Hellgate: London Templar Knight Costume. Any ideas how to build?

[Rico]

Hi all. I just finished reading the Hellgate: London novel by Mel Odom. I gotta tell ya that it was an exciting read that I finished in two days! From start to finish it was really action packed, and with a good story line and richly detailed characters. The classic battle between good and evil. For those of you not familiar with the novel or the video game it's based on; Demons have invaded London, England in the year 2020 (18 years prior to the events listed in the Hellgate: London video game) and the heroic Templar Knights and few survivors are all that stands between them and total destruction.

What I really like about this novel is the description of the armour of the Templar Knights. It's constructed of both a combination of high-tech science and magic, along with a sophisticated Heads up display and intuitive AI Program. See the following link for a visual reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaf5RwAjnwM&feature=related.

I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to build this suit. I'm thinking maybe a full body silicone or rubber suit, with the armor sections detailed to look like separate pieces. A rigid cast material for the helmet, possibly semi-rigid urethane. And EL panels and wires to give it that "techno-magical" look. For weapons, I was thinking a customized nerf gun, painted and lighted up would do the trick.

Has anyone had some experience making Medieval looking armor and replica swords? Any experience with prop weapons that are hollow and light, and easy to install with electronics.

If anyone has done some prior research on the Templar Knight costume I'd be interested in that too.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[J.F. Sebastian]

Hey Rico! You´re right, the Templar knights are quite pleasing visually. I´ve read issues 0 to 3 of the series some time ago and enjoyed it, but that shouldn´t be much of a problem for anyone who´s into bugs and xenomorphs lurking in dark corners. :lol Hm, reminds me that I still have to catch up on the conclusion... !
When I first came across the armor designs on the conceptart.org-forums, I didn´t know anything about the game or the comics. I like that there are some variations of armor, depending on gender or which unit you belong to. And the overall mixture of hightech-suits in general medieval-looking shapes. :thumbsup

I´m glad someone finally opened a thread here regarding this one, although I fear I can´t be of much help when it comes to practical realization. (my projects are usually on some simpler level...)
The way I´d tackle this is sculpting the armor parts in clay (or whatever medium you prefer) and make plaster molds of it, then spending hours and hours filling & sanding the hell (Ha, no pun intended :rolleyes ) out of it. Or, if you are a sculpting god like some of the guys around here, I´d go directly with silicone-molds.
As for the bodysuit, I think a spandex one with the right details would look okay.

Any ideas, anyone?

 

[DarkHeart Armoury]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaf5RwAjnwM&feature=related.

I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to build this suit. I'm thinking maybe a full body silicone or rubber suit, with the armor sections detailed to look like separate pieces. A rigid cast material for the helmet, possibly semi-rigid urethane. And EL panels and wires to give it that "techno-magical" look. For weapons, I was thinking a customized nerf gun, painted and lighted up would do the trick.

Has anyone had some experience making Medieval looking armor...

I do armor. :cool

I've liked the look of these since the promo images came out. It'd sure be a fun project to realize....

My inclination for the rigid armor would be fabricating them in aluminum, with some gold leaf here and there. The shapes are pretty basic for the most part, with some funky detailing just to keep it interesting. The EL glowy bits sound right on.
The undersuit wouldn't need to be much of an issue for a male Templar, as it won't show much, but you'd really need one if you're interested in the female version.

 

[hansicle]

Why not make vac formed armor pieces. If you can make certain parts symmetrical (shin armor, shoulder armor, ect) you would only have to sculpt it once, then vac the same piece for left and right.

I've used a rigid foam to sculpt a piece, then covered it with polyester resin to give it a rigid shell to vac over. You could use the "neon" trim stuff people use in cars (elecrto luminecent flexable wire) inside the helmet to give it the green glow.

 

[Rico]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I'll have to sleep on it and think about it some more.

There's actually a guy here in Toronto, Ontario that does high-end moulded rubber costumes for film and promotional work. I'll have to see if I can pick his brains.

Failing that, I like the idea of using metal or vac-formed plastic pieces for the armor. However... owning a Star Wars Republic Commando suit, I can tell from experience how much of a challenge this can be to put on sometimes and get it to fit "just right."

Thanks again!

 

[DarkHeart Armoury]

I'm likely prejudiced*, but I think aluminum is the way to go. I've never seen a paintjob on a casting that really looked like bare metal. There's also the wear and tear issue- anywhere the armor overlaps or rubs on itself, the paint's coming off.:confused The exception would be to have the suit vacuum metalized, but that'd be a major pain, and still on the delicate side.

You want a shiny white metal suit, make it out of shiny white metal. :cool

The folks on the board doing sculpts for Ironman suits are doing some amazing work, but that's really a different problem. With those shapes and volumes, casting's probably the best bet, and the coloring would have to be some sort of coating no matter what.

