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[Straka Zulu]

Hey, vod, would you have templates of the Wren style plates?  I'm looking to make a set myself.

[Slade Kel]

Drew them all by hand with ruler and pencil, but I can probably get them scanned and uploaded if you want. You'd have to play around with sizing most likely, but it would give you somewhere to start from.

For actual Clan Wren plates, I have the back plate and back collar, front collar, chest plates and ab, knees and the top half of the gauntlet shells. I appear to have misplaced or chucked the shoulder, and the lower half of the gauntlet shell I just free-handed using my measurements. The rest of the plates are custom designs so they won't be helpful in an actual Wren build.

Edit: I scanned and uploaded them anyway https://imgur.com/a/LVnO5
The gauntlet shell top and collar plates need to be mirrored to get the full template, and the back plate needs to be cut out, put together and then mirrored. I was also having some issues with the lines showing up, so any extra thick lines you need to cut on the outside of the line to get it at full size. My printer/scanner was also otherwise acting up so I could only do jpegs, but they theoretically were scanned into 8.5x11 inch size and should print out accurate to size for that. For reference on sizing, I'm 5'7", stocky and chunky, 16.5" from armpit-to-armpit across the chest and 16" from collarbone to navel and the bottom of the ab plate sits at about the center-point of my navel.

Edit2: Upon closer inspection the tip of the ab plate was out of the scan area and the front end of the gauntlet shell top is a bit past the printable area. Neither should have a great effect on the final product, easily fixable with a pencil and a ruler.

I also added the link to the first post in case this gets lengthy or someone's just feeling lazy.

[Slade Kel]

So the rest of the armor cleanup has been slowed because I keep forgetting to get the measurements on my belt sander and I have been too sore from work to want to hand sand everything. In the meantime, I made a little bit of headway with the gauntlet toppers.

So for reference, for those of you that haven't looked closely, this is what I'm aiming for:

All of the rebels mandos have basically similar armor, except for the 'hero' characters like Katan, Rau and Sabine.

I started from paper, went on to foam and finally made this mockup out of sintra.





Very rough as I've done basically no cleanup on it, but I think I've started to get on the right track. I'm giving some thought to making the top entirely out of sintra. The proportions aren't as good as I'd like, but such is the problem with building from cartoon references; they don't exactly have human proportions and their armor bends in weird ways.

Edit: An equally rough mock-up in 22 gauge aluminum, slightly wider-built.



I like the wider look better, and of course metal is my preferred medium. I'll have to play with both more and see what's what.

[Havelock]

This is looking absolutely great, vod!

[Straka Zulu]

This is looking absolutely great, vod!

I agree! 
Kinda envious of your metalworking skills, but, I'll get there.

[Slade Kel]

Thanks guys! And Straka, it's just a matter of time and experience; I've been doing this since 2006 and have built (for myself and others) somewhere on the order of a dozen or fifteen full sets of metal armor for myself and others. I'm a fair bit out of practice as I haven't done any real armor work in about a year, so I'm taking it easy on this set, but I think anyone can do the metalworking if they put in the time and effort. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me at any point and I'll get back to you asap.

I will hopefully have a more concrete update this weekend, but I have to pull some overtime because of the snow day earlier in the week so I might not have anything until next week.

[Slade Kel]

Fair certain over a day later isn't double-posting, but even if it is I'm doing it anyway because I don't believe editing a post makes it pop back up on folks' feeds or as 'new' in the forums. If it does, well, someone can educate me on that.

Anyway, I've been working on this most of the day, since getting home from work at 10. I got some work done on the backplate, much of the dishing in fact:



And then my dishing...device...broke in half D:

That 16 gauge can really be a pain in the shebs.

Welp, it is what it is. Also took that left gauntlet top prototype and converted it into 22 gauge steel and started hammering it into shape. I had to get creative because my anvil was a bit too wide and, being the idjit that I am I forgot I had a second, slimmer anvil in my car.




Did a little tweaking, then hit it (along with most of the rest of the armor) with the belt sander, then wirebrush, then fine grit sandpaper. And then I began the mounting process.


Unfortunately I lack the bossman's welding skills, so this is attached using Amazing Goop, which I've found to be ideal as it so far has glued anything I want to anything else; metal-to-metal, metal-to-plastic, plastic-to-plastic, wood-to-wood, wood-to-metal, wood-to-plastic, etcetera. So far I haven't found anything I can't glue together with it. The white bit between the teeth of the topper is a bit of sintra, as the easiest material to fill in there. The whole of it will be bondo'd to the gauntlet shell when I have a chance to do so, along with bondo on the seams with the sintra to blend it all into one lovely whole.

I also made some progress with the right gauntlet topper, because I was bored and needed to give my hands a break from bending, sanding and hammering. You get to have a snapshot of the Slade Template Technique.
Reference pic:


First template proved to be a little too small:

As you can see, there's a lot of ruler-guided lines and paper folding.

Then that got used as a template for another template template-ception:


That one seems to be better proportioned, and also frankly better than the first topper template. Like I've said, I'm a little rusty





All-in-all productive day. Tomorrow I'll likely be tweaking the leftt gauntlet topper and getting the right cut out of metal. Not sure if I'll be able to do it in one piece like the template, though regardless I have plenty of bondo in my future. I think I got enough dishing done on the backplate to jigger it into fitting, so I might do more hammering on that tomorrow. Backplates are by and far the worst part to work on though, so I may need a couple more days of recovery for my arm. Unfortunately I work in manufacturing and spend all work day bending what amounts to metal spaghetti with my hands. The thin metal tubing isn't hard to bend and we have templates and forms to bend around, but it's still tiring on the hands, arms and shoulders once you do a few hundred in a day . Hopefully all of this hammering builds my stamina back up soon.

