Ordo Te'skotah's Armor

I've been lurking for a bit now... not asking too many questions (since most newbie questions are answered by searches...) But, Here's my armor debut. I've read pros and cons for fiberglass, sintra, sheet metal, aluminum, etc... Being an SCA fighter, I'm used to metal and leather. I'm also a bit picky when it comes to my projects. I want my armor to be able to take a beating.

Under ideal circumstances, I'd be able to buy raw materials and go from there, but being on a tight budget, I scrounge and salvage what I can. I'm making my armor from an old highway sign that had been hit by a semi and left on the side of the road for several weeks before I "helped clean up" the side of the road and salvaged it. I think it's some kind of aluminum alloy... it's tough as nails, 1/8 inch thick, and hard to bend:



Today, I made a rough cut of the left breastplate:



it's not much so far, but it's a start.

Kandosii! That's gunna be pretty cool! Any ideas for your color scheme?

Thanks! I am going to go with a black, purple, and silver/natural metal scheme, much like my other (SCA) armor was... maybe with a splash of dark red here and there. I am also going to mix in a bit of medieval-style too, maybe some 3 or 5-piece knees, leather vambraces instead of the traditional gauntlets, etc.

Also, no jet pack for me, and no RF. If I can swing it, I want to get an HS aluminum helm, or one of mercfett's steel buckets.

Hey lookin good there. Now you need to coat the back of em with something to keep them from cutting into you. Plasticote works well.

Sounds cool! Good luck!

Just broke my last saw blade... but here's what I have so far:



Thanks, and yeah, I still have to clean up, round the edges, most of the corners, and then the back of the plates will have a *thin* layer of closed-cell foam after I shape them to add some cushion and keep them from cutting into the leather undervest, which will also be armor-grade leather.

Lookin good so far.

So this armour is going to be combat suitable right? Weathering is going to look really natural on these beauties.

wow this is a great idea....SCA fighing in mando armour...u gonna be using a mando iron saber?

Short sword and round shield.

Make a short, lightweight sword or a short flachion... or maybe a single handed axe. Make 'em come in close where I can strike fast and hard.

This set of armor will actually be lighter than my old fighting armor (which was all steel), so I'll also have a bit more mobility as well. I'm going to pound out my own aluminum elbows and knees, which will take quite a bit of weight off. I may even go with kydex for the fighting set of elbows, vambraces, and knees, and my round shield will be aluminum as well. Should have quite an advantage over the heavier steel. I'm debating on whether to reinforce my kidney belt with an aluminum belly plate, or just make the belly plate and kidney belt all one piece out of leather. I wouldn't think adding an aluminum belly plate would add that much weight though.

Here's an old pic from a Gulf Wars 4 years ago now:



I'm the one behind the shield

I was going to do something a bit different with the chest diamond, but decided to go with the traditional rectangle in the center instead.

Looking good............ keep the updates coming...

Looks great just watch out for the period Natzis!! I remember when I started heavys one of them tried telling me my samurai armor was laced wrong. That was untill I showed him three sites that showed the exact same lacing pattern LOL

That's going to look great when its all shaped...... looking better and better....

Looking awesome man! I can't wait to see this set completed.

I am a sintra kind of guy myself...but this is lookin cool.

Ok, my wrist is sore now from hammering...

Got the belly plate done, and the base coat applied to the chest and belly plates:

fair play man this looks amazing....well done!...quick too

I think this topic should come with drool buckets as standard

That looks great I cant wait to see the finished product

nice job man

Very Very nice.................. I love it.... top draw work there Ordo Te'skot.... love the fresh collar look....

"The really tricky part is going to be finding an SCA combat-grade helm that looks even vaguely Mandalorian... *maybe* a barbuta. I'd *really* like to have one custom made for SCA combat, and then have my regular metal "costume" bucket (once I get it made) for trooping purposes, but a custom SCA helm is lots of $$$. It would have to have a 14 guage steel top, and 16-14 guage steel cheeks and back, a bar-grille across the wide part of the T visor, etc. But it would be wicked once it was done."



something like this? (quick photoshop of an sca helm)

I had a similar idea, but in leather. I don't have pics of the finished product, but here's my sketch...

you seem to be competent in shaping steel, why don't you give it a try? for the dome, you just need a "dishing stump" and for the rivets, roofing nails cut to size, and small washers. Just mushroom the cut end of the nail against the washer. you can find armormaking patterns and tips at http://armourarchive.org/
good luck!

