Samurai Plate Armour Tutorial, My imfamous bucket armour secrets! ^_~ Options

[Level4Chaos]

*laughs* I'll be expecting to see everyone cosplaying samurai next year...

Alrighty, for those who weren't at AVCon, this is the armour I was aiming to make -http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/lev...uhide-small.jpg

First, we start with a strong, plastic tradesman's bucket.

I found this one on the side of the road, so after getting my friend to check that it didn't have a decapitated head or anything else unsavoury inside it, I took it home and cleaned it up. For reference, I used two of these to make all of the armour.

Next, I cut the base and lip (and handle) off the bucket, and cut down one side with a rotary tool. This makes things easier to draw the armour pieces onto it, because you can lay it out semi-flat.

I then cut the plates out, sanded the rough edges, and rounded the sharp corners. If you're working with a lot of plates, make sure to number them on the back! I carved the numbers into the plastic with a screwdriver, because pen wears off too easily.

Next, cover the front of the plates in contact cement (KS Bond is my very favourite glue!), wait for it to go tacky, and then lay it down on the back of your fabric covering. Cut the fabric with about a 1-2 centimetre overlap.

Run a thin line of contact cement around the edge of the plate's back, wait for it to go tacky, then fold the fabric over. You may have to cut little triangles out of the corners, so that they're not too bulky.

This gives the plate a really nice, smooth edge.

This particular armour uses a combination of brocade and lycra-backed foil lamé. Here are all the pieces ready to have holes drilled into them, and the lacing and little details added -

After that, it was just a case of hot-glueing the plates together and hiding the mess with a nice, thick layer of lamé-covered duct tape on the back. ;;

And here's the finished result -

The raised gold edges on the gauntlets are done exactly the same way as the rest (only I used normal $1 garden buckets for them, since I didn't want them to be too thick), then just glued on top of the other piece.

Entire costume - http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=768350

Here's some other armour I've made using the same technique -

(Same character, different version... I'm not obsessed with him, honest! ^_~)

I hope this has been helpful... or at least, inspiring! Any questions, just yell out! I'm making another samurai costume at the moment, so if there's anything you would like me to detail further, I'd be happy to take more pictures and attempt to explain what I'm up to.

This post has been edited by Level4Chaos: Jul 30 2006, 07:26 PM

[Starfire Phoenix]

That's excellent thank you

[LadySilverSpider]

Fantastic!!

[Cat M]

*happy shiver* Perhaps a Dynasty Warriors costume isn't so very impossible anymore. Thanks for sharing!

This post has been edited by Cat M: Jul 31 2006, 12:20 PM

[Metanoia]

That is extremely clever. I don't think I would ever have thought of using something so simple as buckets as a base. And if you hadn't told me I would never have known it was buckets! Thankyou so much for this.

And I just saw your "hours to make" for the whole costume over on CosplayLabs. Sheesh! I continue to be impressed anyway

[Level4Chaos]

My pleasure. I hope it will be useful.

I do plan to make a western suit of armour sometime in the future, but I'm not sure how I'm going to approach that... yet. It probably won't be with buckets though! ;;

[Metanoia]

ooo that sounds interesting as well L4C. I would love to know what time period and culture you're thinking. So far I've only dabbled in maille and lamellar, but I know a couple of people in VIC that are getting plate armour together (one who makes the stuff). At $10k+ for a suit though its not cheap to get the real stuff these days. The guy does make museum quality replicas though. Very very nice stuff. Take a peek at his catalogue

Your bucket idea was extremely clever for getting the corret look from your source pics. You might have to look into fibreglass or vacforming to get a similar look for the western stuff though. My partner wants to make replica samurai armour after we saw the two suits that the SA Museum has (They can't display it, you have to book in for a private tour as a special interest group, which we did through our medieval re-enactment club) I don't know how he would go making things like the menpo though.