Also, stay tuned for more; I've decided that with my triumphant return, I'm going to build a kit from each era. This is my main project, but I've already templated and traced early era crusader armor. It'll be done out of 'sintra' because it's supposed to be bone and that's the easiest medium to get that look with minimal effort. Fortunately, Home Depot just started carrying pvc sheets and I was able to pick up a 2'x4' each of 3mm and 6mm. I just haven't worked up the motivation to cut a full suit out, especially as most of it is the 6mm for that beefy armor look and will need to either be cut with a dremel or jig saw. I'll post it up in the appropriate area when I get beyond the traced-out-on-the-sheet stage.

[Straka Zulu]

Looks like it's time to upgrade to an actual dishing stump! 

[Slade Kel]

Looks like it's time to upgrade to an actual dishing stump! 

Well...you're not wrong

Got the shins more toward finished. Not in love with the hinges, but it's hard to attach them otherwise. I decided to go with a style I did previously for enclosed shins, with the closure at the back and two smaller flaps as the back half.



And yes, the front detail pieces are different, one raised more than the other. Part whimsy, part laziness of shaping, but the assymetry will be tied in with the final details and paint done. If I decide I hate the hinges too much once they whole of it is painted, I might pull them, make a simple back clamshell and attach at both sides by magnet. Time will tell.

[Slade Kel]

A good deal of the armor is complete, simply waiting on paint, velcro and straps. I have to wait on the weather for the former, and for the arrival of the latter two. As a teaser, here's much of it sanded, wire brushed and ready for paint.





Not pictured here are the parts of the cod plate (I realized when cleaning up my indoor craft space yesterday that I somehow missed them in my grand sanding/wire brushing session) as well as the back plate and the gauntlets. The back plate is still in its dished only state, as it's a large, awkward piece and relatively tiring to work on while manhandling into place. The gauntlets are still in process.

I did manage to convert the paper template of the other gauntlet topper into metal format, 22 gauge steel like the first one.






Unfortunately, my second anvil also proved too wide for the detail work on the bent topper, but I was able to make use of the iron frame for a fish tank stand that has been living on my back porch since the previous tenant moved out. It's solid metal, and by tipping it on its side and bracing the other legs under my foot I was able to use the end to hammer the piece into place. Unfortunately my cuts were not as neat as could be wanted because of the tools I was using, but they'll be adjustable in the final cleanup.

The inside of the seams have been thoroughly gooped to hold them together, and hopefully this weekend I'll acquire some bondo and seal the outer seams on both toppers. Then it's just a matter of adding the detail pieces and weaponry! I've also done some work on my early era crusader armor if any of y'all are interested in checking it out, link's in the signature.

Edit: I had time to get the cod plates sanded and wire-brushed today, and hit the gauntlets with bondo. Only had enough time to sand one of them tonight, however.








So a bit more work on the back plate and gauntlets, and cutting out a chest diamond, and I'll be done with as much as I can until straps and velcro arrive and the weather decides to cooperate.


Edit: 24Mar2018

Finishing touches on the gauntlets. Just need weapons added, and backfill inside the toppers.

[Slade Kel]

So with the exception of the diamond and the accessories on the gauntlets, the armor is done. It's still a bit too cold for painting around here, but I got it all velcro'd up, and stuck the torso plates on my old vest to check 'em out.

There are still some imperfections in the back plate, but I'm going to wait and see how it looks after the primer before putting more energy into getting it just so. Considering most of it is going to be covered by a jetpack anyway, I think it's come out pretty good.



The plates don't fit quite right on the vest and the spacing is a bit off as the velcro is set up for my old Galaxies style armor. I think it gives a good show of how the shaping and sizing are, though. The back plate  looks a touch wide in the picture, but I think once I have a vest with properly placed velcro it won't be a problem. If necessary, I can always shave a half inch off each side or something.

[Slade Kel]

Broke down and made a duct tape cast to help with sizing, because I feel like it's a little off.





So, the back plate needs a little more shaping, and upon closer inspection the ab and chest plates are just a little too big. They go too far down my torso; that line on the bottom of the ab plate is around where my belly button is. The blacked out parts of the plates are where I intend on trimming them. I'm going to mess around with the back plate today, so if anyone disagrees and thinks the size/spacing is ok, there's time to change my mind before I get a' cuttin'.

[Barrise Tisa]

This is looking amazing.

[Straka Zulu]

The plates look pretty good, Vod.  When you trim them, be sure to do it a little at a time, so you don't over do it.

And, do I spy a Supernatural ward on you?

[Slade Kel]

Thanks! This is the first time in, oh, six years I've really built myself a new suit from the ground up properly, so I'm sort of feeling my way through some of it.

And, do I spy a Supernatural ward on you?

That you do! Opposite the Dragonmark of Passage.

So I finished reshaping the back plate and rear collar plate, but I didn't bother with pictures as it doesn't change the look of them dramatically, just makes them fit better. I also went ahead and did the trimming on the chest and ab plates. Duct Tape Leroy helped!

No flash:


With flash:


Needs a touch of reshaping as well, especially the trimmed areas, and the upper half of the ab plate, but it's a wee bit too late for hammering around here.

Also, my dog cosplays!

By which I mean my fiance torments Orrie by making her try on costume bits. That dog is remarkably tolerant, I'll have to make her armor of her own some day.