Frodo's leather orc armor was a costume I wanted to do since I bought a little Frodo action figure at the 2003 Comic-Con. Leah (our "Sam") and I reasoned that if there were action figures, the armor Frodo and Sam wear in Return of the King was bound to get a lot of screen time. It would be a good challenge, a cool costume, and instantly recognizable...right? Wrong! As it turns out, it showed up in the theatrical release for maybe 8 seconds, all told. Even so, we began our project in blissful ignorance and by the time we realized the truth, we were too far along to want to quit!

So, the first challenge was an extreme lack of photo reference to base our work on. When we began, the DVD hadn't come out yet, and we scraped for behind-the-scenes stills and other resources online. When the DVD came out, there still wasn't much to go on. Even so, we assembled a slim library of images and got to work.

In my case, I needed to learn a lot of new skills. In fact, everything I did on the costume was something I had never done before. This was my first costume, after all! Fortunately, I had a friend who had made leather armor for the SCA, as well as chainmail, and he gave me some tips on what sort of leather to start with. From there on, I was on my own.

This is a long tutorial, so I have broken it into sections. You can use the list below to jump to various points in the document:

Leather Armor Making Tutorial
• Considering the Design
• Creating a Template
• Purchasing the Leather
• Cutting the Leather
• Hardening the Armor
• Staining the Leather
• Riveting the Armor
• Finishing off the Mantle
• Gloves, Belt and Scabbard

My first conclusion was that the armor would have to be hardened leather (loved by AD&D thieves everywhere!), designed and distressed to look like it had been worn by an orc prior to Sam stuffing Frodo into it as a disguse. That's just what it looked like in the few photos I could find. (Although for all I know, Weta Workshop made the whole thing out of polymer or something!) Anyway...more on hardened leather in a bit.

After looking at my meager photo-references and drawing a lot of sketches, I decided that the armor had to be made in two main parts - armor that covered the body, which I planned to rivet onto a heavy denim vest - and a mantle of armor plates that covered the shoulders and fastened...somehow. (I figured out how much later, causing me to have to redo the mantle design!) For the mantle underlayer, I first picked a piece of light brown leather, which I later threw out in favor of a heavy but pliable black chrome-tanned scrap leather.

Here you can see the division between the body armor and the mantle.	My own version, with the armor nearly finished, but not quite.

Creating a Template

Once I had decided on making the armor in two parts, I needed to do a mock-up so I had some idea of what I'd be doing once I got to the actual leather. I used the action figure, counting rows of scales and then cutting poster board into individual armor scales. At first, I just cut out rectangles of the right basic size, but quickly found out that looked too mechanical. I ended up, instead, doing each scale by hand, with its own shape and irregularities. It looked more "orcish" that way.

In addition to the roughly rectangular scales, there was a series of chevron-shaped plates that went down the sternum and were keeled vertically. You can see these in the mock-up photos, below.

Another important consideration was how to get into - and out of - the armor when finished! Since I built mine on a premade denim vest (dyed black, eventually), I decided to keep the front opening of the vest rather than trying something clever like slitting it up the side. I ended up putting a zipper down the front of the vest and then riveting the armor plates so that the edge of the plate covered the zipper line. Of the chevron-shaped sternum pieces, the first 3 attached to the front of the mantle, and the last three I riveted to two strips of leather which I attached over the zipper line of the denim underlayer with heavy duty snaps. Snaps in Mordor! How unexpected!

This shows the button-up denim vest (I later took off the buttons and substituted a heavy zipper) with the original light leather mantle underlayer sitting on the shoulders of the dress form.	I've added the posterboard versions of the body scales. As it turned out, I used fewer than I expected. I hadn't taken into account how the heavy leather would affect the dimensions of each scale.	The completed mock-up. The leather scales would be individually shaped to curl upward, changing the look somewhat from what you see here. Note the central line of scales - these have a central ridge or "keel" running down them in the finished version.

The mantle consisted of three layers of scales, and I knew the leather scales over the shoulders would eventually have to be shaped in a curve.	I was nervous about the mantle, because I wasn't entirely certain that my template would translate three-dimensionally, even though the poster board version did. I just wasn't convinced until I'd actually finished it!	As it turned out, this mantle design was wrong. At this stage, due to bad lighting on my photo-reference, I thought the mantle closed in the front. It turned out this wasn't the case, and I had to redo the template and get rid of a lot of scales!

Purchasing the Leather

My SCA friend told me that, in order to make hardened leather armor, I needed to make sure I purchased heavy, vegetable-tanned leather. Other kinds of leather just won't react to the hardening process.