Now that this is getting historical and not anime I will stop

[Cat M]

So far I've only dabbled in maille and lamellar, but I know a couple of people in VIC that are getting plate armour together (one who makes the stuff). At $10k+ for a suit though its not cheap to get the real stuff these days.

$10k+ OUCH! I've never checked the price for a full suit of plate but I'm sure that that's not the lowest price possible.

Mel, if you don't mind telling, what's the next project you've got lined up? It's always great to see your work.

[El Presidente]

I do plan to make a western suit of armour sometime in the future, but I'm not sure how I'm going to approach that... yet.

If you want to try your hand a doing it for real in metal, let me know - there's a couple of SCA guys in Qld I could put you in touch with...

[Level4Chaos]

ooo that sounds interesting as well L4C. I would love to know what time period and culture you're thinking.

Ahh... well, I'm not sure! His bio says he's a French knight, but since he's a Japanese design, I don't think that means much (other than getting a really bad accent in the dub of the game! ) -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/lev...s/Junk/Duke.jpg

But yeah, he's last on a very long list of costumes to make!

So far I've only dabbled in maille and lamellar, but I know a couple of people in VIC that are getting plate armour together (one who makes the stuff). At $10k+ for a suit though its not cheap to get the real stuff these days. The guy does make museum quality replicas though. Very very nice stuff. Take a peek at his catalogue

How is maille to work with? I would really love to give it a try! Wow! That guy's work is absoutely stunning!!! Definitely worth every cent...

Your bucket idea was extremely clever for getting the corret look from your source pics. You might have to look into fibreglass or vacforming to get a similar look for the western stuff though.

Hahaha! The one good idea I'll ever have... and that was it. ;;
Oh! I don't mind fibreglass, I've worked with it a few times for little pieces of costumes, and I would like to get into using it more for armour. Vacforming looks fantastic, but it's probably a little out of my price range...

My partner wants to make replica samurai armour after we saw the two suits that the SA Museum has (They can't display it, you have to book in for a private tour as a special interest group, which we did through our medieval re-enactment club) I don't know how he would go making things like the menpo though.

If I were making it, I'd build it out of plasticine on top of an existing mask (just to get the right sort of shape) and then mould it.

Mel, if you don't mind telling, what's the next project you've got lined up? It's always great to see your work.

Aww, thank you! I'm working on a couple of different costumes at the moment, 'cause I can never make up my mind which character I like the most. But my next big one will probably be another Samurai Warrior, the horrifyingly sexy Yukimura - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/lev...nk/Yukimura.jpg

*laughs* My workroom is full of buckets at the moment, just waiting for the armour to begin.

If you want to try your hand a doing it for real in metal, let me know - there's a couple of SCA guys in Qld I could put you in touch with...

Thanks so much for the offer, but I might have to give it a miss... I did some metalwork for a costume two years ago, and it brought me to tears so many times. But thank you anyway!

This post has been edited by Level4Chaos: Aug 3 2006, 11:13 PM

[Metanoia]

His bio says he's a French knight, but since he's a Japanese design, I don't think that means much

That character is definately wierd. His body shape seems so strange that I'd wonder how you'd pull it off. His hips seem very wide for a bloke!

Yukimura is gorgeous! I really like that one.

Maille can be frustrating. We have something like 40000 rings at our place waiting to be linked, but its a bit tedious and time consuming so my partner hasn't made much of a dent yet. He is supposed to make me a ventail and himself enough chain for a 13th c french rendition of Goliath from the Macijowski Bible.

It is a bit fiddely and can be hard on the hands for women. You need to be patient and get the links right. They also tend to fling around the room at times, but its a good TV watching project. A full garment isn't as heavy when worn either.

And just to add in - mild steel is the best for this technique. I've seen SCA made aluminium rings and they have to be a lot bigger in order to be able to hold their own weight (even though their lighter) so that the rings don't split and fall apart, so you don't get as nice an effect. There is a comparison pic here



Do you think that bucket armour techniques would be appropriate for something like Lina and Gourry from Slayers? Its just really pauldrons for both and a chest plate for Gourry.