CW "Arrow" Malcolm Merlyn/Dark Archer build

Tvayumat

Well-Known Member
So, with the news that John Barrowman is both coming back for Season Three (YES!) and added to my con circuit this fall, I just *had* to give this costume a try.

10439114_10152071421471610_1610952405_o.jpg

It started off slow, acquiring the basket weave textured leather that he wears and finding a coat (It's being made now).

Today I found myself with the first progress shots, so I thought I'd share!

The facemask is not final, as it isn't accurate, and the hood is the second prototype we've made. I plan on doing a LOT of small silver rivets this weekend :p

1513808_4366323171675_8500605161465860861_n.jpg10457780_4369302406154_4501576444425073427_n.jpg

Stay tuned! More to come!
 
Aren't you working on like 3 builds at once? Lol dude slow down.:lol

Man, tell me about it.

I'm continuing to make upgrades to Ollie though, thankfully most of the work is done on that costume, and this one now for myself.

For my wife I'm at about 80% on a Roy Harper build and about 50% on an Island Slade. We're planning to pair Roy/Ollie and Slade/Merlyn this fall.

I got a good start on Deathstroke 2.0 but that one is on the back burner until all present builds are done. I may drop it entirely, it's an expensive build for a character that, if I'm being honest, I didn't like *that* much.
 
I've been on a roll over the last few days.

Started off by finishing up the hood. After prototyping it in scrap fabric and then microsuede I went to tandy and picked up some thicker suede. Many hours of hand stitching and riveting, then cutting all those rivets and re-riveting later...
20140616_210013.jpg

In some downtime used an artificial jade barrel bead and some apoxie sculpt to make his pendant, finishing it off with some silver "Rub n buff" wax.

unnamed (1).jpg

While I was at Tandy I grabbed some belt blanks and a few punches when they were on sale to make the belts, and while I was doing the dyeing I did some basketweave leather for Malcolm's bracer. Using a little scrap suede from the hood project and some rivets, I think it pretty much looks the business.
unnamed.jpg20140617_192232.jpg20140617_190410.jpg

Still missing the quiver, arrows, and leather panels on the coat's chest/shoulder/back, but went ahead with a test fit. I couldn't be happier with how it is coming together.

unnamed (2).jpgunnamed (6).jpgunnamed.jpg
 
Last edited:
Looking good! Rather than set up a separate thread, mind if I rattle off the info I gave you and just add it to this thread? That way, we could help out other people wanting to make a Merlyn costume. :)
 
Please, do!

Having a thread exclusively to pat my own back seems silly without some information for people looking to make their own!

Actually, with that in mind I'll go ahead and see if I can't get my hood pattern uploaded.
 
Great! So here we go...

The Bow:
We've identified the bow as the PSE X-Force Super Short Short Draw (2008 model). Unfortunately it's a royal pain to find.

If you want something nearly identical though, you can go with any of the PSE X-Force SS models, or even the X-Force Treestand (grip is different, but easily removed and you can put the other grips on since they're sticky pads). They pop up on Ebay ranging from roughly $400+

20080808LF.jpg


The Gloves:
Much easier to find! The gloves are made by 5.11 and are their Tactical ATAC gloves. You can pick up a pair on Amazon for about $50. Only thing they did to them for the show was to remove the small rubber 5.11 logo.
51XFOvNfOhL._SX342_.jpg


The Boots:

Here's another part of the costume that's going to have you looking for a while. The boots they use are made by Harley Davidson and the model is called Choker. Unfortunately, these are also an older model (2011) and were supposedly a Harley dealer exclusive. They retailed for $130. So far, the only pair I've come across were the ones I bought for myself on Ebay (which thankfully, were the right size!).

For the show, they covered up the silver Harley logo on the top strap, and buffed off the Harley Davidson name on the side and front metal bits. I'm pretty sure they covered up the Harley Davidson name on the back/side of the top strap too.

harley-davidson-choker-boots-motorcycle-shoes-black-mens.jpg


Belts:
We've gone with a 1.5" size for the main belts, and then used a 1" to weave through it. For the one I made, I had 2" of weave, then 1" space (where the rivets or Chicago screws go), then repeat. The buckles on the show are rectangular.


