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September 6, 2013

The Hobbit: Thorin Oakenshield Boot Caps

Another Thorin Oakenshield costume accessory I determined I could also do was his boot caps. Fortunately, there’s a good image of them available online.

Thorin Oakenshield boot caps from promotional photos

Because I would again be making these accessories for Oneal, who’s several thousand miles away, I asked him to take comprehensive measurements of his boots to where the caps would attach. He was quick to illustrate his numbers.

Thorin Oakenshield boot caps measurements

Thorin Oakenshield boot caps measurements

Based on Oneal’s measurements, I came up with a paper pattern of what I figured would be the best way to execute the angular forms of the toe tips. There would be a two-section top panel, and a four-section side-to-side panel with tabs to glue the top panel on.

Thorin Oakenshield boot caps cardboard and foam

The caps would be made out of a type of cardboard called chipboard – the kind used as backing for sketch pads. I’ll cut the dwarven designs from craft foam, glue them onto the chipboard, and paint the caps to look just like in the movie. It was relatively straightforward.

Thorin Oakenshield boot caps cardboard and foam

Thorin Oakenshield boot caps cardboard and foam

I added a tiny strip of foam along the outer edges and gave the chipboard a base paint of light brown. Then I superglued the cutouts in place.

Thorin Oakenshield boot caps cardboard and foam

Thorin Oakenshield boot caps cardboard and foam

This is how the caps looked on my husband’s biker boots (two sizes bigger than Oneal’s) before the painting phase.

Thorin Oakenshield boot caps cardboard and foam

I used a combination of gold, silver, bronze, and black acrylic paints to give the caps the semi-metallic weathered look.

Thorin Oakenshield boot caps cardboard and foam - painted

Thorin Oakenshield boot caps cardboard and foam - painted


Not bad. I’m a little uncomfortable though, at how the caps look a little too shiny compared to the movie version. I told Oneal to maybe add another layer of matte brown and some more weathering (maybe beat them up some) to make them not look like they came from Lord Elrond.

8 comments:

  1. Hi Would you Link or E-Mail the paper pattern that you designed?

    :-)

    Realy good work best wishes from Germany

    ReplyDelete
  2. (Hmm something strange with this website)

    Hi,

    would you send the paper pattern you created to other people?

    Best wishes from Germany
    Keep up the excelent work!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, the pattern would depend on the size of the shoe. You will have to get the measurements of your shoe and "guess"timate the dimensions of the geometric patterns. The shapes are clear on the photos, so you can derive your design from there. Hope that helps.
    -Ruby

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for posting this tutorial I have just finished cutting out my card board, everything looks great....for my Dwarven Tux for my wedding...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations, Mike Brown! I'm glad my tutorial has been helpful. Have a grand wedding! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm curious...how did you attach the cap to the boot?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jeremy, Thorin here. I just used two small strips of soft velcro attached to the boots on each side of the toes and then hard velcro on the inside of the toe caps. That way I can still use the boots for other costumes

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