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[Sera]

Hi all, starting an armour build with my partner Kitala. She'll be posting the updates for the most part.

So far I have a cold cast Night Owl helmet from Saz, and we have printed out a template for my Clan Wren fem armour. We've just sized them, Kit will be posting pictures soon.

Here's a picture of the rough helmet.

[Kitala-Enby]

So we printed out the templates that I aquired from Myra Tiin at 115% as 100% felt too small.

Upon looking back at the pictures just now I feel like 110% would have been a better size, but the plan is to do these with a relatively round compound curve to account for Sera's chest and they will be curving round a fair bit at the side so I think we'll roll with the slightly-too-big templates for now and I'll trim them to fit better after darting them to ensure we don't cut them too small for after darting.

Some input on that plan would be appreciated from any App team members or Ruus'alors (is the correct plural of Ruus'alor Ruus'alors or Ruus'alore, Considering the plural of Vod is Vode)

Here is the pictures of the templates taped on, they come to about an inch above her navel.




The collar is obviously too big but I plan on making a more form fitting collar that overlaps onto the back plate so I'll be making a duct tape pattern of her shoulders and using this collar as the base for that which should make it easier to get everything to match up

Hope everyone is having a good weekend xxx

[Zehsaa]

Following with interest. I'm going to make a similar chest armour for my kit

[Kitala-Enby]

Following with interest. I'm going to make a similar chest armour for my kit

https://fune.li/mando/wren_grunts.pdf

Here's a link to Brunélie's templates for this very nicely made

[Myra Tiin]

Trimming on the collar and top of the chest plate for them to be aligned would be nice, and darting for forming the curve is a great idea!

Maybe plate height can also be reduced? They seem a bit long here, but it's up to you for comfort!

[Kris Jasra]

I think you're far too big. 100 might have worked better with a little adjustment for widening the chest plate.

I'd lose at least an inch from the centre of that collar and half an inch from the height.  Take half an inch off the top and bottom of the chest plates. Pull the chest plates up and adjust to match the new collar width. Pull the ab up.

See how it sits then. Cutting too big and trimming down can work but you need to get the inside edge of the collar right.

One terrible paint image for you:

[Zehsaa]

https://fune.li/mando/wren_grunts.pdf

Here's a link to Brunélie's templates for this very nicely made

Thank you, that will help a lot

[Kitala-Enby]

I'd lose at least an inch from the centre of that collar and half an inch from the height.  Take half an inch off the top and bottom of the chest plates. Pull the chest plates up and adjust to match the new collar width. Pull the ab up.

See how it sits then. Cutting too big and trimming down can work but you need to get the inside edge of the collar right.

Made a quick mock up of the armour at 100% based on the half chest plate I had at that size



I think 110% is the best size but it'll all need some tweaking.

The final collar plate template will likely be completely custom except for the line where it meets the chest plate. I'm gonna make a duct tape template of her shoulders to get the correct contours to get a nicely fitting collar/back plate that will connect in the middle with chicago screws or boba style studs.

I've asked sera to print out the templates for me at 100, 105, and 110 so that we can make a franken pattern that's perfect for her proportions.

So the thing is I sized it to sit a few inches above her navel but I'm guessing this style of plates needs to sit higher?

In other news I made sera a Bo Katan Rebels S04 style shoulder bell template and a GM knee template as well

[Ordeyn]

I ended up modding my collar plate, too, mostly for comfort. Good call on matching where the collar and chest meet, though.

I think the 110% looks good. You can always trim plates down. It's a lot harder to build them back up again. Trying the other sizes to get the perfect sizing is great!

So the thing is I sized it to sit a few inches above her navel but I'm guessing this style of plates needs to sit higher?

Obviously, we don't all have the same bodies or the bodies of cartoon characters, so I almost always expect some small adjustments to be made from templates to match the wearer while maintaining the general look of the original templates. Where the plates meet, as you've already commented on, is the most important aspect that should be maintained if possible. The templates available are helpful, but they're not perfect for everyone. We are also trying to judge proportions from the other side of a computer screen based on a photo, no in-person. You can see things we cannot.

