Male Nightingale Armor Skyrim - WIP

[PerniciousDuke]

That one is pretty cool @ScoobyNewbie

A product that would be better for the Daedric armor would be Worbala. Pretty neat stuff I'd like to try one day.

 

 

Update: 

 

This post was meant for my costume forum, but I might as well share with you guys too. Again, self taught, if you have any suggestions please feel free to share. 

"

First run went really well!

For those of you that dont know, I like to really write out what I do. The reason is because I'm likely to forget so having something to look back on is really helpful for me. But, if someone else gets use from it then that is great too. 


Starting with the wrist guards:

After cutting out the shape I used 150 grit sand paper to get flatter, smoother edges.
 

Used a leather edge beveler to knock of the edge. Then finished with a 220 grit to really round it out.
 

Used a pencil to draw a pattern onto leather tracing paper (it's like really thick wax paper)
 

Then I used a paper towel, or sponge, to slowly wet the leather, starting with the backside and letting it seep through.
 

With the leather wet and pliable set on a hard surface such as marble, I used a leather stylus to transfer the pattern by imprinting it in the leather.
  

Next I cut along the lines at a 90 degree angle using a swivel knife. Named because the base can swivel independently from the finger hold at the top, allowing for smooth curved cuts. Be aware of how deep you cut as well. I generally cut half as deep as the leather is.
  

Leather is abrasive and dulls knives quickly. Leather also needs to be cut cleaning, if the blade snags it will be obvious once dyed. In between cuts I sharpen my blade using the rough side of a dry piece of leather. A buffing compound called rouge is added to give the sharpened edge a better finish.
 

Next I use a bevel stamp to push down one side of the cut, giving the leather that real 3d effect. 
  

Next I use a background stamp (Tandy #E294-04) to hide my terrible bevel stamping abilities. 
  

I think it looks pretty cool. I took that wet leather and held it over my roommate's wrist. Holding that shape as best I could I took it to my heat gun and got it to dry in the proper shape.
 

To achieve my desired color I apllied two coats of Eco-Flo Black Oil Dye with a paper towel, making sure to not press into the pits.
 

Next I apllied one coat of Eco-Flo Black Smoke Hi-Lite Stain using a paper towel making sure to get all the crevices this time. I wiped excess off with a paper towel and used a heat gun to dry.
 

I took 220 grit sandpaper and made random scuff marks.
 

Then I applied one coat of Eco-Flo Satin Shene to seal and protect the leather. Doing so also got rid of all the visible scuffing. Oh well.

"

 

 

Question: what would you guys recommend for adhering the leather together? 

Many of the pieces get stacked like fish scales, but I don't want any visible stitches, rivets or snaps. Are there invisible ways to do those things? Or is gluing my only option? I've only ever used Tandy Leather Weld. I'm just worried that with all the body movements the pieces will become unglued. 

Edited January 17, 2019 by PerniciousDuke

[YinTx]

Looks pretty nice so far.  Generally, I wouldn't use a hot heat gun to dry the leather, just shape it and let it set overnight.  Adding an oil like neaatsfoot after all the dying, tooling, shaping etc. helps to renourish the leather, and also tends to make the black dye or whatever color you used a lot richer.  Then I like to finish with Aussie and buff.  Put an acrylic seal on that if you like.

@immiketoo did some historical armor, might be worth looking at how he put it together.  Glue will probably come undone, and at the worst possible moment.  Black stitching would be pretty hidden on black leather.

Not sure why you would need 3 blade changes to cut your leather?  I have been using 1 razor blade for 2 years, just give it a strop and keep going.

Like seeing all the progress pics and explanations!

YinTx

[Kulafarmer]

Howdy,,,

i am pretty sure there are different softness levels to the leather as well as different thickness, main shields would be stuff like skirting leathers, the secondary and full wraps stuff like a softer hand thick bison, the hood a combo also, 

 

cool project, really like the concept, maybe the way things are going in this country it will serve a utilitarian purpose for defense rather than just cosplay

[PerniciousDuke]

4 hours ago, YinTx said:

Generally, I wouldn't use a hot heat gun to dry the leather, just shape it and let it set overnight.

Usually I would dry overnight as well, but for the test piece I wanted to knock it out in one day. It worked so well that I may actually do it for the rest. My heat gun has 21 settings, so I can really dial it in without damaging the material. 

 

I like Mink oil and planned to coat the whole thing once I'm done. Thanks for the lead on previous project. (Blade changes were because the only large enough cutting surface I had was the back side of my marble slab. Yikes!)

I may end up going the stitching route for strength. I recently learned of a tool that cuts a u-shaped groove in leather to help hide the thread. 

 

18 minutes ago, Kulafarmer said:

it will serve a utilitarian purpose for defense rather than just cosplay

Haha, yeah that was the goal. If I'm going through the effort it might as well be functional. 

[YinTx]

On 1/17/2019 at 1:15 PM, PerniciousDuke said:

I may end up going the stitching route for strength. I recently learned of a tool that cuts a u-shaped groove in leather to help hide the thread. 

 

You can also take a look at a "hidden stitch."  They use them on saddles and shoe soles, other places as well I imagine.  Basically, with a sharp blade, make a diagonal slit in the leather along the line you want to stitch, open it up at the slit, stitch through the bottom of the slit, dampen the leather, and glue the slit back down over the stitch.  Viola, hidden stitch.  Protects the thread on bottoms of shoes, etc.

YinTx

[PerniciousDuke]

58 minutes ago, YinTx said:

You can also take a look at a "hidden stitch."  

YinTx

That is very interesting. I may give that a try tomorrow. 

 

 

Update:

 

I was having trouble with my pieces coming out two different colors despite the same dying process:

 

But, I figured out it was due to the heat gun. My first piece I heat gunned a little, then got dinner, then dyed. My second piece I heat gunned a lot. The heat closed the pores on the smooth side so that it wouldn't accept as much dye. 

I'm going to keep using the heat gun to speed up the forming process, but only on the rough side. 

 

Because of @jdole I looked into wet forming. I may not be able to make molds, but I tried my hand at a bone folder and I'm very pleased with the results! 
 

 

Several more hours and I've made some good progress:

[DJole]

Good call with the bone folder!
 

[spacedog]

Very cool project. I like that armor a lot. Keep us updated.

[PerniciousDuke]

I'm still at it!

I spent 5 evenings in a row tooling the leather on the floor and it threw my back out. :'(

Today I moved the project to my parents and I am cooking again. Here's my current set up. Bought a new leather tool storage chest too!

 

Current state of the suit:

24 of 34 pieces tooled and formed. I'll update with more detail after the weekend. 

 

 

 

Mannequins are fun!

Edited February 3, 2019 by PerniciousDuke

[spacedog]

Nice looking set up. The finish on your leather is pretty shiny.  Kidding. I'm looking forward to more updates.