WhiskeyHick Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 (edited) "Somebody has to wear the black hat and give the audience someone to shake their fists at. They want someone to hate. And if that's what you want to pay me to do, I'm happy to do it!" Jane Elliot Arthur Morgan is a deadly gunhand with a set of violent skills and a mysterious past we don't know much about. What we do know is that he loves ledger reading, stealing people's soup and has a badass black hat to match his outlaw ways! The cowboy hat is iconic and everything from its colour, crown, brim & band has something to say about the man who wears it. When you think on iconic cowboys from Wayne and Cooper to Eastwood and beyond their hat is as important as the weapons they carry and is often symbolic of the character. When Wayne finally donned the black hat in The Searchers he was an anti hero violently shooting out the dead Comanches eyes "finish the job". The hat can make the cowboy. When starting to find a good substitute for Arthur's hat I assembled a nice array of screens that showed the hat in its glory. While it could be worn out felt or another material I believed it looked closer to leather in my opinion so I began to search for a leather hat in the same vein as this. I finally narrowed it down to the Walker Raging Bull leather hat from Henschel Hats. It's promotional shot for the hat resembled this. Spoiler However when it shipped it turned out closer to this. Spoiler While a beautifully made hat to be sure it wasn't the Red Dead hat I was hoping for. The crown wouldn't hold any shape and the hat band needed to be changed. If this were felt you could use steam and other tools to shape it but leather doesn't react well with steam. So a slight disclaimer, I don't know anything about making hats nor do I have any kinda cosplay know how or what have you. I'm just a guy with access to a dollar store and a love of red dead. Using the installed wireframe on the brim I tried to shape it and using a super glue mixed with concrete glue, both cheap supplies that are listed as being applicable to leather I gently applied to the inside of the crown, used a wire shaper I made from garden wire which I removed after, then applied more. (lost some skin lol) Had to hold the shape next to a fan for awhile. Again I don't recommend this it could backfire bad lol. Next, nailing down the hat band was a must! After removing the existing hat band carefully by scraping off some glue and cutting some thread I managed to track down an 8mm bolo braided leather in about three yards in the correct color. (Etsy for anyone whose curious) In the screenshots you can see it's not rope or a whip it's actually a nicely woven leather cord. I again used a tiny bit of super glue (the small clear tubes not the big ones) to set the braid and the knot trying best to match the screenshots. Again took a few tries I'm no master at this. I frayed the ends and took little pieces to wrap the ends and coloured in spots using marker. The hat fit a little small after so I just wore it till it stretched out to perfection. If you do end up trying this I recommend buy a henschel hat a size up as I wear a medium and it's pretty snug. Here are some finished photos again just an amateur. Spoiler Heres some photos of it out with the trees modelled by my wife. Spoiler This is only one of four confirmed hats we know Arthur is gonna be rocking in rdr2. I'm excited to see what other styles will be available and admire the fine work Rockstar has done in recreating this timeless outlaw staple. I know my hat isn't a dead on recreation this was just my way of being a fan having fun and showing my hype for the game. (E.G. Survive the drought) I'm just an amateur, and I hope others will try to make their own replicas or even have stuff that they feel is red dead themed. I'd love to see it and I hope you guys post it! Outlaws For Life! Edit: My other favourite hat is a Pendleton outback, a company rockstar has partnered with for their blanket so who knows maybe we will get a hat like it in the future. Edited September 2, 2018 by WhiskeyHick Darrel, DGSimo, jimbos0013 and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirokunite Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 That's a pretty good effort. Well done. WhiskeyHick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Dead Rebel Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 That's impressive! Well done! WhiskeyHick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLordMarvel Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 I like a good hat. Looks ace! I'd so wear that daily tbh WhiskeyHick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrel Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 It's a shame what you ordered it wasn't what was described. Still nice though. WhiskeyHick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damienrayemusic Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 Really nice!! Wish I was good at recreating stuff like that and had a special someone to share it with you should send this to rockstar, maybe they'll see it and post on newswire for fan art WhiskeyHick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outlaw7682 Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 Any way that someone can show me or tell me how to make the knot for arthur’s hat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mushy Squid Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Nice hat man! I'm making one myself now. Can you advise what colour braid that you bought from Etsy as that would be really helpful? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
