The Savior’s Hide is a really cool special armor you get in Skyrim from completing a certain quest a certain way. I love the sculptural elements to it and all the different materials involved. It also only involves the cuirass, so I had to figure out what boots, gloves, and helmet to make with it. This meant I got to play dress up doll with my character! I ended up choosing the Armor of the Old Gods (Forsworn) boots and gloves, and the female Dragonscale helmet. For my weapon I chose the Ebony battle axe because its huge and awesome.
To start I made a leotard out of faux suede to wear under the armor and attach everything to. I found some super awesome very realistic fur on super duper clearance. I made a sort of shawl like thing out of cotton and stuffed it. Then I made a casing with fur on the outside and suede on the inside. The idea was to make the shoulder/upper back fur look much fuller than it was, plus add warmth since I’d be doing a shoot in the cold. The ends have straps to tie onto the armor. then I made a sort of skirt/loincloth thing of of the fur and lined with the suede. This is attached to the leotard.
For the cuirass I started making the general shape out of craft foam. I used Worbla pieces to surround the various pieces and stick them all together. The whole thing is layers of designs to build a 3D look. I suppose I could have made it all out of craft foam then formed Worbla over it, but the layering method really allowed it to be 3D, plus its sturdier. I used thumbtacks for the grommets and openable key rings to attach the top of the armor to the pelvis armor. a 4-ish inch gap is in the back, since its just Worbla and foam, it can bend a bit so I can get into it. Then I made a separate back piece that hangs down from the fur cape thing. The back piece is secured by faux leather belts around the waist, which just happened to be conveniently in the design.
I made my chainmail with thick craft wire. I made a bunch of it with the standard 4×4 pattern. Then I realized the source was a bit more complicated and redid some of it. I used small jump rings to help form a 6×6 pattern. For the arms I attached it to suede snap-on straps, and for the front crotch area its stitched to the fur.
The boots and gloves were made with cold weather in mind. I made fingerless elbow length gloves out of suede and piled on extra fabric and batting. I made the bone spikes out of translucent Premo Sculpey and then painted/weathered them. I sewed them onto the inner glove fabric, then put the fur on and poked the spikes through. They were finished with wrapping strips of suede around the whole thing. The boots were a very similar process. I covered an old pair of Toms with suede strips and built up the boot with interfacing, batting, and lined with leftover faux sheep fur.
The helmet started out as an ugly thing made from craft foam. I used a circular flower pot foam ring thing to carve the horns. I then attached those and started covering with Worbla. At some point I got the shape I wanted, but it looked pretty bad. So I got Apoxie Sculpt and sculpted bone texture all over the surface. Then I painted/weathered and sealed.
I ran out of time with the axe and didn’t get to make it as nicely as I wanted. Its actually kind of embarrassing, but it looks okay in pictures I guess. I used a cheap plastic spear as the handle and built the axe blade out of foam and Wonderflex. I also attempted to make the edges “sharp” with Apoxie sculpt. The top and bottom points are foam and a toilet paper roll covered in Worbla. I was able to make some of the swirly designs out of Apoxie Sculpt, which looks great, but I ran out of that and time and had to resort to puff paint for the rest. That and a rushed paint job = meh axe. Oh well, I’m not much of a prop maker yet, I’m learning. ^.^;
Check out the Skyrim photoshoot I did with Dim Horizon Studio! It was freezing, but I shoved a bunch of handwarmers in various places and survived. 😛
