The Armour Archive

Five things going on here.

1. A thank you to Hal for the new tools!!! Everything is great as usual- i got a four inch mushroom, a prototype rivet holder (most excellent) and a tool that helps with flaring edges. Thanks again!!
[img]http://valuckas.com/armor/ht1.jpg[/img]

2. I'm going to get another tattoo, and i've really fallen in love with this hobby so...... I think you'll get the main idea, the symbol in the middle is a Lithuanian heraldry symbol. I'm leaning for one of these, i want to see what you think.
[img]http://valuckas.com/armor/tat1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://valuckas.com/armor/tat2.jpg[/img]
[img]http://valuckas.com/armor/tat3.jpg[/img]

3. This is a free standing "bench" idea i had. Making pillars from 4x4s. The idea is to have work stations without having a bench get in the way of working the metal. It might be hard to tell, but i figured if i cut the wood a certain way i could use the left overs as supports. Tell me what you think.
[img]http://valuckas.com/armor/idea.jpg[/img]

4. My "14th century armor" or as NJShooter called it 14th Century Ork armor- thanks man I added small panels to the chest piece and rough formed the back.
[img]http://valuckas.com/armourpage/10.jpg[/img]
the back piece
[img]http://valuckas.com/armourpage/11.jpg[/img]
I'm calling my chest piece Battleship (something) LOL Yeah its ugly.

5. Fantasy Jin Roh update- This is what i spent the weekend working mostly on. Here is a link with some images of what the suit should look like. http://dan42.com/jinroh/e/images.html
[img]http://valuckas.com/armourpage/j8.jpg[/img]
[img]http://valuckas.com/armourpage/j9.jpg[/img]
[img]http://valuckas.com/armourpage/j10.jpg[/img]
[img]http://valuckas.com/armourpage/j11.jpg[/img]
[img]http://valuckas.com/armourpage/j12.jpg[/img]
[img]http://valuckas.com/armourpage/j13.jpg[/img]
[img]http://valuckas.com/armourpage/j14.jpg[/img]
[img]http://valuckas.com/armourpage/j15.jpg[/img]
[img]http://valuckas.com/armourpage/j16.jpg[/img]

I did some leather dyeing, some painting (flat black rustoleum covered with Hoppes gun oil!), stared the chest, started re-doing the legs (two pics up- the left side is the start of my re-do), did some strapping and a bunch of little things.


You can see the progression of both these projects at the link below. Well tell me what you think.... about everything

I'll coment on the work-bench concept:

You may find it more efficient and cost effective to lag-bolt layers of 2 by X material together that trying to attach 4x4's together. 1/2" threaded rod is a great material for holding all the layers in one direction. If you are afraid that the stand is too tall in relation to its base then you can place a pair of 2x whatever running horizontally on either side and on top of a nother pair of 2x whatever running horizontally and flat in the other direction. This gives you a set of outrigers at the bottom that you can stand on for added stability.

The rule of thumb of anvil height (rule of knuckle?) is to set the anvil so the top just touches a closed fist with your arm and boy at a comfortable rest. You don't want to have to bend over a work piece constantly. This is a good height for a heavy dishing stump also. I actually prefer my anvil heigher especially when peaning rivets. Occasionally you need to look almost sideway at a piece while riveting it.

I'll let others comment on the armor pieces. I like to recomend making armor like following it through history. Lorica Segment -> Spangen -> COP -> Pembridge -> articulated knees & elbows -> Churburg 13 -> to later harnesses and then on to futuristic. Few artists really understand armor and converting artistic concept to functional can be a difficult path.

Sean

The top one will make the best tattoo, depending on how big you want the design and where you want to put it.

Hello Ceramite:

It seems clear that you have tons of motivation and are developing some skill at shaping metal, as well as the beginnings of a good understanding of how to pattern metal to produce shapes from it. I also think you have a good "mind's eye" for what you are after, I just think your eye is not yet historically trained.

Your work so far is not very historical, but I suspect this is due simply to a lack of experience with working with the medium and a lack of experience seeing historical pieces. You have a good start with tools. I suggest you obtain a copy of Arms and Armour of the Medieval Knight by David Edge and John Miles Paddock, for starters. There are, of course, many other armour books to be reviewed but this is an easily-obtainable general armouring book that should give you a good starting point for understanding the period look of the pieces you are trying to make.

Keep up the good work and post more pictures!

Steve

personally... i feel historical armor has it's place... but if you are content creating costume armor... i say stick with it.

just dont expect a lot of praise for it around these parts... most of the stuff i make is hardly "traditional" or "period." dont take that personally... it is just the flavor of the website.

Ive never watched Jin-Roh, but that suit reminds me A LOT of the Killswitch PS2 game. Good job on that... if you have any questions about vacuum forming, like for say the mask, hit me up, i have some suggestions. Plus i have links to some pretty sweet websites, they are focused more on stormtroopers, but the basic idea translates well.

Thank you for your replies!!!

Sean-
That’s a great idea with the 2x with threaded rods and the support system! As far as height do you want your stakes to be on the same level or higher then your anvil using the “rule of knuckleâ€Â

Yah, just make sure they person takes their time and gets it in solid. I hate holidays. When I do a silouhette piece I use this black from starbrite called 'tribal black'. It's thicker or something, goes in like frikin mad. Dark as night.

Animal-
Do you think the second one would get gummy looking over time becasue of the lines? I need to get my other one as well redone (its 8 years old), will the tribal black hold the black longer then other brands??

I think the second one is a bit tight. See, they change over the years as you've seen and sometimes a fine line can creep. Even on the best tattoos the skin itself is a variable so you plan for that if you're smart. on a piece that depends on negative space you'll want to give that negative space every chance you can to look good 20 years from now.
Getting the old one redone is a good idea especially if you get a good job done on the new one. A good new one only makes the old one look older by comparison. The ink I described earlier is my favorite for such uses. For the washwork stuff I use a thinner stuff. It dissipates in the medium better.

Gotcha! I'll expand the negative space some more and go with that design!!! I'll super thank you another 8 years from now

No worries! Best of luck to you! Who's doing the work?

I have a few friends that got good work done in Baltimore, i don't remember the names off hand. Where are you at?

I'm over by Ellicott City and Columbia. All my tattoo friends were down by DC though. I dont know a ton of people in Baltimore.

My wife is a tattoo artist and she said the first ones lines will stay sharp the longest the other two will be more likely to blur together in time due to your bodies natural breakdown and spreading out of the ink.
the free standing bench is basicly how I designed my anvil stand ussed allthread to tie it all together.

Great double consensuses!! I can't wait to start these projects!

your armour needs shape. metal is easy to shape when you know how if you what any help i will be happy to. i have made lots of suits what i now call crap but in making them i learnt alot and i think the making of armour should be passed on check out my old web site these are the crap suits im now fooling experts www.lance98.force9.co.uk