Witch King of Angmar (WIP)

[RamonvanVeghel]

Hey all, in the meantime I have finished my second version of the sabatons.

I never posted these, but the V1 sabatons are actually the very first thing I created for this costume and are my very first foam creation ever!

However looking back at them, I am not satisfied with their shape at all, and the fact I used real rivets (which I have replaced with chicago screws now for other parts) causes the foam to compress way too much. I think subconciously realized this because I never actually finished them. I also got some different boots so I had to redo the sabatons anyway.

For the new ones I decided on a single ridge and adding a toe spike. I measured the circumference of top of the boot down to the sole and used that for the template sizing.

I think they turned out pretty well. Could've been a bit better, I was actually hoping they would cover sole a bit more, but atleast this way they won't easily touch the ground.

I notice that I can spend and endless time tweaking the shape, but never really being truly happy with it. Playing with the idea of remaking 2 of the parts for these ( part 2 and 3, counting from the toe piece ) again. But like I said, I could go on endlessly but never be 100% happy so maybe I should call it and continue with the rest of the build?



Oh, and for those wondering why I'm not painting any of the previous pieces yet aside from the helmet, I actually plan on plastidipping and painting every part at the same time. Seems more efficient that way to me!
Nearly there for the armor though, what remains to be made are the greaves and arm pieces (the elbow flare thing and vambrace)

 

[RamonvanVeghel]

Updated the second piece of the sabatons counting from the toe, it was too small and flows better with the other parts now imo.
Also did a short walk around test and noticed the toe spike was too low to the ground so I sanded that down a bit.



Next part: leg armor (greaves and cuisses if I'm correct?)

I measured the circumference of my leg and took about 70% of that to find my desired width, did that for calf & thigh and drew it out on paper. I had most trouble with the shin guard. I think it's a bit teller in references I've seen, but the top part of the shin guard is covered by those segmented plates anyway, so I made it a bit lower ( aboout 3/4 up my shin).



I think it turned out well and curious to see how it'll fit and if it will move well when all the parts are attached when I have made them out of eva foam. Definitely the most complicated part I have made so far!

 

[RamonvanVeghel]

Cut the patterns and a really quick test fit

 

[joberg]

^^
Really great workmanship Sir

 

[Gazcrowbar]

This all looks so good. I recently completed my own version but far more amateurish and with a lot of revisions. I have written it up here if interested: Becoming the Witch-king

I used the strong "industrial" velcro to hold the pauldrons to my shoulders so there was no straps visible and they held up really well.

 

[RamonvanVeghel]

This all looks so good. I recently completed my own version but far more amateurish and with a lot of revisions. I have written it up here if interested: Becoming the Witch-king

I used the strong "industrial" velcro to hold the pauldrons to my shoulders so there was no straps visible and they held up really well.

Thank you man! I definitely take my time with it though, the helmet took me ages to get right haha. I checked out your blog and the first 2 paragraphs could've been written by me. I also first watched the movie on VHS around that age and now, 20 years later, finally attempting to build a costume of one of the great villains of these movies!
How cool that you had a picture with Miranda Otto btw!

I did do alot of research before and during the build and I noticed a lot of similar looking witch king helmets. They're not all the same but I see a lot of Punished Props template helmets and ones that are 3D printed. They look great, don't get me wrong, but I feel like when I go that route it wouldn't be truly my own or unique. So I sculpted the helmet from reference pics, which was a nightmare to be honest.

 

[RamonvanVeghel]

Update on the greaves & cuisses:

Had some trouble with the sizing.. even though I measured, the entire template was too short so it didn't fit my leg fully. Either it was way too high up my shin, or it was too low on the upper leg when pulled down so the greave sat correctly just above the sabaton and shoe.
Some cursing later I realized I could maybe fix this without having to redo everything, by simply adding 2 more segmented parts, for thigh and shin.
So I added part 1,5 between parts 1 and 2 and part 12,5 between part 12 and 13 and it definitely helped lengthen it enough in my opinion.

I'm not 100% sure about how much a 'half' greave (front only) should wrap around ones leg, but I think it looks good enough right now so I won't have to redo it. Thankfully!

It looks a bit wide because I still need to heat form the curves a bit more to wrap around my leg.

