Scrap Armor
Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 8:19 am
I know this leather is too thin to qualify as Bel Armor, but I found it relevant to post in the correct forum.
This armor came about from a past co-worker of mine. She bought some scrap leather on sale at the closing of Ren Faire a few years ago and was sitting on the pieces ever since.
So, I offered to piece together what I could out of it. She wanted armor but not traditional suit of armor style. She wanted an armored bodice or corset.
I took measurements, drew up a design, then made patterns on 11x17 printer paper. I cut apart the patterns into smaller pieces so they'd actually fit on the scraps.
The biggest decision was to use the rough natural edges of the hide in our design. This way we could use as much as possible without trimming and making it smaller. It also played into the character/costume idea she had. She wanted to steer towards something like an Elvin Pirate.
I shaped the cups with a Hello Kitty bouncy ball my daughter wasn't using.
She sent me pictures of armor someone else did with vines and leaf detailing and said she wanted something like that etched into it. I drew these designs and taped them to the leather. After tracing it with a ball point pen to indent the surface of the leather I lifted the design and began carving.
Trying to get as much out of the scraps as possible I wanted to make bracers but there wasn't enough to make a pair. So instead I made a bazuband for her sword hand. I layered it to match the style of her bodice and etched similar designs into it.
Elbow End-
Wrist End-
This armor came about from a past co-worker of mine. She bought some scrap leather on sale at the closing of Ren Faire a few years ago and was sitting on the pieces ever since.
So, I offered to piece together what I could out of it. She wanted armor but not traditional suit of armor style. She wanted an armored bodice or corset.
I took measurements, drew up a design, then made patterns on 11x17 printer paper. I cut apart the patterns into smaller pieces so they'd actually fit on the scraps.
The biggest decision was to use the rough natural edges of the hide in our design. This way we could use as much as possible without trimming and making it smaller. It also played into the character/costume idea she had. She wanted to steer towards something like an Elvin Pirate.
I shaped the cups with a Hello Kitty bouncy ball my daughter wasn't using.
She sent me pictures of armor someone else did with vines and leaf detailing and said she wanted something like that etched into it. I drew these designs and taped them to the leather. After tracing it with a ball point pen to indent the surface of the leather I lifted the design and began carving.
Trying to get as much out of the scraps as possible I wanted to make bracers but there wasn't enough to make a pair. So instead I made a bazuband for her sword hand. I layered it to match the style of her bodice and etched similar designs into it.
Elbow End-
Wrist End-