Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Leather, Chain and Plate

Moderators: Enderonimus, Belegarth: Forum Moderators

Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Shino » Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:08 pm

Hello Belegarth!

It's been a minute since I've posted a blog.
Let's get into it. I've dabbled in armor and leather craft off and on over the years but it's not been until recently that I've made anything that I'd like to wear on the field.

I'm going to keep using this OP as kind of revolving index of what I'm working on. It'll have links and stuff that will take you around the Bel boards so you don't have to hunt down my posts.
I'll also share links to other sites and stuff that I get ideas and lessons from.

I'll do my best to answer questions in a timely manner but I do spend most my time on Facebook or my blog. So, yeah...

:target: Links
Here's an old post about fabric inlay that I did two years back:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36907


About me:
I've been fighting with Belegarth for 10 years now. I'm a squire preparing to get knighted at Chaos Wars 17. I'm mostly active in Western Bel but I'm looking to change that now that money isn't so tight as it used to be.
As far as making armor goes, I'm mostly self taught but I did get lessons from a great SCA knight in Idaho named Reinmar. So I know how to treat armor with wax to make it SCA battle ready. That's fun and I might do some more of that in the future but for the most part we don't need to harden our leather armor for Belegarth. Squishy foam being our primary weapon material and all.

I'm all about large areas of texture, lots of tooling, and high color contrast. It might not be everyone's flavor but it's what I do. I'm also a servant in God's Army and a crusader of truth and justice so I let that theme bleed into my personal projects. (God Squad for life)

Like I said, I'm mostly self taught so don't look at these posts as tutorials. I will make mistakes and might even give up on stuff once in a while. Hopefully I'll work most problems out but I have been known to surprise even myself with how thick I can be.

If there is interest I may open up for some commissions but at the moment I'm not really set up to do big or numerous projects.
I might slap a price tag on something once in a while.
I'll try to keep that in Buy/Sell/Trade and include links here when I've got stuff for sale.

Onward! I've got things to make and work-surfaces to ruin!
Merciless Michael of God Squad
Gelfan Empire
Dragoon and Knight of Babylon
Image
User avatar
Shino
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 2406
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:02 pm
Location: Eugene, OR
Realm: Babylon
Unit: God Squad
Favorite Fighting Styles: Mantis

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Shino » Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:09 pm

UPGRADE!
Image
Here is some of the stuff I've been using most often.

There is a new Tandy Leather Store in town so I have taken advantage of their grand opening sale.
I've also been hitting up my university store's art supply department and I got some great deals on stuff like cutting tools, cutting mats, and sponges and brushes.

For this new year and to warm myself up to tooling again I started work on some greaves.
My goal was to have them ready to go before Battle for the Ring 5 which I mostly did but only because I made the straps onsite. I kind of rushed them too so the straps and buckles are a little wonky. I'll replace them later.
I had an old side that needed cutting into. It floats around 10-13oz which is a little thick for what I normally want but this was for greaves so whatever.
This was a great opportunity to do three things: use a grid with my new stamps, use a new dye brand, and use a tooling pattern.

Image
Like I said, I'm all about color and high contrasts so if this sickens you, turn back now.
Also, somebody said that I look like a Lego knight.
Good, because I love Legos.

I started with a template that I borrowed from my main man Rope.
Image
Yeah, I'm lazy and didn't make my own. So what?
I adjusted the template to fit the look I had in my head. Mostly, I just widened the parts around the ankle and added an arch to the top to make it taller than my shins.

Image
I bought a set of French Curves a few days after I cut these out. They would have helped out so much. Man, if you make garb or armor, buy a set. I think the plastic ones that I bought were like $4 for the set. Maybe I'll post up something where I used them later.

Here are the two blanks.
Image
Oh and FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!
So yeah, I botched these. I have my rights and lefts correct but I didn't look over the hide as closely as I should have before I cut into it.
As a result, there is a huge mar and hole in the left greave just above the ankle.
At first I didn't know what to do other than make a greave with a hole in it. I considered making straps that would cover it but that would break up the horizontal lines that I had envisioned. (I'm short, I need all the horizontals that I can get.)
I came up with a game plan.

