Basic Fantasy Costume Patterns

Community Gear
#21

The quick and easy guide to wax hardened leather.

Get some leather from me, I have leather that works with this method very well :smiley:

  1. Heat wax in a roasting dish over a BBQ. It is hot enough when sticking a scrap of leather in it will cause bubbles (like when you drop a piece of potatoe into hot oil)

  2. Cut out your leather. You can do this step first if you want. I do it while the wax melts because I cut out fast.

  3. Turn off the BBQ. Using tongs or pliers, lower the leather into the wax.

  4. The wax will froth up. If it looks like it will spill over, take the leather out for a bit. Otherwise, anywhere from about 10-45 seconds is a good time to leave it in. Some pieces will need to be heated in sections because they will not fit in the tray.

  5. Remove and form to shape. Either allow to cool in the correct shape (takes 5 minutes) or dip in a bucket of water for 30 seconds.

NOTE: if you are allergic to bees, don’t use beeswax. Bees are sometimes attracted to beeswax hardened armour… :slight_smile:

#22

Its an old topic I know, but I have been asked if anyone has any pictures of weapon construction, especially of foam/foam latex weaponry including non boffer weapons covered with silver/duct tape.
Theres been several very good posts on how to do it in blueprint style but he wants a visual reference of how its supposed to look in various stages.
Failing that he’s looking for an old weapon that could be deconstructed.
Anyone?
Also campmat & pool noodles & insulation foam aside, what foam do people use for weapons? Do people use a particular type? Where do you get it from?
Also where do you get cheap sail battens from?
Cheers

#23

If you’re in Mooloo territory, rather than the city of sails, you may find that instead of sail battens you’re better to get either fiberglass electric fence standards or the fiberglass walking sticks farmers whack sheep and cattle with.

#24

They’re called cattle prods thanks Derek :smiling_imp:
We have plenty of those down here in Hamiltron, city of the future… heh

#25

[quote=“Jared”]Also campmat & pool noodles & insulation foam aside, what foam do people use for weapons? Do people use a particular type? Where do you get it from?
Cheers[/quote]

I’ve always used camping mat foam because its dense enough to sand and shape easily. I usually get it from the Warehouse at $19-$22 for a roll. Also, get the grey ones if possible as it just looks better if the finishing touchs wear off, rather than the bright blue or pink.

As an aside, if anyone knows where to get similar type of foam, but thinner, then I’d love to know. The camping mat foam is about 1cm thick, but I’d really like to get some that is about .25cm thick. Also in grey or black.

#26

I think the big secret when making rubber swords is to use lots and lots of glue.

#27

Dunlop Foams in East Tamaki. They prefer if you have an account. NZLARPS was going to start an account with them, I have the form lying around somewhere. Perhaps the society should buy some foam on behalf of members wanting it? It comes in 1m x 2m sheets of varying thickness. The foam I’ve always used for blades is PE30, which is slightly denser than camping mat. I used the denser PE45 for hilts.

This is the guide I follow for making latex-style weapons: home.clara.net/arianrhod/Aldebar … index.html (click on Sword Making Guide). It doesn’t have photos, but it is illustrated. It’s about 10 years old, the state of the art in latex weapons has probably moved on a little, but it does the job.

#28

I think I need to organise a day with Derek to pick his brain…

I’m trying to help Jared piece together a stash of gear for the 'Tron larpers, all 3 of us that are left anyways. All these guides and illustrations are fantastic, but I’m having a little trouble sourcing some of the materials.

Foam isn’t a problem. I spent some quality time in the local Para Rubber learning about open/closed cell foam and different densities, and we have an industrial packaging company that I can get it from in various thicknesses and for almost half the price that the girl was quoting me. Nifty. I’m thinking of going softer than campmat by I think 2 degrees which will give about the same squidginess as the warrior shorts Jared aquired - any thoughts from an “expert” on this would be nice.

What I am stuck on is the fibreglass cores. My flatmates family has an account with RD1 so I’m guessing the cattleprods will be easy enough to get my sticky fingers on, but I’m wondering where the sail battens are obtained - and how do they compare to the prods in terms of cost/ weight/ strength/ durability etc. ANy extra info along these lines would be appreciated.

Finally, Derek seems to be fond of glue. Almost to a point of concern. I see Aidos F2 mentioned, but from memory that particular one dries quite hard. I’ve had a couple of attempts at the campmat flat, and using the F2 stuff seems to make them go quite stiff, I’m wondering what glues people are using, and how they set - do you end up with a fairly hard substance at the end, or a softer gel-like thing that doesn’t stiffen up the foam?

Questions questions questions…

#29

I would have thought it would be slightly denser. When I’ve heard UK folk talk about weapon foam, they always say camping mat is not dense enough, and deforms too easily, and wears out too fast.

#30

That can certainly be arranged if you want to travel to Auckland. I’m in Albany, right on the North fringe of Auckland :slight_smile: Saturdays are often good for me…

I find you can get quite a few swords out of a single camp roll and the foam is just fine. I don’t think the “squidgyness” of the foam makes a large difference to how hard weapons hit. I think the main reason they hit softly is that they are light and they have a large surface area. Cardboard tubes, for example, hit quite soft because they are also light and have a large surface area.