I imagine it'll come down to the resources you have, of course. You've got me thinking of doing at least the helmet for myself (in my copious spare time :confused ). I'm thinking that the basic form will be fairly quick- simple shell, applied cross, acid etch some details, come up with something for the gewgaws on the sides of the head, inset some EL sheet....

Seeing out of it might get interesting.






*When the tool you have is a hammer, all problems look like nails. :love

 

[Gigatron]

I'm not a costumer, but I can appreciate the amount of work you guys put into this stuff.

Now, here's why I'm posting. I believe some people here made the elvish armor (LOTR) from craft foam. It's easy to work with, holds it's shape and looks pretty damn good when finished.

Try running a search for elf armor or elvish armor or something along those lines. If it doesn't turn anything up, just start a thread looking for the people who made it.

-Fred

 

[Last_Chael]

I've been planning the Female Templar (Avalon to be exact) since I first saw the Weta statue and previews back in October 2006. I absolutely fell in love with the armour, and have been wanting to do it since I first saw it.

We were looking at using Pepakura for the armour bits, but unfortunately we're having trouble extracting the models from the game. I've never done any moulding or casting or anything like that, so it should be interesting to do! I'm thinking about starting with the chest bit. I think the helmet will be the hardest part!

I've already got heaps of ideas for the bodysuit, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I've got a friend who makes metal armour, so I might talk to him about making it out of aluminium! Thanks!

 

[Fettster02]

i would realise the helmet in fiberglass with aluminium powder mixed in with the gel coat, that way you get a strong, lightweight cold metal casting which looks exactly like metal. the benefit from that would be that you can sculpt the helmet from clay so you can really go to town on the details

 

[Hitogiri]

Have you seen the Hellgate London sword Paul Macdonald did? Its insane!

 

[Last_Chael]

That is SWEET!!!

My wonderful, adoring boyfriend spoilt me rotten by getting me the WETA female templar statue for Christmas (Along with UC Eowyn sword! Yes I'm spoilt!). After careful study of the armour and deep discussions with a friend, we decided it was definitely doable by myself. So I'm looking at doing most of the armour out of fibreglass. Once I start on it, I'll make a thread for my progress! Hoping to have it finished by the end of the year, if not earlier!!

 

[Ramiel]

Keep us updated with your progresses, this is something I really want to see!
Also, if you can't afford the sword made by Paul Macdonald, there is a cheaper option, not as accurate, but... http://www.kingofswords.com/Swords/Fantasy-Swords/Sword-Of-The-Holy-Slayer.html

 

[Gee2]

I also fell for the armor when I saw the WETA sculpts, great stuff! But that sword is fantastic!
On the armor, wouldn't the fiberglass and metal powder be the more cost effective? No doubt the aluminum would stand up to wear and tear but what kind of price tag would you be looking at?
I have one of Matt's Leonidas helms, it's spot on and is cool to the touch like a metal piece would be.

 

[epoch9]

I have also been making plans for a hellgate templar (male). I was thinking of doing a clay sculpt with silicone molds, and then I've seen some of the halo costumers using a liquid plastic that comes out nice and rigid, but also very light.

perhaps some of that metal powder could be mixed in with the plastic?

as for seeing out of the helmet, maybe someone could just get some clear plastic, and then mirror-coat it, like the way mirrored glasses are done?

 

[General Anesthesia]

I don't have one of the templar but I did find some cool looking renders from the military characters from the main cover. I know it's not a templar but if that falls through maybe this could be a COOLER version

 

[charlie30]

Have you seen the Hellgate London sword Paul Macdonald did? Its insane!

Hi guys,
Just joined the RPF and I am also a major Hellgate fan - got the game, books, comics and the above sword!
I commisioned Paul to make it for me. Its a realisation of the Negotiator sword from the game and its full size, made from sword steel. I said I wanted a functional sword and so that's what Paul made. Its a beast, heavy but balanced. All the arcane symbols are made from bronze and it has a live blade. It took ages to make but Paul did an excellent job using many refernce photos. You could believe a a man could take down a demon horde, holding this thing! If anyone wants to see more photos - let me know and I'll be happy to post them

 

[arctrooper]

hi. random question has anyone ever attempted a hunter costume???:love

 

[Sakara]

Huge Hellgate fan here too...id love to do a female Templar or Cabalist costume..the templar armour id try out of foam..ive seen some incredible foam armours made by cosplayers over the years. of course if i had the monies..id commission Terry English to make me a set!

 

[Baron]

Have any of you thought about using screencaps from the Hellgate:London video game?

 

[Sakara]

i have loads of images from the game, of course thing is each set of armour is uniquely customised to the character.

i adore a certain set of cabalist armour, which ive only seen in game. there is no artwork or promotion stills for it ..but it just looks awesome

if anyone wants any images here are my ref albums (password for any album sithhappens) ..of course most of my images are female , but there are some male refs there too
cabalist
Login to a private Photobucket.com album

Templar -
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Hunter-
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