Celefinniel's Comrades in Arms Pages

The last item that needed to be created for the cuirass is the embossed brass collar trim for around the neck.

Here I show the inside of the mostly assembled cuirass. You can see the maroon vinyl trim, and the piping around the armholes and neck.

The sides have not yet been trimmed, but you can see the gold colored band on the bottom segment. This is autobody trim. It is on every segment of the armor. The leather trim goes over the top of it.

The horsehead motif that decorates the inside of the cuirass is also already glued in place.

The cuirass is assembled in a different order than the other pieces. On everything else the straps are riveted on last, and the rivets show. On the cuirass, the rivets that hold the front together DO NOT show. The inner straps are attached first, then the leather trim is added to the outside front, doing each segment by segment starting from the top down. Finally the attaching straps are riveted into place.

This shows the front during assembly. The shim brass and embossing brass are installed. The autobody trim has been put in place and the leather is being checked for final fit and trim prior to gluing in place.

The rivets for the inner straps of the top piece are installed (the trim is hiding those). All the leather will be laid on to match up the patterns on the two segments. The leather trim will be glued to the top section only, then the inner straps will be riveted to the bottom section and the process will begin again. Gluing the leather trim to section two after matching it with section three.

This last shot shows a tired Theoden modeling the shirt, undertunic and skirt in place. The maroon sash will go over the skirt belt prior to buckling on the cuirass.

I mentioned that it took five months to construct. What I did not mention was that meant practically every night from 7PM to midnight or 1AM, and the better part of every weekend. Not an undertaking for the unprepared.

Herugrim's scabbard was shipped out in a tearing hurry with no photos. Photos will be taken and posted for the second scabbard's construction.

And here are the completed costumes with our Rohan standard worn at BayCon 2005.

The next section will discusss the making of helms and scabbards.

 

 

E-mail me:         Graphics courtesy of: