Lash
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perfection isnt an end result but a path to walk upon with your eyes closed.
Posts: 422
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Post by Lash on Apr 21, 2008 9:02:52 GMT -5
personally if you want bulk gore books I prefer James Silke's Death Dealer series good old down home testosterone series . Although I did enjoy the Gor series . Another good one would be the Martian Tales by Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars. sorry to get off subject but those were great books I read when I was in grade school and highschool.
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Post by dianet on Apr 22, 2008 17:15:59 GMT -5
Okay, now... here's an interesting thing I was thinking of to disguise plastic armor that might otherwise be so obvious that it's not even funny.
Get some fabric that has a pattern that looks period in the timeline yhou want to portray, some spray on cloth adhesive, and do the Do.
Suggestions? Ideas? comments?
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Post by Imagawa Tadamori on Apr 22, 2008 17:28:00 GMT -5
We had someone to that with suede over plastic, and it turned out well. Kept the armor from clanking too.
I would say that cloth is feasible too; you might have some wear issues though due to the thinness of the cloth. I'd say try it and see what happens. Worst case scenario, you spray the armor with Goo Gone and start over.
- Imagawa
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Lash
New Member
perfection isnt an end result but a path to walk upon with your eyes closed.
Posts: 422
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Post by Lash on Apr 22, 2008 19:29:58 GMT -5
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Post by dianet on Apr 22, 2008 19:59:42 GMT -5
hehehe, Walmart is my friend at the moment. Luckily, I found enough scrap leather to actually make the Lames on my helmet. Helmet... AFTER I sand all the rust and paint off of it. heh. I made the mistake of not opening my armor box for 6 months. Unfortunately, the *supposedly* watertight box didn't do it's job. Oh, the water wasn't there... but what attacked me when I opened the box was just.... *shudder* wrong. It is wax hardened Lamellar and It's been with me since 2001. The only thing I've actually changed are the gauntlets. I'm seriously considering finding some plastic barrels and making up something that looks like the nifty neatokeen armor that Spearweasel and his group are posing in for the Gulf War's photos... something that DOESN'T mold or try to attack you when you try and clean it. I've got to mix up the bleach solution and battle my armor so it doesnt get any more sentient than it already is. .
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Saionji Shonagon
New Member
One dreamed of becoming somebody. Another remained awake and became. (Found in a fortune cookie.)
Posts: 7,240
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on Apr 22, 2008 20:02:47 GMT -5
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Post by Imagawa Tadamori on Apr 22, 2008 20:19:55 GMT -5
If you have a Tandy Leather Factory store near you it's all about the $1-2 / sq ft leather and suede table. I'm seriously considering finding some plastic barrels and making up something that looks like the nifty neatokeen armor that Spearweasel and his group are posing in for the Gulf War's photos... something that DOESN'T mold or try to attack you when you try and clean it. Interstate Plastic has sheets of 1/8" Kydex for (what I thought was) reasonable prices. That's where I got my Kydex at. That way there isn't any stamps, ridges, etc already in the plastic. Here is the link: www.interstateplastics.com/materials/detail.aspx?ID=Kydex-Ca2014- Imagawa
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Post by dianet on Apr 22, 2008 21:24:52 GMT -5
Actually, if I had the money, I'd go ahead and do the Kydex. Unfortunately, my last royalty check doesn't even make the 10 buck mark. However, the city park system here does use the heavy black plastic barrels for their trash cans. I've e-mailed the park and asked them if they have any old or damaged ones they're willing to get rid of.
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Post by Please Delete on Apr 22, 2008 21:26:07 GMT -5
My only question: did people historically cover armor bits with fabric? Yes... and no. Early armours often had leather across the front of the do, and other pieces (e.g. the fukigaeshi on the helmet), but I don't think I've ever seen it cover the entire thing (maybe an o-yoroi? I'd have to look, but I'm not sure even then--and the profile for that is different anyway). As such, without the correct lacing in the areas that need it, it just wouldn't come off as 'right'. The best fabric covering would be another garment altogether--I'm very much in favor of the koromo as a way of covering multiple armour 'sins'. -Ii
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Saionji Shonagon
New Member
One dreamed of becoming somebody. Another remained awake and became. (Found in a fortune cookie.)
Posts: 7,240
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on Apr 23, 2008 0:38:07 GMT -5
You might also check around and see if there are any food processing companies in your area. The knight marshal in my old shire back east used to pick up barrels from the Lea and Perrins plant.
