LILYC

hi thanks for that tip! to be honest im abit of a novice myself. have you thought about making a plaster cast of yourself? its quite simple to do, but i dont know how well you can mould leather into that. be nice to see some pictures while you make it!

if you want it looking nice with paint, make sure you only have a tiny amount of silver acrylic on the brush, wipe it on a tissue or somethin and then only lightly brush over areas you want to highlight. ITs called dry-brushing and is very good if you do it right!

hello. im from england too! london to be exact. whats the thing about rabbit pelts? u have been goven a nice selection of tools! you know to be cheap you can just go to a tile /kitchen shop and geta free sample of granite or hard tile. they are only about 10 x 10 cm but wotrk fine. bit cheaper for while you start! Thants about all i know! lily

hi, i think i know how he makes it look like beaten metal. i helped do some work on some film armour costumes and they used a 'needle descaler' electric or compressed air fueled tool. they look like the hopefully uploaded attatchment. you plug it in , and after casing the leather and putting it on a hard floor (alot of pressure for a table), u kneel down and move the tool in circles, and u will see the pattern appearing! obviously an expensive tool to buy off-hand, but im on sure large-scale projects it would save alot of time. it gives a look achieved by 'planishing' in the metal-work industry hopefully this is usefull (it's a bit of a secret) Lily

Hello! This is my first query and to be honest my first time on one of these forum' thingies, but this one seems extroadinarily useful! I am planning on making a red leather bodice, which will be moulded in a fibreglass mould for a lot of fine detail, being pressed out of the hide. I have seen this process done when i worked for a costume armourers, but never did it myself. i was also not told the 'secret ingredient' chemical they add to the water when soaking before putting into the mould. this is to stop it twisting when taken out. Does anyone know what this could be? I am planing to use a 3 or 4 mm leather, which will be dyed red, with gold leaf detailing. It is based on the cover of an Ursula le guin book called 'Tehanu' (penguin edition). As i live in england i doubt anyone could help me out on where i could go to buy some leather. looking on ebay seems a little tedious. I also saw a burnishing liquid (for the edges) which i was told was made out of Remit (a enzyme which grows in stomach's) but that is only sold in somewhere called Crazy Horse in America, this could be the wrong name but if anyone has heard of something like that then id love to hear where i can get hold of them. as i am used to using this burnishing fluid. If, while casing, i only use tepid water, and not boiling. when moulding, how much will the leather shrink? i cant afford to buy too much or not enough. Also, does anyone know of where i can get the tool which is used for pushing leather into tight spaces in moulds, without harming it? it is a straight bar with a sphere about 8mm wide on the end. with a wooden handle. On a completely differant note. I have recently found about 50 very old (but in great condition) Cobra skins, about 50cm long and 20cm wide, at least! does anyone have any good ideas on what i can use them for? My parents bought them in India a long, long time ago and i want to make use of them. Any help would be AWESOME! Thanks!