Cattle prods are round fiberglass rods. Sail batten are squashed hexagonal rods. So, the sail battens are slightly stiffen in one direction than in another. They are both absolutely fine and will outlast the foam outer by a couple of years at least. They are equivilent enough that I would just purchase whichever one is most convenient.

ADOS F2 is a contact adhesive. You smear it on both surfaces, let it dry for 5 minutes and then stick the two surfaces together. It is a soft flexable glue. I’ve found that it costs about $30 / liter from placemakers and that an equivilent glue (Bostic contact adhesive) can be had from The Warehouse for about $16 / liter.

The reason I prefer glue over tape is that tape weighs a lot, which makes the swords heavy, and it costs a lot, which makes them expensive. Glue basically makes the two pieces of foam into one piece without increasing the weight much.

#31

There are more than 3 left in The Tron

#32

I get sail battens by visiting sailmakers and asking if they have any sail battens they want to get rid of. Typically, they do.

The ones I use are flat and about 10-12mm wide. They have a sword-like shape already, and are flat enough that I can glue it between two sheets of foam (rather than three, which is used when the core is round).

I find camping mat is not as good as EVA, and does not last as long.

I tape my blades with silver duct tape. It makes them last longer, and you can retape as required. I haven’t seen any for sale for over a year now, so latexing may be the way forward.

#33

Prefer one doesn’t use fibreglass in their swords. Rather you used flattened PVC. Similar effect, more versatile and less dangerous.

You can get F2 in a spray can for about $16. Really cool. F2 is a rubber cement so it designed to be flexible. The bond between F2 and foam can be stronger than the foam

If you want to know how to make flats, drop me a PM. I am thinking of having a workshop down in the Tron anyway.

#34

Flattened PVC sounds like a good idea. I’ve started flattening the ends of axe hafts so the foam axehead can be affixed.

I flatten PVC by heating it over an open flame and then stamp on it. Do you use a different technique.

I haven’t encountered any problems with fibreglass, what makes you say that it is less safe ?

#35

Fibre glass can be a nasty stuff to handle, especially if you get splintering of the glass as happens. Also you have to be careful of making thrusting weapons with them as they can have incredible logitudinal strength. I like that flattened PVC as it gives you a strong edge and a weak edge.

As to flattening it, I use a stove element and made a jig so that I get a dead strait and very even flattening of the pipe. Thus I get constsant results every time.

#36

Fiberglass is nasty stuff and when you cut it you’ll want to do it outside with a dust mask on.

You’ll also want to make sure the tip of the weapon is reinforced so you don’t get the fiberglass punching through the tip.

However, it has some aspects that are better than PVC. It is less likely to break and a piece with the same rigidity has a smaller profile and is lighter. This allows the weapon to be lighter and slimmer than one built on a flattened PVC core. I use PVC for staves and axes, but not for swords.

Modern fiberglass is not as the splintery as it was of 10 years ago and I’ve not seen one of the modern weapons built with a fiberglass core break.

#37

I agree that fibreglass is unlikey to break, but then we have only had two failures with PVC in 18 years and none in the last 10.

I also agree the fibreglass makes slimmer and lighter swords. However we don’t want rapiers and want some width on the blade. Even with the PVC the feeling is that the swords are to light.

We also find it easier to put proper handgrips on the PVC. Tried the latex weapons and soft squishy handles don’t cut it unless you are fighting foil or epee. We don’t believe these fighting styles are appropriate for our era and genre.

#38

You can build a weapon of any thickness over fibreglass, just depends on how much foam you add.

If the fibreglass is thin (8mm diameter or thinner) then they are lighter. Personally I prefer lighter weapons, as they don’t hit as hard. But if you wanted heavier then you could just use thicker fibreglass rod. Would be more expensive though.

Our approach to putting grips on fibreglass rods is glue strips of foam onto the fibreglass rod to thicken it out, then glue a section of PCV pipe over the foam to get a hard grip. That can then be wrapped in a grip material like leather, vinyl, or bike handle grip. Those grips have been very durable, and we’ve been doing it for eight or more years.

#39

I believe that fibrglass is too unweildy and also dangerous. I have had modern fibreglass weapons twice bith very expensive (If you looked at the second skin HIghlander Katana) that one snapped when blocking a weapon heavier than it.

I really suggest PVC for its ability to withstand blocking every time.

If you have someone whi is not so converseant with swordplay using a fibregalls cored weapon it could be extremely dangerous. Especially if they accidentally thrust or someone is charging and they stick the sword in the way. Could snap and impale a person not through the leather end of the blade but coming through the edge of the sword.

I much prefer PVC in that sense.

Also parrying and fighting feels a little more realistic than weilding a knitting needle.

You can still make a pvc cored weapon look really nice

#40

Granted they fill a niche, boffer weapons suck when you’ve played with flats. And if you’re silly enough to use an expensive, lighter flat against a heavy, ungainly boffer, of course things are going to break (and you probably deserve to lose your more expensive weapon for the silliness)

The other idea is that if you teach people how to fight with a flat, accidents like fibreglass impalation shouldn’t happen