treybecca

I am need of some hornback croc or alligator hide similar to the picture. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I'm in need of some extremely rough, knobby hornback that won't necessarily break the bank. I'm looking for something similar to what is found in the attached picture.

Try Angelus leather paint. It is specifically made for the shoe industry and flexes better then any paint I have used so far.

I am in need of a greek key border stamp, which I am unable to find. Any help would be greatly appreciated.....

Any reference pics would be extremely helpful....

In my experience "white" Fiebings is a waste of money and time. I suggest Angelus white Acrylic paint as it's made specifically for the shoe industry and is as flexible and strong as paint can be in leather. I've painted whole sets of armor with no issues.

Laser etched perhaps, then dyed and antiqued?

I also second Angelus. It's a much better value per ounce then Cova and is made specially for the shoe industry so it is very flexible as far as paint goes.

Definitely has some kind of finish on it. You can try a deglazer to see if it removes whatever it is and opens the leather back up.

Completed Caligae. Not hugely historically accurate, but they make me happy.

Here is my completed costume of Saxa from Spartacus War of the Damned. The entire costume was made by me from scratch from the Caligae to daggers. This is the first costume I have done any work with fabric on. Can't not wait to debut it this weekend!

It's used to dilute the color in antique paste. You can also use it with multiple colors to create your own color. I use it w just a touch of black to create steel grey.

Fiebings white dye is a disaster in my experience. No matter how many coats you out on it's never really ever white. I made the armor for the costume in the picture. I used a TON of Cova white thinned w water and many many coats. I have since discovered Angelus Acrylic paint and it's so much better in all ways then Cova. Any true white leather I have found was Chemically dyed during the process and I have never found any you can tool. Good luck with white...it's a headache for sure.

I think acrylic dye is much different then acrylic paint....in my experience Fiebings white dye is AWFUL....perhaps the acrylic dye is different...good luck

Angelus white acrylic paint in thin layers. It is specially made for leather and holds up very well. Great cost per ounce and better quality then say Cova.

The recent pic you posted looks like perhaps 3oz oil stoned hide ( different folks call it different stuff). The biggest issue I see with your original product is hands down the edges everywhere. The stitching looks god, but the edges being rough, glue showing and lack of quality leather is what I see when I view your product.

I agree too clean to be a stamp. Embossing roll, depending on the maker could be done with a machine.

Dwight is absolutely right. The acrylic will form a barrier between the dye and the leather.

Welcome to the habit. I am self taught and have been tinkering around w dead cow (plus a few other small animals) for about three years. My biggest piece of advice is to buy the best in everything you can afford (leather, tools, etc) and don't be afraid to muck up a bit. There is no such thing as scrap leather in my book, as I use even the smallest pieces for testing out new dye combos or stamp ideas all the time. I started with the basic kit you get from Tandys that had a few small projects in it. My biggest resource for learning hands down have been this forum and searching youtube videos while I try new ideas out. The how do I do that forum is worth it's weight in platinum not only w the info already there, but with folks willing to answer all your questions.

Pallet liners from feed stores are my go to source. They are free and come in big 4x4 sheets

If you just need white leather you will have to buy white leather. Unfortunately there is no such thing as white leather that will tool properly. If you want to do any type of tooling you need to color the leather by hand. I recommend Angelus Acrylic paint as it is specially made for leather and cost less per ounce then Tandys Cova.

It was a multi step process. I started by breaking down the leather by hand to creat the wrinkles. Then I wetted the leather and beat it against some rocks in my yard (which is great exercise btw). Then I used a variety if rocks and placed marks where I wanted them, including along any cuts I made along the edges of the leather. The cuts are more like swivel knife cuts and don't go all the way through except at the end. For the dying process I used a blend of bick 4 conditioner and dye in various dilutions, antiqued with a blend of Fiebings antique paste and pecards, and then went back over spots I wanted darker with pure dye. The whole thing was then conditioned with Aussie wax to bring out the depth of colors.

Here is my replica of the shoulder armor worn by the character Lugo in Spartacus: War of the Damned. This was my first time doing everything in my power to destroy leather while not actually destroying it. No worries, no actual fingers were harmed in the making of the necklace lol. Now on to the left shoulder piece.

I was lucky, a friend of mine had access to a screen used costume and gave me rough drafts of patterns to develop my own

Neatsfoot oil is notorious for turning leather darker. Unfortunately, if you are going for the lighter color you will have to more then likely have a redo. I recommend trying a conditioner like Bick 4 on a scrap piece and seeing how it does for you.