My Witch King Cosplay WIP

savmagoett

Well-Known Member
I recently begun the work on a costume I wanted to do for a long time, the Witch King of Angmar (From Peter Jackson's Return Of The King).
Here is the making of the helm, it took me 2 weeks designing and making it (working on evenings and week ends).
Note that the rest of the costume progress, a proper robe and the armor parts, will come later…
I figure it would be possible to simply make a bended cardboard shape and enhance it with surface additions to imitate the metal embossing.

I begun with a vector drawing to my scale and size.
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Then I made a 3D model for better accuracy.
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I then redrew the basic shapes I would need to create the helm. And cut them out in 2mm corrugated cardboard.
I used an adjustable headband from a safety work helmet to hold the helm in place on my head.
IMG_5162_zps41215990.jpg

If I had simply put the helm on my head covered with a hood, the headband would have been visible. So I placed the hood of a sweat shirt and cut it below the headband. That fake hood is to be permanently attached to the helm.
To hide my face I used a deep black woman's half-slip I could see trough (throw your jokes away guys ;) ). I cut it and glued it in the shape of a bag (with a fabric glue).

First test of the assembled cardboard with the hood, the black face mask, and the headband underneath everything. All is ok:
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Next I placed two oval shapes inside to keep the needed shape:
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And applied a two part liquid casting resin with a brush all over the helm to strengthen it:
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Placing the headband:
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Testing the helm with the headband and the black face mask. (you can see here what it looks like without the fake hood):
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Applying small cardboard walls to guide the creation of the bat wing like embossing:
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For the pikes around the helm I wanted a flexible material for obvious safety concerns. So I used neoprene board I had previously collected.
You can see the cutting steps below:
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I used plaster based spackle to make the embossing because it can be easily smoothed with water (the exact name is "perfax reboucheur instant" from "Henkel" it's an instant repair filler like Polyfilla). I used it all over and did not smooth it completely to keep an uneven aspect. And I created a rough effect by stamping absorbent paper on the sticky wet surface:
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Smoothing the rough texture on the edges by sanding. Placing all the pikes and the 4 rivets:
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Dremellization (as I call it) of the holes and surface details:
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A base coat of black:
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A two shades dry brushing, one dark gray metal all over then a light gray metal only on the protruding edges:
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Here's some pics of the first outing with the finished helm and a black robe I quickly putted together with some fabric I had on hand.
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Here with the french Gandalf, Pascal Boillet.
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Next step will be the gauntlets, the shoulders and a better robe…

EDIT:
Additional informations…

It weights 600gr, don't know if it is light for a cosplay but I found it very comfortable compare to other costumes I have. I've spent 5 or 6 hours wearing it, I only took it of a few times to eat & drink and for some girls that requested to see my real face ;)

The resin treated cardboard is still a bit flexible but the spackle is not (being made of plaster), should the helm fall over I think the spackle embossing would suffer greatly. I have to try some other similar product next time, I know there is "flexible" spackles…

It didn't cost me much actually. Most was salvaged stuff, the cardboard, the neoprene board, the rivets, the resin (a leftover from work). Paint I already had. Some of it was real cheap, secondhand stuff, the helmet, the face mask. I only had to buy the spackle, I used two tubes, that cost me about 10$. It's hard to guess what it would cost if you had to buy everything. At the end of the day it all depends on your ability to salvage things ;)

NB: I don't wish to share my templates. I'm happy sharing any tip, explaining any technique or giving any advice to anyone, but I'm not willing to simply give away the fruit of my work, I wish my personal take on something to be unique, I hope you understand.
 
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Wow. Just. Wow. This is incredible! I love what can be done with a little desire, a little ingenuity, and a little effort. This is what it's all about, and that helmet looks awesome.

Is it pretty light? Durable???
 
Thanks guys :)

kibosh: it weights 600gr, don't know if it is light for a cosplay but I found it very comfortable compare to other costumes I have. I've spent 5 or 6 hours wearing it, I only took it of a few times to eat & drink and for some girls that requested to see my real face ;) The resin treated cardboard is still a bit flexible but the spackle is not (being made of plaster), should the helm fall over I think the spackle embossing would suffer greatly. I have to try some other similar product next time, I know there is "flexible" spackles…
 
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Thanks guys :)

kibosh: it weights 600gr, don't know if it is light for a cosplay but I found it very comfortable compare to other costumes I have. I've spent 5 or 6 hours wearing it, I only took it of a few times to eat & drink and for some girls that requested to see my real face ;) The resin treated cardboard is still quite flexible but Polyfilla is not (being make of plaster), should the helm fall over I think the Polyfilla embossing would suffer greatly. I have to try some other similar product next time, I know there is "flexible" Polyfilla fillers…

Thanks, man. Appreciate the info. Would you happen to have templates you'd be willing to share? I have some thin sheets of plastic laying around which I think would be perfect for something like this. And being 6'-5", this is a costume that would fit my height well!
 
Thanks, man. Appreciate the info. Would you happen to have templates you'd be willing to share? I have some thin sheets of plastic laying around which I think would be perfect for something like this. And being 6'-5", this is a costume that would fit my height well!

At 6'-5" with that helm, you'd best be wary of low bridges.........
 
Sorry kibosh, I don't wish to share my templates. I'm happy sharing any tip, explaining any technique or giving any advice to anyone, but I'm not willing to simply give away the fruit of my work, I wish my personal take on something to be unique, I hope you understand :)
 
Great job, the mask looks really good!

That spackle idea worked wonders for the texture! Too bad it's fragile. :(

For Sauron, I used that spray on stone texture on foam and spray painted over that... It's really sturdy and very light.
 
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