December 8, 2012

Hobbit Costume Tutorial – Finished Thorin Scalemail

If you are joining us just now, here are my previous tutorials covering the phases of the creation of Thorin's scalemail armor:
1.       Hobbit Armor Costume Scale Mail Tutorial – Clay Scale




Finally, it’s time to show photos of the completed Thorin armor shirt.


First, an inventory photo of the handmade scales prior to attachment to the shirt. I made a total of 434 polymer clay scales, not including the trials and errors. For Thorin alone, that’s 116 for the sleeves, 110 for the breastplate, 98 for the thighs and belt. The rest are for Kili’s collar, baldric, and vambrace.
More than 400 armor scales produced.


Then, here are some production photos I did not include in the previous tutorials:


Gluing the scales on Thorin's sleeves.

Thorin's armor sleeves ready for assembly.

Trying on Thorin's scalemail armor sleeves.

Aligning the scales for Thorin's scalemail breastplate.

Front panel of Thorin's scalemail armor.

Closeup of Thorin Oakenshield's scalemail armor.

Added a smiley button to humor Oneal.

The completed Thorin Oakenshield scalemail armor shirt.


And here's Oneal wearing the armor the night it arrived in Manila:

Oneal Rosero (as Thorin Oakenshield) trying on the scalemail armor.



Yesterday, Oneal wore his Thorin character in a Geekfight event where his team won!



Thorin and the dwarves will make their grand appearance at the premiere of The Hobbit on December 14th. I will add photos here as they become available.

P.S. At the premiere:
Oneal and friends at the Hobbit premiere in Manila.

19 comments:

Claudia said...

Thank you very much! I needed it :)

Unknown said...

Would you be willing to make one of those for me. Because that is just soooooo amazing.

ruby said...

Thanks, Jason. Email me and we'll talk.

Unknown said...

I tried going to your profile, and clicking the email button, but nothing happened.

Unknown said...

where did you get the material from for thorin clothes and tunic

ruby said...

I sourced the armor vest, which is fleece, from JoAnn Crafts in Florida. The wearer sourced the other materials from the local stores in Manila.

THE WRAITH said...

hello I was also wondering if you could make one for me as well, but email button didn't seem to work for me neither, hope you can get this message, thanks

ruby said...

Hi The Wraith, please email me at rubybayan@gmail.com.

cabe said...

i know you probably hear this a lot but could you make me one. i want to be thorin oakenshield for halloween and i was wondering since you are in orland if you can get it made and up to north carolina by halloween if so how much will it cost

ruby said...

Hi Cabe, yes, there have been a number of inquiries, but as I have responded to all of them, I am not in the position to do commission work right now. Also, the Thorin costume is very intricate and requires a lot of time and effort. I wish I could help but the most I can do now is be here to answer questions about the tutorials I shared on my blog. Happy Halloween!

Unknown said...

I was wondering if you purchased the clay in mass amounts instead o the little 2 oz packages and if so, where did you find them? None of my craft stores carry packages of any more than a pound, and none of it is grey.

ruby said...

Hi Hannah. I did use the small packs because I never found any gray/silver in bigger quantities. So, ye, I used quite a lot of them.

But here's a tip: you can mix a different colored clay (maybe black or translucent that's available cheaper in larger blocks) for the back side (unseen) of the scale. A thin layer of silver on top would suffice. ;)

Unknown said...

Thanks for your quick answer! Also, for the glue do you think tat E6000 would work in terms of strength?

ruby said...

Hannah, E6000 should be good in terms of strength. The only reason I choose Krazy Glue is it dries instantly. :)

onebeartoe said...

This costume is really cool. Good work!

Unknown said...

hi--i was wondering if you had a sewing pattern for the tunic that you created to glue the scales to? I've been searching online looking for "chainmail pattern" for just the underlying thing, but can't find anything ):

ruby said...

Hi Cristina, don't laugh but I used a V-neck t-shirt as a pattern. Oneal, the wearer, said that an XL t-shirt will be just right for the armor vest because he will be wearing a blue long-sleeved undershirt under it. So I took an XL t-shirt's measurements and cut open the back side, where the toggles would be attached. Then I added the flaps that would cover the thigh area. Hope that helps. :)

Joni said...

Hi Ruby,
My son and I are attempting to make the scales for this costume, as he wants to dress as Thorin for Halloween. Would you please tell me what tool you used to make the raised markings in the center of the largest of the scalemail, and what you used for the raised borders of the scales? We'd be so appreciative. Thank you!

ruby said...

Hi Joni,

Please check out this link:
http://learn-something-new.blogspot.com/2012/10/hobbit-armor-costume-scale-mail.html

It shows how I made the scales using polymer clay. I didn't use any specific tool other than my fingers and maybe a shaping knife to help form the design.

Good luck with your project.