Elven Plate Mail Project - Day 1

 Ok - trying something new here. This is a project blog for some elven armor that I am experimenting with. It's experimental because the only armor I've made is of the Stormtrooper variety and a few pairs of leather bracers. The purpose behind this blog will be to help others either make their own, decide against making their own, understand cost and time, and hopefully learn from my mistakes - since this is a first time jump.

Day 1

Electronic communications and face to face meeting with my client to determine a direction. My client combed through a lot of photos and sent some to me along with a wish list of what they wanted. Their initial best like was the following photo:

This came along with a list of wants - They wanted the armor to read as metal - not leather. In other words banded plate mail, not leather. It needed to be fairly durable for active use outside. And initially they also wanted a way to change it up to something they could sneak around in. They need it in two weeks. Oh and the budget was $150.

This might actually be a feasible list if I had a lot more experience, a full shop equipped with a die cut machine, digital laser etcher, a vac former, experience sculpting and making molds etc. Unfortunately for my client - I am a more of a person with a sewing machine and a few leather tools in the craft room. The good news for them is that with my inexperience they get my time free on this one, because I want to gain experience in this field. It is a win/win for us. They get hours of free work, I get paid supplies to experiment with.

Granted, I always get a little nervous, because I want something that we will all love at the end of this experimental jaunt, and there is a degree of gambling inherent in this. It could come out as a critical failure, in which case we would all be fairly disappointed.

And when someone sends me a photo of a thousand dollar suit of leather armor wanting me to get something like that in two weeks, for under $150. I have to take a moment and breathe for a bit. I like a challenge, but I also have to be honest with my clients. Some things can't be done - or at least not within the reality that is my basement craft room, my calendar, and their budget.

So our first day has a lot of conversations about materials and what we think might be feasible and what might not be. I am glad the client had time for a face to face meeting because it can be very hard to get visuals out of my head without drawing and showing materials. One of the things I really wanted to show my client was the tin duct tape that I have. It is an actual thin sheet of foil with an adhesive back. Think very thick aluminum foil combined with scotch tape backing and you've got it. Good news is that it is a type of metal that I can work with, it is inexpensive, and will read as metal. The bad news is that I fear if not done right that it could easily come off looking like aluminum foil armor - and that concerns me a great deal - it will continue to be my number one concern through this whole process.

I am also thankful that my client gets the idea that plate mail just isn't built for stealth. Or at least not in a case where you are trying to convince a panel of judges that duct tape is really metal plates. With real plate mail, the first steps I'd take to make it stealthy would be to sandblast it, paint it with dark matte colors in a broken camouflage pattern, and trim the plates down to the smallest sizes possible to allow for the greatest freedom of movement and the least carried weight. It is a hard balance to find if you want the armor to have the visual appearance of historic or fantasy shiny plate mail.

So what are the take away thoughts with Day 1.
(1) Well, if you are thinking of making armor for yourself, really think through what you need. Real plate mail is expensive and heavy if you are looking for something like LARPing. There are a lot of tutorials on foam armor out there and how to make it look like metal. This is realistic because of the light weight and the idea that you can mold foam a little with a hairdryer or a heat gun. Draw backs to that are that it isn't highly durable if you are running through brush, and Rub N Buff compounds used to make foam look like metal are really good for one time photo shoots. They will rub right off of the foam onto any nearby fabric - so get used to cloaks and sleeves that have gold and silver splotches if you are active in your costume.

(2) Realize you can't have it all. Even if someone paid me $3,000 to make the leather armor in that second photo. Even though I am fairly comfortable with leather work. I would have to say no. Because that particular bit of work would never happen in my shop in two weeks. Give me a month and yes you'd have it.

(3) If you are doing this for someone else, find folks who are OK with a bit of a gamble. I am very lucky to have clients who get the idea that they are risking some of their money here for me to learn what works and what doesn't. Yeah, if it turns out, they get a good deal, but there is always that unlucky chance that I'll roll a one.

(4) If you run a small shop or are thinking of doing this as a hobby business, have straightforward conversations about what's going on. I can't promise the moon and my client knows it. Yet it still helps to go over what I know about the materials and their limitations. This helps him make the decisions he needs to make.