to thank Chabi B. for helping with some of the stitching and keeping me sane through this laborious process, hahaha.) I then took the pieces and dyed them. After sealing and lacing, it was ready for wear!

Sorry for the awful quality of this, but it shows the layout of the bodice pieces really nicely:


Note: I think this is a picture with the old versions of piece 5, which I screwed up and used for scrap, so I wouldn't recommend using this for reference if you're going to try to make your own. Whoops! Measure twice, cut once, as they say. Haha.

Test fit without the shoulder straps on there yet:


Here are some more detailed shots of the bodice. I'm very proud of how it turned out!



I've been working on the knives, too, but I'm really dissatisfied with what I have. Here's an in-progress shot of them:


The paint job just ended up bad, to be honest. Looked painfully fake, although I'm going to keep them in case of long shots that require safe props. I'm going to make a hero pair of knives for sure.

I'm going home for winter break and am planning to start working on some MDF versions of the knives instead. I think that will make for much smoother sanding and painting jobs, and less filling of holes, too.

Lots more work to go! Thanks for reading, friends!

The costume looks great. I can't see the video at work, but look forward to seeing it when I get home.


Mainly though, I'm always happy to see folks using real leather (and metal) for their costumes. Foam, worbla, etc. can look really good, but I really am a purist...

Beautiful leather work! Nice!

Hey thanks, you guys! I appreciate it. And yeah, I like it when people use the real things, too. I'm guilty of using craft foam and paint sometimes, but now that I know how to do leatherworking and I have the materials, there's really no excuse!

Here are some more pictures I just took:









I still haven't replaced the knives yet, so they look pretty lackluster, but you can't really tell from a distance anyway...

I'd be happy to answer any questions people might have! (-:

Looks awesome!! I know the most of people dislike the character of Tauriel...but i like her!
Great costume!

Thank you so much! I put a ton of work into this and I'm so glad it's getting such a positive response!

Yeah, I was a little iffy about her character, too, at first. Now I really like her a lot, though! And the LOTR elves just have such great costume designs; I couldn't resist.

OK, it's a nice warm day here in upstate NY (a whopping ~35 degrees, whoo!) so I've been working on redoing those knives out in the garage. I'm sure my family appreciates the noise, hahaha. Here's what I've gotten done today!



So I made a template out of cardboard, and traced it onto some MDF.

I cut the MDF using a jigsaw...then dremel'd the edges a bit and sanded that baby.



Now to put sculpey details on it, then mold, cast, and paint! Whew!

Also, does anyone know how to get a non-lace front wig to look less like a wig? I just can't afford a lace front wig, but the front of this wig does not lie flat no matter how many times I brush the heck out of it! It just kind of sticks up. I realize that the obvious solution is to buy a higher-quality wig but I've already spent a lot of money on this costume and I would much prefer a DIY solution.

Beginning the detailing on the dagger. Lots of shaping and sanding to be done!

The wig is the only shortcoming of an otherwise fantastic costume. The MDF knives look spot on so far.

Thanks, Ivan! Yeah, I'd like to try to ventilate the front of the wig so it looks like a more realistic hairline. Unfortunately, I've never done that and I haven't got a clue where to start. To google!

Anyway, here's the progress from today. Any sanding tips would be GREATLY appreciated. I'm very new to woodworking (or MDF-working, in this case, haha) and this is looking a bit gnarly.

I've been using a dremel, files, an exacto knife, and a belt sander. Lot of fun tools!


I think I'm going to fill the low spots with sculpey and use a heat gun to set it, then re-sand with a finer grit sandpaper. Hopefully the sculpey and the sanding will help!

I also have to sculpt the handle still. That's going to be tough, I think.

Related: Would anyone be interested in buying casts of this once I'm done? Not 100% sure that I'll be making copies, but if there's interest, I'll certainly consider it.

Super awesome leather work friend !!!! and love how the knives are looking

Thank you, JD! This is only like my third or fourth major leatherworking project, and there's a lot that could be improved, but despite the shortcomings, I'm pretty proud of it.

Here's last night's progress:



I've been filling in the low spots with sculpey and sculpting the handle. I got more done last night than I was expecting to, but there's still a LOT to fix.

Edit: Added the wood grain...

Gonna harden these bits and then work on the blade some more.

Edit: OK I lied. There was a spirally-hole-thing in the base of the handle (not sure if it counts as a pommel? i don't know knife parts) that I had previously missed. NOW to harden this bit.

Wow!! That looks pretty good! Thumps up! :cool

I like the character and your costume is looking really great. Thanks for sharing your build.

Thank you guys so much!

Here's what I've gotten done on the knife.



Is anyone familiar with silicone putty? Is it really hard or is it softer? I'm thinking about using it to make the mold for the knives but I'm worried that the act of pressing the sculpted knife into the putty might damage the sculpey. It's more fragile than I was anticipating. :/

Edit: I just got back from BOTFA and...wow. Feelings. I am experiencing them.

Fantastic job, that leatherwork is superb, the knifes are coming along really well too!

Are the knives of Tauriel really that small in the movie? Never noticed it...

BTW: Great costume... I like it...

Thanks, you guys!

Onkelpsycho said:

Are the knives of Tauriel really that small in the movie? Never noticed it...

Click to expand...

No, they're not! I screwed up on the scale. The current iteration is a much better scale, but STILL not quite big enough. The ones that WETA is selling are 18.9" in length and the new ones that I'm making will only be about 15 inches long. The blade is shorter than on the real props. The old foam ones were only about a foot long, and therefore completely the wrong scale, hahaha.

I'm going to try casting the current iteration in two-part molds of plaster of paris. If the molds don't come out well and the sculpts don't survive the demolding process (which I suspect they will not; they're pretty fragile, unfortunately) then I'll re-cut and resculpt and make an effort to actually match the scale this time. To be honest I was just excited to be making something and wasn't thinking about scale. Duh.

geek said:

Thanks, you guys!



No, they're not! I screwed up on the scale. The current iteration is a much better scale, but STILL not quite big enough. The ones that WETA is selling are 18.9" in length and the new ones that I'm making will only be about 15 inches long. The blade is shorter than on the real props. The old foam ones were only about a foot long, and therefore completely the wrong scale, hahaha.

I'm going to try casting the current iteration in two-part molds of plaster of paris. If the molds don't come out well and the sculpts don't survive the demolding process (which I suspect they will not; they're pretty fragile, unfortunately) then I'll re-cut and resculpt and make an effort to actually match the scale this time. To be honest I was just excited to be making something and wasn't thinking about scale. Duh.

Click to expand...

That was no offense against your knives... :unsure I just don't know how long the blades are... I have a pair of Legolas knifes on my wall and thought the tauriel knifes have something around that lenght... But anyway... Awesome job on the costume...

Onkelpsycho said:

That was no offense against your knives... :unsure I just don't know how long the blades are... I have a pair of Legolas knifes on my wall and thought the tauriel knifes have something around that lenght... But anyway... Awesome job on the costume...

Click to expand...

Don't worry! I wasn't offended! I re-read what I wrote--that "duh" was directed at myself! I'm so, so sorry that I wasn't clear on that. I messed up trying to convey the fact that I was irritated with myself, not you. My deepest apologies! D:

As far as I know, they are not quite as long as those that Legolas wields. I think his weapons are 24" long and Tauriel's are about 19", or at least those are the dimensions of the official replicas that are sold.

Thanks again!

Uhm... yeah... no need for apologies...

Your knifes are awesome, I was just confused about the size... So, any plans for the bow so far?