Hello there, back again with another Skyrim instructable. First off I just want to say this is not 100% game accurate, it's pretty close and just what I wanted. This project took me quite a while to complete and overall cost about $100.

Shopping list:

Cardstock
Glue
Fiberglass resin
Some cheap brushes
Bondo body filler
Sandpaper
Epoxy putty
Upholstery nails
Spray paint
Faux leather
Sew on snaps

Tools:

Printer
Scissors
Dremel
Files
Respirator
Putty knife
Drill
Sewing machine

Step 1: Pepakura

First off you're going to need to look around at some pictures of video game armor to decide which one you want to make. Ive just always loved the Ancient Nord Armor, so I chose it. Then all the real work starts with a computer program called pepakura. You can download it from here www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/ I suggest that you get pepakura designer, if you get pepakura viewer you won't be able to scale your pieces. After you have pepakura designer you'll need to download the pep files for the armor, just search skyrim pepakura files on google and you should be able to find it. After you have the files scale them to fit yourself and print them off. After printing it is a matter of cutting all the pieces out and then folding and glueing. REMEMBER dashed line=mountain fold, dash dot dash=valley fold. So after that its just hours of cutting, folding and glueing.

Step 2: Fiberglass Resin

This is a fairly simple step, you are going to take your fiberglass resin and coat both sides of the pep pieces with it. Take a container and pour in some resin, then add some hardener. (For one ounce of resin use about 10 drops of hardener) Using a brush spread the mixture around coating the entire piece. I do the inside first then the outside second, that seems to help so it doesn't warp. If the piece isn't in the exact shape you want it use some tape to hold in place while the resin dries, after the resin dries it will hold its shape. **IMPORTANT** be sure that the temperature is above 60 degrees when you are applying the resin, otherwise it will never entirely cure. BE SURE TO WEAR YOUR RESPIRATOR. Fiberglass resin gives off toxic fumes, don't kill yourself.

Step 3: Bondo and Sanding

For this step I tried using a different method which really didn't work as well as I had hoped. I took layers of cheesecloth and glued them on by mixing glue and water and brushing it on. Then I covered the cheesecloth with spackle. At first I like this because spackle is much easier to sand than bondo, but the problem is that spack cracks very easy, so I do not recommend this method. However there was one piece that I covered in cheesecloth and then in bondo, witch did seem to work well, but was rather unnecessary to do it like that, but since the piece was already covered in the cheesecloth I tried it. What I recommend is that you just do it the normal way which is covering in bondo and then sanding. Let me tell you it takes a lot of sanding, anyway to mix your bondo take a blob about the size of a golf ball and put a pea-sized amount of hardener and then mix. To mix don't just stir it, fold it and smear it. By the way you will need a non-porous surface to mix the bondo on. Once again wear your respirator, bondo gives off toxic fumes.

Step 4: Adding Details

As of right now the armor looks really plain and needs some more details. For the swirly design things I used and epoxy putty and rolled it thin and pressed it onto the piece. I know that the designs are not exactly game accurate, but I made to wear they still look like they're from the realm of Skyrim. For the rivers I used a drill to make little holes and then I glued upholstery nails in place. For all the scratches and battle wear I simply took a file and roughed the pieces up so it looked like it had been through battle.

Step 5: Painting

A fairly simple step, but one of my favorites because this is when you see all of your hours of work finally paying off. First off make sure you have cleaned all of the bondo dust off from sanding it. For the first coat I used an aluminum color and let it dry. After it dried I used black spray paint to distress it and give it that aged metal look. To do this all you have to do is paint part of the piece black and run it off immediately with a rag, continue this process until the entire piece is finished.

Step 6: The Tunic

Well now you have all of the armor done but you still need something to wear underneath it. I am not an avid sewer so my mom helped out big time in this step. We took a pattern for a dress and modified it so it would look like it does in the game. I know in the game the tunic has slits in it that show off the guy's thighs, i wasn't too fond of those so I left that out. The material we used is a faux leather that you can find at hobby lobby. Also in this step you will need to make some straps, two for over your shoulders, and four to strap the shin guards onto the boots.

Step 7: Putting the Armor On

To put the armor on you will have to make a few cuts, hopefully you cut the chest piece in half earlier like I showed in the picture, but anyway, so I could put it on I made four holes on the front half and the back half of the chest piece. Then I used a leather shoe lace to lace it up, I used the same method for the bracers. For the shoulders I made two slits, one in the front and one in the back and ran a strap through it. On both ends of the straps sew a snap onto it, wether it be the male or female end (that really doesn't matter) and then take the corresponding piece and glue it on to the armor. So the strap will snap onto the chest piece, feed through the shoulder piece and then snap onto the back. Now for the boots I took and old pair of work boots and glued the toe piece on with epoxy. For the shin guard I made slits in the little tabs that stick out and ran a skinnier strap through it and stitched it on.

Step 8: Props

You can follow the same basic steps for the helmet as you can for the armor, but I do have another instructable just on the helmet. I also have an instructable out for the iron war axe I made, I just thought it would be a great weapon to carry with the costume. And don't forget a belt. 1: it just looks weird without one. 2: you'll need it to hold your axe. To let the axe hang off the belt I just took a hammer holder off a tool belt and stuck it in there, it works perfect.

Step 9: Show Off

Sorry about the lack of pictures, I'll add more later. Throw on your armor and slay some dragons! Go show off your awesome Skyrim Ancient Nord Armor!

Questions, comments? Leave them below or feel free to email me at natewalters55@yahoo.com