I found vegetable-tanned scrap leather through a supplier on eBay. I didn't have the funds to spend on purchasing a whole hide, or even part of a hide, so the scrap leather seemed like a good solution. After all, I was cutting smallish scales out, anyway, so...why not?

Well, it was mostly a good idea. But, the scrap varied in thickness (10 oz - 16 oz), and in how fibrous it was. That meant that my results varied when I got to the hardening/boiling phase. Just something to be aware of.

Here (on my lovely non-orc-like quilt!) you can see typical pieces of scrap leather. I've traced the outlines of the scales on them, having to be inventive about cramming as many scales as possible onto each usable inch of leather!

Cutting the Leather

Now that the templates were done, and I had the leather, all I needed to do was trace the scales from the templates to the leather, then cut them out. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Ha ha ha! I thought so, too! I tried everything to cut that leather! I tried scissors, aviation snips, X-acto knives, a circular saw, a couple other sorts of saws, and finally a Craftsman Dremel-tool-like device with a small cutting wheel. That was the best solution, although I was idiotic and purchased one that ran on rechargable batteries - which ran out about every 15 minutes. The leather was that tough and fibrous. Nasty stuff.

Regardless, the concept was simple. I traced out each scale on scrap leather, arranging the tracings as best I could to maximize my use of each piece. I also made sure to trace each scale slightly larger than the template, as I knew that the hardening process would cause the dimensions of the scale to shrink slightly.

The outline is larger than the actual template. Each template piece was numbered according to its row, its position in the row, and whether it was a mantle, front, back, or keel (sternum) piece. It was the only way I could be sure it would all fit together properly!	Whenever I cut out a leather piece, it got the same number as the template it came from. Here, I am testing the mantle pieces to make sure things are still fitting together.

Hardening the Armor

Hardened armor is also called Boiled Leather Armor. Although it's not actually boiled, it is put into very hot water in order to produce a chemical change that transforms it from pliable saddle leather into something much harder and more rigid. Boiled leather also has the advantage that, while it is immersed in the hot water and before it dries, it is extremely pliable. As it dries, it holds the shape. I used this technique both to get the look and feel of armor, rather than just plain old leather, and to bend each armor scale upward to simulate the look of leather so old it has bent and cracked in the sun.

These are the scales sitting by my stove and awaiting their turn to be transformed into armor! A pot of water is heating up, just out of camera-shot. Note that the hotter the water, the faster the chemical reaction will be and (potentially) the harder and more brittle the scale will become.	I heated a pot of water to just under simmering. One by one, I immersed the leather scales in the hot water. Very quickly (depending on water temperature), the leather began to darken, go limp, and curl up.
When I removed the scale, it had shrunk a little, thickened a little, and became stretchy and pliable, like a thick sheet of rubber. At this point it could be formed (I just used my fingers, being cautious of the heat!). In a minute or two the stretchiness goes away, but the leather is still flexible. Over the course of the next few hours it will become increasingly stiff.	Because the leather is so much softer just out of the water, I used a leather-punch immediately to create the two holes per scale I would later use to rivet the armor to the denim underlayer. I used a large hole, knowing the leather would shrink slightly. I figured if the hole shrank to be too small, I could drill it out. Fortunately, I didn't have to take that step.
While the leather was still flexible, I bent each piece upward and then set them briefly in this cookie pan, where the pan's rim could force the leather to hold the shape. The bottle kept the rivet-hole end of the scale from also curling and making it hard to rivet to the underlayer later. The scales were ready to move to the garage to dry within a minute.	Here, armor pieces dry in the order they will eventually be riveted to the underlayer. The longer I left the leather in the hot water after the process started, the more it shrank, darkened and eventually hardened. A sufficiently long immersion gave me armor that feels like wood.

Staining the Leather

I wanted the armor to be a very dark brown. Unfortunately, I decided I also wanted to cut corners on spending and on research time. Instead of ordering leather stain, I got stupid and cheap and bought Dark Walnut wood stain. While this colored the leather scales exactly the shade I wanted, I found out later that it barely penetrates, and so the stain can rub off wherever the scales scrape against each other or a hard surface. So, I don't recommend this approach! I sealed the scales with acrylic sealer, and even that didn't eliminate the problem.

Riveting the Armor

I lied. Instead of rivets, I used blackened Chicago Screws. These come in two parts - each with a head - and one half screws into the other, rather than being pounded in like a rivet. I thought this would allow me to make mistakes and reposition things. As it turned out, it was more trouble than it was worth. In order to make sure that the scales wouldn't come off if the screws undid themselves, I had to put a drop of E6000 glue inside every single pair. This took forever and was very frustrating (not to mention boring). If I had it to do over again, I'd just use rivets and be done with it. You live and learn.

