Well its been a while since I last posted and I have been very busy

Anyway after one weekend binge watching the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit with friends for some reason the idea of building some of the weapons and things in the films came to mind.........funny how this happens

After a long debate with some friends about what would be cool and different, I was set on making a Uruk Hia Orc cosplay, hopefully ready for next Halloween.

So after a short thinking session I formed an idea of starting with the shield and the Sword......and here is how I did it, I hope you enjoy

Step 1: You Will Need.....

Plexiglas Sheet

Multi Tool / Hack Saw / hot end gun

Heat gun

Marker Pen

Glue Gun

Paint - Black, White, Silver and a Primer

For this project I used some left over Plexiglas from another project, you can use foam if you want but when making things of this type I prefer to have the weight and the structure.

Step 2: The Design

The design for this shield seems to vary, I believe this is to give a rushed and chaotic feel to the Uruk Hai look.

With so many examples out there I decided to create my own incorporating the best bits I feel look great from the whole Hobbit and LOTR (lord of the rings) universe, i focused on the 3 main variants I have noticed, but feel free to add or remove your own.

The Shoulder notch, a nice touch so when held and raised it fits nicely with the body shape, giving a more realistic feel.
The Blade Effect, this is for when the shield is being used for offence giving the Uruk Hia and extra line of attach
The Blade Ends, these can be seen in action in the 1st Lord of the Rings near the end of the film when the Uruk attacking Strider throws his shield and used it to pin strider to a tree and then tried to use his sword over the top to......well you can guess.....but the result would be a headache.

The size is relevant to you really, I found measuring from my shoulder to thigh and just went from there keeping as close to the template shape as possible.

Step 3: Cutting Your Design

Now you have your plastic template drawn on, its time to cut out your design. I used my trusty multi tool and hot end cutter but most hand saws will do the job if you don't have one.

I must say to wear safety clothes and goggles when doing this, better safe than sorry.

I also used my multi tool and some of its various attachments to mark up the shield a little bit,

Step 4: Bending.....

Now you can just choose to leave your shield there, paint it and your done, but I really wanted something as accurate as possible.

Using a heat gun, in a well ventilated area I stood up the shield and gradually heated up the middle allowing the shield to bow slightly under its own weight, rotating as needed until the desired curve was attained.

Please Please note this is heating up plastic and too much heat or touching this without protective equipment WILL cause serious injury. AND bending too much and too fast will result in it cracking and snapping with sharp edges.

Once complete, allow to dry then you can begin painting

Step 5: Painting

All the shields of the Uruk Hia are a black, Gray, that are all marked up from battle.

The good news about this is that the more of mess you make the better.

I put down a primer layer, followed by a silver layer then topped it off with a black. Once dry I sanded it down and went over the edges with a metallic silver to give it a war torn metal look.

One done finish with a white hand print on the front