New Line Strider Build

A place for pics and tutorials on making Soft Kit (clothing and accessories like buckles and cloak pins).

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Manveruon
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New Line Strider Build

Post by Manveruon »

SO!
...
After making an initial attempt way back in... something like 2003 I think, I have decided to finally throw myself into making a 100% complete, screen-accurate replica of the New Line/Peter Jackson/Viggo Mortensen Strider costume. I have also decided, apparently, that I am a crazy person, so I am going to be starting completely from scratch, and re-making even the few costume pieces and accessories I already have from my original attempt. Since some of these are items I use in my normal trekking kit, this has the added bonus of being a bit of an update for that as well! I realize our primary focus around here tends to be on bushcraft, outdoorsmanship, and field-functional garb and gear, based primarily on Tolkien's writings and historical sources, but I know other people on these forums have made full or partial New-Line-Strider replica costumes before, and I figured a build-along thread might be fun. Also, I have always felt the filmmakers did a pretty good job of dressing Viggo in practical, realistic clothing which might, conceivably be at home on a real Ranger of the North. Some elements are certainly a bit odd (that strange whetstone-holster has been mentioned here a few times, as well as his unrealistically tiny bow and bewildering lack of pouches, haversacks, tinderboxes, waterskins, etc.), but overall I think they did a decent job of giving him a believable, realistic silhouette. Anyway, I'm excited to share my progress with you guys, and also, I would be lying if I said I didn't have the ulterior motive of tapping into the collective knowledge of the forum to find certain materials, or get opinions on construction, etc.

Anyway, the items I need to make, alter, or buy are as follows ( roughly from the ground, up):

- Boots (already bought those Clarks Desert boots to modify, and a whole bunch of suede leather, so I'll probably be starting on those soon)
- Trousers (they're really hard to see, but I've found some great screen-caps showing a clear side seam, and a lace-up fly, so I'll be following this general idea when I finally make my new ranger pants. The weird thing is, they're BLACK - I mean, not like black-ISH, but seriously BLACK BLACK, which I somehow never noticed before. They also look suspiciously like velvet... which is just awful. So I'll probably be doing them from wool. And I might opt for a dark, dark brown)
- Shirt(s) (I'll definitely be doing the gray linen shirt from Fellowship, even if the shoulder-smocking terrifies me, but I've always really liked his deep red Rohirrim shirt, so I may try to whip one of those up as well - incidentally, if anyone knows a decent source for a deep, wine-red lightweight wool with a subtle herringbone pattern, I'd love to hear about it).
- Glove (one single glove, worn on the right hand, that laces up at the wrist and looks stitched together out of several mismatched pieces of leather)
- Jerkin (my old Aragorn jerkin, which was made out of a repurposed leather coat from a thrift store, has served me well, but it's a tad on the tight side these days, and not totally screen-accurate, so I'm going to be making a brand-spanking new one and probably handing the old one on to Sarah so she can do a non-elf ranger when she wants to. I've already got the leather for this, so now I just need to start patterning)
- Belt (I NEED THAT DARNED BUCKLE, ARGH)
- Tobacco pouch, maybe... (I've got one that is pretty similar, but his is REALLY beat up, and I don't think I want to do that to mine)
- Whetstone and "holster" (yeah, it's dumb, but it's screen-accurate)
- Elven hunting knife, his gift from Galadriel (Love this knife... wish I could get a "real," functional one... but the only one I can really touch at the moment is on eBay for $75, and I'm not even sure it's etched on both sides of the blade... saving up a bit for that one. I used to have one, but it was a TERRIBLE knockoff, so I got rid of the sucker a few years back. Technically I don't even really need it if I'm doing pre-Lothlorien Strider, but I'd like the option of wearing it)
- Ring of Barahir (need to find a decent replica and make the purchase. Been wanting one of these for ages anyway)
- Long leather duster (I actually hated this thing when the movies first came out - I always preferred it when he wore just the jerkin as an outer layer - but it has seriously grown on me in the last few years, and I'm actually really excited to make it. I already bought a BUTTLOAD of olive green leather for this, which I intend to dirty, distress, and age the LIVING SNOT out of. Lots of fun!)
- Evenstar pendant (these can be found all over eBay, so I'm not too concerned)
- Gondorian bracers (these consist of two layers, a red/brown set of soft, quilted leather cuffs which lace up at the bottom, and an outer set of heavier leather, with the tree of Gondor and wing motifs tooled into them. I could probably skip these too, since he only wears them after he rather impudently steals them off of Boromir's still-warm corpse, but I happen to like them a lot, and they've been on my to-re-make list for a while. My originals were made by a friend, who tooled the designs in with a screwdriver, haha)
- Cloak (s) (So there's his original "Strider" cloak, and then of course the elven cloak he receives from Galadriel. I DEFINITELY want to make his original cloak, which is rectangular in construction, and seems to be made of some sort of lightweight oilcloth, almost like a rain slicker. The elven cloak is iconic though, so I may try to make one of these. If not, Sarah already gave me one she made years and years ago for herself, so I can probably just use that)
- Elven mallorn brooch (Sarah gave me a beautiful one almost ten years ago, which she made herself out of sculpey. It's... PERFECT. IT'S ALSO... FRAGILE. So I'll probably be going to eBay for that one, as well)
- Bedroll (I already have a gray army blanket for my ACTUAL bedroll, which will work just fine for this, but I need to get my hands on some lightweight brown oilcloth for the weird cover thing)

And I think that's everything! WHEW! The only two things I already own which I will be using for the costume are my quiver (not 100% screen-accurate, but close enough, since you rarely even get a good shot of his), and my knockoff replica sword.


So that's a start! Keep your eyes peeled for updates! And if anyone can tell me where I might find a nice big piece of brown/green oilcloth for his cloak (probably need at least 4 yards), a smallish piece of medium brown oilcloth for his bedroll, some dark red, lightweight wool with a slight herringbone pattern, and/or maybe some fabric with a cool weave that looks a bit like the subtle pattern woven into the elven cloaks... well, I'd be much obliged!
Last edited by Manveruon on Mon Nov 07, 2016 3:59 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Elleth
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Elleth »

wow- ambitious!

I used to have a bunch of heavy greenish oilcloth, but I think I sold it years ago. I'll doublecheck, but I'm not optimistic. Scarlet Scarab carries a nice brown oilcloth if you can't get any from jbook.

Might have a source for the wine wool, I'll look. Never seen anything even close to the Stansborough "Fellowship" wool though, and the original isn't cheap. :/
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Elwindil
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Elwindil »

https://www.fabricland.co.uk/product/wi ... l-suiting/

http://www.moodfabrics.com/fashion-fabrics/wool.html

both of those have some pretty nice fabrics and from what I've seen reasonable prices, moodfabrics also has boiled wool which I haven't found too many other places.
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Manveruon »

Thanks, Elleth! It is indeed an ambitious project, but I'm hoping I can power through most of it pretty quick.

as for the oilcloth, I'll have to ask Jbook if he has any again. I asked him last year about it and he said he didn't have any left, and moreover, wasn't sure if he would have any again in future. It would certainly be nice to get my hands on some though. That was some seriously nice oilcloth. I've seen Scarlet Scarab website before, and it's tempting, but they claim their oilcloth is 8oz, and I need something closer to 5oz. Not to mention it's bloody $20 per yard, which I'm afraid I can't even touch - especially since I need like 5 or 6 yards of the stuff.

Here are some good pics of his cloak and bedroll, for reference:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B403oD ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B403oD ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B403oD ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B403oD ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B403oD ... sp=sharing


Incidentally, I cannot tell for the life of me what color his cloak actually is. In some lighting it looks dark, dark green, in others it almost looks black, and in others it looks sort of brownish. They used a ton of crazy filters and did insane amounts of color-correction to the final film, so it's difficult to tell what the original color actually was. Any thoughts on the matter are appreciated!


Also, I just realized I left three items off my list:

- Arrow-sock (which I can easily make from black monks-cloth)
- Arrows (which will be non-functional, for the purpose of conventions, etc.)
- Bow (which I plan to make a non-functional replica of somehow, perhaps from some scrap of lumber. Again, needs to be non-functional for conventions and other local events that do not allow real weapons)
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Manveruon
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Manveruon »

Elwindil wrote:https://www.fabricland.co.uk/product/wi ... l-suiting/

http://www.moodfabrics.com/fashion-fabrics/wool.html

both of those have some pretty nice fabrics and from what I've seen reasonable prices, moodfabrics also has boiled wool which I haven't found too many other places.

HOLY COW, that red herringbone fabric looks perfect! It's a shame it's mostly polyester, but I may be able to look past that if it's really as close to the screen-used fabric as it appears. I wonder how large the pattern is...
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Manveruon
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Manveruon »

Here's a pretty good close-up of the red shirt material. Can't see the herringbone pattern here, but it's definitely there. Still, I'd be willing to skip that if I could find a material that looks close enough. Doesn't have to be wool, either. Cotton would do. Not sure what it actually is in the film, but wool seemed the most likely, to my mind.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B403oD ... sp=sharing

Here's one where you can see the pattern better:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B403oD ... sp=sharing
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Elwindil »

in that second picture, that pattern is almost identical to the stuff I linked...hmmm, maybe they used a similar supplier? could be...and wool does seem more likely, particularly with the way the fabric is pilling there.


