How to simulate battle wear for LARP armor

[ThisIsMyFirstRodeo]

So it’s for cosplay, not LARP. (The difference I’m not sure. Maybe watching, not playing?)

But, who wants to show up in brand new armor without a single knick on it?

Which begs the question: how do I mimic battle damage/wear without swinging an actual weapon at it?

I had been using my test swatch for the dye to try different methods of abuse, but the marks left even the spine of my heaviest cleaver just look like I got into a fight with a box cutter. 
 

All help appreciated 

[Thadrick]

I've been building a couple armor wear lately. Mines not for show but for battle on my dirt bikes. I'm tired of having bruises on my shins and want to protect my forearms in the event I should lay it down on rocks. I'm hoping mine don't get battle scars but if they do, one less bruise I won't have to suffer.

I'm not sure what kind of damage your wanting on your armor but you could just whip it over some rough cut iron of various shapes?

[ThisIsMyFirstRodeo]

I guess I should mention that, outside of the rivets, there is no decoration or ornamentation for the breastplate, just the patina and wear. 

[Gezzer]

Don't know if this will be any help but it will give some patina .

 

[Gezzer]

look at the Road Agent video 

[ThisIsMyFirstRodeo]

You have given me the idea of caning it with some rebar or a mesquite branch, and if I had access to the leather to try it, I totally would just in the name of research. 
My biggest hesitance at the moment is that I don’t have any scrap big enough to test. I’d go for an econo belly from Tandy, but they’ve been out for about 3wks now

[chuck123wapati]

wear it to a hockey game lol.

[ThisIsMyFirstRodeo]

Wow that is a beautiful and well-considered holster!

Love the hockey game idea!

Anyone know if a kendo stick would work?

 

Edited Sunday at 07:00 PM by ThisIsMyFirstRodeo

[chuck123wapati]

44 minutes ago, ThisIsMyFirstRodeo said:

Wow that is a beautiful and well-considered holster!

Love the hockey game idea!

Anyone know if a kendo stick would work?

 

seriously though armor was s kept immaculate due to its cost especially if you were in a military 

[SUP]

You would need to wear it and move around a bit to see where natural wrinkles appear. Brush against a wall or tree to see where  it would protect you. Take it off and make those changers more prominent. Dampen and fold and wrinkle it  in the areas which do get naturally folded where you wear it. Use different gauges of sandpaper to roughen prominent areas and darken with wax like Tony shows in his Dieselpunk.ro tutorial on aging leather or you can use paint. Roughen the entire thin, throwing it around a bit so there are no pristine areas, dragging it on the ground maybe.

Test the techniques first though - roughening the leather with different gauges of sandpaper, painting where needed, Tony's technique of using wax to age the leather, wetting and creasing and wrinkling the leather. Hit with a mallet if the wrinkles do not remain . You want the roughening up.

These techniques I heard about from people who make armor to wear for ren faires and  cosplay and LARP when I visited Tandy once and some people there were making armor. I do not do it personally but since these people did, I presume they know what they are talking about. I noted it all down. Sounded interesting.