The Costume:
For the costume itself, I had a chance to talk to John Barrowman about it at a convention recently and asked him some details about it. The coat is leather and they just distressed the hell out of it. I'm still in the process of making mine (nearly done! Woo!), but there are no buttons, zippers, etc on it.

Now comes the fun part because apparently the League of Assassins is really into layers!

You start with a dickie to get the mock turtleneck look. This was confirmed by John and he said that he wears his with a t-shirt beneath it. I'm going with an Under Armour shirt because... yeah. This outfit is going to be HOT. Literally!

On top of the dickie/t-shirt is a long sleeved Tai Chi/Kung Fu shirt. You can find them all over the internet.

And on top of that, there's a black judo gi jacket. Make sure you get the one with the diamond weave skirt. Do not get a Jiu Jitsu gi jacket because the lapels will be way too thick. John confirmed that they removed the sleeves for his, as well as for all of the other League costumes.

Here's our lovely model Al-Owal to show off the layered look we just discussed:

assassin.jpg



The arm guard and the panels on the jacket use the same material/pattern. It's embossed leather in a basket weave pattern that's been dyed black. This stuff was harder to find that anticipated and we couldn't find a place to order it in small amounts. However, it does turn up on Ebay from time to time.

$(KGrHqNHJCEFHoTPmyECBSCtFVGW(!~~60_57.JPG
 
Last edited:
Locating a pair of the correct Harley Davidson boots in my size has proven thusfar unfruitful. There are some other similar models that sell for around $150, but I went ahead and found a visually *similar* motorcycle boot for sale on eBay for around $60.


$_57.JPG
Men's Motorcycle Boots Biker Genuine Leather Sizes 9 13 | eBay


My plan is to make some small aesthetic mods to my boots while keeping an eye out for the correct ones.

For the bow, the placeholder I've got in the above pictures is the Barnett "Tomcat" youth compound bow. It has a similar visual profile to the accurate bow and it is the same axle-to-axle length, though it lacks the split limbs and other specific details. Thankfully it's a black bow seen mostly in the shadows.

The other major selling point of this bow is that it retails for about $50. For anyone not into archery, who will just be de-stringing the bow for safety and never firing it, this may be preferable to the more expensive but better looking models.

71UxJ9zgu2L._SL1500_.jpg
Amazon.com : Barnett Tomcat Junior Archery Set, 20-22-Inch, Right Hand Draw : Basic Archery Bows : Sports & Outdoors
 
Last edited:
Dude this looks amazing!! How did you make that hood tho? Also where did you get the jacket from?

Thanks!

The hood was patterned and then the final hood made in a good thick suede leather, then hand-stitched before adding I don't even remember how many itty bitty rivets.

Here is a picture of the basic pattern laid out on a 1" square grid. I don't know if you can read the writing on there, but the other piece is a 5"x36" rectangle that the main piece connects to around the crown of the head.

20140627_174745.jpg

As for the jacket, it's the payoff of a long series of emails between myself and a manufacturer who, after some convincing, was willing to modify their designs and include features they thought were crazy (No zipper, no buttons, etc).

Drop me a PM if you want more details on that.
 
As usual, I was tweaking details up until the last minute before the con, fletching black arrows while putting my boots on :p

Got a few photos from the costume's premier at Wizard World San Antonio 2014. Working on collecting up some more photos of both Merlyn and my wife's excellent Slade.

DarkArchervsJDF.jpgDarkArcher.jpg10556365_10152640919354430_5776591664070385358_n.jpgJohnBarrowman.jpg


Went ahead and added Manu Bennett and John Barrowman's autos to my S1 bow while I was at it.

MBAutograph.jpgJBAutograph.jpg

I also tried to wheedle some information out of John Barrowman about his new costume at the QnA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ESXKn5Kns
 
Last edited:
Hello, am new to the forum I would like to ask if the costume made ​​by Tvayumat is for sale
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hello, am new to the forum I would like to ask if the costume made ​​by Tvayumat is for sale

Not for sale, my friend, though I've posted a lot of information here to get you started on your own build!

If you have any questions, drop me a line and I'd be happy to help!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This thread is more than 7 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top