LOTR Multiple Costumes with Props WIP

Hey and welcome to my multi-build thread.

A little about me and what I am up to! I have been a cosplayer for a while know without knowing it, neat! Every year my little village in rural England holds a carnival. Thousands of people turn out and watch mainly drunken locals parade through the village dressed up! About 5 years ago my father decided to try a big float and we have gone from strength to strength. Having done "cotton eyed joey" (Australia) Harry Potter and Star Wars my small family decided to divert from the main big float (I still help build the big one) but make a small pull along float with our own theme. Last year we did Pokemon Go with home made costumes and had a ball. This year I am stepping it up!

Pokemon Go - Me with my little girl 18 months old
http://imgur.com/K54RHnL
Mowgli from Disney - SO COLD
http://imgur.com/ChpdFYK

Cotton Eyed Joey - With little girl aged 9 Months
http://imgur.com/l61aLnU

Harry Potter - With little boy aged 3
http://imgur.com/HOJhM1l



This year I am making from scratch a load of costumes from my 5 year old current fav movie series, the amazing Lord of the Rings. The carnival is the end of September but I am hoping to have some costumes done before London Comic Con. My first ever Con.

I will be Aragorn, in his king costume as I really want to make foam armour!
The mrs will be Legolas, complete with stupidly large bow.
My son will be Frodo
My daughter will be Gollum
Mother in law will be sauromon
Sister in law will be Gandalf the grey
My brother in law will be witch king of angmar
His son will be Gimli
A friend will be Boromir and his son will be Sam. There is also the possibility of another friend and his wife but we need to decide who they will be.


So thats a LOT of costumes. For Comic Con in May 26th I need Aragorn, Legolas, Frodo, Gimli and the witch king. So lets get on it!
This will be a build log with any techniques I find added. I have a 3d printer I will be using for example I will print the wizards staff tops and attach to PVC pipe. This will enable speed and accuracy.

I hope you enjoy this thread as much as I will making it. Any suggestions or advice much appreciated.

Ok so the first thing I have completed is the Witch King's helmet crown thing...

I took a paper template and cut it out in cardboard, looked ok so moved up to the lid of an old PC I had laying about. Cut with an angle grinder (this was a pain! Use some sort of saw!) and welded together...

So when prototyping don't use the world thickest and toughest cardboard...
http://imgur.com/6Dw3ZLH

Now with a frozen pizza box!
http://imgur.com/XHQ8wTB

Looks better right. Lets jump right into metal!
http://imgur.com/IfOaBNc
and smoothed edges with the flap sand attachment.
http://imgur.com/h6Jz7K8

Welded up with the spike added
http://imgur.com/SBXciz0

Son wanted a go
http://imgur.com/2PmxcaF

Couple of spikes added - later rehashed but first effort. Also the eyes were rubbish
http://imgur.com/eQfsXuh

Then I dragged the mig welder over the surface after paint. It spattered and added texture well
http://imgur.com/qlMMgdZ

Now I smashed it about with a hammer and added more spikes
http://imgur.com/ffb4w76
http://imgur.com/IuxXLKT
http://imgur.com/WumaLpr
http://imgur.com/46od0mN
http://imgur.com/YcDwCPK
http://imgur.com/YcDwCPK

And modeled by myself
http://imgur.com/HYHh52s

I did add a little foam on the inside to stop it killing my head! I will probably add a strap across the top of the head to stop it sagging down but currently its pretty cool. As a first attempt I like it. Now I have some welding skills (and a welder obviously) but this was not hard. It took me about 3 hours in total and I loved every minute. Hope you like it.

I made some quick reference sheets for organisational purposes. They outline what I think are the most important aspects of each costume in turn...

Gollum
http://imgur.com/fWxr4bI
Frodo
http://imgur.com/6xQhoIp
Witch-King
http://imgur.com/O2RLHkU
Aragorn
http://imgur.com/Ps1Dw2A
Gimli
http://imgur.com/AUb4tPX
Legolas
http://imgur.com/nvN2x8i

These are just the Comic Con characters as they are the ones I am worried about at the moment!

Hello there Wow, you've got a lot on your hands; best of luck! Looking forward to those costumes! And great job on that Witch King helm!