These gauntlets are similar to the ones you've seen in the movie, advertising trailers and movie guides, with a few improvements. The WETA Workshop in New Zealand made one pair in mild steel, then copied them in poly-urethane rubber for the stunt men to use. The gauntlets in the movie are plain, painted poly-urethane. Most of the armor in the movie was done this way. Mine however, are etched 19 gage stainless steel.

In the movie, Sauron's gauntlets and at least one pair of the Ring Wraith gauntlets seen in the movie had a design painted on the surfaces. I took that concept and created a fire-and-smoke design, which is what you see etched onto the steel. The etching is highlighted with a wash of black to bring out the design, and took several weeks of work to accomplish. Notice that the pattern flows smoothly from one plate to the next. The effect is very striking. The gauntlet cuff was taken from a pair of German Gothic gauntlets circa 1450, since the movie gauntlets are made after that classic style and since the cuff isn't visible in any of the photographs.

Here are some newer shots which show the finger scales better...

I've also done a pair of these out of copper, which were made just for
a costume. The cuffs on these were done quite differently. The black
patina (which looks like blued steel) was done using Sulpherated Potash.

The next 3 shots are of the plastic movie props.

Here are a few more shots...

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