 

[RamonvanVeghel]

I finished both greaves and redid the poleyns (the knee parts ) because I felt I could make them better.
They're 4 parts glued together with contact cement now, so it forms more of a half dome shape and is less flat than before.
I also glued eva foam strips which were left over from cutting from the back of the ridges, to the front of the ridges, for a more 3D look, same as I did for the pauldrons.
I still have to cover the strips with kwik e filler to smooth the ridges out and sand all the parts on a 45 degree angle, to make the foam look thinner. Also planning on doing the same texturing as for the helmet and pauldrons on these and all the rest of the parts where possible.

 

[RamonvanVeghel]

I have made leather straps and did some filling of the ridges with kwik e filler.
Waiting on an order for the other side because I ran out of leather.
Very happy with these results, it looks so much better fitted tightly against the leg, and it is quite comfortable to wear. It is also articulate enough that I can do a squat, albeit with some tightness from the straps around the knee area.
Hopefully that will be less of an issue when wearing long pants lol.

 

[RamonvanVeghel]

Hey all,

I took a bit of a break for a couple of weeks but I have started working on the build again.
In the meantime I have textured both greaves and added some side panels to the sabatons for better coverage. I have also textured these sabatons already but that's not in the picture. Same for the gauntlets (texturing & finishing). I'm nearing the point where I can start priming and painting all the parts (aside from the helmet). So in a couple of weeks if everything goes well I should have everything primed & painted!

 

[Dr Jones Sr]

"For convenience at Cons I also got a pouch like the one below:"


I'm glad you mentioned that!

Being that I'm a mere cosplayer (and not interested in props or costumes that exist for display purposes only) I'm always thinking about the practical things like

-comfortable shoes
-costume not too hot
-costume and props durable enough to get bashed about
-places to carry stuff

How I envy those Indiana Jones cosplayers with their gas mask bags!

For my Ser Barristan Selmy I got a Mediaeval pouch much like yours. My Dr John Hammond trousers came with only one pocket, I sewed on three more (they're hidden under the shirt).

 

[RamonvanVeghel]

"For convenience at Cons I also got a pouch like the one below:"


I'm glad you mentioned that!

Being that I'm a mere cosplayer (and not interested in props or costumes that exist for display purposes only) I'm always thinking about the practical things like

-comfortable shoes
-costume not too hot
-costume and props durable enough to get bashed about
-places to carry stuff

How I envy those Indiana Jones cosplayers with their gas mask bags!

For my Ser Barristan Selmy I got a Mediaeval pouch much like yours. My Dr John Hammond trousers came with only one pocket, I sewed on three more (they're hidden under the shirt).

Practicality seems to be forgotten sometimes and I would like to be prepared for such things haha. Only the costume not being too hot part will be hard to achieve with all these layers!

 

[RamonvanVeghel]

I made some pictures of the textured sabatons and gauntlets for you guys, they are pretty much finished, only have to atttach the gauntlets finger lames to my leather gloves and add some velcro to the glove for the back of arm plate.

I added some nylon straps to 2 of the gauntlets plates because they were catching on each other and getting stuck when bending my palm. This definitely fixed that problem.

I also took some pictures of the lifts I made. They are pretty comfortable, only the top of my feet are still a bit tight but I think I can heat the leather of the shoes abit more to make room. I have size 46 eu shoes while my own size is eu 44 so I had some extra room in them for the lifts.

I'm about 193 cm tall which is 6"4 i think? With the shoes & lifts. With the helmet and the 'fake top of head' added I think I easily reach 2 meters (6"7?) Without even counting the large helmet spike.

 

[JamesM242]

Looking good! It is coming together nicely! Thanks for the continued updates - I enjoy following your progress.

 

[RamonvanVeghel]

Looking good! It is coming together nicely! Thanks for the continued updates - I enjoy following your progress.

Thanks for following and always good to hear that someone is enjoying the process. I had some ups and downs during the build due to some work & mental health stuff, as well as neighbours not always appreciating noise ( even though the complaints are unfounded imo). So it is always good to get back some positive feedback to counter the negativity I sometimes had to deal with.

 

[joberg]

Your neighbors are jealous of your cool workmanship