Calling all the wise folk for making gear.
I am a non-creative, unartistic, painfully bad handyman. Unfortunatly as must happen to all LARPers I have dicieded to make something and I would appreciate advice.
My Plan is to take a bedroll piece of foam 8mm thick, fold it in half, cut a hole for a head, cut the sides under the arms to fold it round and then run two belts round the outside, buckles on one side to do it up. I have half of it done and with the belts done up but not connected to the foam yet it looks ok.
Two questions
I am thinking of getting a second piece of leather on the inside of the armour and then riveting the belt to it so that it has a nice solid hold, and using 5-6 rivets per belt on the front and the same number on the back so that flexing shouldn’t cause the foam to tear. Will this be enough or should I plan for more, are there any issues I need to be aware of using this method?
I will need to paint the foam to look more leathery, what do I need to take into account before I buy paint and what can I do to ensure the paintjob lasts a decent amount of time? Sealants etc?
Any and all advice welcomed