TDH Support of my Nazgul Build

So now that I sold my Fett, and I do miss it, but it was time to move on, what's a guy to do. The answer...scare the **** out of kids on Halloween. I've enlisted some of the prop makers here to help me with my Nazgul build. Christi aka Crazy4BobaFett (the best flightsuit maker around) has gathered all of the various textiles and is set to start on the layered cloaks in a couple of weeks. Seriously cool stuff. Exchanged MANY reference pix. Museum medieval armor maker in Maryland set to start armor shortly and many others parts - boots, scabbard, sword - in the works.

I know it's not SW, but I made so many good friends here, I thought there might be some interest. This thread will slowly unfold.

Also, I am pursuing a concurrent Nazgul build for my 6 year old. Kids are great!

Can't wait to see this

Nazguls are so cool. Kind of Boba Fetts from Lord of the Rings. Can't wait to see the final result.

Respect!

Very scary! Can't wait to see this... there's a ALOT of details in in the armor pieces... even just the hands and feet you see on screen.

This will be awesome! Love LOTR.

LOVE the nagul. Will be watching....

Wow. Cool. Always loved teh Nazgul. I recall seeing some of the behind the scenes footage stating that each costume required a ton of fabric. Good luck. Can't wait to see the photos.

Me too!!! =) Oh wait, LOL!!!

That sounds awesome, Can't wait to see it. :-)

Armory received the boots and gloved I shipped. He was impressed with the boots which makes me feel like I am off on the right foot. Some pix of the sword below. IT's a United Cutlery replica right out of the box. Got a pretty good price too at $180 new. Nice and heavy. Leather hilt wrapping. 4 feet long. The acid etching gives it a nice weathered feel, but I'll add a little more to give a bit of grime too. That's my 52" 6-year old who thinks this is way cool.

This should be very interesting, I can't wait to see some progress!

Awesome! I've seen a few of the Kropserkel Nazgul's a number of years back and they were extremely impressive. Can't wait to see yours all done!

Kropserkel is the man when it comes to the armor. I'm not planning on doing the armor that is covered by the robe, so just boot and gauntlet armor. The guy I have contracted makes full suits for museums at about $15k a pop, so it should be impressive. Also, I think Christi will raise the bar on the robe - trust me. It'll probably be a couple months before the next update with photos, but I will get an update out there.

Sounds like a cool project!

Ha! That is toooo funny!

I'm still digging myself out of the backed up sewing work pile from being without a machine for 5 weeks!!!
But... I am working on the pattern concept...
So, it is progressing. I am very excited about this project!!!

Egads! I need to pay more attention. I don't think I new you got rid of your Fett! (Granted, old age affected memory) That was one heck of a nice Fett. Did the suit go complete? And what of the Ammo Belt? Really, yours was my favorite. Did it find a good home?

I will be watching for those pics!!!

I know this is just a teaser, but Christi (crazy4bobafett) has secured and dyed all the various textiles. Now the SDCC is done, she is reviewing the movie and plans to start cutting and sewing in the next week or so.

Finally found a scabbard and belt maker on a budget I can afford. MOst people wanted $1000 - ouch!. Found a guy for $300 which was all there was left to spend on this project. Perfect!

Armor working but slow to progress. I'll post fabrication pictures when I have some.

This should be a good watch, can't wait to see more!

To be honest, I think the Nazguls were the only characters I saw in LOTR that I actually thought looked cool. Can't wait to see an accurate and very detailed costume!

Well with all that has been going on, this has been a steady but slow progression.
Been keeping Justin posted on its goings on...
So I figured an update is much needed here. =)
The robe is about complete. The sleeves were added this weekend and I am working on the hood atm.
Which has been an interesting build itself. It has quite a support structure assembled to it it. With a soft base attached to the robe, a middle structure and top piece which should encompass the long hood drape you see down the front. If it goes as I conceptualized it in my head. LOL
I hope by this weeks end it will go into the detail, distress weather stage!

The robe is now complete as well as the hood and accessories.
Now to sew his son's robe and do all the weathering and tattering on both!!!
This thing is heavy and massive!!!!
All of the fabric was used except for 1 yard of the gauze.

