A question about chainmail

Jun 05, 2011 14:51

Particularly scale mail ( Read more... )

help - costume(s), costume-related, help - fabric

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Comments 13

mutive June 5 2011, 18:56:07 UTC
Attaching cloth to chain mail is fairly easy. Just like...use a loose stitch to handstitch the cloth to the chainmail. So you could pretty much create a binding, then just loop thread from the cloth to the chainmail on each chainmail loop.

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urbanberber June 5 2011, 18:57:29 UTC
Hmm, okay! I wasn't sure if there was another method other than to just sew that stuff on. xD Thank you! c:

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urbanberber June 6 2011, 05:53:11 UTC
That is something I was wondering about--good to know! I'll make a note, thanks. :D

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neweuropa79 June 5 2011, 21:05:17 UTC
It looks like it is mounted to leather underneath, and that is the edges you see.

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urbanberber June 6 2011, 05:53:40 UTC
Yeah, I considered doing that as well, but the weight is a concern... I guess we'll see!

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neweuropa79 June 6 2011, 11:51:15 UTC
The scales are made from aluminum, right? There won't be a weight issue.

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urbanberber June 6 2011, 14:10:55 UTC
See, that's what I was thinking as well, but there's a calculator on that website that'll help give a rough estimate of how many scales it'll take. I'd need about 8,000, and according to the vest kit, a vest made of 2,000 aluminum scales is already 10 lbs. DDD8

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novaraven June 6 2011, 04:58:21 UTC
I agree that it looks like leather. You could just punch holes in leather and attach the metal links thru it if you only want it on edge to save money/time/materials.

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urbanberber June 6 2011, 05:57:35 UTC
Hmm, that's a good thought. Thanks!

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virusq June 6 2011, 05:38:41 UTC
SEBASTIAN!

I don't think you'd add cloth to the scale mail so much as layer scale mail on top of a coat, like Sebastian would have done here...

Scale mail ... could be faked pretty gloriously with foam, I think.

If I were to do a Sebastian coat, I'd take some fake suede or moleskin, make the coat, and then sit there and sew or hot glue rows of plastic or foam tabs to the jacket.

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urbanberber June 6 2011, 05:57:11 UTC
AW YEAH. 8D

You know, I've been considering faking the scale mail after adding up the total costs of all the materials. Craft foam would be doubly more time consuming since I'd have to shape every scale, BUT. It may have to be the only option after those prices ohgod. XD

Btw are you the person from the DA comm that was working on a Varric cosplay? 8D

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virusq June 6 2011, 14:16:06 UTC
Craft foam would be doubly more time consuming since I'd have to shape every scale, BUT.

You can buy plastic scales from armoring companies, if you'd want, but I think a $5 roll of craft foam from Joann fabrics would be a lot less expensive. I haven't used the method yet, but I hear painting the foam first helps out a lot, and then you could devise some kind of cookie cutter to use as a stamp, perhaps? If it's metal, the edges should be sharp enough to cut through things, and if it has some kind of brace on the back/top, you may be able to hammer it into foam for mass-production punching.

Alternately, which was almost the way we were going to go for Merrill's chain mail, you could make a stencil and fabric paint the scales on. That may be the fastest way to go. My concern with painting it on would be that fabric and leather wouldn't quite move the way scales would. :\

I wonder if there is heart-shaped trim you could layer on to get a similar effect.

Btw are you the person from the DA comm that was working on a Varric cosplay ( ... )

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urbanberber June 6 2011, 14:31:38 UTC
Huh, I did not know about the plastic scales... But yeah, a stencil of some sort would be a good idea, and it'd definitely cut down on time. I think I'll try the foam out on a smaller sheet and see if I can't get the effect I want. I know I've seen people do dragon mail scales out of football shaped confetti as well.

I think the fabric paint would definitely be the last resort if all else fails. I'd been thinking about heart shaped confetti, did not consider fabric. Hm!

Also dude. Just. Dude. Serious high-fives. You look fantastic. :D

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