Gear workshops for 2014-- questions and planning

I am planning on running a few gear workshops for 2014, and by proxy other modern-day or postmodern games that may spring up. The first will be sometime in the near future-- probably sometime in the next couple of months. This is because it will require a great deal of modern and post-modern kit, some of which is not readily available (at least not cheaply) in stores or in the nzLARPS gear stockpile.

There will be more than one workshop, as the campaign will be large and will need to have things built every now and again for particular purposes. The first one or two will cover basics.

The following is a list of the kinds of things I’d like to start making at the first couple of workshops. It could take up to three to make a respectable pile of things.

Weapons
-Baseball bats
-Wrenches
-Crowbars
-Sledgehammers
-Claw hammers
-Lead pipes
-Fire axes
Ideally these would be lightweight in nature and could be made mostly out of camping mat-- aside from the baseball bats and sledgehammer, which may require something softer and thicker.

Armour
-Kevlar vests
-SWAT-style body armour
-Metal body armour

What I’m hoping to get out of this thread are:
-Design and execution tips on building said items
-Info on where to get appropriate materials
-People interested in helping out at the workshops

There are also a couple of long-term, more ambitious pieces of gear which I’ll discuss with those at the workshop to avoid them becoming too public.

I have a boffer crowbar somewhere in my garage, and a boffer wrench as well. I actually saw the wrench yesterday while I was salvaging parts for my new creature.

R

Boff Baseball bats can be made in the same way as the Og Clubs (Pool Noodles that tapper at one end) but with a pommel bit on it

And the Sledge can be made much like that hammer from mordavia…using a big block of open cell foam.

I remember seeing some movie props for use my “gang members” in a fight. They’d made a motorcycle chain using a length of plastic chain, painted black and dry brushed silver with a fake (foam) padlock. It looked incredibly real.

The plastic chain might hit a bit hard if given a good swing though.

I’d be up for helping out on this, time permitting of course.

Camping may is okay if it’s the only thing you can get, but it tends be slightly softer and to degrade more quickly than is ideal for a weapon. Also, it’s harder to find in grey colour, and grey is what you want so that tears or fading in the surface don’t show up green/blue/yellow.

Weapons-grade foam is usually a bit denser and less rubbery. I have two sheets of suitable closed-cell foam purchased by NZLARPS for Grand Battle that could be co-opted to make modern weapons with. They are both 1x2 meters in size and 8mm thick, one is medium-density (PE30) suitable for striking surfaces like blades or bats and the other is high-density (PE45) suitable for non-striking surfaces like hilts and pommels. The PE30 would probably be the most use to you. It was (from memory) around $30 and could be included into your budget if you like.

I recommend the latex weapon approach, without the latex. Fibreglass core, closed-cell foam, Ados F2 to stick it all together, then spray it black and dry-brush in suitable colours. For axes, I’ve read that if you use duct tape to tape a head “nub” to the core then glue the top foam of the axehead over the nub the axehead will be less inclined to come off with the sideways sheering force like the last ones we made, which only used glue to attach the head. In fact, I think we have two headless axes that could be re-purposed to be modern.

There is also the remains of a sheet of thick weapon foam in the gear shed, on the shelf under the golem.

As someone said, open-cell (upholstry) foam would be best for the sledgehammer head. I think baseball ball would be fine in entirely weapon-foam, as they are not very long.

I recommend having examples of real stuff on hand to model the foam weapons off, you’ll get a more realistic result than using your visual memory.

If I’m available on the day of the workshop I’d like to help. I think making modern weapons is a great idea. I recommend having a day focused solely on weapons, and doing the clothing/armour on another day. Everything takes longer than you think, and there is no workshop synergy between making weapons and armour - they just distract from each other.

here here.

need any sewing help, i have a ridiculous amount of second hand clothing i dont want and can alter or use for fabric.

plus i can get geoff’s emporium discount :slight_smile:

How should I go about getting the initial building materials?

Ask people to bring some? Apply for a gear grant from the committee? Shell out myself?

Also, where can I acquire lots of good quality foam and cores?

NZLARPS will happily provide costs in advance for an approved project budget. That’s the standard way to cover costs - show that you’ll be getting the money back via fees for events. The advantage of this is that we only buy stuff that will pay for itself, preventing cash leaks. I don’t think it has to be paid back by a single event.

If you want a non-project funding (i.e. funding that NZLARPS won’t get repaid for by a specific budget) for materials to make society gear then put a proposal to the committee and it can be approved on an ad-hoc basis. I would guess that the society will still ask for some budget from any upcoming events that use the new gear (e.g. 2014) to be put towards repaying the costs of the materials. Usually this sort of funding is for big-ticket items with wide application like the generator, printer, etc.

So yeah you can get cash in advance, just pick one of the usual channels and apply.

As I said above I’ve got a 1x2m sheet of grey weapon foam (PE30) from Dunlop Foams that will be very suitable for almost all of your weapon needs. One sheet goes a long way if used carefully. The sheet belongs to a different project but can be re-assigned, so long as it’s budgetted for. There is also some unassigned weapon foam in the NZLARPS gear you could probably use free.

I recommend going to a kite shop for fibreglass rods. 7mm diameter rods will probably be fine for most of the short weapons you’re discussing (up to 70cm long), 8mm diameter rods is better for longer weapons.

The Warehouse is a reasonable place for spraypaint and maybe for Ados F2 glue, otherwise a hardware store.

I think I will apply to get a gear grant in the next couple weeks so I can plan the workshop for sometime during my holidays. This means I somehow have to get project status, though.

It’s not hard to become a project, the society has never turned anyone down yet.

If you need it sorted before the next committee meeting then fill in the project and budget forms, post them online somewhere, and the committee can vote on it online before the next meeting. Application forms are here: nzlarps.org/documents.php

I don’t think you’ll have any trouble. It’s not very expensive gear, it’s stuff the society would like to have anyway, and your project sounds great and has already attracted players.

The beaurocracy of NZLARPS is paper-thin, just enough to ensure that the important details are captured and money isn’t lost.

Give me a list of how many of each type of weapon you want to make and I can help you estimate costs for materials.

I’ll figure out what the foam I have cost and post it here, but it’s around $40. Last time I purchased fibreglass rods from the kite shop they cost $7 per meter of 7mm diameter rod and $8 per meter for 8mm diameter rod. A cheap can of spraypaint costs around $8 and covers 20sqm, one should be enough for the weapons. A small pot of silver/steel paint costs maybe $12. A litre of Ados F2 costs around $25 and should be enough for all your weapons. Duct tape costs around $12 and you won’t need more than one roll, just for affixing the axe heads. We probably have some of these things in the NZLARPS shed that you can use for free, especially the duct tape and some more paint colours. We definitely have liquid latex, if you want to latex the weapons rather than just spray them, but you’ll need a pot of black paint to mix with the latex for a base colour, and a lot more time to let the layers dry.

Hosting this workshop at my house on saturday the 14th. Details in the 2014 subforum.