Duke's Skyrim Nightingale Armor

[PerniciousDuke]

Well, I'm finally off the floor and back at it!



I moved my gear to my parent's house and was able to get a nice set up to work on the weekends. More updates to follow!


Update:

I'm getting so excited about this costume now that it's coming together!

To help lay it out and form it to the correct shape I needed to put the pieces on the mannequin. Saran wrap loves to stick to itself so I wrapped the whole thing tight in saran wrap. Then putting the piece where I wanted I saran wrapped overtop holding it in place.

 

[Harri51]

daaannnnggggg. looking mighty epic

 

[SI3RRA 117]

Very nice! Duke looks like you a handful of others are really stepping up their game! Can’t wait to see those pieces in black

 

[PaiganBoi]

That is a good question TurboCharizard. Some things I will have to buy and they will most likely be hard to weather and come straight black.

For the cowl I am not sure, but it will be handmade from a thick weave black fabric.

The undersuit most likely a zentai suit for now. With things like the arm wraps being custom.

The gloves will be store bought (or thrift store) and black.

The boots. Omg. I never thought I would spend 2 hours shopping for boots online. But I think I've settled on these and adding the couple faux buckles myself.
View attachment 264092



Now, I think I mislead you guys with photos because no one seems to be siding with my roommate and my color choice. Lol. Let me back up a little.

Part of recreating the game character is capturing the idea of the character that people have in their mind after playing it. With the nightingale the idea is that his clothes are black. Just like when they make an action figure of him he's jet black.
View attachment 264103 (in game) View attachment 264105 (action figure)

Now the question is which one is cooler?

In person most people have responded the action figure. I agree, but I think if I were to make it jet black it would look too flat. (Turns out how to really make those ridges is wet forming. Make a wooden mold and press the leather into it)

So, what I was hoping for was something darker than the game model, but still had some color or variance to it. That's why our vote has been #4. Remember, the background is the in game model.
View attachment 264106

Hey PerniciousDuke, what is the SKU for the boots that you are getting? They would actually work for my Monster Hunter build. I want to see if they are available in the Canadian Amazon site.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Hey PerniciousDuke, what is the SKU for the boots that you are getting? They would actually work for my Monster Hunter build. I want to see if they are available in the Canadian Amazon site.

I searched on Amazon for "black knee high boots cheap"

Here's the ones that I bought
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00MMPH81U?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_pd_title

 

[PaiganBoi]

I searched on Amazon for "black knee high boots cheap"

Here's the ones that I bought
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00MMPH81U?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_pd_title

Sweet! The Canadian site has them as well. Since these are women's boots I guess I would have to up a shoe size?

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Sweet! The Canadian site has them as well. Since these are women's boots I guess I would have to up a shoe size?

The ones I bought allowed for free returns. It took me two tries. Shoes sizes are all over the place. But yes, one size up is a good place to start, they are in women's sizes despite what the chart says. Alex is a US7.5M and we bought the size 9. He thinks it's a little tight still, but they didn't have half sizes .

 

[PaiganBoi]

The ones I bought allowed for free returns. It took me two tries. Shoes sizes are all over the place. But yes, one size up is a good place to start, they are in women's sizes despite what the listing says.

Good to know... Hmmmm.. Normally a size 9...guess will go for a 10.

 

[SI3RRA 117]

Ok PerniciousDuke. Riddle me this! What’s BCO Under your name? I get the RXO . Aaannd I think your avatar or profile pic would look so much cooler with confetti!!! Yaaaayyyyyy!!

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Haha! I think confetti can be arranged SI3RRA 117

Battalion Commanding Officer -
It's a new smaller level of trooping underneath a Regiment. Anyone can apply to start a Battalion using the application form at the top of the site. You need 5 members in your area.


Mannequins are fun!

 

[Sean Anwalt]

Dude, Duke, that bow is killer! I can't wait to see it finished! This whole build has got me excited.

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Good to know... Hmmmm.. Normally a size 9...guess will go for a 10.

Kids size 10 right?

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Update:

Starting up another Skyrim building weekend.

I did some stitch tests... which one do you think I'm going to go with?

 

[TurboCharizard]

Starting up another Skyrim building weekend.

I did some stitch tests... which one do you think I'm going to go with?
View attachment 265891

I'm guessing 4 in 1 but "Hidden Stitch It's Here" is good too!

 

[xXDashIVXx]

Starting up another Skyrim building weekend.

I did some stitch tests... which one do you think I'm going to go with?
View attachment 265891

the middle one? Gee pernisciouse... I didn't know your were training to be a paramedic, those sew up jobs on those artificial skin peices are a great job!

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Hahaha, they're not artificial, that's real cow skin. You probably didnt think my thread was going to turn into a quiz show either.

It's the hidden stich guys! How cool is that! I didn't even know that was a thing and there's not really much info out there about it.

I think it will be one of the wow factors in person wondering how it all holds together.

The offset Hole punch and awl is the runner up. It looks clean, but it's not right in your face. Most of the 4-in-1s just looks ripped up.

 

[Sean Anwalt]

How do you do the hidden stitch?

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Well, since you asked Sean Anwalt ... and I had to do another practice one to be sure it worked with my beveled edges...

This is the only video I found:

I changed it a little to make it even more hidden, but it also means less strength. The costume won't encounter as much wear as a pair of shoes, so I think it will be fine. Plus I added glue on the middle of the stich to give extra support.


My Hidden Stitch:

First I lined my pieces where I wanted. I moved the upper piece about 1/8" higher and scribed the line.


Using a 4-in-1 tool I made my holes along that line.


On the upper piece (where I want the stich hidden), I made a diagonal cut along the edge, very shallow and about 3/16" wide. You don't want to cut too deep into the rough side otherwise there will be very little holding the piece together.

You also don't want to cut too shallow or the threads will appear as humps under the smooth side. But, you do want to cut a good way into the leather from the edge towards the center of the piece. This will allow you to be able to peel back that top layer and work underneath.

Use an awl through your first punched hole and pierce the underside where your first hidden stich will be, about an 1/8" from the edge. You can use another piece of leather as a bracket for support and so you don't pierce yourself.



Insert the 4in1 in the incision you made. Making sure not to distort the peeled back smooth face, punch your holes like normal.


From here it's pretty straight forward. Do a traditional stitch, two needles on one thread passing through every hole. I back stick at the end by 1.5 holes.


Once you're done you can take access leather cut into a triangle and slowly apply leather glue to both sides of that incision. Be careful! Smooth leather does not like getting glue on it. Use as little as possible. Let it set 5-10 minutes then press pieces together. Viola! Hidden stich.


I then put some glue in between the two pieces for a little extra strength.



In 20 minutes, when I pull on those pieces of leather... the leather itself stretches before the stitch even moves a fraction. Success.

 

[Sean Anwalt]

Nice, I see how it works. That's a nifty stitch to know!

Thanks for the small tutorial as well; it helps clarify things for me

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Stitching leather is no joke. My hands feel like they're going to fall off and I've only connected 12 pieces.

(Don't mind the rough edges. I will redye them, or paint them)

I did manage to dye most of the pieces last night.


Next challenge will be the chest. I think I'm happy with this set up:


I also took a couple passes with my router to make a jig for forming the chest strips: