my shin guard progress NEW PICS

O.k.,
I've finally got a little more settled in my new home, am learning my way around my new pc, and am able to work on this again :)
Here's the first casting fresh out of the mold:
Sorry they're a little blurry!
shincast24rb.jpg


I've got to refine my process a bit as it's a little thin in spots but I believe it's going to work :)
I'll post more when I've got it cut. I think I'm going to make a plaster casting to shape the leather to. Now I need to go find the leather.
 
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Yeah... I still see the boxes in the background! ;) Moving is just no fun!

The casts are looking great though! Nice work!
 
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Thanks for the compliment!!
Yeah, I should take pictures of other rooms...wait, there aren't any rooms..just tunnels through mounds of boxes and that's for real! This place is just temporary...it's so much smaller than my house that we moved from uggh
 
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Looks great, so, you are going to try to wet form it after making another cast? Or, are you gonna sand/drill/dremel the legs out?
 
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I'm thinking about making a plaster "master" and wetform the leather to it since it'll be solid. The formed leather should fit the castings. I was originally planning to wetform to the casting but since it's hollow and flexible, I don't think it'll be rigid enough to stretch leather against.
 
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Some more progress and a quest for opinions :)
The first plastic casting trimmed and next to the plaster cast: These pics look worse (blurry) here than they do on my pc for some reason.

shin cast 5.jpg
shin cast 6.jpg

shin cast 3.jpg
shin cast 9.jpg


Now my question. I have had a plan to cut the back with a couple ideas to do the snaps and overlapping. I still need to play with those ideas if I end up cutting them. The thing is, my wife can slip the thing on and off with no problem. I can almost get it on and my foot is a 12. I could leave it solid and attach the snaps for looks after it's wrapped with leather. There would be a seam in the leather in the back.
Although my original plan might also aid in slight adjustments to size if someone had a calf that was a little tight. What do ya think?

Speaking of adjustments, if someone was short and the guards are a little out of proportion, they could be trimmed down a little on the top.
 
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Dang, those look sweeet!!! :love so, if you cut them in the back, how pliable are they to bend around for real snaps?
 
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They're fairly bend-able..similiar to my Don Post Boba Fett helmet... maybe a little more flexible. I'm extremely pleased it turned out exactly as I had hoped! :)
I would do a normal snap setup like a jacket might have rather than a button setup so it would just overlap and snap to the piece underneath. That's what I had planned but I was wondering about opinions since my wife can slip it on and I actually can too since I tried (it's pretty tight on me though)
 
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I just don't know how you would fake a seam if you don't cut it. And, um... Please don't get mad at me or throw darts,I hate to ask you this after, but... you dont have a lip at the very top of the shins. I guess a solution would be to glue lace on top, or add an edge of putty or sumthin. I think that cutting it might be the way to go instead of a fake back, but i don't see how it's possible to not cut it, and still have a seam. ya know?

oh, size/measurements please? can you measure the tip of the top front to the bottom, and the back of the gaurd to the bottom and also the width of the calf? Thanks. That will help determine weather or not it would be wise to cut it down the back.
 
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The top edge has always appeared to me to be a leather edging. That's what tipped me off to the leather at the very beginning when I was having doubts. I'll have to cut a strip of leather and form it to the edge and glue it. It can be wider in the back and go down inside to have more resiliance. This will also be helpful if someone wants to cut it down if they're very short...I don't think anyone of us here is that short anyway :)

I agree with you about cutting the back. That was my plan originally. If you notice on the picture of the back side, the lip at the bottom meets and begins to go up the back but stops right where the curve ends. This is so I can cut it on either side of that lip and round it for either the right or left leg. That would be the overlapping side of the guard. The leather strip on top would then come down the edge and meet that lip. On the underlapping side, I will make an extension to go under far enough for snaps and the leather will wrap around it and come back on the inside of the guard past the joint. The overlapping side will overlap the joint a little and I'll sand the lip on the underlapping side to where they meet....hope that makes sense.

I'm not sure what measurements you want exactly. It's the same measurements we were discussing a couple months ago...Here's what I think you're asking:
Front, tip to bottom(top of shoe area).......11 5/8"
Top to bottom in the back...................7 1/4"
Width halfway up,front to back..............4 5/8"

I wish we weren't so far apart, you could look at it in person..I'm tempted to send it to you..but you have to send it back..it's basically the prototype ;)

Thanks for the input! :)
Cal
 
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Where do you live now that you've moved? Mebbe we can meet halfway :lol:. I would love to have a zam Prop meeting at my house b4 d'con, that would be AWESOME, like in July. But we know that's not gonna happen. :cry Now that you've moved, are you closer to a tandy?