Here is where I cleaned up the edges with a file and French edger.
http://i48.tinypic.com/15dlz9.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/16bzkg4.jpg

Here is where I outlined my design before I cut it out with my swivel knife. I use a 02 Micron fine point pen to trace my final lines onto the leather. I only use this where I plan on running over with the swivel knife. The ink is water proof so it stays on after I soak the leather and lets me see what I'm doing.
http://i47.tinypic.com/2rf6gs1.jpg
I didn't have a compass on hand so I just guessed that my drafting tape would fit the lion stencil I planned on using.
http://i46.tinypic.com/14brrc.jpg

Here are the two blades that I will be using for this part:
One is a flat 1/2inch blade and the other is a thinner 1/4 inch blade with a taper. I can't remember what the sizes are really called but bare with me. The smaller one is for detail lines and small curves.
http://i48.tinypic.com/35n4osm.jpg

This is the pattern I used to decorate each greave.
Image
All you need to do is wet the leather and mush the pattern into the surface. It'll be subtle but enough to cut out. I had had this one for years and never used it. There are catalogs of patterns that work like this. Search for some and seriously, you'll find hundreds. It's kind of a fun thing to try.

I used a grid here too. It works the same as the lion pattern. Image
This will help me with my geometric stamps.
I got this grid from Tandy:
http://i47.tinypic.com/28paox.jpg
If you get that one do yourself a favor and cut it up. It makes it easier to work with.
http://i50.tinypic.com/290vupw.jpg

Ah, yeah...
Image
This will look good but the time it eats up is not cool.
I watched a lot of Hulu while I rattled my work surface tooling these out.

Hours later:
Image
Let that dry out. I put mine in the oven a little just to get the residual moisture out of them but they probably didn't need it.

Don't be a dumbass. Use gloves and do your dying in a shop or garage.
Dye ruins everything. (Or do it in your house, I don't really care)
http://i46.tinypic.com/21do8jb.jpg
Cut up your sponges to get more uses out of them. No need to waste a whole sponge making one piece of armor.

Look at that blue! Holy *! That Eco-flow dye makes really vibrant color. You can pretty much paint with it. It is really expensive though. Also, it doesn't dilute with alcohol so don't make that mistake like I did. After playing around with it on some samples, I just added it directly to leather for the best color I could get.
Image

Now, they didn't have metallic gold dye or else I'd buy them out of it. Acrylic paint works great too. It just needs to be given a finishing coat of something to protect it from flaking off then the leather bends and stretches. Speaking of I just use cheap as dirt Americana acrylic sealer/finisher. I've got matte and glossy but I use more matte because the glossy, even in the smallest dose, makes everything look like lubed up plastic.
Oh, gurl...
Image

And bam!
Image
Remember that hole I had?
I made a little prayer seal dangle with a suede leather scroll on it to cover than blemish up. Ain't I a stinker?

Here are the pieces post BftR5. They got a little worn but the leather is tougher where I tooled it and the dye and finish I applied really help the integrity.
Image

Here's a close up of the seal
Image

Questions and comments are always appreciated.
If you were at Battle for the Ring 5 and got a good picture of me wearing these, I'd like a link to that photo please. I'd be really grateful.
Merciless Michael of God Squad
Gelfan Empire
Dragoon and Knight of Babylon
Image
User avatar
Shino
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 2406
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:02 pm
Location: Eugene, OR
Realm: Babylon
Unit: God Squad
Favorite Fighting Styles: Mantis

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Remdawg Killionaire » Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:40 pm

You gotta post your utility kidney belt Shino.
Bishop wrote:Overall I believe the article was positive for our image, loosely defining us as a sadomasochist anti-larp. I'm ok with that. http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/LARP-harder

Caleidah wrote:But, his sensei passed that style down to him! Literal hours of tradition!
User avatar
Remdawg Killionaire
Forum Gordon Ramsay
 
Posts: 3261
Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2003 5:10 pm
Location: Portlandia
Started Fighting: 20 Apr 2006
Realm: Pyke and O.G. Babylonian
Unit: Catalyst
Favorite Fighting Styles: Acerbic wit and sassy one-liners

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Dabbanoth » Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:51 am

Remy the Wroth wrote:You gotta post your utility kidney belt Shino.
God Squad
Bill Collector.
Expose-A-Fraud Squad.
User avatar
Dabbanoth
The Smoking Gun
 
Posts: 3611
Joined: Mon May 29, 2006 10:45 am
Location: Wild Wild West.
Started Fighting: 09 Aug 2057
Realm: Rugged
Unit: Divine Guardian of the Laser Kingdom
Favorite Fighting Styles: Bic.

