Advice For Making First Piece Of Armor

[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.