I like the mix of styles happening here, by the way. They're gonna pull together really nicely.

[Kris Jasra]

Looking at those sizes I think she'll be pretty much like me. I needed one size set for height and another much bigger for width and had to meld them together.

I never use the navel as a judging point as it's too low on a lot of people (not all though, as Ordeyn said we're all different. My plates for example sit about an inch higher than my navel). Instead you want a spot somewhere between bottom of the elbow joint and the navel. That takes into account more of the variations in navel placement and arm and torso lengths so that you don't make over long plates that leave no room for waist items to sit at the waist because the navel was the only absolute guide given.

[Kitala-Enby]

Amazing thanks a lot xxxxxxx Next time I have her we'll have a selection of template sizes to work with for the correct height to weight ratio.

Looking at those sizes I think she'll be pretty much like me. I needed one size set for height and another much bigger for width and had to meld them together.

Yeah she is really short I think I'm gonna try and go for the ratio you mentioned.

I like the mix of styles happening here, by the way. They're gonna pull together really nicely.

Thanks. I've been directing her quite a bit to find the aestetic she likes, the round shoulders and GM knees are similar to my current build set up so we'll look pretty good beside each other.

[Kitala-Enby]

Update time!

So I got sera's knees and shoulders cut out in sintra and have started forming them, I have also cut out the raised portion for the cod and the Ab plate for the clan wren armour as I had a scrap of sintra in the right size that was otherwise going to go in the bin.



We also got working today on resizing her armour templates. I made a custom collar and back template off of a tape mannequin using the clan wren template to get the line up of the chest and collar correct. I then transferred a lot of the duct tape templates to paper and squared them up and made them more symmetrical

for the chest plate I cut off a lot of the sides and reduced the length of the overall plate for a better fit, We didn't much like how the shape of the chest and size of the ab looked at 115% so decided to taper off the 115% template at the top to the 100% at the bottom

In the side pictures you can see the blue line which is the line we cut along to line up the two plates (we hadnt cut them yet). We then used the 100% ab plate at the bottom




In the final picture she is pointing to her navel, the plates are an inch or so above and better shaped this time round so we should have penty of space for girth belt, and cod in that gap.

The meeting points of the collar and chest aren't perfect at the moment, Instead of trimming them down I have decided to leave them for now and tackle that after forming to ensure any work I do right now doesn't  accidently cut off too much. The centre of the collar is also jutting up on one side at the moment making it look like its cut at an angle, it is straight when its laying flat and the gap between the collar and chest in the middle is where the diamond will go in the end.

The two template sizes weren't taped straight for this photo (the 100% template ontop of the 115% template is a litle low on one side) so one side is slightly lower. this was corrected after sizing and doesn't have an affect on the size of the plates in this image.

[Kris Jasra]

That looks much better sized. Nice work on keeping the proportions looking good.

[Kitala-Enby]

That looks much better sized. Nice work on keeping the proportions looking good.

Thanks Kris, So you think that transition between the collar and chest at the side is okay?

I can make the angle at the corner of the chest more gradual to make it look less pronounced but after forming the plate will likely stick out less anyway.

[Kris Jasra]

I'd cut it with a full inch extra corner on that edge, form it, then trim it to what looks best once formed. I think the shape you have but all smoothed out will be best, but if you've got the extra you can tape off and test different shapes.

[Sera]

Update post.

The chest armor is fully formed, and we did a trial mount today. After these pictures were taken we reformed the upper portion of the back to fix the gaps at the shoulder blades that are present here.

The Kama is finished and the vest requires further tailoring as it was donated to me by Kitala. I now have boots, also pictured below, also donated by Kitala.

Next up is the filler between the codplate layers, as well as filling in and sanding the knees and shoulders.

Images (Right click to view them on my website in their proper orientation):











Close up of the interaction between the collar, chest, and shoulder.



Front on the chest plates look a bit oversized, but this is due to them curving round the body, as opposed to them just sitting on the front. There's still a fair bit of space beside the chest plate.



Close up of the boots I'll be using. The flight suit I'll be using won't be as tight as these jeggings, so the knees won't look so oversized.