Advice For Making First Piece Of Armor

[Kindaki]

Hello all, this is my first post. Leatherworking was passed down to me by my dad but was not taught (I got all his stuff when he passed away). So I have a lot of tools and have been messing around for a few years learning this and that but I want to start making my armor now and getting more serious about the craft.

I have picked out the general armor I want to make, see attached photos for my inspiration. I am an archer so I need to be able to move my arms easily. I know how to make a mold of my bust to form wet leather but I do not want one single piece of leather for my breastplate. I want something pieced together like the pictures but I am wondering how to do it. Is it possible to rivet pieces together then wet and form them? or is this going to mess up the rivets? I'm going to start with a pattern on paper before I cut into leather but I was hoping for a little advice before I start to maybe save myself some time. I am a woman, if the pictures didn't give it away, so making the breasts fit is the problem here. I am also very interested in splint armor but figure I'll save that project for later when I can have my brother help me (he is a blacksmith).

Any advice will help. This is my first piece of armor so I am in the dark other then what I have read and watched. thanks

I love how this armor fits her. It's more warrior then what I am looking to make but I like how it is put together. I like how this covers her chest completely, I don't need to be flashing people.

I really love this piece a lot. This is more what I am looking to make but I am heavier so I am wondering if the more open top of this one will work for me.

[immiketoo]

First of all, welcome to the forum! You will very likely find the answers you need here. I like the second choice for your armor and it looks like the construction is fairly straight forward. I think the most difficult part of this is going to be the pattern making. I would suggest that you start with some heavy paper of the kind of cardboard you find on the back of notepads. You can get large sheets of this at art stores and it will allow you to build a prototype you can wear to test movement and fitting. I have not built any armor, but I have studied the Samurai and their weapons and armor, and as such, movement is very important due to the variety of weapons they used.

If you google armor construction, there are quite a few videos on the construction of armor and you might find some help there. Forming the shoulders and breast cups will require a body form as you mentioned and there are plenty of threads in the forum covering wet molding leather, some are even armor related. That being said, there is a section in the forum for armor. It can be found here: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showforum=26

Decoration is up to your imagination and desired use. Since you mentioned archery, you might look at some historical archery websites for ideas if you haven't already.

Again, welcome to the forum and please keep us up to date on your progress! There are many members here who are interested in your type of project.

Mike

[immiketoo]

For reference and drooling:

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=41977

[Dwight]

Some time back, I picked up my alter ego, the "Centurion of Capernaum", and had to create my own armor for that.

I used the three different styles I've pictured to get an idea of where I wanted to go.

The black one and the tan one are both made up of strips of leather, . . . they are laced together up front and in the back, . . . and use tabs that are secured by the rivets you see next to the lacing taches on the front.

The tabs are separate pieces of very supple (like suede) leather, . . .

Those styles are very, very, comfortable, . . . easy to move within (I guess that's why the Romans love it so well).

As you can see I chose the red roman style, . . . the one pictured is made of very thin, supple leather, . . . mine is made of about 14 oz leather, . . . treated with resolene finish, . . . heat/water molded, . . . and is really stiff.

Have fun, . . . don't get in too much of a hurry, . . .

To add to what immiketoo said, . . . if you go to a Tandy shop, . . . they sell a product called bag stiffener, . . . it's kinda like cardboard, . . . but much, . . . so much better for making the type pattern you will need. It can be riveted, buckles put on it, you can REALLY see what this piece of leather will turn out to be like pretty much if you use that product.

I would also just caution you a little on the second choice (the dummy, not the lady), . . . THAT piece will be pretty stiff and unforgiving if you do not make it spot on for fit, . . . and if you gain or lose any appreciable amount of weight, . . . I would bet it would be troublesome to you.

But this is not a perfect world, . . . and we are here to have fun, . . .

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited January 18, 2013 by Dwight

[Jason Austin]

On the subject of armor with breasts...I have struggled with this as my spouse is well endowed also. I have found that you really cant get more than a large "A" or small "B" cup out of a single piece of leather. You have to cut smaller pieces with convex edges and riviet them together to make cups.

you really need to decide if you want to "see" cups or if you just want comfort room for breasts. Given your original post I would bet on the latter. If that is the case you can just make the upper chest area "swell" out a bit so that there is really just a single large breast area. This would be much easier and ultimately more comfortable. This is basically what is in your first pic.

I hope this helps.

[Kindaki]

Thanks for the replies

yeah I don't want actual cups, just a comfortable area. I will def be making a full size pattern to wear before I cut leather. I will have to look into what Tandy has cause I've never heard of it before. I have lots of cardstock laying around so I will probably start with that since it's free . I will draw out something today and get a picture up of what is in my head. I am not great at drawing so who knows how much help it will really be.

[Kindaki]

here is my rough sketch of what i'm thinking of making

i went a little overboard with the buckles lol, i will probably only have 3. so i am thinking on making three panels and forming the top one to my bust then attaching it to the bottom two. i am wondering if i will be able to bend over in this though. i have 5 and 7 ounce veg tan leather right now along with a lot of suede. i am thinking 7 ounce will be better and i should still be able to move alright. i have worn corsets but never armor so i am not sure what i will be able to move in. does this design look like something that will work? do i maybe need to make more strips, smaller ones, so that i have more flexibility? also i think buckles are going to be best so i can adjust them to what i want and not have to worry about anything coming untied but do you think lacing would be better for this design?

Edited January 18, 2013 by Kindaki

[Havamal]

First off, welcomr to the forum!

Seeing as you are in Everett the Seattle Tandy is the closest to you. I have not been to that store so I can't really say much about it... If you are up for a little farther drive, the Tandy store in Tacoma does a free walk-in informal instruction Saturdays 9am-noon. The manager there that runs it has built a few sets of armor and might be a good source of hands on information.

[Lividya]

I have been making leather armor for some time now. To answer one of you first questions, Yes, it is possible to rivet you pieces and wetform the leather after. That is how I've been doing it for years. For the form, you could either buy a plastic manaquin (they come very cheap if you buy it used) but be carful to pick one that correspond to you bodyshape. Or you could try to make one out of plaster using your own body.

When trying to make a pattern for armor, I personnaly don't use cardboard, because of all the curves, paper and cardbords are too rigid to give you an exact idea of the shape you will need. I prefer to use thick fabric, I place it on me and draw the design right on me. That way I loose less leather.

Hope this was usefull for you, and Have fun!

[Kindaki]

I didnt know there was a Tandy in Tacoma. it's a little farther away but i have family there that i visit so maybe when i'm down that way next i will stop in. i guess i can always call and ask for some info over the phone too.

so good to know that i can wetform after riveting, i will probably do that then. i'll have to look into a mannequin, wonder if i will be able to find a plus size one easily. for this project i will probably end up using plaster on myself.

so my next few questions would be can i tool before i form it and still keep my tooling intact? or can i tool it after forming it at all? should i add shoulder straps? i wonder if having it be just a tube if it will start to move down my body as i move around. i want to keep it fairly simple since i will be strapping a quiver over it and i dont like a lot of stuff going on.

i cant wait to get started. going to make the pattern this weekend and get it all ready to transfer to the leather.

[dirtclod]

you can all kinds of plus size mannequins on ebay for 12.00 on up.

[Dwight]

I didnt know there was a Tandy in Tacoma. it's a little farther away but i have family there that i visit so maybe when i'm down that way next i will stop in. i guess i can always call and ask for some info over the phone too.

so good to know that i can wetform after riveting, i will probably do that then. i'll have to look into a mannequin, wonder if i will be able to find a plus size one easily. for this project i will probably end up using plaster on myself.

so my next few questions would be can i tool before i form it and still keep my tooling intact? or can i tool it after forming it at all? should i add shoulder straps? i wonder if having it be just a tube if it will start to move down my body as i move around. i want to keep it fairly simple since i will be strapping a quiver over it and i dont like a lot of stuff going on.

i cant wait to get started. going to make the pattern this weekend and get it all ready to transfer to the leather.

In a one word answer, No, , , . if you want to form and tool, . . . you have to form first. After tooling, leather should virtually never become wet again, . . . the tooling will suffer in varying degrees, . . . mainly attributed to the degree it gets wet.

I have had "some" success, . . . limited at best, . . . by only seriously "dampening" the inside of the leather I wanted to form after tooling, . . . and it kinda, sorta, almost maybe worked out.

I ONLY do it when I have a customer who is adamant that he/she wants a tooled & formed piece.

Good luck.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Kindaki]

ok, thanks for responding. i dont mind that i cant tool it. i will be tooling the straps to my quiver so that will make up for the lack of decoration on my chest. my pattern is started but not finished, my boys are both sick so it's slowing down the process. i hope to have a wearable pattern by monday to show.

[Vikti]

If this is for SCA/Ampgard style combat you might try to find a book about the Iron Roses (sorry, I don't remember the title, I just remember it's a red cover with black print with a Tudor rose on the cover), it's a fighting and armor book for women written by women. I've thumbed through a copy of it and it's extremely informative. I found you a link that might also find useful at http://www.scatoday.net/node/4066

Hope this helps you out,

Damon

[Kindaki]

very helpful! thanks so much for the link. will read as i have time, lots of good information.

[ReneeCanady]

When I made my armor suit (girl also) I got some pretty neat advice from Spinner on this forum. He told me to fill socks with rice the size of my breasts, put them on a large section of wood (might want to adhere them on there), then proceed to wet form the leather around them. I tacked mine down with nails as I stretched it. Breasts are a pain in the neck to deal with. After I made this set, I made a set for my hubby. We used plaster of paris on him to creat a form of his body. MUCH BETTER to work with this way, but what a mess lol. I also prefer the chicago screws vs the rivets for armor because they are more sturdy AND if you ever want to EASILY change something you can.

[Kindaki]

awesome! thanks for the advice. always good to hear from women that have gone through this already. i'd have to use a pair of my husbands socks, mine arnt big enough, but i might try it out. using plaster in my house doesnt sound like a lot of fun and it's too cold to go outside. also using rice and socks saves me money cause i already have those handy

[TeaBeagle]

Michael's sells big rolls of craft foam for like 7 bucks. I find the stuff really good for making patterns. It moves similar to leather and is very easy to cut and deal with. Just let it sit outside for about 30 mins when you unwrap it, the smell is a bit strong at first but dissipates quickly.