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Derian » Thu Jan 24, 2013 7:03 am

Aw yiss. Well done!

If I can make one suggestion: your matting stamp (the one you did on the blue parts) looks like it was, well, stamped with a small stamp. If that was intentional, then cool, but if you're going for a more homogenous textured pattern, then rotate the stamp on its vertical axis as you stamp. For example, while holding it in your hand: stamp, turn 90 degrees, stamp, turn again and so on. This will help it to all blend in.
- Derian -

"An octopus has eight arms, three hearts, five *, two Super Bowl rings, a beak, and the power to solve crimes."
User avatar
Derian
Become One With the Wind
 
Posts: 5969
Joined: Sat Apr 05, 2003 4:20 pm
Location: Cedar Falls, IA
Started Fighting: 01 Apr 2001
Realm: Nan Belegorn
Unit: Hellhammer
Favorite Fighting Styles: Sword & Board
Pronouns: He / Him

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Shino » Thu Jan 24, 2013 2:15 pm

Thanks.

The blue part is 3 different sized stamps but I understand what you mean. I used the largest stamp to do largest parts of the surface area and worked down to fill in the smaller areas. I rotated the stamps and went back over the areas several times with the medium and small textures but I think because of the vast amount of area that it covered, the stamp pattern is a little more obvious. I'm sure that your trained eye can pick out where I got lazy :).

What I did notice is that while I was stamping, as the leather began to dry out, the depth of the stamp impression changed. I didn't soak the leather often enough and so some impressions are more defined than others.
Merciless Michael of God Squad
Gelfan Empire
Dragoon and Knight of Babylon
Image
User avatar
Shino
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 2406
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:02 pm
Location: Eugene, OR
Realm: Babylon
Unit: God Squad
Favorite Fighting Styles: Mantis

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Derian » Thu Jan 24, 2013 2:56 pm

Yup, definitely. Leather that is too damp will be too mushy and the stamp won't make a crisp impression. Leather that is too dry won't stamp deep enough. It's kind of a balance to get it right as you go.

I recommend using a small spray bottle and a clean rag or paper towel or something. Only spray a small area at a time. I usually do maybe like a 5" diameter circle or so. Work through that area, then move on. You can use bigger or smaller areas depending on how fast you can stamp. The goal (for me at least) is to get it to the right level of dampness and stay there just long enough for me to do all the tooling in that area.
- Derian -

"An octopus has eight arms, three hearts, five *, two Super Bowl rings, a beak, and the power to solve crimes."
User avatar
Derian
Become One With the Wind
 
Posts: 5969
Joined: Sat Apr 05, 2003 4:20 pm
Location: Cedar Falls, IA
Started Fighting: 01 Apr 2001
Realm: Nan Belegorn
Unit: Hellhammer
Favorite Fighting Styles: Sword & Board
Pronouns: He / Him

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Shino » Sun Jan 27, 2013 5:55 pm

Image

Here is the utility belt that I made for myself.
It's thick like a kidney belt but is just for holding my bag and some sashes.
The buckle is simple so I can take it off before I get on the field.

Image
Merciless Michael of God Squad
Gelfan Empire
Dragoon and Knight of Babylon
Image
User avatar
Shino
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 2406
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:02 pm
Location: Eugene, OR
Realm: Babylon
Unit: God Squad
Favorite Fighting Styles: Mantis

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Shino » Mon Feb 11, 2013 2:01 am

Some new arms that I am working on. They will probably match my previous greaves.
Image

Also, a piece for a themed suit I am making for the Western Belegarth theme, A Game of Thrones.
Image
Inspired by a piece by JL Hirten
http://mangycoyote.tumblr.com/post/3908 ... oyotemange
Merciless Michael of God Squad
Gelfan Empire
Dragoon and Knight of Babylon
Image
User avatar
Shino
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 2406
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:02 pm
Location: Eugene, OR
Realm: Babylon
Unit: God Squad
Favorite Fighting Styles: Mantis

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Shino » Sat Mar 09, 2013 9:23 pm

Little update:
Bracer from a GS themed full arm that I am making for myself.
I've been using a wood burner to add shading and softer lines.
Image
Merciless Michael of God Squad
Gelfan Empire
Dragoon and Knight of Babylon
Image
User avatar
Shino
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 2406
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:02 pm
Location: Eugene, OR
Realm: Babylon
Unit: God Squad
Favorite Fighting Styles: Mantis