The scabbard and belt maker is progressing well. My guess is that he is well over half way done and also getting near the weathering phase. He I working from some reference museum pictures and an action figure. This past weekend we discussed a slight alteration to the scabbard attachment point at the belt. Seems the action figure depiction would not support the weight of the sword or be functional. I think the minor mod will not only be functional, but it will also look better.

Here is a link to some of his work. He is a super cool guy.

Tritonworks Custom Scabbards - Scabbards - Nautilus

Okay scabbard and belt are done! I'll post pix when it arrives. Robe is done (thanks Christi)! Again, I'll post pix when it arrives. Christi made the costume for a person that is 6' 3" and wearing football shoulder pads. It seems that nobody living under her roof fits that description in order model (lol). So now we're down to just the armor and final weathering of the costume as a whole (pieces have been individually weathered).

Here's a picture from Christi's contribution (crazy4bobafett).

Good gosh thats ALOT of fabric! Can't wait to see more pics!

And a couple more pix of outer robe from crazy4bobafett after some weathering. Inner robe and hood are separate.

Originally Posted by Astro Builder

Okay scabbard and belt are done! I'll post pix when it arrives. Robe is done (thanks Christi)! Again, I'll post pix when it arrives. Christi made the costume for a person that is 6' 3" and wearing football shoulder pads. It seems that nobody living under her roof fits that description in order model (lol). So now we're down to just the armor and final weathering of the costume as a whole (pieces have been individually weathered).

Here's a picture from Christi's contribution (crazy4bobafett).

LOL I wish I did actually have a body to put it on. I'd love to put this on someone and see how it looks!!! A hanger just isn't doing it for me. =)
Anyhow the heap in the picture is now tucked away into a shipping box and on its way home!
Glad to hear the other parts minus the armor....GGRRRR is on its way as well!
Let me know how it goes.

Scabbard is done! I will probably do some more "fine" weathering to tone down a few of the effects from the maker, but a pretty decent job I think.

Here is a picture of me in crazy4bobafett's creation (robes). Once the the belt and scabbard arrive (thursday), the costume should take on a leaner look as it will tighten the inner robes around the waist. It may be a few inches too long, but that is easily corrected and MUCH better to be too long than too short. The measurement were difficult to extract to a normal human form since I am wearing receiver-type shoulder pads to get the unnatural form. If the armor and scabbard turn out as good as the robes, it should be a memorable halloween.

And yes, I am still wearing my jamas and slippers under the robe.

Those robes look wicked sweet! And they look so comfy. I can't wait to see the costume with everything attached!

Looking good! All the hard work seems to pay off very well. I'm too eagerly awaiting to see the finished suit.

Okay - so now I am a little stressed. Still no armor. Robes are in transit after Christi took on the "fine" alterations. I did, however, finish weathering the stainless steel sword and scabbard this weekend. How do you like the blood soaked effect at the scabbard bottom. Hopefully I will have pictures of more parts by this weekend.

And we have gauntlets. The still need a little rust effect and need to be attached to the gloves, but we're starting to make progress. I tell you that this picture doesn't do them justice. The is HEAVY gauge steel and was heated and hammered out on an anvil. The rivets are old school blacksmith. Worth the wait.

Very nice bro! Keep us posted!

Wow, the materials cost alone on this must have been brutal. If you don't mind me asking, how many yds of cloth did those robes take? Incredible craftsmanship on both the robes and gauntlets by the way. I've done a bit of metalwork in the past and somebody put a LOT of work into those babies.

I think I recall Christi (crazy4boabfett) saying she used about 52 yards of fabric. It's heavy, real heavy. She is an amazing seamstress / costumer. After experiencing the quality of the Fett flight suit, I wouldn't have used anyone else for this project.

Also, I have been working on a mini-Nazgul for my 7 year old. I made his gauntlets from some AC duct scraps and left over paint from my Fett. It's not bad for a kid's costume in my opinion. Christi did my son's robe tool, but obviously on a much different budget. Below are pictures of my kis in his Nazgul glory and the budget kid's gaunts.

I still have some fit up to perform and leg and shin armor are lagging behind, but a friend snapped this picture of me this weekend for a test run. I made a 5" empty space head extension frame, so I am 6' 8" in this picture. I'll try to get some bter pictures out there this weekend, once I've worked out all the kinks.

This is truly a nice project. The weight of the robes and how they hang reflects both the movie costume as well as the unending suffering of the nine deceived into service of the dark lord. I can't wait to see this come to fruition!

