Making Horns for Illidan Stormrage

May 27th, 2014

I had been struggling to figure out if I wanted to use the same method as I did last year for Lady Alexstrasza’s horns, but I kind of had an epiphany driving in my car about what to use to make these. I remembered the perfectly round wreaths that you buy at a craft store. I had just been to the store the previous day to buy materials for hooves, so I had walked by them.

I made the horns in about three days (2 for the horns and 1 for the headband). It’s a pretty easy method. I did run into some issues which I have noted at the bottom of this tutorial.

MATERIALS

Floral Wreaths
Sand paper or a rotary tool
Hot Glue & Hot Glue Gun
CelluClay
Black & White Acrylic Paint & Sealer
Paintbrush

HOW TO

Get two 8" Extruded Foam Wreath - These are found in the floral department.

1. Purchased two 8″ extruded foam wreaths – These are found in the floral department. I got mine at Joann Fabrics.

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Cut a quarter section out of each wreath. Make sure you save the excess you just cut off. You'll need it in a few steps.

2. Cut a quarter section out of each wreath. Saved the excess that was cut off. It’ll be used later on in the project.

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Sand one side of each wreath to create a point. I used a Dremel to make the process go faster.

3. Sand one side of each wreath to create a point. They are more rounded at the point. I don’t want to accidentally poke anything. I used a Blue Hawk rotary tool (basically a Dremel) to make the process go faster. Make sure you wear a face mask and eye protection!!

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Glue the excess you cut off onto the flat edge of each wreath. You want to make sure it is inverted meaning it should create an 'S' shape and not curve up to meet the point. Cut off the bottom edge as needed. I cut mine flat in order to get the horns to curve out. Remember, your skull is round so you'll need to compensate for that depending on how you want the horns to lay.

4. Hot glued the excess that was cut off onto the flat edge of each wreath. It is inverted meaning it created an ‘S’ shape and not curve up to meet the point. Cut off the bottom edge. I cut mine flat in order to get the horns to curve out. Remember, your skull is round so I needed to compensate for that.

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At this point, they should look like this.

5. At this point, they looked like this.

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Using the CelluClay, build up the horn texture. I needed ridges, so mine were not put on smooth. I would put a small amount of CelluClay onto the form and then use my fingers to create the gutters.

6. Using the CelluClay, I built up the horn texture. I needed ridges, so I would put a small amount of CelluClay onto the form and then use my fingers to create the gutters.

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Once dried, the clay will be white. It will more than likely be jagged as well (see left). Sand them clay so you can a smooth surface to ensure you don't cut yourself of others with the horns!

7. Once dried (about 24 hours), the clay will be white. It will more than likely be jagged as well (see left). I sanded the clay to get a smooth surface (see right). Again, I don’t cut yourself or others with the horns!

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Using black acrylic, paint the base of both horns black. Make sure you really get into any holes that might have formed in the clay. I used white to create grey (for later use), but you can also buy grey paint.

8. Using black acrylic, I painted the base of both horns black. There were holes in the clay, so I had to really push the paintbrush into the clay. This is also why I went with a sponge brush! I used white to create grey (for later use), but you can also buy grey paint.

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Patina the horns with the grey. What this means is you will lightly coat your brush with grey and then run it across the horn. The goal isn't to coat the entire horn again. Instead, you want to lightly brush the top most sections.

9. Next, I did a patina on the horns with the grey. What this means is I lightly coated my brush with grey and then ran it across the horn. The goal isn’t to coat the entire horn like I did with black paint. Instead, I want to lightly brush the top most sections. Sometimes you have to judge how much and where you want to put more paint. It’s always easier to add then it is to take away!

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10. Once dry, the horns are now complete!

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Cover with ModPodge or another sealer to defend against chips.

11. Covered with ModPodge to defend against chips, but I may go back and add another coat of matte finish. ModPodge can get a little tacky.

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Horns were attached to a headband using worbla as the main support wrap. They ended up falling forward a bit due to the weight. This was accounted for once the wig was worn.

12. Horns were attached to a headband using worbla as the main support wrap. They ended up falling forward a bit due to the weight. This was accounted for once the wig was worn.

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Placing them on top of my purchased wig, I was able to see what I had created. The headbead stood out far more than I liked. Wigs were purchased from Arda. I used the Eowyn in Black as well as a long pony clip in black. The long pony clip is longer than the Eowyn wig so I did cut it to match the length of the main wig.

13. Placing them on top of my purchased wig, I was able to see what I had created. The headbead stood out far more than I liked. Wigs were purchased from Arda. I used the Eowyn in Black as well as a long pony clip in black. The long pony clip is longer than the Eowyn wig so I did cut it to match the length of the main wig.

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14. Using the extra hair cut off from the long pony clip, I glued the hair using super glue onto the headband to help conceal it.

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In order to stop the horns from falling forward, I created a small pony tail at the top of the Eowyn wig just behind the bangs. Once the horns were on, I pulled the pony tail over the headband and using the long pony clip, clipped the hair from the pony tail and the main wig with the clip. In addition to this, my own hair was in pig tails on the sides of my head. This added an extra stopping point so the headband didn’t slide around.

Pain Points

The headband dug into the sides of my head after wearing it for long periods of time (about 4 hours in and I started to feel the discomfort). This is because I wrapped most of the headband in Worbla, so the band was pulling in tighter due to the stiffness of Worbla. Adding padding to the tips of the headband or creating a new system for securing the horns to my head would solve this issue for future wears.

Finding a box large enough to ship them was a task in itself. I ended up using a computer box. Even with lots of bubble wrap, the horns broke in transit. They were easy to repair (a little hot glue, wood glue, and paint), but it was an inconvenience. These probably aren’t the ideal solution for anyone looking to travel to a convention out of state.

That’s my tutorial on how I made the horns for Illidan Stormrage. If you have any questions about my process, add it to the comment section!

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