Edit: It looks like Weta has a replica Ring of Barahir if you want to spend a bit of money on it, and I'm sure there are other places that have knock offs that look like it for less money. https://www.wetanz.com/shop/jewellery/t ... ?ref=brand
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Le-Loup »

Looking forward to seeing the finished product. Best of luck to you Manveruon.
Keith.
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Elleth »

Wow - that's a much closer match than what I was remembering. Normally the high polyester content would turn me off, but for this use it sounds like that's no problem.
For the record, these are the folks I was remembering. It would need to be dyed, but they do some amazing fabrics (albeit not cheap)

http://handwovenwool.com/

re: the bedroll cover: that's oilcloth? I'd always thought it was a lightweight leather, but I can't seem to find any photos of the real thing: just the toys.
As I recall the DVD appendices have costume breakdowns for each main character: is there a good picture there?
(Anyhow, if you DO go leather, a single goatskin would be a perfect weight - that's what your snapsack is made from)
If you do oilcloth - assuming we're thinking of the same piece of kit (the cover that wraps around his bedroll and ties shut) - I think the Scarlet Scarab oilcloth is actually too light for that task: I'd use a double layer at least to keep stitching from ripping through. (perhaps the waterproofing saturation gives a deceptive weight for the thickness / ruggedness of the fabric?)

I'm afraid my greenish oilcloth is long gone - I can't even find any notes as to where I got the stuff anymore. :(

But these look similar: I remember it was heavy, and kind of a greenishy-brown, and both of these are kind of close.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brown-Oilcloth- ... 1810553168
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Oilcloth- ... 1580918471

Any of them wouldn't breathe at all though, and would be hellish for a cloak I'd think.
Looking at all the Strider cloak pictures I can find, I'd still be inclined to go with a medium-light weight wool and drag it through the mud. But you've probably read more up on it than I have. :)
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Kortoso »

Manveruon wrote:... I am a crazy person...
That's an important place to start from!

You'll notice that the black/dark grey smocked shirt that Strider wore was nearly identical to that worn by the Dread Pirate Roberts in Princess Bride. Coincidence?

The "Robin Hood Bracer" at Three Rivers (http://www.3riversarchery.com/robin-hoo ... racer.html) seems very close to Strider's bracer. It's what I use. You might want to get that and "kit bash" it to look more like Strider's.
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Mirimaran »

A great topic to see if we can figure this out. Is it me or is Strider's original cloak split in the back? I modeled my cloak off of that idea, and it works fine for me, but was wondering what others thought.

Image

Image

Here I am wondering if he has a blanket wrapped around him as well:
Image

The sideshow figure seems to have a full cloak:

Image

A few shots in my own cloak:

Image

Image

Image

Image
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Straelbora »

Watch the 'making of' materials in the original films' DVD extras- I could swear I remember a costumer showing that Strider's pants were really a very dark green.
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Le-Loup »

Manveruon wrote:Thanks, Elleth! It is indeed an ambitious project, but I'm hoping I can power through most of it pretty quick.

as for the oilcloth, I'll have to ask Jbook if he has any again. I asked him last year about it and he said he didn't have any left, and moreover, wasn't sure if he would have any again in future. It would certainly be nice to get my hands on some though. That was some seriously nice oilcloth. I've seen Scarlet Scarab website before, and it's tempting, but they claim their oilcloth is 8oz, and I need something closer to 5oz. Not to mention it's bloody $20 per yard, which I'm afraid I can't even touch - especially since I need like 5 or 6 yards of the stuff.
You might check out a manufacturer of Stockmen's coats. I think Dryz-A-Bone is one over here, but you must have someone in the US. This fabric is very light. I was gifted some years ago by a close friend & it has served me well for years.
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Kortoso »

Straelbora wrote:Watch the 'making of' materials in the original films' DVD extras- I could swear I remember a costumer showing that Strider's pants were really a very dark green.
I think it bears mentioning here (if it hasn't already) that the film was subjected to a lot of color grading, causing the actual costume colors and the colors seen on screen to be vastly different. (So I guess that allows you two choices.)
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Re: New Line Strider Build

Post by Greg »

Find good footage of his cloak in the Extras/Appendices; those haven't been color-corrected (for the most part, that I'm aware of).
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