First Attempt at Armor for Geddon

[Saria]

Aelin and I have been working on Garb/Armor for Geddon which we are planning to attend. With two weeks to go needless to say we have a lot of work ahead of us.

This is what we put together this afternoon in about 2 hours, I think it looks promising. Aelin made the armor Pattern and the initial beveling, and I did the design, which is based off a celtic patten from a shield from the 1st century. This is for Aelin, and he is sort of going for an Earth, Land, Sky concept for the patterns on his leather. These being in the middle represent the Land.



We want to bring the design out a bit more with more beveling/texturizing on this, and hope to define the design much more since it looks a bit warbly at the moment. I think the plan is to go with a deep chestnut for the finishing. There are plans to finish Greaves, two more bracers, and a breastplate for me.

Suggestions? Comments? Words of Wisdom?

[Aelin Greenbough]

Provided we don't get lazy, we'll be posting updates on our progress here & in the Garb forums as well.... Full, brand-spankin'-new garb and armor for two people in just under three weeks while juggling full-time work & real life - can we do it? Fiind out!

I am so excited.

[Cade]

Looks very nice for a first attempt.

Your right, the pattern will look much better with beveling.

Did you just start tooling freehand? Or did you trace a pattern onto the leather? For the record, i much recommend drawing your pattern out and tracing it on. It helps you with symmetry in a big way.

You guys seem to have gotten the basic concept when it comes to tooling though. Only thing i recommend is after soaking your leather, let it dry for about 5-6 hours, depending on the humidity level where you live. This will stiffen up the leather enough to let you tool finer detail into the leather without messing up the lines you already have. You may have already done that however. It's hard to tell from the pic.

Look forward to seeing the rest of it.

[Plithut]

It looks like you have just traced the pattern onto the leather without swivel-knifing it in, do that and any beveling around it will make it pop more than it is now.

[Aelin Greenbough]

Yep, just a tracing... the swivel-knife comes in tomorrow. Hopefully by the time we hit Saria's armor, we'll have absorbed all of the feedback we'll get on the progress of this piece - making for much nicer gear.

[Aelin Greenbough]

Well, here's the finished bracer (pre-dye) for myself... Saria's will be comig along soon, she just like to wear it. Next up are my greaves, then her bracers and breastplate. The greave pattern I'm using is really asymmetrical, but judging from the mock-ups I've done should offer a little more protection on the outside of my lower legs near the knee. Still no replacement for good footwork, though!

One question, though - before the pics - we've gone over the inside with tragacanth gum, bevelled the hell outta the edges - but I still feel that the pieces we're making that will not be sitting over garb (at least not in hot weather, such as the bracers) will need a lining/incedental padding sewn in to reduce eventual chafing. Anyone care to weigh in of the nessecity of that, and material suggestions, perhaps?



And the beginnings of the greaves....

[Cyric]

Unless you're going to do a lot of beveling and carving, i wouldn't go super crazy on the greaves. they tend to take a lot more abuse than bracers do, and that can wear away a design over a shorter amount of time.

[Aelin Greenbough]

Aye, I figured as much - the root design at the bottom is going to be as crazy as it gets; I'm definitely going to do some deep carving & bevelling anyway. I'm just curious to see how fast it wears. That said, I often move my legs *just* far enough away to turn a good hit into a graze, having to take every light hit will hopefully cure me of sloppy habits....

The greaves are being made pretty much for three reasons, in order of importance:
1) Style. Was going to bind my pants along the calf, but this may look better.

2) Added insurance for mobility. I know the #1 threat to my legs will be polearms (of which we have NONE locally, so it takes some getting used to), which will likely be ignoring the armor - but every little bit counts. If I lose an arm, I can still seek earn my place in valhalla & more importantly, still aid those fighting next to me. Legged, you're just waiting for death or killing your knees hobbling across an immense field.

3) Practice. Saria's made me some killer garb in the past, and I'd like to come close to returning the favour. The more leatherworking I do before starting on her bracers & dreaded breastplate, the better.

[Derian]

As for your lining question, generally no.

You pretty much only need to worry about where the armor connects to joints. For instance, with the bracers, I would be concerned about your wrists. If you're wearing gloves (you should be!), wear them underneath the bracers. With greaves, you should probably be wearing boots or some kind of shoe with a high top on them.

You might experience a slight bit of rubbing elsewhere, but it shouldn't really be an issue.

