mini bushi

[Lash]

ohio gosaimasu.
I have a budding 9 year old girl bushi in training. she has won a boffer tourny and competed at estrella and now would like a serious suit of armor. well naturally im not going to make her real stuff so i am hear to brain storm about what easy material to make her a do-maru (her choice lol)
i was thinking foam boards with lacings simulating kobuki and tateage lames.
what does everyone think?

[Saionji Shonagon]

GO KAYLEE!!!
You never said, you rat. That's awesome!

If you're talking about that foam poster board that's used for presentations and such, it's going to get beat up pretty quick.

I'm sitting here eyeing the black plastic trash can to my immediate right... Not as heavy as barrel plastic, but it doesn't need to be for foam weapons, and should be easier to work.

[bovil]

Apr 3, 2012 18:01:34 GMT -5 Lash said:

i was thinking foam boards with lacings simulating kobuki and tateage lames.
what does everyone think?

At 9 I expect she's growing quickly enough that, should her interest hold, you'll need something that's easy to upgrade/replace/resize. There are a bunch of different cheap costume armor tricks, but I'm afraid most of them would have problems holding up in a boffer tourney.

"Craft foam" would be an easy-to-work and easy-to-fit substitute for barrel plastic, but I think the lacing holes would tear out too easily. If the pieces are glued together and most of the lacing is decorative rather than providing primary structure, it should be sturdier. You can get a very realistic looking result with craft foam.

Corrugated cardboard would also not hold up well, but would be a bit stiffer than craft foam. Again, glue the pieces together and just make the laces decorative. A thin coat of bondo and a spray laquer coat can make the surface look better and more realistic.

If she's still interested when her growth has stabilized, then you are in the territory of real armor vs. costume armor. You're on your own there

[Lash]

arrgghh !! i put this post under the wrong heading!! lol!
if anyone knows how to move threads can you put this under the right heading lol!.

[Momotaro Masato]

[roninpenguin]

I guess it depends on what you are wanting to invest. You could always go something like 1/16" ABS and it will be thin and light, but also durable enough that you don't have to worry about it toasting easy. There is even an Amazon vender who sells 4'x4' sheets of it pretty inexpensive.

I made Cortland's first armor (a more European suit) out of the ends that I cut off of vertical blinds when I installed them in my old place. I backed it with some foam and it lasted a little while.

If you do go with craft foam you could always washer and grommet the openings so they last a little longer before tearing out.

[Yamamoto Morikazu]

My suggestion is this.

Black plastic barrel is cheap. Free where I am at. It will last one thousand times longer than foam board. Will look good and provide some protection. If you make it into lames it can easily be adjusted by adding more lames when she grows.

For lacing. Go to Home depot or lowes or something. There you can find 3/16 rope that is colorful. Comes in 50 and 100 foot lengths for like 9 bucks and 18 bucks. Do minimal lacing. Enough to hold the kusazari (only use 4 plates) onand enough for the sode. I made a whole suit for 18 bucks. Looks fairly decent.

For youth armor i understand you dont want to spend a LOT of money. But consider this. If you put some time into this suit and she sees that. She will also see that you are dedicated to her training and her learning. the amount of pride she will get from this will be unmeasurable.

Go the extra step. It can be done cheap though.

[Lash]

excellent idea unfortunately we dont have a lowes or HD we live in the rocky mountains lol but i think i can make do. oh i wont be building it she wants to build her own so i will be there for tech support hahaha.
her words" Dad! how am i gonna learn if you always do stuff??" lol made perfect sense to her lol.

[Saionji Shonagon]

Kaylee's lucky to have a stuff-making kind of dad. Mine is great at storytelling, handy stuff not so much.

[Sō Haruko]

She's also lucky to have a Dad who'll help her learn how to do stuff! They don't always go together. (; I hope we'll get to see pictures of her work!

[Yamamoto Morikazu]

in the case of her learning how to do stuff...

i have helped many a youth with this process.
something that helped me...
no power tools for the kids.
give them a hand saw for plastic barrel and let them do sode and kusazari.

curved plates are you.

get a hand drill.
let them do the holes to attach the do. (not so many)

you get the drill press.

good time to reinforce tool safety, tool care, etc.
my father did this for me. and it has stuck ever since.

when I was 14 he let me start using power tools.
baby steps

[Shinomori Haku]

you can melt pvc into any shape or form and it will help stop the sting of the boffer hits . we made some armer then painted it and it turned out rely good. just drill tons of holes in it after then lace it. also for the helm we used a baseball helmet then skewed on japanese kabuto like fixings .

[Lash]

www.amazon.com/Medieval-Wire-Mask-Bascinet-Warrior/dp/B001DTTUGM/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3POFWCCYSQI24&colid=2J4MTYMWRTAYL

saw alot of kids wearing this one at estrella war ill turn it into a kabuto.

[losthelm]

For making holes a push drill works well on plastic, I have done a bit of armour with a push drill and coping saw, slow but gives you a lot of control. It might Not be the right tool for your bushi but it's only a mater of time.