If you love Skyrim as much as I do then you might have wished that you could have your own set of armor. At first I looked around thinking I could buy some, realizing this would be quite pricy I decided to make my own, so if you want your own Skyrim helmet, this is for you.

Shopping list:
Card stock
Glue (something that dries quickly)
Bondo body filler
Fiberglass resin
Cheap brushes
Sandpaper
Upholstery nails
Epoxy putty

Tools:
Scissors
Putty knife
Dremel (very very very useful)
Respirator

Step 1: Pepakura!

If you aren't already familiar with the computer program Pepakura, after building a couple items, you will become a veteran like I am. For starters you will need to download Pepakura designer from their website. http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/
After downloading the software you will need to get the file you want, I just searched Skyrim pepakura files on google and found exactly what I wanted. After you have it downloaded open the file in pepakura designer and size it to fit your head (if you plan on wearing it), and print. After this it becomes quite a menial task, cutting piece after piece and then, glueing piece after piece. IMPORTANT: dotted line = mountain fold, dot dash dot line = valley fold. Continue this process until you have completed the helmet. Note: don't glue the horns on, it makes it easier when you paint it later.

Ps: just thought I'd throw in a picture of all the armor I built, yes I plan on finishing a whole suit.

Step 2: Fiberglass Resin

The next step is to strengthen the card stock. For this step I used fiberglass resin. ** WEAR A RESPIRATOR ** you don't want to be inhaling toxic fumes. First, take an old dish and pour a little resin into it, then put the hardener in and mix it up (for every one ounce of resin 10 drops of hardener). Take a brush and dip it in the resin and begin coating the inside of the helmet with the resin. After you have the entire inside covered let it dry for approximately 2 hours. Make sure it is the exact shape you want it otherwise it might warp. Then, mix up another batch of resin and coat the outside. And yes I know the helmet in the picture isn't an Ancient Nord helm, but you get the idea of what it will look like.

Ps: make sure it is above 60 degrees Fahrenheit otherwise the resin will never entirely cure.

Step 3: Bondo

Sorry I don't have any pictures of the ancient nord helm during this process, but I will try to explain it as best as possible. After resin you need to make the helm look smooth and get rid of that low-poly look that is has. Take your putty knife and scoop out about a golf ball size amount. Then put about a pea size amount of hardener and mix it up. When mixing, fold and smear it to avoid getting air bubbles in it. After you have the bondo all mixed up use the putty knife to spread it across the helmet. Try to do this step in little sections across the entire helmet. After the whole helmet is covered and dried, it is time to begin sanding. Lots and lots of sanding. This is where the dremel becomes quite useful, sand until the entire helmet is nice and smooth. This will probably be a good 6 - 7 hours of sanding. After you have it where you like it, begin adding little details like scratches and cuts to make it look like its been through battle.

Ps: you should also wear your respirator when applying bondo.

Step 4: Detailing

This step is very important to make the helmet look much more like the real thing. First off take your upholstery nails and cut the backs off, not all the way, leave a little stub to stick into the helmet. You probably won't be able to stick the nail through the bondo so you might need to use a drill and make little holes where you are going to put the nails, and then glue them in. After putting the nails in you need to add the swirly design on top. For this I used an epoxy putty, you cut off part of the putty and knead it until it has a uniform color. Then take it and make one long string out of it and stick it to the helmet in the design you want, the one I made wasn't game accurate, but still from the realm of Skyrim. After it is completely set up you can sand it to make it nice and smooth.

Step 5: Painting

Pretty self-explanatory, but one of the most exciting parts of the build because you finally see it all start coming together. Anyway I used a paint that was called aluminum and gave it a couple coats and sanded on it a little.

Step 6: More Detail

After you have it painted and looking all nice and shiny it's time to make it look all dirty and old! Take some black spray paint and spray little bits on the helmet and rub it off with a rag. Right after you spray it on rub it off and what's left behind will make it look old and a lot more like real metal. When rubbing try to get paint into all the little cracks and corners, it really helps.

Step 7: The Horns

For the horns use the first couple steps with the resin and bondo. After you have them sanded down and looking nice, take an ivory colored spray paint and give it a few coats. After that I used a tan and just kind of misted it in there to give it a dirty look. After that's dry just paint the very tips black. After all the paint on them is dry take some sand paper and rough them up a little, to give them a little more detail. That way they won't look so pretty.

Step 8: Finally Done!

After the horns are finished take them and insert them from the inside of the helmet and push them out until the are nice and snug. Once they are positioned how you like them the glue and put loads of it right at the joint where the horn touches the helmet, make sure there is plenty of glue there to hold them in place. If there are any gaps between the hole and the horn, just mix up some epoxy putty in there to fill it in.
Now enjoy your very own Ancient Nord helmet! Wear it to work! Put it in the middle of the dinner table! Heck I don't care what you do with it, I just hope your as happy with it as I am with mine.

Have any questions or comments? Just leave it below or feel free to email me at natewalters55@yahoo.com