LRP Weapon Construction supplies

Community Larp discussion
#1

Hi Guys,

Looking to have a go at making my own LRP stuff. My old house mate in the UK made some pretty cool stuff and I am up for giving it all a go.

So I am looking for suggestions on where I can get the following:

Carbon fiber Cores
Liquid Latex.
Sealant for sealing layer over the latex.
Foam boards. ( I have had suggested and had already thought about using bed roll foam, however I would like to know where I can get the stiffer 5mm foam boards from.)

any help find good sources for these things would be really appreciated :slight_smile:

#2

You’re in Auckland, right?

Has anyone given you the info you’re looking for? :slight_smile:

#3

[quote=“darkling2000”]
Carbon fiber Cores
Liquid Latex.
Sealant for sealing layer over the latex.
Foam boards. ( I have had suggested and had already thought about using bed roll foam, however I would like to know where I can get the stiffer 5mm foam boards from.)[/quote]

I use fibreglass (not carbon fibre) and get it from RD1 (rd1.com/) they can get 2000mm lengths by special order. I believe there is a kite shop in Auckland you can get carbon fibre from (google can probably help you here) from memory, they had a better range of products than what their website suggested.

I’m not sure what you mean by “Foam board” but I’ve found three layers of camp mat with a fibreglass core for a handle is pretty good. I cover the shield face with canvas and the back with latex.

Liquid latex - lots of places:
This is apparently the cheapest:
triginstruments.co.nz/catalo … 88c3d1ed8e

also available on gordonharris.co.nz

I don’t know what to use for “sealant for sealing layer over the latex”, but I’m happy to be educated if people find a good local product :smiley:

#4

The foam board is a little tricky to get here. I imagine you mean like Evazote equivelent?

You can try places like dunlop foam and fibre http://www.dunlopfoam.co.nz or NZ foam and latex etchttp://www.nzfl.co.nz

You can get 5l of latex from trig instruments for about $120 delivered, which will keep as long as you keep it sealed and in a cool place

Now I believe from what Bryn has said (Ex UK Larper) that we dont have the sealer you do in the UK. No one here makes it or an equivelant, ie flexible enough.

Hope that helps

Ants

#5

When I was making swords, Dunlop Foam is where I got foam. It’s firmer closed-cell foam than what you find in camping mat. PE30 was reasonably firm, I used it for blades, and PE45 is very firm, I used it for hilts and pommels.

dunlopfoam.co.nz

Looks like they’re now in Rosebank Rd in Auckland. However, note that you may need to get an account with Dunlop Foam to buy from them, they’re not a retailer at least last time I checked.

Alternatively, I can sell you a “sword blank”. This is a carbon fibre rod with the foam blade already attached, but no hilt/grip/pommel and not latexed. They’re imported from Europe, and they’re made to a very high safety standard. Some kiwi larpers and the larp society here have bought these and made some very nice swords up from them.

paddywhack.co.nz

Go to In Stock > Swords for a picture. I only have 1 medium/long blank in stock at the moment (cost is $37, and you can get 20% off that if you join NZLARPS), but can bring full-length blanks in too.

(Note that I have a few weapons and leatherworks in stock but haven’t gotten around to putting them on my website yet, so my stock isn’t quite as empty as it looks).

You can drop me a line on ryanpaddywhack@gmail.com if you want to discuss sword blanks.

#6

cheers guys that all great info :slight_smile:

yep the foam I am after is the stiffer stuff for weapons.

I shall go through and start looking at getting some of this stuff :slight_smile:

as for the sword blanks are they the ones from Forgoten dreams? I have an account with them, was going to start importing thier plate in to the UK… then LRP Store started doing them the same week :stuck_out_tongue: lol.

I would warn you that their weapons are rather chunky, I have their two handed battle axe which is good but not great… my house mate got one of their pole arms… it was so wide it look more like a pole hammer… there shields on the other hand are awesome, and their plate is not too bad either :slight_smile:

If there is interest I might look at seeing if some of my friends can arrange for some Eldrich weapons from the UK they are nice :slight_smile: I also dream of getting the half and half chain (which I saw one guy at Teonn wearing :stuck_out_tongue: ) I didn’t get round to ordering any before I left the UK :frowning:

I feel like I will be paying peoples excess luggage fees to get some shinnies brought over next year as friends come over to visit :slight_smile:

As for sealant, what do you use over here then to stop the latex being “sticky” ? Some friend in the UK used a tent water proofing spray from time to time is there anything like that over here… I will have to have a look about in the camping stores.

Thanks again guys for all the info.
Chris

#7

There aren’t many people latexing weapons in NZ. I think the most common solution to stickiness is talcum powder, but naturally that has lots of drawbacks (dulls colour, wears off, can get cloggy when damp, etc). I think the people who are latexing here would love to discover a sealant that’s available here, especially if it wasn’t too toxic.

I’m not bringing in Forgotten Dreams, no. My supplier is Palnatoke in Denmark. They don’t usually sell sword blanks, but when I asked they kindly offered to supply blanks of their “Champion” sword. I’ll ask them what they recommend for sealing the blanks once they’re latexed.

The Eldrich stuff looks nice too, but was significantly more expensive than Palnatoke last time I checked. I haven’t compared prices for a while now though.

#8

The sword blanks that Ryan offers are a god send guys, I’d highly recommend them.

Precision Pultrusions are the people I’ve been ordering Fiberglass rod from. They offer a high tensile rod which seems great for making longer weapons. Delivery costs are very reasonable at $18 from Christchurch.

I found a good supplier for foam, they do closed cell foam in a choice of densities for different sorts of weapons ultralon.co.nz/products/

In the UK some people use Isoflex but it’s apparently nasty stuff, and leaves a glossy finish. I have one can that I brought over with me, perhaps one day we can open it and use it to bulk do a whole load of weapons taking all the preparations. Once a can is open it seems to ‘go off’ pretty quickly.

In it’s absence I’ve been using the silicon sprays people use for bringing a shine back to the interiors of cars. I found a semi matt version that gave a pleasing look.

If you’re interested in the half and half mail, I’ve just ordered a Coif which was delivered next day (to a UK address), the guy seems to have stock at the moment anna-kiss.com/ the website is terrible and NSFW so be warned, but the contact details are there.

#9

I use armourall. No stickiness problems there, though it does give a glossy sheen (the opposite problem to talcum powder?)