This shows the frontside of the mantle (this is the 2nd edition, in the black chrome-tanned leather); I decided to use the leather suede-side up. Prior to this photo, I put all of the armor scales onto the leather, arranged how the finished piece would be, and marked each rivet hole by dipping a small brush in white paint and poking it through the hole to the mantle below. Once they were all marked, I used my rotary leatherpunch to make holes in the underlayer.

This photo shows the denim underlayer, inside out. I marked the rivet holes on the denim using the same process as with the mantle. Then, instead of using the punch, I used an awl to punch holes in the fabric, so that it would fray less. I then used Fray Check on every darned hole for good measure. This photo shows the backsides of the Chicago screws holding each scale in place.

Finishing off the Mantle

I mentioned earlier that I'd designed the mantle wrong - I'd assumed it opened in the front. As it turns out, it opens to the side, between the sternum and the shoulder, and is secured closed with two pieces of belt with buckles. Once I understood this, the whole mantle made a lot more sense!

Also, the neck opening on the mantle looked too bare, just with the underlayer of black leather showing. I used ripped up strips of very thin leather from an old and nasty black leather jacket I'd bought at Good Will to line the collar, gluing it with Hide Weld. (Hide Weld is like Elmer's Glue on steroids and is great for adhering leather together!)

Additionally, there are two lengths of leather to either side of the keeled sternum plates. I never could see exactly what they were, or how they were made, although I could tell that each side consisted of three pieces riveted together. To make them, I used several layers of thin leathers, sandwiched together and glued with Hide Weld, then spraypainted to make them look ratty.

This shows the mantle, oriented correctly, with the opening showing on the right of the photo. The belts and other pieces mentioned above haven't been added. Eventually, the row of scales to either side of the keeled plates had to be removed to accommodate the long pieces of riveted leather (more on that below).	The belts have been cut to size and riveted into place on either side of the opening, securing the mantle when worn. Next to complete is the bits of black leather along the neckline and the removal of some armor plates to allow room for the addition of the two thinner assemblages of leather to either side of the keeled sternum plates.
These paper mockups helped me decide how long the leather additions should be. The photo reference from the movie was not very helpful in determining the length, shape, or even the materials these pieces were made out of, and seemed to vary a great deal from picture to picture.	This photo shows the completed mantle. I was very relieved when it fit, didn't slide around, and conformed well to the shape of my shoulders! This was the part of the armor I was the most worried about, and it worked out nicely.

Gloves, Belt and Scabbard

I needed nasty, beat-up gauntlets. I ended up using tan suede work gloves from a hardware store. I dyed them with brown and black RIT dye, spraypainted them with rust primer and black, and used thin black scrap leather from an old leather jacket that I also spraypainted to match. I cut the leather into a piece I could glue down around the wrist of the glove to make a long cuff.

Voila! Nasty orc gloves! Minimum effort! Considering that the gloves Sam wore had little belts on them (you could see his better in photos), I suspect Frodo's may have as well. But since I couldn't see them well enough to know, I erred on the side of simplicity. I figured, if I couldn't see them, nobody else could either! Another note: see how the leather pieces are tucked into my belt? That's how it looked in the movie photos, but - being female - doing so tended to enhance a non-masculine shape, so I didn't continue doing that.

I bought a battered police basketweave belt on eBay and used that, rather than try to make a belt from scratch. This seemed a far more sane and practical solution!	I then cut and riveted two lengths of belt leather (from a Good Will purchase) onto the police belt to form the hangers for my "scabbard."	The scabbard is a complete sham, made of posterboard, coated with duct tape, then several coats of Mod Podge paper mache, spraypainted with black and rust colors, and then glued in strips with scrap leather.

I got so frustrated with the lackluster look of my scabbard, I added a last-minute "Eye of Sauron" design to the tip. I figure...hey, it's an orc's sword...maybe he advertised his boss on its covering...	Why was the scabbard so slapdash and dorky? Because it doesn't even hold a sword! It holds an umbrella with the handle also wrapped in scrap leather and leather lacing! Ta da! (Part of our act, what can I say?)

Thanks for bearing with me through this exceedingly long tutorial! I hope that it might help someone out there who might not be silly enough to do this costume, but maybe wanted some basic advice on how to do leather armor in general. Since this was my first time doing a costume like this (or any costume at all), I tried to write this out assuming there were other people out there as lost and confused as I was!

Good luck and happy costuming to you!