Braced for impact

Hi everyone!

I thought I would do a quick post on the gloves/bracer pads/bracers update as I've gotten those together.  First, I wanted to put another shout out to Paul at Aradani Studios. I acquired the bracer pads and bracers from there.  The driving gloves are courtesy of Amazon.com:

Then I simply cut off the fingers :)

After that, we add the bracer pads over top:

And then finally, we add the breathtaking hero bracers over that!:

and voila!  Perfect effect!

I would also like to note that Brendan is very nearly finished with the Master Sword, and I should have some final pictures of that coming in the next few weeks!  I am so excited!

See you next time!

Some much needed updating

Hello everyone! Well it has been a while since I have posted so I thought I should do one.  Some good traction on some elements and no so much on others.  Do you know how hard it is to find repousse tools?  I have gotten the shield and am pondering how I shall go about the decorative work.  There are a couple ways I could go about doing it.  I have not yet settled on which I will do.  But let's talk about what I have made progress on.  The tunic, baldric, belt and hat are done.  Note that I am not doing the whole "sling" thing.  The problem is impracticality.  See, a sword on the back is very difficult to draw.  Sword were carried on the back predominantly for travel, not for drawing/sheathing.  I picked up a nice convertible baldric/belt that can convert between the two.  I rounded off with a nice belt in medieval style and when worn together produces a similar (albeit not game-perfect) effect.  Here is where we are at:

For the under tunic, as mentioned in a previous post; I am using more of a gambeson.  It is not fully a gambeson as only the arms and collar are padded; but it produces a nice effect.

The leggings are also here, but I have to figure out how to lighten them; the brown is more of a light chocolate and I need more of a tan.  That should be interesting.  Does anyone know how to lighten dyed suede?

The sword is coming along nicely.  Brendan has been sending me updates.  First the molds of the guard, pommel and spacer were done:

From there, the investment casting in bronze was completed:

Brendan now will clean up the lines, polish and antique the bronzes to their final state; and will be hard at work on the blade.  It is coming along beautifully!

I just recently found some repousse tools and should be able to start in on the amour for Zelda's pauldrons, crown, etc.

See you next time!

The foray...

I am starting on a new project.

So, I'm building a set of costumes for my wife and I.  We are both HUGE "Legend of Zelda" fans and so I had the idea of doing a costume set for us... I am basing this on the "Twilight Princess" episode of the series, because, well, they have the best set of costumes thus far; I like the departure of the cartoon-like appearances and into a grittier setting.  They seem more "realistic" than ever before.  Ocarina of Time was close but event still pretty cartoon-like. "Twilight Princess" is pretty darned gritty though, and I LOVE that.

So here's the deal: One Link and one Zelda outfit coming up.  But first, some assertions/assumptions:

1.) No cheesy lame "halloween cosutme" crap.  So many costumes are made of thin, lame, non-durable material.  I'm a former SCA member and have been to Renaissance fairs and have REAL swords and some armor.  Real suede jerkins and boots, etc... so... I want that level of quality.  No compromises.

2.) This will not be "pixel perfect".  Many game designers try to go after some loose version of real medieval equipment and they know not what they are doing.  Big gaudy or physically improbable designs that so not really lend themselves to any sort of practicality.  While this will be a fantasy set of costumes, I'm trying to do my best to maintain some level of realism.  I'll tell you right now, the maille is not historically accurate (to any medieval era), but then again, virtually NONE of it is... riveted mild steel or not... it's all inaccurate, just a matter of to what degree.  Maybe I'll cover the details of why that is true in a later post.

3.) I'm taking some license with Link's costume.  While some elements I like; some are less than ideal.  Tights would NOT have been used, folks.  Link is an adventurer and would be using gear that would hold up to the elements.  Cotton tights and a thin tunic is uhh.. no.  Just no.  His tunic would have been made of dyed suede or wool... the under shirt is flat-out a gambeson, as he's wearing maille.  The pants are more than likely also leather or suede.  Hylians are also some sort of blend between Elven (Tolkien) and Aztec/Mayan in design and fashion; I like Tolkien's Elven universe a lot too, so I'm going to swing the pendulum a bit more in that direction, while still being very recognizable as Link.

4.) I recognize the limits of my own ability.  Due to assertion #1, that means no resin crap.  I'm no blacksmith so I cannot forge my own sword.  Replicas currently made are a joke; so I'm having a Master Sword commissioned (I will post acknowledgements and equipment/component sources later).  I'm going to do some of my own work (most subsequent posts will cover topics such as fabricating my Hylian shield; I am doing that myself based on an SCA shield blank).  I have already met some great people and will also cover them in later posts.  Many articles I have spent time scouring for the right items; and those I'm purchasing.  This constitutes the majority of the costumes; some articles have a base component and I'll embellish myself; others are completely commissioned.

So that's it.  The first post of me bringing to life the Zelda universe in a Link and Zelda costumes that are going to be EPIC!