The Mighty Thor

[StormTheGates]

Hello everyone, been a bit of a lurker here for a while but I've finally got round to getting something together so I thought I'd post it up. There's not a whole lot of building involved for this, it mostly involves repurposing stuff I already had, or improving upon other props available to buy. This is a costume that's been through several revisions over the years, but they've all be a bit lacklustre so I'm splashing out a bit for this one to really get it right. Key thing to bear in mind with this costume is that I never intended it to be based on a specific version of Thor, but rather it draws parts that I liked from various incarnations over the years to make something custom and a little unique, with the leather LARP armour and arm guards giving it a bit more of of a fantasy/Viking feel than the more sci-fi costumes of the recent films.



This is what I still have to do for this costume before it is "finished" (are they ever really finished?):

• Official movie replica (the costume one, not the £££s display ones) is on it's way to me in the post. I expect that will need some repainting and possible filling with expanding foam, depending on how well it's made.
• Make a brass/gold N shape (it's an Uruz or Ur rune) belt buckle out of something sturdy, the one in the image above is just a foamcore placeholder to get the size right.
• Get some appropriate boots. Been thinking of getting a pair of New Rocks (the big goth boots AKA jolly boots of doom) to use for this and some future costumes. I had a pair years ago that I used for the first version of this costume before they broke, the greaves I have laced into them neatly.
• Possibly repaint the helm. I'd really like to give the helm a deeper, more iron like appearance with some darker shading around the joins and recessed areas.
• Make a new cape. The old one was quite short, thin and not hemmed very well and looks a bit worse for wear now. I've got the material for the new one already (it's under the helm in the photo above) I just need to figure out the best way of sewing in the shape I want it to hold to give it that permanently arched look that it has in the films and comics rather than just resting flat on my shoulders.
• Find a way of attaching two more similar round belt buckles further down on the armour and a little closer together in a way that they can't be easily ripped out or otherwise ruin the rather expensive leather LARP armour, but are still flat to it.
• Make some segmented arm and leg armour. I have a long sleeve top which comes down well below the armour I can turn into a split tunic with the metal plates along the arms. I've not yet decided exactly how I want to do the arm segments yet. I was originally going to make some plastic scalemail held together with metal chainmail but I think that'll take too long, and would heavily restrict movement in the arms. I'm going to experiment with this stuff : http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1YXKMDHQMAZKQ as well as with attaching foam squares to see what looks best.
• I've not decided yet whether I want to attach that same segmented armour to the trousers as well, or what trousers to use if not. Jeans just look a bit lame but leather trousers would probably be a bit much.

Look forward to hearing what you guys think or if you think of different ways to achieve good results here

Cheers,

Mike

P.S. This is the costume as it was in 2010, with a Mjolnir replica I made myself, but has since been broken and thus thrown away (my friends head was harder than it looked). It lacks tunic, arm armour, belt, silver discs on the armour and the trousers are too baggy.

 

[StormTheGates]

Finished Mjolnir! Learned a lot from this build. Hope to build an even better one in the future using what I've learned. I'll need a better workspace and materials to make it from so it'll be a few years away I think.

 

[Il Princerino]

looking good man, I too have plans to make a more viking-like/"realistic' Thor costume

 

[Ikras]

Looking good, how did you go about making the hammer? Is foam based or what? Designs round the edge look good too.

 

[StormTheGates]

Looking good, how did you go about making the hammer? Is foam based or what? Designs round the edge look good too.

Cheers. It's a toy I bought online, filled with expanding foam. I cut a hole through the foam to the top of the hammer and replaced the handle with a solid oak dowel, which I then wrapped in hide leather. The head was painted with acrylic paints from Games Workshop.

I've just started a new project to 3D print a Mjolnir kit if you're interested in following that here: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=240900

 

[StormTheGates]

It's taken me a few months but I've finally got around to putting most of the costume together. There's still work to do on the graves and vambraces but It's really coming together. Pretty happy with where it is right now, still more work to do on the greaves and vambraces. I also can decide if I want to bother with a helmet or not. I'm not sure the massive replica helm I currently own would really go with it. Will see if there's time before Brighton Film and Comic Con to make something that suits.



Maille armour is real steel, 6-in-1 so quite tightly knit.



The cape is just a single sheet of red fabric sewn and folded several times, with pockets made on the shoulders for internal aluminium pauldrons to sit so it holds a wider, rounder shape.



The belt is just a cheap brown leather belt I picked up in a local market. The Uruz rune is 3D printed, and attached to the belt with small bolts so it can be removed and swapped out for a more metallic looking one in the future.



Next thing to do is to hem the edges of some more red fabric and attach it to the vambraces to cover the bit painted red.



Also need to attach some lighter brown leather straps to the greaves.



I'd also really like to make Mjolnir look more metallic, it looks quite plasticy at the moment.

Reference for the costume. I've combined elements from a few different versions as well as adding my own spin to it.