Leather Armor - Sketchbook Planning

Here's my next big leather project, and this time I figured I'd give you all a look into it. I'm starting work on a full set of leather armor. Right now, I've planned out the designs, and made some measurements. I'll be adding more measurements, cutting the patterns out of cardboard, and then finally starting to work with leather.

Here are the images of my sketchbook that I've been planning it in. You can also get a peek into how I work on new designs that require more planning.

 Above, you can see me jotting down some notes on what parts it'll have, how many buckles, o-rings, etc I'll need, as well as the first part of it that I designed.

Above are the parts that are similar to each other (I.E. the bracers, greaves, things like that).

This was the most complicated part: the pauldrons. I was planning on having them strap into the cuirass (see below), so I had to make a complicated thing in order for them to be worn separately. Then, I decided against having them strap onto that, so a lot of the planning was wasted. That happens often.

And finally, the cuirass. The last part of the armor.

I took a lot of inspiration from a website called www.darkknightarmory.com. It's an awesome place. I'm going to try to make it SCA/LARP legal, and I got some good buffalo leather for the thin parts while I was in Pakistan. I'll keep posting as I keep working on it!

Mask Display Area

On Saturday, my uncle and I decided that it would be cool to put a place to display my masks in the basement, where I make them. 4 days later, we had completely emptied the workshop, put in a new worktable, redid the lighting, added a place to display my masks, and then put everything back into the workshop in a more organized fasion.

Voilà!

And finally here, we have all my masks!

The Man in the Trees

May I present to you The Man in the Trees, my first (and hopefully not last!) mask based on The Green Man. It has three buckles, two on the side and one over the top, and has some cool sewing stuff.

The model is my brother, Brian Barker. A better picture will hopefully be coming (don't hold your breath).

The Entertainer

A new mask of mine, the Entertainer mask. I named it that because it is kind of based on the Commedia Dell'Arte mask, and I also wore it around town the first time I went busking.

(That handsome model is my brother Humza Chaudhry, wearing a steampunk tophat and some spiral contacts.)

The picture is the mask in blue, although it can also be made in white, red, black, green, or brown.

Clawed Glove

Clawed Glove

This crazy thing was made out of an old driving glove I found laying around the house, and I added the claws that I made myself. I bought some thin metal sheet from Michael's Arts and Crafts, and hammered it into the shape of claws. I drilled some holes in them and sewed them on.

Steampunk Bowler Hat

My next project:






A Steampunk Bowler Hat!








A request from Aubrey Jewel, I decided to make this in the same style as Tom Banwell's Top Hat (http://tombanwell.blogspot.com/2009/07/top-hat-prototype.html). I have high hopes for it!

Post-Apocalyptic Gas Mask

May I present my first gas mask!

The Post-Apocalyptic Gas Mask!

This has been the hardest mask I've ever created, made of 3 pieces of leather, acrylic, and an old can of evaporated milk, all of which is held together by rivets and some screws.
It features:
- Buckles
- Acrylic Lenses
- A filter (Made of an old can of evaporated milk)

A rather uncomfortable creation, this is a one-of-a-kind mask, although not the only gas mask I have plans to make.