Mebbe it's just me, but view askew-- the stand up has her one foot forward. Proportionally, is that larger than a real person's shin or ...? Can you take a pic with wifey's leg in the cast? That would give us a better idea of looks especially of the right leg in it, kinda like the stand up.
Actually, I was hoping for the total width by the ankle and the total width from just under the calf all the way around. Let me snap some shots of the leather that I have. Mebbe it Might work if you got the same stuff. I could totally be wrong though. I haven't dyed or cut any of my leather that has been ordered, cause I want to be able to return it if it's not the right type. I know my skirt is ok, but shins -- is more your territory, you've stared at the pics longer than me :wacko :D
First is the MOM pic, second pic (I think it looks better with extra leather or putty underneath the thin leather then wetformed or just glued than the third pic, third pic = lace on top
shinlip.jpg

shinlip2.jpg
shinlip3.jpg

These are just thin leather pics. I really think the skivers are it, and just need to be dyed.
thinleather.jpg
thinleather2.jpg
thinleather3.jpg
 
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Hmm..
I was originally going to sculpt the edge on top but there is a picture of the mom shin about halfway up this thread that shows the tip of the guard. The leather trim is creased out on the very point. That was the pic that made me decide to do it that way. I'll have to look but I think there is another one that Dallas took that shows a similar camera angle. Either way, I can't change my molds now..about $400 in em plus many months ;)

The leather trim on the top edge could be one size thicker than the rest of the leather..?
When I first scaled the guard, I used the length of the pistol and enlarged the pic in the VD where she is kneeling until the gun was about 1/4" smaller than it really is. This is because the guard is fairly square to the camera and the gun is a little bit behind her leg. Later, I purchased the stand up and the guard is the same size as the enlarged pic that I made. I'll try to get some pics with it on my wife's leg.

I'm still in Colorado..just closer to Denver. A Tandy store just opened up in Denver about 3 weeks ago.
I'll also work on some dimensions to show you :)

cal

edit: here are some more pics:
shincast117qm.jpg

shincast131st.jpg

Please remember she is 5'2" so her leg is a little short. The guard is also translucent so it's tough to see the details in these pics also with lighting and angles etc... ;)
 
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I think i understand about the leather now. My guess is a .5" piece of 1 - 2 oz. leather wetformed onto the tip of the shingaurd all the way around back. And the shingaurd covered with the skivers underneath. Just a guess. I already spent $300 in leather. Some of it was wrong, some of it is right. I am not an expert by any stretch, but I did cut up three hides already. There is a remarkable difference when you cut different hides and realize their thickness. If you enlarge/shrink my top pic to the size of hers, you will see how thick the trim should be. (I think it's pic 04238 ) And I am not talking about how wide of a cut. For 1-2 oz leather, that's about 1/32" thickness max, like the skirt lace.
Measureing off of the cutout, i get .25" width on the frontside for the trim, so I can only assume it's that much on the back.
Hope this makes sense. I think on page 10 of the tandy catalog, you'll get what i mean.
btw, if you send it to me (zam i am might slink away tip toe-ing hoarding your shin gaurds, never letting you see them again..)
 
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For Moncal,
Sith C, wookie, mebbe you can answer this...
Do you think that a 1 oz. trim is just wet formed and placed atop the skivers (rather than a plastic indented "lip" sculpted, then thin skivers, just wetformed/shaped to the "lip" and the whole shin gaurd) ? Or am i totally off? Anyone with any some leather expertise, please share...
 
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Sorry:

I haven't been studying the pics like you guys have, so I can't offer much in the way of advice. True, you could just wetform a piece to get the lip and achieve the look in that photo you attached (Zam I am). I'd have to do a lot of studying before I'd say what I thought they did, and it is very likely that I'd be wrong. For minor details like these, I've seen where LFL cuts corners because it will never be seen in the final print or even on display, so I venture to say that if you find the easiset method, you will probably have it.

I will continue to lurk and watch as you guys perfect the zam costume. Looking sharp I might add. Dallas' helmet is approaching perfection (I knew he'd do that when I first talked to him about the costume and he told me that he'd never have it done for Cel II because he couldn't get it right). I was more than happy with mine.

Oh well. See you guys. My latest projects call me. My Nightcrawler is coming along nicely...
 
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Glue comes last. The other two can be done at the same time if you wish (use the due to wet down the leather if you thin it enough). I prefer to wetform and then dye. The guy who taught me switches techniques.
 
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