CelticRuins
Sr Member
This is pretty much put together, except for tweaks.
So my bf and I met through LotR back in 2004. He was Legolas and I was Arwen. It was his very first costume, and it was store bought. Since then he's been through another one, bought through Museum Replicas.
The Museum Replicas one, though made out of an awesome, heavy weight suede, isn't too accurate. Especially in fit. My bf, Berg, is quite small around the middle. I figured I had to start fresh this past year, with lighter weight suede.
We commissioned the leather work, bow and arrows out to our friend who does leather work professionally. We had to wait until Dragon*con to get the bows and arrows.
The quiver is gorgeous! Completely made out of leather with plastic molds on the bottom and top. Our friend did a great job. He also did the strapping and the bracers.
The bracers were far too light and he didn't seem to have time to etch them the correct way. Since I have an etcher, I went at it. I also over died them to make them darker:
The tunic in this shot was half done, this was a wig test. A lace front that I died the roots too. The wig was too blonde, so I took a Prisma color permanent marker in the color Mocha, and darkened the roots. I'm still not happy with the unrealistic hair line. I'm currently in the works of buying french lace and a hair knotting kit. I'll be applying a realistic elven hair line here, fairly soon, to the per-existing wig. Especially since the hair is crucial to completing the look.
Here's the leather test:
Might I add we went for the museum fabric color choice. Due to the digitally enhanced film, everything was overly green. His tunic is more olive/taupe.
The boots are cut down from existing flat boots. I chopped the tops off of them to make them ankle boots. I found some leather that I hand painted/dyed to match the boots.
The buckles weren't the correct buckles. I tried cold casting a few right before Dragon*con, but due to the time constraints, I was unable to fully do a weight test. They ended up breaking in the metal bar area at the con. Luckily I brought metal back ups that came with the kit and extra rivets to fix it. I'll be redoing the buckles correctly.
On top of the fact that I'll be making the actual under rig to this costume. As the "quiver straps" you see on Leggy's costume are completely for show. He had an under strap system that kept everything in place. Due to the weight of the arrows, knives, quiver, etc, it buckles the tunic HORRIBLY. I see why they used an under harness system.
You can see the full harness system in this video: LotR: TT LE - Rohan Cast Getting Dressed - YouTube
Here it is in the state it was at Dragon*con, with me as Arwen from FotR:
You can see the weight buckling the tunic. I'm getting rid of that right stat now!
The filigree wasn't added to the bow either. I figured I could do it, so I'm in the process of adding it as we speak. Our friend completely carved the base of the Lothlorien bow though. It's slightly thicker than it should be, but I'm fine with it. The shape of it is PERFECT.
I'm sculpting directly onto the bow. I'm gently peeling it off and casting it to add back onto the bow.
I'm slowly making this costume up to my high standards LOL. :facepalm It's far from perfect, I know, but it's going to take a while to even get it close!
More soon! Hoping to have the filigree completely carved and applied later tonight, to be painted with platinum paint.
So my bf and I met through LotR back in 2004. He was Legolas and I was Arwen. It was his very first costume, and it was store bought. Since then he's been through another one, bought through Museum Replicas.
The Museum Replicas one, though made out of an awesome, heavy weight suede, isn't too accurate. Especially in fit. My bf, Berg, is quite small around the middle. I figured I had to start fresh this past year, with lighter weight suede.
We commissioned the leather work, bow and arrows out to our friend who does leather work professionally. We had to wait until Dragon*con to get the bows and arrows.
The quiver is gorgeous! Completely made out of leather with plastic molds on the bottom and top. Our friend did a great job. He also did the strapping and the bracers.
The bracers were far too light and he didn't seem to have time to etch them the correct way. Since I have an etcher, I went at it. I also over died them to make them darker:
The tunic in this shot was half done, this was a wig test. A lace front that I died the roots too. The wig was too blonde, so I took a Prisma color permanent marker in the color Mocha, and darkened the roots. I'm still not happy with the unrealistic hair line. I'm currently in the works of buying french lace and a hair knotting kit. I'll be applying a realistic elven hair line here, fairly soon, to the per-existing wig. Especially since the hair is crucial to completing the look.
Here's the leather test:
Might I add we went for the museum fabric color choice. Due to the digitally enhanced film, everything was overly green. His tunic is more olive/taupe.
The boots are cut down from existing flat boots. I chopped the tops off of them to make them ankle boots. I found some leather that I hand painted/dyed to match the boots.
The buckles weren't the correct buckles. I tried cold casting a few right before Dragon*con, but due to the time constraints, I was unable to fully do a weight test. They ended up breaking in the metal bar area at the con. Luckily I brought metal back ups that came with the kit and extra rivets to fix it. I'll be redoing the buckles correctly.
On top of the fact that I'll be making the actual under rig to this costume. As the "quiver straps" you see on Leggy's costume are completely for show. He had an under strap system that kept everything in place. Due to the weight of the arrows, knives, quiver, etc, it buckles the tunic HORRIBLY. I see why they used an under harness system.
You can see the full harness system in this video: LotR: TT LE - Rohan Cast Getting Dressed - YouTube
Here it is in the state it was at Dragon*con, with me as Arwen from FotR:
You can see the weight buckling the tunic. I'm getting rid of that right stat now!
The filigree wasn't added to the bow either. I figured I could do it, so I'm in the process of adding it as we speak. Our friend completely carved the base of the Lothlorien bow though. It's slightly thicker than it should be, but I'm fine with it. The shape of it is PERFECT.
I'm sculpting directly onto the bow. I'm gently peeling it off and casting it to add back onto the bow.
I'm slowly making this costume up to my high standards LOL. :facepalm It's far from perfect, I know, but it's going to take a while to even get it close!
More soon! Hoping to have the filigree completely carved and applied later tonight, to be painted with platinum paint.
. The filigree is paper clay. Adheres to wood great! Just wet the surface first. 