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Remdawg Killionaire » Sun Mar 10, 2013 12:53 am

Illuminati
Bishop wrote:Overall I believe the article was positive for our image, loosely defining us as a sadomasochist anti-larp. I'm ok with that. http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/LARP-harder

Caleidah wrote:But, his sensei passed that style down to him! Literal hours of tradition!
User avatar
Remdawg Killionaire
Forum Gordon Ramsay
 
Posts: 3261
Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2003 5:10 pm
Location: Portlandia
Started Fighting: 20 Apr 2006
Realm: Pyke and O.G. Babylonian
Unit: Catalyst
Favorite Fighting Styles: Acerbic wit and sassy one-liners

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Shino » Mon Aug 12, 2013 12:06 am

Fixed the straps on my grieves to fit my leg better. The buckles each sit on a strap so that they don't press on my leg and are more comfortable.
Also, reshaped each grieve before Chaos Wars so they better fit around my knees and ankles.
Image

Image
Merciless Michael of God Squad
Gelfan Empire
Dragoon and Knight of Babylon
Image
User avatar
Shino
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 2406
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:02 pm
Location: Eugene, OR
Realm: Babylon
Unit: God Squad
Favorite Fighting Styles: Mantis

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Derian » Fri Aug 16, 2013 6:36 am

Your **** is fly as hell.
- Derian -

"An octopus has eight arms, three hearts, five *, two Super Bowl rings, a beak, and the power to solve crimes."
User avatar
Derian
Become One With the Wind
 
Posts: 5969
Joined: Sat Apr 05, 2003 4:20 pm
Location: Cedar Falls, IA
Started Fighting: 01 Apr 2001
Realm: Nan Belegorn
Unit: Hellhammer
Favorite Fighting Styles: Sword & Board
Pronouns: He / Him

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Remdawg Killionaire » Sat Aug 17, 2013 11:02 pm

Post the rest o' ya steez, son!
Bishop wrote:Overall I believe the article was positive for our image, loosely defining us as a sadomasochist anti-larp. I'm ok with that. http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/LARP-harder

Caleidah wrote:But, his sensei passed that style down to him! Literal hours of tradition!
User avatar
Remdawg Killionaire
Forum Gordon Ramsay
 
Posts: 3261
Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2003 5:10 pm
Location: Portlandia
Started Fighting: 20 Apr 2006
Realm: Pyke and O.G. Babylonian
Unit: Catalyst
Favorite Fighting Styles: Acerbic wit and sassy one-liners

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Shino » Wed Aug 21, 2013 7:00 pm

Here is a pic of me sporting my half-arms and pauldrons during Kurgan and I's Dragoon Knight's trial. Put some serious sweat into my armor that day.
More pics of just the armor later.
Image
Merciless Michael of God Squad
Gelfan Empire
Dragoon and Knight of Babylon
Image
User avatar
Shino
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 2406
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:02 pm
Location: Eugene, OR
Realm: Babylon
Unit: God Squad
Favorite Fighting Styles: Mantis

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Shino » Fri Aug 23, 2013 1:28 am

Merciless Michael of God Squad
Gelfan Empire
Dragoon and Knight of Babylon
Image
User avatar
Shino
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 2406
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:02 pm
Location: Eugene, OR
Realm: Babylon
Unit: God Squad
Favorite Fighting Styles: Mantis

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Caleidah » Fri Aug 23, 2013 1:33 am

Shino, what gold do you use on the edges? That looks incredible.
Knight of Grond
Palatine of the Sons of Sylas
"But in life, the young king becomes a tyrant, and leads his people to war."
User avatar
Caleidah
Boo Radley
 
Posts: 2055
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:36 pm
Location: Central IL
Started Fighting: 03 Jan 2009
Realm: Grond
Unit: Sons of Sylas
Favorite Fighting Styles: Boot and Bottle

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Shino » Fri Aug 23, 2013 1:40 am

Tandy Ecoflo Cova Color Gold
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-u ... 02-20.aspx

I was skeptical when I bought it but it is the best gold color I have used. It makes my other gold look green in comparison. It goes on like paint and stays on like dye.
Merciless Michael of God Squad
Gelfan Empire
Dragoon and Knight of Babylon
Image
User avatar
Shino
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 2406
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:02 pm
Location: Eugene, OR
Realm: Babylon
Unit: God Squad
Favorite Fighting Styles: Mantis

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Caleidah » Fri Aug 23, 2013 1:43 am

Shino wrote:Tandy Ecoflo Cova Color Gold
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-u ... 02-20.aspx

I was skeptical when I bought it but it is the best gold color I have used. It makes my other gold look green in comparison. It goes on like paint and stays on like dye.