[Jcollins]

1) Great job if this is your first leather attempt, and the model makes it that much better lol.
2) critique below,

The lines look uneven in some areas...lines I mean and the width of them seem awkward.

a) The biggest way I'd take care of this is to draw the design out on paper, double check the lines on the drawing.
b) wet the bracer under running water until its pliable soaked
c) cut out the drawing tape it on the bracer
d) take a very fine tip pen and and go over the lines of the drawing with a slight amount of force, enough to leave a mark as a guide for later
e) Once you have a swivel knife go over the lines again

I personally like to see some color added to it but it's just a personal preference.

just some thoughts off the cuff, hope it helps

[Aelin Greenbough]

Thank you for the responses so far!

Derian - Good to know; we have precious little time to test out/break in the pieces for Geddon, so your input saves us a lot of hassle. Going to do some experimentation with the greaves, though - my footwear has gone from bouncy runners to clunky boots to nimble, nimble vibram fivefingers,,,,, We'll see how the greaves and the wrap of the pants underneath interact with that.... I wish there was a way to minimize their appearance, but we'll see how the whole deal looks when its all together.

Jcollins - Funny enough, we followed your exact process to the letter: the design was just uneven to begin with; something we realized early on, but I decided to just go with it and see how it turns out. As for the greaves, I decided to go WAY to wiggly (thanks to the tree/root theme), so none of it looks out of place. Saria's gear will likely be far more precise. Dye is forthcoming, we haven't forgotten it - doing it all a dark chestnust, with a little some extra to darken the recesses/age it. (We're tea-staining the Garb we're doing up at the moment, too)

Really going to be curious to see how the greaves hold up when finished... I need a bigger backgrounding tool. Either way, when combined with new garb, this should all come together nicely. If I'm lucky, I'll have the greaves finished by late tonight.

[Aelin Greenbough]

Well, here's the bracer and greaves (one greave, anyway). Got excited with the dye, and one of the greaves (not shown) came out a wee bit dark. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the result... On to Saria's breastplate and bracers....


Maybe a helm if I have time & leather to spare.

[Jcollins]

Right on, they look good bud.

Leatherworking is an Addiction I swear to god. For me it was a gateway dru..err craft I've ventured into 12 other things and have invested tons of time into those while still working on my leather ability.

[Tobia Blackthorn]

Very nice. I assume you're using lacing. I've always found buckles to be worth the extra effort in making the armor, since it makes it so much easier to put on and take off. I love the design though.

[Blackwolfe]

Very nice. I assume you're using lacing. I've always found buckles to be worth the extra effort in making the armor, since it makes it so much easier to put on and take off. I love the design though.

ditto, I got a pair of bracers I love at a renfaire, leather laces, takes time to get them on and off, is much easier to have someone help tie the laces and is not easy to get them adjusted for size. Wish I had straps/buckles.

[Aelin Greenbough]

I pondered the idea of buckles, but went for lacing due to:
A) Less effort during construction, less to go wrong
B) Don't mind asking someone to lace me up
E) Easier to achieve a better fit, less pinching - custom-made, so sizing is not an issue.
D) Like the asthetics of the lace-up a little more, also using the greaves to bind my pants up near the shins - this allows for more even binding.


We'll see what I do with the Breastplate... There, I am leaning more towards buckles.

[Aelin Greenbough]

...And the breastplate will LACE UP!

So technically, it's a corsLet, I believe - It covers from just below the ribs up, girding Saria against the debilitating boobshot. It fits much like a corset, but seeing as how it follows the ribcage, it does not deny any flexibility.

What I like about this pattern is the simplicity of it; the lacing, although time consuming, gives the armor plenty of room to shift. There were three goals here (we're really pointed in our construction):

1- It fits and looks good; if we're dressing, you might as well dress up to the nines.
2 - Light, flexible, and breathable.
3 - Armor only where you need it - The armor there more to mitigate the painful chest shots, rather than the in-game bonus. We're not looking to tank up in hot Illinois weather - remember, we fight out of igloos and our regular garb is all oily beaver pelts.

Anyway, it's humming along well for a first-time project. I can see a few areas I could make some signifcant improvement, but with only five days 'till our departure, I'm not taking any chances. Now we simply need to choose a design (SOON), and tool that sucker up. Pictures to follow, when it doesn't look so bland.

Unless someone's interested in the absurdly simple pattern....

[Poo]

Lookin great, you were also the one i saw at some event last season with the awesome freakin garb. Way to be an example for all newbies.... if you are in fact one.

[Caleidah]

Saw your stuff in person at Geddon. Excellent work on both of your parts.