Weapon and armour production?

[Cormack]

Hi there, Iwas wondering if anybody knew a good source of info on the production of weapons and armour for the lotr trilogy. I'm curently writing a dissertation on this subject and have already checked out the dvd and official website. Any help would be much appreciated.
Cheers!:battle:

[Orc]

depends on what you are looking for.

If you are looking for how they actually made the 'battle ready' props, you are out of luck. All of the smiths that worked on the movie signed "non-disclosure" agrements that are apparently valid until after RotK is released. However, Peter Lyon, one of the head smiths for the movies, has his own smithy and web site, though I sincerly doubt how much he is allowed to tell you about the construction of the weapons.

Lyonesse Armoury (http://www.swords.co.nz/index.html)

As far as the licensed replicas are concerned, they are made by two companies; United Cutlery and The Noble Collection. However, these swords are designed for display only, rather than for holding up in any sort of combat. If you are interested in information on the replicas, there is some information arround if you contact the manufactures. Again, however, they may be keeping their 'trade secrets' to themselves.

hope this helps

[Sharky]

There's an interesting bit on the FotR:SE version that explains how they made the mail coats, disk 3 or 4 can't remember which, Gimli's had 80,00 links alone, although they used plastic looking steel. But I love the line from one of the guys (they linked all the ringlets by hand) who says it was the most amazing experience of his life. Actually there's a fair bit on the helms & swords too, hilts, handle lengths etc, and why they chose certain designs.