Coat of plates

[Charles Alexander]

I've noticed a few armorers offer a coat of plates kit.

http://www.madmattsarmory.com/inv_body.php

I imagine if you get one of these all you need is the shell material, rivets, buckles, etc.

My question is, has anyone done a coat of plates using one of these kits?

Is it easy to do? I imagine with experience it would be, but I would be a novice. Or would it just be more practical to hire someone with experience to do one for you?

[juan]

I have one that I made using Mad Matt's kit. It is easy as pie, even with no experience. If you can peen a rivet and cut with scissors you can do this. Matt sends instructions along on the placement of the plates.

This page http://www.forth-armoury.com/research/p ... _rivet.htm
helped somewhat with dealing with the rivets.

[Charles Alexander]

Thanks.

Any suggestions for the shell? Leather, probably. But the type, thickness, etc.

[Bleddyn De Caldicot]

It seems easy enough, I have one but havent cut out the shell yet because I dont have a piece of leather big enough(yet) and dont have an awl to sew 2 pieces together...good instructions though!

[Eirikr the Eager]

This is a good project if you haven't made one before. Though if you plan to use leather I'd suggest you make a cloth one first. If you make a mistake with the material, then it's not so bad as making a mistake with leather.

Mind you, canvas (or a asimilar heavy material) is a viable alternative to leather.

[Bernhart von Bruck]

Chello!

Canvas is what I'm making mine out of...I found a nice gold color. I'm doing the shell in ansteorrean war tabard colors.

And, yes, I'll post pics when I'm done!

Tony

[InsaneIrish]

for those wanting to use leather, might I suggest you not?

The reasoning is this:

1. Leath does NOT breath. So you will basically be wrapping yourselves in brightly colored insulation. It hot weather you could turn into a burrito.

2. While leather is durable, tears and rips are very hard to repair. And rivet blow outs are a pain in the ass that requires putting a large washer on the rivet to compensate for the enlarged rivet hole.



Canvas on the other hand, is breathable, and you can sew rips and tears back up easily.

You will need to use washers on the rivet heads, but to make your holes just use a nail and seperate the threads apart so the rivet goes through. That way you have no cut threads to unravel.

[Romulus]

I've started by COP with a leather shell, but I only intend on wearing it to demos, and a couple wars each year, and I'm an archer, so I'm hoping it won't take as bad a beating as a heavy fighting. Once its done, I hope to make a more rugged fabric shell with a plastic plates to practice in and not look like a total scrub while at it.

[Mad Matt]

If you've never made any armor before you can assemble a coat of plates from one of my kits.

The big key to doing a good job is to just take your time.

If you run into trouble my kit comes with full "tech" support. If you've got a thousand questions you get a thousand answers.

[Steve S.]

Answers: free. Correct Answers: $5.



I have made some 10 or so coats of plates. I've used both leather and heavy fabric.

I recommend leather.

It's just many many times tougher.

Steve

[deflagratio]

I've made a coat of plates out of Mad Matt's kit. I used a leather shell and tandy pop rivets actually. The rivets are still there. It's an ugly cuss but it was first armouring project beside a set of demi's that failed horribly. I plan to rebuild it one day using a painter's canvas drop cloth and dye. IF found the CoP to be a fairly easy project for a beginner to do from a kit. Also Matt is fully honest with his tech support and you get fast email replies.

[Eirikr the Eager]

Here's a pic of my CoP. Uses canvas.

You can't tell from the pic, but it's styled like a brigandine.