Legolas and Tauriel: Desolation of Smaug
- Thread starter CelticRuins
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CelticRuins
Sr Member
Your hard work on these costumes and the passion you put into it is so obvious; they turned out spectacular! It's great to see the in progress photos and just what you're doing to make these come to life.
I can't wait to see the photoshoot pix and I have to ask, these are coming to NZ with you, right? For a photo shoot there??? on location???I wonder if you guys could find the exact river from the trailer...
*big hugs* Thank you! I'm still working on them, especially Tauriel, as the accuracy is based on that of an action figure -_-. That new pic that came out while we were at DCon already proved I embroidered my spats wrong. I was expecting that though
!And oh geez, we want to bring them with us, badly! Unfortunately alot of the locations are in the South Island, which we won't be able to get to this trip, unless by another miracle! We will be going to Hobbiton, of course, Rivendell and the Paths of the Dead. Alot of the places down there are just as beautiful, and there are places in the North Island that are near identical to the South Island, so we'll see what we can do!
Has anyone ever sent props/weapons over seas to another hotel?? I'm VERY worried about TSA and our prop bows/knives. We may have to leave those at home and just have a photoshoot down there without any props
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LOL! Thank you...I'm gonna replace it with "costuming" as the word cosplay still makes me cringe -_-...but I am not a hero of either...just here to learn and have fun!
Emmabellish
Active Member
I could be wrong, but I think airports are supposed to have a special place where TSA can check your luggage with you present, specifically because of fragile things.
CelticRuins
Sr Member
Still tweaking these! Started by getting a new, MUCH longer wig for Tauriel, making a brand new lace front for both Tauriel and Legolas and making the Mirkwood quiver and the Tauriel knives.
Also slightly redid the Tauriel quiver.
Started out by crafting the knives from balsa wood. Knew that it was gonna splinter, but figured out how to cut it with a very sharp exacto knife, to stop the splintering. Cut the holes out with a wood burner with a knife extension. Attached the blades to cut out EVA foam, and then sculpted the detailing on the hilts with a dremel.
They'll do until I can buy the actual ones
The wig was the next monstrosity. Though Arda wigs just came out with a "Tauriel" wig, I had already hand ventilated my own and combined my old wig with a new extra long wig. Boil-curling the ends.
Still want to tweak the braiding, but since this wig almost a week to complete...happy with it for now!
Redid the quiver to be more accurate. Figured out it was green, not silver/gold. Thanks inaccurate action figure :|. Also reflecthed my arrows and hand dyed the feathers!
Made some Mirkwood arrows too...(not pictured), here's the Legolas quiver made from foam and leather:
Completely redid the Legolas wig's hairline. Progress picture:
Finished pictures coming! We leave for New Zealand next Friday and these two costumes are coming with us!
Also slightly redid the Tauriel quiver.
Started out by crafting the knives from balsa wood. Knew that it was gonna splinter, but figured out how to cut it with a very sharp exacto knife, to stop the splintering. Cut the holes out with a wood burner with a knife extension. Attached the blades to cut out EVA foam, and then sculpted the detailing on the hilts with a dremel.
They'll do until I can buy the actual ones
The wig was the next monstrosity. Though Arda wigs just came out with a "Tauriel" wig, I had already hand ventilated my own and combined my old wig with a new extra long wig. Boil-curling the ends.
Still want to tweak the braiding, but since this wig almost a week to complete...happy with it for now
!
Redid the quiver to be more accurate. Figured out it was green, not silver/gold. Thanks inaccurate action figure :|. Also reflecthed my arrows and hand dyed the feathers!
Made some Mirkwood arrows too...(not pictured), here's the Legolas quiver made from foam and leather:
Completely redid the Legolas wig's hairline. Progress picture:
Finished pictures coming!
We leave for New Zealand next Friday and these two costumes are coming with us!
Darth Mule
Sr Member
Wow! Why am I just now seeing this? Very cool! And the new wig looks amazing!
You also visited the Tandy near me. Didn't realize you were in the "area."
You also visited the Tandy near me. Didn't realize you were in the "area."
alpha bookworm
New Member
Did you use a heat gun to mold the PVC for the bow? If so, where can I get one. I'm working on an elf right now and the bow's been the one thing I've had a bit of trouble figuring out how to construct.
CelticRuins
Sr Member
My wig is actually 2 wigs I found on Ebay, that I sewed together and heavily altered. My original wig was too dark of a red and not long enough, though it was a lace front I had already ventilated to create a widows peak. So I found an extra long, lighter ginger wig on Ebay, and pieced the darker into the lighter to create dimension. The longer wig, also wasn't a lace front, so I had to sew lace into it and then reventilate it.
The Arda wig would be a good alternative, but I'd recommend darkening the roots, as the color they have for her hair color, would look to fake without any color dimension to it.
I got a cheap heat gun at Harbor Freight. Though I'd recommend getting a slightly better quality one, as mine burned up after only a few months of use.
Thanks Darth and Anduril!
We just came back from New Zealand last Monday, and we road back on the Smaug plane!
Since we landed in the morning, we were able to attend the LA premiere of Desolation...which ended up being quite the cluster...but I've bitched about that enough lol...We didn't get to meet Orlando
...but Evie, Aidan, Richard, Luke and Stephen Frye all stopped by!We look so tired here lol...after a nearly 12 hour flight with a screaming baby a few rows up -_-...I have no idea how we're even standing.
Our friend Janette (Jathoris on here), got a pic as Thorin with Richard,
I took Tauriel on the Tongariro crossing, on the foothills of Mt. Ruapehu, while we were on the North Island of NZ!
Still tweaking stuff though...Berg left his Mirkwood arrow in Hobbiton while we were there ><!! So I have to remake that...and there's tons of tiny fixes I need to make, but I'm pretty pleased with everything, despite not having a whole lotta reference shots!
Bexly449
New Member
WOW, just WOW.
To be honest I wasn't that keen on the idea of a new elf character being created for the next Hobbit film, but Tauriel has grown on me and this insane attention to detail and costume reconstruction, is just amazing! ITS SO COOL!!!
Your Work is amazing, its phenomenal!
I Just have one question, which very much might be a silly question to ask, but as I'm fairly new to the world of cosplay, I would like to know:
When you say you 'Boil curled' the ends of the wig, does that literally mean you put it in curlers then into boiling water??
To be honest I wasn't that keen on the idea of a new elf character being created for the next Hobbit film, but Tauriel has grown on me and this insane attention to detail and costume reconstruction, is just amazing! ITS SO COOL!!!
Your Work is amazing, its phenomenal!
I Just have one question, which very much might be a silly question to ask, but as I'm fairly new to the world of cosplay, I would like to know:
When you say you 'Boil curled' the ends of the wig, does that literally mean you put it in curlers then into boiling water??
You always make amazing stuff. Both costumes look amazing, well done.
CelticRuins
Sr Member
Thank you! And yep, that does mean using boiling water. It sets the synthetic fibers. But I recommend also purchasing wig conditioner, as it needs to be tamed back down sometimes. And curling can cause extra tangling. Trust me on that -_-...
Thanks James!
CelticRuins
Sr Member
Glad you guys had fun in New Zealand, missed you both by about a week. I just got back from there myself yesterday but lucky for me it's just a 3 and a half hour flight back to Australia
You lucky duck -_-!
And aww man! Wish we could have hung out! One of these days we'll be down in Australia, as my mom is from the Sydney area, and all my relatives still live there!
Sephirayne
New Member
Yay! Found you on here ^_^. Always great to see your progress. I adore your Tauriel costume. Love seeing new photos of it.
CelticRuins
Sr Member
I didn't want to start a new build thread, as it's the same character...so I'll just add that I'm making the suede tunic that Legolas wears to Lake-Town!
I'm starting off with all the leather bits and the props. I took the Rubies plastic Orcrist and made it look more realistic. I have a tutorial on how to do that here: Celtic Ruins Designs, Repainting the Rubies Orcrist We knew we were...
Before:
After:
I patterned out the vambraces, based on the ones that WETA are selling...I'm just not paying $200 for something I could make lol.
I still don't understand that shape...it's like a run over starfish.
In-progress pic, tooling the bracer
Complete:
And the belt:
The belt is since dyed, I just need to add photos of it.
I made the sheath to Orcrist as well and was going to do a tutorial of putting it together, but ended up deleting all my progress pictures :|. Anyway, it's made from wood, foam resin and air drying clay.
Right now I have all the buckles to this costume drawn up. I'd really love to get them cast in metal. But I have resin as a back up. Not my favorite idea, but I don't have the facilities to cast in metal at the moment.
More later!
I'm starting off with all the leather bits and the props. I took the Rubies plastic Orcrist and made it look more realistic. I have a tutorial on how to do that here: Celtic Ruins Designs, Repainting the Rubies Orcrist We knew we were...
Before:
After:
I patterned out the vambraces, based on the ones that WETA are selling...I'm just not paying $200 for something I could make lol.
I still don't understand that shape...it's like a run over starfish.
In-progress pic, tooling the bracer
Complete:
And the belt:
The belt is since dyed, I just need to add photos of it.
I made the sheath to Orcrist as well and was going to do a tutorial of putting it together, but ended up deleting all my progress pictures :|. Anyway, it's made from wood, foam resin and air drying clay.
Right now I have all the buckles to this costume drawn up. I'd really love to get them cast in metal. But I have resin as a back up. Not my favorite idea, but I don't have the facilities to cast in metal at the moment.
More later!
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