|
|
|
Squire
 
Group: Awaiting Activation
Last Login: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 7:51 AM
Posts: 40,
Visits: 450
|
|
| ok i've read up on this, and am going to (hopefully) put it into practice but before i do i was hopeing to se if anyone else had achieved this before? so i could ask for pointers, I'm looking to do a leather version of the Uruk hai helmet you see in fellowship of the ring, I'm thinking i'd need to make the mould out of wood for the main part of the helmet, use the water hardend leather techneque (http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Articles/Perfect_Armor_Improved.htm) to form the leather around the wooden mould. and this is the part i want to know, about, In theory this works with slight curves on armour, but what about something that is very rounded such as a helmet, and a helmet that has ridges in it? also again it sounds daft, but once the leather has been moulded and left to dry, it keeps it's shape etc, would it be affected by rain? or on a hot day would it make it loose it's shape? I've got the idea for the viser bit (the part that goes over the nose but leaves their mouth free and gives them a slit to see from) i'm hopefully going to rivet it to the base model of the helmet so it would in theory be a two peace helmet. but yeah the main questions are 1: would it loose shape in hot weather or rain? (or in hot rain which is unlikely over here :-) 2: what sort of leather would be best, natural veg tan leather? or some form of thick thick heavy expencive leather? I'm guessing from other things i've read you can stain the leather with shoe polish if needs be, to make it look darker and like it's seen action 3: has anyone tried boiling leather and what do you use to boil it? I can get access to an old tub that you plug into the wall that heats vast quantaties of water, or is it normally a case of boil a kettle, how do you home made experts get round this. Thanks in advance :-)
___________________________________________________________________ LT: Robert O'malley (the meatshield) Harts Pillaging a village near you, with a bottle of Stumpys homebrew
|
|
|
|
|
Champion
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 12:22 AM
Posts: 360,
Visits: 1,019
|
|
|
|
|
|
I do talk a good fight
Group: System Moderators
Last Login: Today @ 8:19 AM
Posts: 1,820,
Visits: 5,423
|
|
Agreed. As for (3), the article you linked to probably has more info than any of the rest of us know... just bear in mind that when he says heat the water to 180 degrees, he means that oldfangled Fahrenheit nonsense, i.e. about 82 Celsius. I've had good results just using a big pan of water on the hob.
http://www.hyboriantales.com
PD: Ghostdance ("The most irritating curse I've ever encountered" -- NPC played by H.)
Riftworld: Rossar Kuug ("Clearly mad, because he thinks he's a Com-Trow Skirmisher" - Aela)
Hyborian Tales: Crew, cook, dogsbody, general labourer, toilet cleaner ("Dangerously overoptimistic ref" -- Tom Nowell)
Otherwise usually crew ("Quite spry & fit, & willing to wear a big costume & run around a lot" -- various event organisers)
"My other oversized foam weapon is THE LORD" -- Questionable Content
|
|
|
|
|
Squire
Group: Awaiting Activation
Last Login: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 7:51 AM
Posts: 40,
Visits: 450
|
|
| Thanks for that guys put my mind at ease just one last thing :-) am going to be mouling the helmet around a wooden former now when i do this is it a case of nailing the leather taught to the former to let it take shape, (but then i'll have holes in the leather) or is it a case of holding it in place as it only takes a few mins for it to cool down and set
___________________________________________________________________ LT: Robert O'malley (the meatshield) Harts Pillaging a village near you, with a bottle of Stumpys homebrew
|
|
|
|
|
Champion
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 12:22 AM
Posts: 360,
Visits: 1,019
|
|
Just hold it in place.
I've not done this myself, but none of the descriptions I've read involve nailing it in place, and moulded items I've seen don't seems to show such holes.
You might find you need to cut out a vaguely triangular piece at the back of the head and sew the edges together: there's a limit to how much you can make the leather shrink (maybe 20-30%).
|
|
|
|
|
I do talk a good fight
Group: System Moderators
Last Login: Today @ 8:19 AM
Posts: 1,820,
Visits: 5,423
|
|
Yeah I would likely make the helm in 2 parts, too. When I've made wet-formed leather bases for full-head masks (which is the closest I've done to a leather helmet), I've tended to use vast quantities of Sellotape or similar to hold the leather to the former, but this can suck colour out of the leather so you might want to avoid it. Still, you could try masking tape, or webbing, or even string -- just be careful with whatever you use, as of course the leather is malleable, so if you hold it down too tightly you'll end up deforming it with the shape of whatever you hold it down with (that could potentially be a feature rather than a bug, if you're careful). You could use nails at any points where you want holes anyway (e.g. to rivet the thing together).
http://www.hyboriantales.com
PD: Ghostdance ("The most irritating curse I've ever encountered" -- NPC played by H.)
Riftworld: Rossar Kuug ("Clearly mad, because he thinks he's a Com-Trow Skirmisher" - Aela)
Hyborian Tales: Crew, cook, dogsbody, general labourer, toilet cleaner ("Dangerously overoptimistic ref" -- Tom Nowell)
Otherwise usually crew ("Quite spry & fit, & willing to wear a big costume & run around a lot" -- various event organisers)
"My other oversized foam weapon is THE LORD" -- Questionable Content
|
|
|
|
|
Champion
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 11:52 PM
Posts: 342,
Visits: 1,571
|
|
| You can buy leather dye in all the colours under the sun, so don't worry about buying pre dyed leather. For best results in making the leather 'hard' you would want to speed dry it while rubbing it with some sort of lubricant (beeswax / oil) every few minutes else it cracks. Stretching over a form should give you some help, I might suggest some clamps depending on how much you are wanting to stretch it =)
|
|
|
|
|
Champion
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 12:22 AM
Posts: 360,
Visits: 1,019
|
|
|
|
|
|
Champion
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 12:22 AM
Posts: 360,
Visits: 1,019
|
|
| Drape some chain mail over it? Maybe with a towel or something in between so the links don't make dents. Just a thought.
|
|
| |