The Crusade Calls Me, So I Go
Crusaders of Sanctuary are holy warriors of the Zakarum faith. It was the cleric Akkhan who set the Crusaders on their path to purge Zakarum of Mephisto’s corruption. Even now, the Crusaders allow nothing to stand in the way of their mission to cleanse Sanctuary of all evil.
I love playing as a Crusader in Diablo 3. The “Armor of Akkhan” is one of the most powerful Legendary Sets available in Diablo 3, and remains my personal favorite armor “transmog” for Crusaders. So, in 2015, I set out on a personal Crusade to bring the Armor of Akkhan to life.
“Armored by faith, driven by duty, bound to kill the enemies of Zakarum.”
– A Crusader
What’s it Made Of?
This costume is a true testament to how much I enjoy using Worbla’s Finest Art. It consists of thirty four individual pieces, thirty of which are made completely of double layers of Worbla. I really wanted the details of this costume to shine, and made every single piece count. I hand patterned, cut, formed, and bonded 114 individual “demon scales” which form various components of the armor. The gloves have sixty individual knuckles, and even the skull-faced poleyns have 14 teeth per knee. All in all, I used nearly three “extra large” sheets of the thermoplastic material for crafting this costume. By far though, the most difficult piece to get just right were the Pauldrons.
Other materials used include expanding foam, paper clay, cast resin, brush on epoxy, various cotton and linen fabrics, Worbla TanspArt and battery powered LED’s. Of course I also used various adhesives, gesso, and acrylic paints for finishing. Photos of my progress are available in my “Armor of Akkhan” photo album on Facebook.
The completed armor took approximately eight working months to complete, and won “Best Use of Props / Armor” in the 2016 DragonCon Friday Night Costume Contest.