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Post by Takeda Sanjuichiro on Apr 23, 2008 13:36:11 GMT -5
Quick (hopefully) elaboration: Kawatsuzumi (leather covered) yoroi In these armors the lacing between lames (sukake or kebiki odoshi) were replaced by attaching the lames (which were constructed in the normal scale construction styles) to a leather cover, predominantly with hishinui (cross knots)... Think European coat of plates. These appear to primarily be domaru and haramaki styles. The overall pattern of the lames is the same as for the laced armor. Just off the top of my head, they were in use from the kamakura through edo periods. I do not know if they appear as early as heian, I would have to check with Hirazumi-sensei. A variation is to use fabric instead of leather. Both extant leather and fabric examples survive. I do not know if there is a different name for the fabric covered ones off hand. Leather and fabric tended to be plain monochromes (leather most often being a basic smoke tan/light brown) Patterned leather/fabric ones appear to have been made, but these seem to be fairly rare, based on extant examples and secondary sources. Now where they differ from other cultures coat of plates armors is that the kawatsuzumi pretty much follow the normal patterns of armor, the leather was just a substitution for the suspension lacing. It also seems that by the time you get to the sengoku period where riveted (or other solid attachment) and solid plate do became common kawatsuzumi fell out of mainstream use. Interestingly I have seen sengoku era armors that are kawatsuzumi, in most of these cases the leather is an embelshment to dress up the armor and at this point we see patterned leathers (or an exotic). The famous gorilla armor, and one of the cow hide armors might technically be considered a kawatsuzumi, although the leather leather no longer serves as the lacing or foundation. One of the things that has baffled me over the years about Japanese armor in the SCA is why no one has done one of these. It would not matter if you used garish blue and pink barrel plastic, it would all be covered anyhow. I am in the process of patterning one out to prove my point. While this would not be helpful for the case of Dianet's armor (wrong shapes) it would certainly go a lot farther in dressing up all those other barrel plastic do out there... Also it cuts way down on the amount of lacing needed, and does a good job of deadening the clicking noise. -Takeda
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Post by Takeda Sanjuichiro on Apr 23, 2008 14:06:23 GMT -5
I made the mistake of not opening my armor box for 6 months. Unfortunately, the *supposedly* watertight box didn't do it's job. Bad Dianet! no cookie for you Yes plastic tubs and roller cases might be great things to take your armor around in... Even the heavy canvas armor duffel is the "on-the-go" warrior's friend. These things are great for transporting your armor in the modern world (hard to find flunkies to drag it around for you like in period), but these modern conveniences should never be for storing your armor, at least not without proper long term storage techniques. These basics go a long way for both european and japanese armors. Any sort of tub/box made of plastic is generally waterproof... what this realy means is any water that goes in (sweaty leather or fabric) will stay in the box indefinantly and continue to work its foul magics on your goods. Wood and cloth are not much better, sure they may breath some, but rarely enough to dry the material. Build yourself a stand for your helmet and for your body harness. There should be enough room for decent airflow to circulate and let any moisture and body acid to evaporate, so no styrofoam head on a stick. Simple wood frames out of 2x4 is cheap and work well. All your little bits of padding (elbows, knees, naughty-bit protection) take out of the bag/box and place on a shelf with good ventilation, let these things air and dry out thouroughly... it will improve your smell, and the equipment will last much longer, for padding will not decay as fast. Wash your cloth bits reguarly, have several to cycle, repeated wear and washing and wear em out quick, buying enough fabric to knock out a couple of shitagi and hakama at one go is a good thing. Another good thing about stowing your equipment is it gives you a moment in your home at your leisure to put it up and look it over. I have found this greatly helps in keeping up with tweaks and minor maintenance. You know that strap is going... well now you are in a place you can replace it, Got a tear in your gambeson, well go get the stuff to patch it so when it is dry you are good to go... 15-30 minutes in front of the tv tonight to fix something well means not having it get worse and taking much more time (or preventing you from playing, or getting hurt) later. We abuse our poor armors to a level that would make our historical bretheren cringe. Yes our reliance on our armor is in a completely different category, but that does not mean that we should take any less time to care of it all the same. In the modern world there are many ways to provide the same functional level of care to the armor in a shorter amount of time than historically. (I personally would much rather use a modern solution like coarse steel wool or fine sand paper to clean up my helm than scrubbing it with sand) Your armor will thank you, and if you get into this habit you will soon find the rewards of it far exceed the effort. -Takeda
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Post by Please Delete on Apr 23, 2008 20:01:22 GMT -5
Quick (hopefully) elaboration: Kawatsuzumi (leather covered) yoroi In these armors the lacing between lames (sukake or kebiki odoshi) were replaced by attaching the lames (which were constructed in the normal scale construction styles) to a leather cover, predominantly with hishinui (cross knots)... Doh! Good catch--I forgot about those! -Ii
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