Odin from Thor 2

Hey, all. Since the first Thor movie came out with Anthony Hopkins as Odin, all my friends have pushed me to do an Odin costume. I finally broke down and whipped one up for Visioncon in Branson, MO... then immediately redid it for Planet Comicon in KC. It is all leather and some vinyl with various cloth used for the under clothing. My buddy, Steve, made the shirt for me to help with the time crunch. All in all, it turned out OK. I still have a lot to do in the way of reworking the brass accents and such. But it was fun to wear for the conventions.

I would love to get hold of the armorer from the movie and find out how they made the actual armor, though. It almost looks to me like they sculpted it and cast in in Dragonskin or something similar. Little things make me think that like the brass plates on the front "tails" seeming to bend when he walks and the fact that there are two, nearly identical armors in different colors and with the brass inserts being brown on one. Not that I can afford to do the sculpt and cast...but I would love to know how they were made, anyway

Here's a pic of the costume at PCC. I am not sure who took it (had tons of pics taken that weekend), so I can not give the photographer credit. It was posted on the FB page for Cosplay in America, so maybe one of those guys can chime in and give credit.



And a closer look at my ugly mug (with my wife just chillin in the background ). Photo by Bill Holmes.

Probably too far for you but the FIDM costume exhibit here in LA has the screen used Odin TDW costume on display. I got a chance to hit up this exhibit last weekend and see it in person, it's pretty stunning. Unfortunately you can't take pics in there and the Odin costume is positioned further back so hard to get an up close look at it.

Here's a press photo from the exhibit.

Actually...thanks for that pic. I have been having a tough time finding shots of the boots

I have some pics of the screen used one someone posted a while back that are pretty good. I used them and screen caps to make mine. Trying to get hold of the armor supervisor for the movie to ask about it, but not having much luck so far

Really happy to hear you're going to keep at this, because your friends were right. I actually did a double take on the first picture.

If I was bound to give only one advice, it'd be to really look into the hair styling done on Odin in the movie. That was honestly the first thing that came to my mind when I look at the pictures. It's also a really cheap way to enhance your look even further.
As far as I know of, his hair is always pulled back in some kind of partial ponytail, but it's hard to find because he's almost always facing the camera. I do believe there is one scene where he walks away from Thor where it can be seen though.
The hair on his temples also seems to be parted and curled back separately and fastened with metal circlets behind his ears.
One way to get the right length for the braids could be to tuck them back and hide them somewhat under the rest of the hair at the neck.


As for the armor, I think you're right. The two versions seem to be exactly the same except the color of some of the plates.

I think there are behind-the-scenes or making-of videos or commentary tracks of how they made Thors armor, and I'd wager they'd use the same technique for Odin, so that is worth looking into.


Here are some high resolution pictures from the wiki that I managed to find, in case you haven't found them yourself yet.

Walking with Thor. Good view of the lower fabrics. It shows that there is a seam in the brass on the boots.
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb...es/0/06/Thor_The_Dark_World_Thor_and_Odin.jpg

Standing with Thor. Good view of the design at green shirt cuff.
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb.../images/9/98/Thor_Odinson_and_Odin_Borson.jpg

Standing alone. Very crisp view of the sleeves of the green shirt. By the looks of it, it almost seems like there is a lighter green cord sewn to the fabric with some kind of silver thread. It's also a pretty good head-on shot of the eyepatch.
http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131101085427/marvelmovies/images/e/e1/Odin_DarkW.jpg


I hope some of this helps you.

Good luck with your project, and I hope we get to see some more pictures when you've updated the costume.

Wow this is awesome! As a long haired bearded dude myself, this is a costume I've contemplated. The armour is really nice, the whole thing is. If I see anything about the armour I'll pass the info on. I've been thinking its possibly all rubber that's made to look like leather with resin inserts for the metallic painted parts but I've not had confirmation. Not much out there to go on!

Thanks for the comment, guys. As with all my costumes, not sure if this one will ever be "done" so always nice to get pointers

Froggie: My wife did the triple braid into one at the temples. It turned out much better at Visioncon before I had the armor really done and wearable. I think these pics came from Sunday and my hair started getting as tired as I was . We used those same pics you posted for most of the design for the armor and hair. We even blew up the walking photo and brightened it some to get a good look at the pattern and material style for the skirt. I could not get an exact match, but we managed to find some stuff that was really close (the black was stuff I had laying around the house for another costume and the wool was on sale ). Gonna pick up the blu-ray for Thor 2 as soon as I get time and hope to get some better screen caps from it for any future updates.

As someone who has long hair as well, I can only say that I sympathize with you. Keeping it looking super fine during something like a convention must be killer.