Nice design, DB!!

I've been thinking about dishing the cheeks rather than welding them, which would help prevent cracking of the weld seams later on. Ashcraft Baker sells 12g and 14g helm tops, which would help quite a bit. I have dome-top steel rivets already... But I don't have a way to cut the proper weight steel for the rest of the helm(yet).

Too bad you are in OK, I have a beautiful B-3 Beverly Shear sitting in my basement...

-x

The armor shaping you did is really good, I am impressed.

Thanks


tried out a bit of weathering on the breastplates today:

Why not use a sugarloaf helmet as a pattern for an SCA mando? It's a great helm so it's gonna be plenty big, and all you would have to do is bring the point down off the top then make the mandibles/T in front.

Added insignia to the shoulders, still have to weather them:

Bloodnaught Clan insignia:



My personal symbol:

Looks great so far. You're making me want to steal street signs...LOL

Looks very cool so far.

Very nice blade. Do you have a saya/scabbard already? What materials did you use or plan to use? I think for a costume that it's just as important how you carry as what you carry. What's the length on your blade and where do you plan to carry? Hip? Arm? Back? On a Pack? Keep up on the update pics and beautiful work so far.

-x

how'd you get such a smooth finish? on mine you can see the hammer marks

Thanks, I plan on making a sheath for it out of leather, with a couple carved aluminum plates for decoration/mounting. It will likely be on my left hip, with my blaster on the right, and then I'm making a shiv as well that will likely be either a boot or back of belt rig.

Ram, if you're talking about the armor, I used a home-made planishing stake and a mirror-finished dishing hammer, and then filed/sanded some of the marks out. Paint took care of the rest.

If you're talking about the "Mandalorian Short Sword" blade, the blade was from an antique cutlass that had been bent and ran over with a car... there were some hammer marks left from straightening the blade, anbd then on the end of the tang where I peened it, which I took out with various files and sandpaper, then polish. Lots of elbow grease, lol.

Yeah I was gonna ask if you ran it under a planishing hammer or english wheel. That answers that. Good work, polishing usually takes long than the shaping. Thats a lot of work. Your sheath sounds like a good plan.

-x

Dang, thats amazing. Fantastic job on the knife and sword. I'm really loving that Mythosaur skull carving.

everything is looking awsome..

Looking very awesome!

That short sword you have there is NICE!

I gotta see more of this, you got the armor shape very well, and that is pretty cool what you have done with the knife/sword.

Arguably the most important piece. It looks fantastic.

Bocus is doing a metal set on the Mercs board, and I have to say that all the sweet looking metal sets here and there are about to make me convert!

Your doing a very impressive job.

Thats looking sweet as hell...

I just can`t imagine how heavy this suit is going to be.

We still got a deal, right? LOL I love it. Keep doing what you do, bro. You always fascinate!

As JK3 said above, its looks SWEET Do you have any round about estimate of how heavy all of it will be?

Not a clue on the final weight yet... but I know it will be lighter than what I fought in before, so it's all good 8)

Found a black leather vest in my closet that I had forgot about... Since it was a western cut vest, I had to trim it down a bit and add to it. All leather. I sewed up the front, cut the sides open along the seams, and trimmed the little V's off the bottom of the front, rounding it out a bit:



Then I cut shoulder flaps and a front panel out of leather and sewed them on, also hemming the rest of the vest. The front panel is so that there will be one continuous texture under the plates:



Went around the edges, trimming the uneven spots and dual-stitching the added pieces for durability. Here's a test fitting of the chest armor on the vest:



I added underlap flaps to the sides (the flaps are attached on the sides of the front, and the back of the vest will overlap the flaps.) They'll be held in place with both velcro and buckles. Plate test fitting #2:



I know the V neck isn't proper. The collar plates will be attached to my gorget, which will cover the V neck, while allowing the neck to remain large enough for me to slip the vest on. The plates will attach to the vest with copper nail rivets, which I'll paint and weather to match the rest of the armor.

Got the Chest pieces attached to the vest. Still have to paint the rivets:



I also still have to get velcro for the sides, attach the bottom side buckles, shoulder bells, etc.

:O wow!

