Witch King of Angmar Cosplay

Becoming the Witch King from Lord of the Rings took a lots of spare time between school and work, i failed a lot and remade the helmet, the flail and finger pieces. It was frustrating and painful (hot glue burns and needle stabs) but also so much fun! I referenced and learned from so many people's cosplays on google and youtube for help making my own, so hopefully i can be one helpful reference for yours. Good luck on your cosplays!

Foam:

• EVA foam and craft foam

Glue:

• hot glue, wood glue, mod podge, super glue (preference)

Making templates:

• paper, scissors, pencil

Garments:

• Fabric of choice, matching thread, store bought high socks (gloves)

I started out pausing the film where he fights eowyn to get a good view of the Witch King and tried to draw my own pattern, turned out very difficult so I found a pattern from google called "The Witch King of Angmar Helmet Template". I printed it out and taped the paper together. Didn't like the look, so I revised and tweaked it.

My first attempt I used my revised pattern traced and cut out from a cereal box, then used paper mache. I used mod podge on top, paint then more mod podge, I hated how it turned out. So I didn't finish it and restarted.

Attempt 2, I revised my already revised pattern widening the eyes because i couldn't see out of it, and opening up the mouth piece more, I used cereal box again as my first layer, then glued craft foam to the top. Sealed with Mod Podge, painted so many layers. Made a big mistake and put on high gloss varnish over my acrylic paint, it left yellow spots everywhere. Had to repaint over it a lot and put mod podge on top this time. For the spikes I started with making paper spikes, when I finally got the shape I cut it out of craft foam and hot glued where I wanted them. For the slightly inverted sides I cut out and attached all pieces separately and at an angle. I used a diamond shape of see through fabric and hot glued it to the inside of the mask so it wouldn't move around too much ( but it ended up coming off) so more glue or just wear it separate.

I started with PVC pipe1", cut it 19" long based on my own preference (hand saw, or pvc clippers) painted it pink and sealed it, hot glued thin strips of pink craft foam around the sides following pictures from online. I drew up patterns for the top and bottom pieces and made them out of craft foam and hot glue attaching. I went off the reference pictures but also how I liked it, I remade so many templates and even ripped some off after I glued them because i hated how it looked. Don't be sad to destroy and remake :) it's all yours.

For the chain I used a plastic Halloween chain I found at Michael craft store, pulled apart the chains to the length I wanted , painted pink, added tiny craft foam spikes i made and hot glued them (they pop off a lot, maybe use super glue). The chains rub together so it can rub the paint off, I don't mind though and I don't know how to prevent it :,) To secure the chain to the PVC handle I put wire all the way through the length of the pipe and glued it to the far end into the distal spikes and had the rest of the wire come up and wrap around the chain many times, both ends of wire were glued into the far end.

The main body of the flail I started with the center pieces which is a pvc pipe, I used EVA (for the first time) and followed a reference picture and cut out the shape, I used a sander and dremmel tool to make it curved. Before attaching the six foam pieces I used wire again to loop around the chain link and go all the way through the pvc,I took the wire ends and again glued them down with the eva foam pieces so the wire was underneath and secure. For the big spikes I made three sizes of triangle templates small medium and big, cut them out of foam core board for durability. took the paper back layer off and sanded down the inside foam so i could hot glue them into a triangle shape. Starting at the top of the flail I put the small, next layer medium, bottom i put the biggest spikes. I dislike the body of the flail the most but was in a con crunch so could not redo it.

I got a couple yards of fabric to make the cape/hood piece. I bought a Simplicity brand pattern from Walmart, pattern number H0188 A, and used the B choice to follow, without making the hood. After finally finishing it i used an extra piece to tie around my waste so it wasn't so bulky, I cut up and tore the edges by my feet with scissors, and cut and hemmed slits to show my leg armor. I tore them a bit small to be conservative and so in picture you can't even see the leg armor I was wearing, so next time I would definitely cut a triangle shape out for width instead of a straight cut I made.

The other fabric I had to get was a see through material to cover my face and stay on my head/mask. I just went through the fabric store and found the one i liked best. One problem is that i made my fabric piece for my head to big and so it covered my shoulder armor.

I found a pattern off google, and revised it. I traced and cut the pieces out of craft foam and painted and put mod podge on top (many layers). Attaching was a bit tricky but I used pink ribbon and hot glued the two pieces together the length of my shoulders, this ribbon sits on my upper back. The front ribbon has a clasp i cut off of my backpack and hot glued to the ribbon. To secure the bottom pieces around each arm I used ribbon and velcro. The thin decorative pieces on top are pieces cut from craft foam, I didn't make a layer of cardboard for these because they will not really be that damage accessible. The top piece is made of three separate pattern pieces hot glued together, the bottom two pieces are separate pieces hot glued to the bottom, and not flexible so they all move as one.

To wear it with the cloak I made 8 slits, while wearing the cloak i put the shoulder piece set on top, the back ribbon piece will not go under the cloak but will be covered by head piece fabric. The two ends of the buckle in the front will go through a slit and buckle underneath the cloak. The arm ribbon will go into a slit and around the upper arm and and come out of another slit to attach with velcro to the under side of the armor.

For the calf armor I took a piece of EVA foam and heated it using a heat gun, I rounded and bent it to fit my legs. Once I got the shape to my liking I made templates to fit around the top of the armor for decoration and cut them out of craft foam, glued them down using hot glue and pushed a rivet (for holding papers together) into the layers of foam for more decoration. I painted and used mod podge on top. To wear them I used ribbons in two places, one lower by my ankle and one right below my knee, they wrap around and attach under the armor using velcro.

The knee armor, I looked around the internet for knee armor I liked, the witch king's armor is varying from the movies, book art, and fan art. I found some tutorials and put together a pattern that was incredibly confusing, finally I found a good look with my paper templates after i taped them together, and cut it out of craft foam, I used hot glue to attach them, added a craft foam spike i made from a template and painted then used mod podge on top. To wear it I used two pieces of ribbon hot glued to both sides and tied in the back (what was i thinking?) This is very hard to get off when you've been walking around a lot at a con and it becomes knotted. If i remade this I think i might use a buckle that also pulls tighter.

The shoes I chose not to make armor to go over the shoes because I felt like they would get damaged a lot, wearing the mask the slits even widened are limiting and also with the veil fabric to cover your face, walking or going up and down stairs is hard enough. I painted a pair of heeled boots that my leg armor could rest on without slipping down over them.

For the armor I found an amazing pattern from AdamSavage's One Day Builds: Foam RingWraith Gauntlet, on youtube. I printed the pattern and went to work, revising to fit my hand and using rivets to make it bend and flexible when I move my wrist. The tricky part was the finger armor, how to keep them secure without popping off and getting lost. I had the idea to glue them onto my long glove I made from socks.

The gloves: I bought a pair of long sparkly pink socks from target and put them on my hand, i marked where my fingers were and then sewed them and cut the webbing areas between the fingers, then used super glue over the thread to secure it, big mistake. I ruined the first pair and had to buy a second, starting again i marked, sewed and cut. I double sewed some areas and then tried to glue on my finger armor. Bad idea again, hot glue really does seriously burn you, I then tried wrapping my fingers in sticky wrap from the kitchen to try to keep my finger's form and reduce the heat, i made it through and got all the pieces glued onto the glove.

The other arm armor I followed the pattern and to wear it i use ribbon and velcro, I used at least five sets on each arm, to pull the foam inwards to make a nice arm and wrist shape.

Rivet tip:

I started out by using a hole punch to put the rivets it and it was awful, it slides and moves all over, the other ones I just punch through the foam and it is sturdy and still flexible when i bend my wrist.

Using a sock as a glove:

A huge problem for me getting my gauntlets on and off is the velcro sticking to and ripping up some of the sock material, the sock goes all the way to my elbow so the robe can cover my skin and make me look nonhuman. I'm not sure how to fix this yet but just be warned it's a massive problem.