As for the fabrics, yeah, it's unlikely you'd find them in a store. To get a perfect match it'd probably require custom weaving, or making it yourself. Luckily it's not the center of attention on the costume, and what you have look good as it is.

How did you attach the eyepatch by the way? Are you going to etch it with the darker pattern? Because as someone who didn't like Odins eyepatch from the first movie (too futuristic) I absolutely loved the one he had on with the green shirt.

I also noticed something about the shape of it. You might have caught it already, and in that case ignore me, but the movie version is more angular, especially around the top near the eyebrow and at the bridge of the nose.
Then again, taking away more material at the top might expose your eyebrow....hmmm.

I used Beta Bond to attach it like I always did for latex facial appliances. I have found I like that stuff much better than Prosaide and the remover (Super Solve...both from Telesis) is much nicer to my skin than any other I have used.

I plan to make a new eye patch soon. The one in the pics is just the lense out of an old pair of sunglasses that broke on me a few months ago that I painted gold. It was close to the right shape, but is quite a bit smaller and, as you mentioned, missing some of the angles. Thinking if doing one out of some thin plastic that I can raise the scroll work from the back through before painting and adding the dark tarnish around the edges. Either that, or sculpting it and casting it in resin or something. Going to be sculpting all the trim "brass" and casting them in silicone to complete the accents, anyway. So may do the eyepatch at the same time, but in a more rigid substance.

We're also looking for some nice, brass or gold earcuffs for the hair just behind the ear and something to make the braid holder where I used hair ties. Might just wrap the hair ties in brass wire, but the pics look like a simple piece of metal folded around the hair and pinched shut. My wife has decided that, next time I wear it, I need to use some products to keep my hair in place and draped back to let the braids show more prominently. Just gonna let her handle that part since she is the hair dresser

I did pick up the Blue-Ray of the movie this past weekend, so going to try and get the back or the armor looking a bit more accurate. I like the cape (even though that particular suit doesn't have one in the movie), so gonna leave it. But I am not happy with the back even though it is never seen. Just got to get a couple of screencaps from the movie since I did see a decent shot of the back for a second or so...and some more leather

Next up is doing the Frigga costume for my wife so we can have another "couple" costume

Thanks for all the help and critiques, guys. Hoping to get back to work on this while doing the wife's Frigga and I'll take any and all advice I can get from this great community

My wife told me I forgot to post that this costume was a 2-day project (for the original, lighter brown version) with another 2 days to rebuild it after I got some good leather for the backing and actual chicago screws and leather rivets (they came in like 3 days before PCC...was worried it would not get put back together in time). Now that I am not on a time crunch, I hope to get all the suggestions from here and other places incorporated to make it as close as I am capable of doing (definitely not skilled or equipped enough to get it exact ). So thanks, again, guys. And drop me any other thoughts and suggestions you may have to help me make it look better

Bedlam, have you considered casting the bronze pieces in a resin and then taking sheets of bronze that are thin enough and laying them over the resin, using the resin as an embossing tool to get the decorations that you want raised? the way it used to be done was they'd lay out the design in the metal and then hammer it out with planishing hammers and a rounded metal punch or awl, but I think you could get the same effect with thinner sheets layered over the resin and have the metallic look...of course, it's been many years since I've worked with metal and that only in a high school metal shop, so I may not have the right answers or thought process here

Pardon me while I squee, but this is pretty awesome! I would agree that adding a hairstyle would help, but you definitely have the overall look. (The scene in Asgard where they are watching Sif train, and are discussing Thor's love for Jane has a good side shot, showing the braids there.) I might also suggest moving the discs for the cape a bit more forward if you can -- and adding a bit of patina/weathering/aging to the metal on the armor, if you don't completely rework it. =)

I hope you'll keep us posted on your wife's Frigga costume -- that is on my "to-do" list as well, and I'd love to see your work!

Elwindil: My fine metal-working skills are extremely lacking. I do plan to mold and cast the round pieces in some form of resin with the scroll work and such...when I actually get the time and cash to work on this again . The pieces I used are just 3mm sintra that was heat-formed over a dome I had and sanded to smooth before painting. I am not happy with the look, so definitely going to cast new pieces. The other brass/bronze pieces have to have some "give" to them as the sections move some (and move a LOT for the parts on the little "tails" on the front that I have not yet added). Those will be the parts I want to do in silicone or some other flexible material and then color them accordingly.
andveryginger: Yep. Gonna get the hairstyle more like my first try by the next time I wear it. The discs are already planned to move forward and just about everything you mentioned is on tap for the upgrades. Just no telling when I will have time to get to it. Hoping to start teh wife's Frigga later this summer. I will definitely add that stuff in here as I go.