Finally got new batteries for my real digicam. I know the picture collage is large, but I configured it lengthwise so as not to mess up the width of the page:

I picked up some velcro for the sides, finished sewing up the edges, modified the shape of the shoulders, and finished attaching the chest/belly plates. The shoulder bells and collar aren't permanantly attached yet, but they're taped on to give a rough "finished" look. The collar will actually be on a gorget that will overlap that area:

Looks really good vod! You've gone very good work with this project.

Pretty cool dude.

Got bored...



three of the braids are hemp, two with bone skull beads strung throughout, the other with beads at the bottom. The hair is mine, the claws are there because of the claw marks on my armor... One of the claws is a bear claw, the other one I carved out of antler. I still need to get some horsehair and make a couple "wookie braids" to go with the rest.

This looks just Kandosii'la! Just love the idea of metal armour, really looks as if it has been in the lived SW universe.

Great job!

outstanding

Made this last night... went with a shape similar to my modified shoulder center pieces(Under the shoulder bells). I made it out of an old green couch cover, burned some hole in it, and threw a bunch of black dye on it. The black didn't take as well as I'd like, I may re-dye it, though dark green goes ok with purple and black . So I'm not sure yet:

Started on the gloves as well... Went with a pair of black leathers I had already, and leftover fabric from the cape for the padded sections. This is my first... and last... set of gloves I will ever modify.

Good job! One of the best customs I've seen in a while. I like the use of the metal armour, you did a fantastic job with that. I also like how you modified the gloves. A lot of customs don't put that hard work into their suits. You've outdone yourself.

Sewed that on last night 8)

Looks great!

Thanks 8)

I've also done a little work on my "BlasTech DL-50" heavy blaster pistol:



It's nowhere near finished yet, but it's a start. Once I have it mostly finished, I'll re-paint it and the scope/mount and weather accordingly.

I'll admit, i'm pretty jealous! a lot of what you're doing are the same ideas i've had. it looks great though! can't wait to see more!

Another BlasTech DL-50 progress pic:



I scratch-built the scope out of found parts, aluminum scrap, a real lense for the rear "viewscreen", and an old charger connection pin for the front "sensor array". I'll get better detail pics after I finish them up.

The Blaster itself was also constructed completely out of found parts/scraps. The grip and main body are from an old .22 ramset nailgun, the rest of it is found parts, scraps, and a bit of sculpted JB weld to seal the seams between parts and fill gaps. Also, more detailed pics once it's finished.

*Edit* The barrel inside the main body is part of a real Heiland flashgun.

This blaster is so good; it's my favourite custom weapon I've seen here. If you were to cast it at some stage I'd want one, it just looks so SW!

I can't wait to see anything helmet related.

Been wondering, what's SCA? I looked it up, but there's so many organizations that use this abrevation. Thanks in advance for explanation

I love that pistol you have there, its one of the best I've seen!

SCA = The Society for Creative Anachronism. Usually thought of as a reenactment group but they are varied. some people focus on costuming and other of combat simulation.

http://www.sca.org/

-x

I love the vest idea.looks like I am off to the thrift store to buy a couple.Looks great so far.Love the helmet idea the most.

that cape looks great

Ordo,

Man you`ve made some great progress!!

The gun is awesome!!

Keep up the good work.

really SW looking in this blaster, really like what you did to it....
keep this good work!

4 drill bits later, I finally got the scope mounted, and did some touch-up paint/weathering. Still not finished, but pretty close:

I can't get over that pistol, its awsome! And sence you've already patted yourself on that back for NovallTalon....Why don't you buy yourself a beer and pretend its from me.

Amazing work!

Looking at the barrel, I detect the hint of one of those old metal flashlights =D

Thanks!

The end of the barrel is a genuine Heiland Flashtube. The little button control looking thing is indeed from an antique flashlight.

The base "gun" is a "Powder Actuated Tool". The handle, before I smoothed out the grip section, had the brand name, either AMMV or something similar, and "Studgun" on it. The pawn shop had it labeled as a "ramset". It was missing parts as you can see in it's original condition above.... but it whispered "Blaster" to me. It was heavy too... I'd guess about 8 pounds before I gutted it.

