Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess: Iron Boots

by drakeschaefer in Craft > Costumes & Cosplay

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Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess: Iron Boots

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Hello everyone! I want to get two things out of the way right off the bat.
#1- this is my first instructable, so I apologize if it isn't to a great standard of helpfulness.
#2- this isn't a complete instructable (yet!) so any advice, or suggestions you guys have, will be greatly appreciated. And of course, you will be acknowledged for helping out, that being side, let's get started!

Materials

As of now:
1/2 thick pieces of wood (slightly larger than your feet)
Polycarbonate shield (see step 4)
Small brass door style hinge

Design

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(Sorry for reusing the picture) as you can see, the design of the boots is a very blocky, bulky design. Now, I would love to take a 3d model of the boots from the game, and work with that, but, even if I scaled it, to my feet, Link isn't proportional to a real human. Plus, the challenge makes it more fun :)

Sole

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This is the heart and sole (sadly, the jokes don't get any better) of this build. This is where all the weight of the build will rest upon, so it's best to get a wood that is strong, and thicken enough to support you. I started by taping two pieces of paper together, in order to get a piece big enough for my feet. I then traced out by foot then drew a rectangle around the shape, leaving space for error, and padding. After this, you have to cut 45,45,90 triangles out of the corners. How big they are, is preference, and whatever fits you best. Finally, take this shape, and then cut it out of the wood

Now, lumbering around this big piece of wood, would be a big pain. To combat this, I found out about where my foot bends, I then cut the wood in two, and connected them with a hinge, because I plan on padding it, I was too concerned with where the hinge goes, but you might want to take that into consideration, if you plan a different attack.

(In the dimensions picture, 10 1/4 should actually be 10 1/8. Remember kids, always check your trigonometry)

Heel

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For this part. I referencing the photo in order to get a good idea of where to position the heel, and what it should look like. I decided to leave about an inch gap between the edge of the heel, and the joint on the sole. I then sketched up an "unfolded" version to cut out and wrap around the heel, to see how it all looks.
The heel is about 3" high and the angle is 60 degrees. With the paper template, I then cut it apart wherever there was a fold. Which I then transferred to the material.
I originally wanted to use thin plywood for this part, but I lack the tools to cut it accurately. But luckily, I had a few polycarbonate face shields laying around (don't ask why). This material is nice. Because it's strong, but flexible, and can be cut with scissors. So I drew up the pieces, cut them out, and hot glued them to place. (They also hold hit glue quite well). I recommend gluing along the seams for extra strength.