Stunning work man!

I hope we will never meet on a dark alley at night... I'm sure you would scare me to death!

Awesome suit! Sooo... When we will see an armored horse too?

Looking good!...and **** that's a lot of fabric!

Well, Halloween has come and gone and I didn't quite make it. The shin and foot armor is still remaining, but I got enough of the costume together to terrify the neighborhood kids. I felt a little bad for the ones that cried (but only a little). Here's few pictures from the office.

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Dude, that's just... How... Yeah, I'm speechless. Incredible! Absolutely stunning! Just... Wow. More pics, please!

As a fellow LOTR fan I say good luck and can't wait to see the pics.

Well the costume is still incomplete, the armory has gone radio silence, and my company is moving me to Peru for a couple of years. Eventually this will get finished, but who knows when. Yesterday was foggy, so I snapped some photos in the field beside our house yesterday. A couple of joggers saw us in the field through fog, stopped at a distance to look, but did not get close, then turned around to job the other direction. Hilarious. Well done Christi, you know hit the mark when you can get that kind of reaction.

We followed it up by playing football in the Nazgul costumes. Ahhh, the little things in life like giving other people a chance to have a "what the @$%" moment.

Wicked!

Justin...all I can say is those pictures are tremendous! I love the effect the fog gave, amazing!
I think if I were the joggers I'd have done the same. =) Scary as Hell!
This was alot of fun to do, it was alot of fabric and a great time to create!
Thank you for the confidence in me to allow me the chance to do something so fun!
Anytime, anytime.
Peru??? really? You'll still keep in touch, right.

Awesome work, Justin....and kudos to crazy4BobaFett for her amazing robe-work. Although a Mando at heart, I'm going to build a Nazgul for the Hobbit premiere next year, and your build is quite an inspiration.

Through all of my research, I've noticed the biggest detail people miss is is the unnatural shoulder shape the Wraith's have....there's no appreciable 'neck' to the costume, just a smooth curve up to the top of the hood. A lot of folks have used football pads, but without that distinctive transition, they look like pumped-up Grim Reapers, Sith or Jedi.

My question for you (if you have web access in Peru), or crazy4, is to ask what you used for your headpiece framework, and if you have any photos of it you could share. I've heard a lot of folks describe how it works, but I have never actually seen any photos of how it's done.

Also, for crazy4...I know you make a living from your craft, and have your own personal patterns for this (so I'm not going to ask for "freebies", lol), but do you have any tips for us non-professional seamters for modifying a store-bought McCall's or Simplicity pattern, into Nazgul robes? I know it's about layers (5 is what I've read), but I'm not clear on the individual pieces that have to be made to achieve the effect.

Anything you guys could share would help tremendously.

Again, Justin....incredible costume!

Rob

Rob

Thank you for the kind words. This was one of those things much like Mojo's Dog collar. Where I knew what I wanted and how it should look but it came to fruition as it came together.
I do create alot of patterns, with this it was started from my standard jedi robe pattern I made about 15 years ago.
I was alot of fun to work on and really it was a ton of fabric! I know theres a pic somewhere, 8 bolts of fabric I think.
I ended up using 3 different textiles to achieve some texture and variance to the look.
Justin and I talked about the shoulder shape and the neck quite a bit. We both wanted the look you speak of.
He did go with football pads in the end and I built a separate hood piece for the shape of the head.
I wanted to avoid wire and ended up using hat buckram to build the base of the hood.

There basically is 3 robes in one if I remember correctly. I can't imagine 5!!!! The 3 is heavy enough I'm sure Justin would agree.

This is where I fail I don't note as I build and on a first time build I create and manipulate till the effect or desired look falls into place.

The base robe was a heavy black twill with a shirt yoke in the back and down sized sleeves to alleviate some bulk... but a full robe hem to give the fullness at the base.
If I remember I added in the other two robes into to the yoke opposed to making extra bulk at the neck with 3 robes.
The cowl or short cape is attached to the base robe. It was made from the gauze.
The second layer robe was a real nubby textured black hopsack linen and the outermost layer robe was the black gauze.
I believe I left the center and side seam on the two outer robes slit midway and not sewn to the hem.
The outermost sleeve layers were way over sized almost extreme (think of gandalfs sleeves sort of, longer at the back)and gathered up and actually cinched to the inner robe. I built in an adjustment for Justin on the inside to lengthen or shorten them to his desire.
The weathering is alot of shredding and paint. the shredding is hard to explain and almost needs to be shown to someone. =P sorry that isn't much help I know. There is a very old look to the edges like rotten fabric.
I padded the edge of the hat buckram on the hood base with cotton batting and covered it in the linen fabric to give it the roll edge and then there was an overhang of fabric from the hood itself that was also very oversized.

The outer hood was cut to drape down into the neck of the robe and blend and disappear into the robe, almost like an A-line haircut hangs, that's the hairdresser in me...lol
There is also the scarf like piece that hangs down in the front, which is over the hood & drapes down the back making the second layer on the cowl, over the shoulder then down the front making that scarf look. Which is essentially two big rectangles.
I just took a long maybe 4 yards length and the width of the gauze and sewed in the two lengths creating the rectangular bottom edges and the rest just drapes over the top of the hood.
You can start with either of those patterns I'm sure and work at oversizing almost everything. Widening and lengthening the hood and sleeves.
All the edges of the textiles are left raw.
Most important is to prewash everything.... but the gauze, cause it shrinks like crazy.
The robe hem I utilize the entire 60 inch width for each panel, so you end up with appx 237 inches or so at the hem.

If I can offer an other help, lmk. I don't know if this is of any help.
I'm all over the place with recalling the build.
pm me here email me at thejediscloset@yahoo.com
Christi

^ and that's why I keep saying she is the best there is.

Thanks Nate, so apparently that made sense right?

Wow...that is simply amazing...that's a GREAT description!

Sorry for the late reply; real life and my job has been robbing me of my time lately, but I haven't forgotten about your post. And I want to reiterate how thankful I am that you share this with me...it will help IMMENSELY with my Nazgul build.

I'm going to design a set of pattern for the robes, based on your data, before I get started with the build; being a draftsman in real-life, it's ingrained in me to build it on paper first, lol.

I've ordered a UC Ringwraith sword off of eBay, and found a pair of baggy cotton, double-warp basket weave black pants that will be perfect for an undersuit (at the local Goodwill, to boot). I'm doing some research to find an articulated Gothic gauntlet pattern, so I can make those myself, and will be hitting the fabric store this weekend for more black fabric. I've also designed a hood framework for the cowl, to give it the proper shape, that I will be building out of Sintra.

I'm on my way!

Rob

Great that it was of help to you Rob.

I know life tends to deter us a bit from the things we love to do for fun.
Sounds like your off to a good start, I know nothing of the armor details. I went into making this costume blind all the details and specs were foreign.

If I can help in any other way just let me know.
Christi

Thanks, Christi....I'm sure when I get to the part of assembling the robes, I may have to ask a question or two!
Rob

Love it , nice work and you can always wear it to the opening of the Hobbit !

Originally Posted by Astro Builder

Rob,

Sorry I am just now getting back to you. Life has been "transitional." My move to Peru was ended suddenly in the middle of transition. Now I am in Denver, but all my stuff is in storage in Oregon until we close on a house in June. If you can wait until early July, i can send pictures. I used shoulder pads and it you position the robes Christy made correctly, you get the effect are talking about. My wife tries, but those types of details are just not in her. For the shoulder pads I used wide receiver shoulder pads, removed the pads that actually covers the shoulder, and used a size for a smaller player. This way you avoid the grim reaper on steroids effect. Bought them used in EBay for about $20. They smell, but so do I under the weight of that fabric. For the head, i used a hardhat harness and some plumbers metal straps. Literally took less than an hour to make and that way the head turns with my head, but you can see into a void of nothing, Again, give me a couple months to get my stuff and I'll post some photos.

Hey Astro...thanks for the response, and the excellent info. I would love to see the photos when you get settled in, because I understand your situation, and you've gotta take care of that first!

I'm gearing up for Celebration 6 in Orlando myself, so Star Wars costuming is taking precedence over the Nazgul costuming at the moment....once that is out of the way, I'm going to turn my attention back to the LOTR project!

Rob

Really? =(

Christi - It's sort of a maybe. I haven't had any serious offers and i was on the fence anyway, so I may just hang onto it a while longer. I don't think you ever saw the short video a made with my son the mini-Nazgul. Below is the link for your enjoyment.

https://vimeo.com/52694759