The Barrel is a Heiland, and the gap between the outer shell of the studgun and the end of the barrel was filled with JB weld and then sculpted. The greeblies under the barrel are a brass air hose junction, mated with a copper pipe fitting and the round retaining nut left over from my truck's old busted headlight switch(from when I converted my Truck to the Phoenix). The angled "box" greebly behind that is a key off one of my old worn out keyboards. The "T" section on the reciever is a curved scrap of 1/8th inch aluminum, two small aluminum blocks, and 3 small steel woodruff keys. The various screws are random machine screws I had. The detail above the "BlasTech" is a piece of aluminum scrap, as is the scope rail. The scope was also scratch-built with aluminum tubing, a knurled retaining nut from an old toggle switch, a wheel bearing out of one of those aluminum scooter wheels, a lense out of a broken pair of mini-binoculars, and the plug from some old electric scooter charger.

Just in case anyone wants to build their own

Ordo,
Nice stuff you've got there! I've been watching your thread with interest since it began, since I'm currently building 3 sets of custom Mando armor myself....like Novall, I particularly like the sidearm....I've got a few old pneumatic tools myself that might lend themselves to be "modified"....heh, heh...I like a weapon with a heavy feel myself...BTW, I can sympathise with you on being Scadian...I'm an old Trimaris man myself (20+ years, on and off...Barony of An Crosaire)...did an English archer/outlaw for years, then moved up to Templar (built a c.1250 Maciejowski Bible Great Helm...twice!...) now, I'm going back to a galaxy far, far away (it sucks to get old...but Mandalorian's don't pound each other's brains out with rattan!)!
Continued good luck with the armor...I'll be watching!
Rob

We got back from our crystal hunting trip to Mt. Ida, Arkansas at the Arrowhead Crystal Mine... I've been cleaning crystals, so I haven't done much metal working the past few days, but here's some of what I have been working on:

I found this deathwatch pic, and thought I'd bring that knife to reality...


While we were at the mine, the mine operator gave me a huge Garnet for my birthday... it's not jewelry-grade, but it *is* huge and well-formed. The handle is, as always, carved from antler, with the garnet set into the crown. I'll be doing engraving on it later on, and I plan on making a blade similar to the one in the deathwatch pic for it:

Awesome man! Thats gonna be one sweet blade.

hey bud,
thugh i should let you know, dont use street sign material to dish out your mado helmet. its to thin. i just got finished dishing out the 3rd version of a custom mando helmet for my son. the first two i did with street sign aluminum. the first was from electric fence signs that were printed with the wrong voltage so they were thrown away... i made all my sons armor out of it and it was fine, but when it cae to the extreem dish on the face plate it was just to thin and split on the creases. the second sign was a hwy 99 sign that was hit by a truck and left on the side of the road, that one didnt break through but is so thin that with very little preasure it bends back out of shape.

the victory went to a mix. use about 14 guage steel on the face to dish, 16 around the back of the kneck and the dome i wouldnt use anything under 12 if your going to use it in sparring. i have some 16 left over, if you like i can redish another face plate area and take pictures of how to do.

Thats an very thoughtful offer =) Heck I wouldn't mind seeing that myself.

I appreciate the offer, and wouldn't mind learning that one myself, maybe for a trooping helm. My fighting helm is being made by Ashcraft Baker though, out of 14 Guage

On another note, I did a bit more work on the handle for my new knife:

Cut and shaped the blade out of high carbon steel, shined it up, and affixed it into the hilt. I still have a bit of work left to do on it, but this is basically how it looks:



As you can see, the blade shape isn't precise, but it's pretty close, and the blade's balance point is dead perfect at the base of the blade forward of the guard. I still have to add the retaining rivet for the blade, and cut the blood groove in either side of the blade, but I am very happy with it thus far. Here's a comparison between it and my Mando shortsword:

Please excuse me while I wipe the drool off the keyboard. That knife looks sweet...can't wait to see it once it's finished.

WHAT?! Stop making this stuff man! It's far too awesome!

WOOOOOOOOOOOW!

Here's a comparison of the comic dagger with the real thing:


And here's some more progress:


I cut the blood groove on either side of the blade, and added some Vine Filework on the spine of the blade, then polished it up. I still have to set my fire opal, sharpen the blade, and do a bit more finishing work on it, but it's coming along nicely. 8)

The JMc on the blade is my "maker's mark" so to speak... my initials, for Josh McNamara

Echoing Setra's praise. Again you have done an outstanding job!