Unf. Many thanks. Gonna be tooling words/prayers into the arms on my next set and needed a better gold to do the lettering with.

EDIT: Using the Eco Flo white dye for your whites, or using the leather paint for that as well?
Knight of Grond
Palatine of the Sons of Sylas
"But in life, the young king becomes a tyrant, and leads his people to war."
User avatar
Caleidah
Boo Radley
 
Posts: 2055
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:36 pm
Location: Central IL
Started Fighting: 03 Jan 2009
Realm: Grond
Unit: Sons of Sylas
Favorite Fighting Styles: Boot and Bottle

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Shino » Tue Aug 27, 2013 9:28 pm

I used acrylic paint and gave it an acrylic matte finish. I want to use Eco White in my next pieces. The acrylic paint can bleed if the leather get's too soaked.
Merciless Michael of God Squad
Gelfan Empire
Dragoon and Knight of Babylon
Image
User avatar
Shino
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 2406
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:02 pm
Location: Eugene, OR
Realm: Babylon
Unit: God Squad
Favorite Fighting Styles: Mantis

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Snake Eyes » Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:12 am

those pauldrons are amazing!!!
User avatar
Snake Eyes
Recruit
Recruit
 
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 6:37 pm
Started Fighting: 20 Mar 2010
Realm: gilead
Unit: Exile
Favorite Fighting Styles: single blue, sword and board

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Shino » Sat Mar 29, 2014 11:11 am

I'm getting into plasti dip.

While this isn't armor, it's still sweet and I wanted to share it here.

This back flag is my first plasti dip project.

It is made up of schedule 80 PVC with a 4-way joint at the top. It has two straps that secure around my waist and my chest. The two straps keep it fixed and upright while I fight. I tested it out at Oregon Opener and it worked really well. The talisman is probably 2 feet above my head and the pole runs down the center of my back so it isn't in the way of shots that would land on my shoulders. It actually rarely got hit and I only got hit in the back a few times and each time I felt the blow through the pole.

The talisman on top is removable and while fighting it sometimes popped off when it got hit. It's pretty durable. The cross part came off once when I got bashed over and was easily reattached. I like that it is strong enough to stay intact while I'm in action but comes apart easily when I fall on it or it gets hit. It's padded with pipe insulation and has pommel sized caps on the cross T and at the bottom of the pole. The joint where the talisman connects is recessed into the padding so even when the talisman is missing, the pole is still safely padded all over.

It's my first plasti dip project. I plan to make a series of different talismans that I can swap out.

This is a part of the paladin kit I am working on. I'm a knight now and my armor + a few accessories will make up a sweet holy knight aka paladin kit for my divine army, zealot, persona.

I need to make better flags but I'm really pleased with the result so far. I was able to fight hard with this on without it getting in my way.

I am making a plasti dipped back shield and I am going to cut a channel in it to allow it to be worn with the flag.

Image
Image
Image
Merciless Michael of God Squad
Gelfan Empire
Dragoon and Knight of Babylon
Image
User avatar
Shino
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 2406
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:02 pm
Location: Eugene, OR
Realm: Babylon
Unit: God Squad
Favorite Fighting Styles: Mantis

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Derian » Sat Mar 29, 2014 11:35 am

Sweet. I want to see a picture of the full kit with the back flag.
- Derian -

"An octopus has eight arms, three hearts, five *, two Super Bowl rings, a beak, and the power to solve crimes."
User avatar
Derian
Become One With the Wind
 
Posts: 5969
Joined: Sat Apr 05, 2003 4:20 pm
Location: Cedar Falls, IA
Started Fighting: 01 Apr 2001
Realm: Nan Belegorn
Unit: Hellhammer
Favorite Fighting Styles: Sword & Board
Pronouns: He / Him

Re: Let's make armor and stuff! With Shino.

Postby Lemmos » Wed Nov 08, 2017 1:53 am

Derian wrote:Sweet. I want to see the best appetite suppressants picture of the full kit with the back flag.


Me too! Anyone have a pic?
Lemmos
Recruit
Recruit
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Nov 03, 2017 3:52 am
Started Fighting: 07 Jul 1982


Return to The Armory

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests