Nazgul Witch King Costume

[Narkis Eatman]

Isaw some interesting tutorials on making props and costumes with hot glue and cardboard so I decided to try it out. The Witchking Helm has been on my build list for a long time and its simple shapes seemed doable in cardboard.

These Kingly blades were not maintained over the centuries, and though they appear rusty and pitted, their fine craftsmanship meant that they were still formidable weapons, even in their dilapidated state. The fact that these swords were wielded by creatures born of the dark lord may have imbued them with a destructive power seen nowhere else. (Two United Cutlery broadswords, and the 'to-scale' Kropserkel Morgul-knife). Accreditation to the Weapons and Warfare book by Chris Smith.

Flesh biting blade: A hand forged, annealed and tempered 5160 spring steel representation of the fearful blade that inflicts a mortal wound, without the chance of survival. Aside from what remains of it on Weathertop, this blade can't be found anywhere else.

The Witch King arm armor /

armour (arm harness assembly)

ROTK WitchKing arm armour assembly (pauldrons with a haute-piece to protect the neck from a side-ways attack, rerebrace, spiked spur like couter, and vambrace that features curved ridges that twist and flow into the ridges on the gauntlets). This assembly has a dragon's wing theme and covers the cuff section of the WitchKing gauntlets that are worn beneath. This fully articulated armour set is incredibly intricate, and is as menacing as it is beautiful ("beautifully elegant and intimidating" as described in the Weapons and Warfare book.)

(Below left) On set for a commercial for The Gathering of the Fellowship. "You wouldn't have change for a Shire penny would you? My steed isn't fond of concrete and my Fell Beast is in the shop."(below middle) The Nazgl costume prior to it's first horseback appearance in the LOTR themed Medieval Times show in December 2003. (below right) Forced perspective: Be thankful that you don't wake up to a view like this.

The WK battle arms (Pauldrons, rerebraces, couters, vambraces, and harness system) are shown here with the WK gauntlet set. WIthout the cloaks to conceal the details, you get an idea of what this armour set looks like on it's own.

The crowning component to the Twilight WitchKing outfit is this elegantly twisted crown of a mislead monarch, neither living, nor dead. Seventy-seven hand forged laminations, spires, and spikes adorn this die stamped ring (click on small image below for a closer look). Having seen the original crown on display, we're quite confident in saying that we are likely the first to make an all metal incarnation of this regal prop.

2007 brought an opportunity to fabricate a second Twilight WK crown, and with the aid of dies (positive and negative), the most intricate details were stamped into the steel plates, and some of the lesser known features from the original sculpt were implemented in this ultimate metal incarnation of the piece.

Our journey of making metal RingWraith ARMOR / ARMOUR The Witch-King gauntlets version 3.0 (2003)

The fully articulated metal WitchKing gauntlets (shown here with a light weathering finish). Custom fitted armoured plates moving over each other with precisely slotted pins to control the range of articulation. It's like having bones on the outside. Crafted by a professional blacksmith with 18 years of armouring experience, our replica gauntlets have been utilized by many as source material for their own imitations.

The Kropserkel scabbard/harness features forged iron rings for tying off the belts and forged metal chapes (tips). The leather is dyed and finished with carvings of Noldor font scripture and symbolism, every one unique. Shown above right is the United Cutlery Sword of the RingWraith that we weathered to look more like the dirtier wraith's weapon. The finish on the production piece is nice, and already artificially weathered looking, but we wanted a more rusty blade, true to the film, and even creepier. I could appreciate that if United Cutlery sold them this way, corroded and dingy, most would probably have been returned by consumers. Styled RingWraith and WitchKing versions of the sword demand unique scabbards also. We've put together correctly dyed leather versions with styled metal chapes (tips) and hand forged iron rings for harnessing the belt. The lengths and points of attachment have enabled a well balanced sheath for wearing these huge swords.

Mark fails to conceal himself effectively.

Note to self: Gore-Tex smells like Hobbit.

A co-worker and dear friend presented me with this gift one day while visiting. It's the Kropserkel Edition RingWraith figure, extremely limited. The piece features an X-Files series 'David Duchovny' head and hand (someone Scott is always described as resembling). Needless to say, we got a lot of mileage out of it.

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