Galacticat
Active Member
UPDATE 10/29: Overview (and 2014 Halloween Costume Contest Entry!)
Brienne is one of my favorite characters, and I’d been debating making her armor since her first appearance on Game of Thrones. I finally set my mind to it and decided to get it done for this year’s DragonCon - which I did, but just barely! It was my first ever armor build, and it was definitely a huge learning experience. The build took about 3 months of work, with the last 2 weeks before the con probably encompassing over half of it.
Overview:
For this build, I focused on accuracy, fit, and cleanness. While accuracy was most important to me, I also wanted to make sure the armor fit my build and height, so that it looked natural on me and not bulky and awkward. And the armor needed to be functional - it’s one thing for it to simply “look right,” but I also wanted it to be realistic and to allow me as much mobility as possible. I spent a lot of time studying reference photos to create templates for the armor pieces and to figure out how all the pieces were attached to one another.
Worbla (over foam) was my choice of medium, mainly to get the ridges on the armor to look seamless and to be as crisp and straight as possible. This was my first time working with Worbla, and it was more work than expected. Some of the foam pieces had to be shaped before the Worbla went on, and that made it a lot more difficult to work with. I also spent countless hours spackling (alternating between Gesso and Bondo putty) and sanding to get it super smooth. The armor was first spray painted with a metallic base coat, then covered in Rub ‘N Buff to give it a realistic metallic look, and finally weathered with watered down acrylics.
This was also my first time working with leather. The belts began as raw belt blanks with a basketweave pattern - I stained them, added the eyelets, and made conchos for them (using prongless studs glued onto flat conchos). The ornate belt buckle was a lucky find on Etsy. The strapping on the armor was dyed and cut into strips from a raw hide, and attached using hardware rivets.
The gambeson skirts were sewn with faux suede, sandwiched around some quilting stuffing, then decorated with leather rivets. I opted for only making the skirts instead of the entire gambeson, as the rest of it's covered by the armor and chainmail. The chainmail is actually a knitted sweater dress, which I had to tear apart and sew back together because the “wrong” side of the fabric was the side that looked like maille. The pants, turtleneck, and boots were bought, as was the sword, though I modified the scabbard for accuracy. I have plans to make a fake sword because the current one is way too heavy to wear around at cons.
Proof photo:
-------------------------------
UPDATE 9/4: It is done! We barely got it done in time for DragonCon. We stayed up all night Tuesday getting as much of it done as we could, then finished the rest in the hotel room on Wednesday. Let me tell you, doing your first test fit in the hotel is scary! But fortunately it all came together, and though there are a few things I'd like to change (mainly the chainmail sweater and wedge boots), I'm pretty damn happy with it.
Pictures!
-------------------------------
UPDATE 5/17: I've officially decided to get this done for DragonCon 2014. So stay tuned for WIP updates!
So I've been considering doing Brienne's armor for some time now. I keep going back and forth on it, mainly because I've never done any armor and I think I'm just a bit intimidated. But at the same time, I've been dying to make some armor!
I had hoped to have it done for DragonCon but never even started on it. Instead I did her pink dress, which was cheap and easy (modded a dress found on eBay). Since it's been so well-received, though, it's motivated me to get back onto the armor. Here it is, for those who might be curious:
I have a lot of what I need for the costume, but it's the armor I'm not sure about. I've got some Worbla I'd love to try out, and I might use it on the smaller pieces. But what would you recommend for the chest and back pieces? I know most people when using Worbla will use two sheets of it, with foam sandwiched in-between - but that's gonna get ridiculously pricey. I do, however, like the idea of using Worbla as the top layer - that way I can glue down some cord/rope to make the ridges and heat the Worbla down over it. Do you think some thicker foam with just the Worbla on top would work all right? Or would another thermoplastic like Wonderflex, Styrene, or Sintra be better?
Here are some reference shots, for those not familiar with her character:
Brienne is one of my favorite characters, and I’d been debating making her armor since her first appearance on Game of Thrones. I finally set my mind to it and decided to get it done for this year’s DragonCon - which I did, but just barely! It was my first ever armor build, and it was definitely a huge learning experience. The build took about 3 months of work, with the last 2 weeks before the con probably encompassing over half of it.
Overview:
For this build, I focused on accuracy, fit, and cleanness. While accuracy was most important to me, I also wanted to make sure the armor fit my build and height, so that it looked natural on me and not bulky and awkward. And the armor needed to be functional - it’s one thing for it to simply “look right,” but I also wanted it to be realistic and to allow me as much mobility as possible. I spent a lot of time studying reference photos to create templates for the armor pieces and to figure out how all the pieces were attached to one another.
Worbla (over foam) was my choice of medium, mainly to get the ridges on the armor to look seamless and to be as crisp and straight as possible. This was my first time working with Worbla, and it was more work than expected. Some of the foam pieces had to be shaped before the Worbla went on, and that made it a lot more difficult to work with. I also spent countless hours spackling (alternating between Gesso and Bondo putty) and sanding to get it super smooth. The armor was first spray painted with a metallic base coat, then covered in Rub ‘N Buff to give it a realistic metallic look, and finally weathered with watered down acrylics.
This was also my first time working with leather. The belts began as raw belt blanks with a basketweave pattern - I stained them, added the eyelets, and made conchos for them (using prongless studs glued onto flat conchos). The ornate belt buckle was a lucky find on Etsy. The strapping on the armor was dyed and cut into strips from a raw hide, and attached using hardware rivets.
The gambeson skirts were sewn with faux suede, sandwiched around some quilting stuffing, then decorated with leather rivets. I opted for only making the skirts instead of the entire gambeson, as the rest of it's covered by the armor and chainmail. The chainmail is actually a knitted sweater dress, which I had to tear apart and sew back together because the “wrong” side of the fabric was the side that looked like maille. The pants, turtleneck, and boots were bought, as was the sword, though I modified the scabbard for accuracy. I have plans to make a fake sword because the current one is way too heavy to wear around at cons.
Proof photo:
-------------------------------
UPDATE 9/4: It is done! We barely got it done in time for DragonCon. We stayed up all night Tuesday getting as much of it done as we could, then finished the rest in the hotel room on Wednesday. Let me tell you, doing your first test fit in the hotel is scary! But fortunately it all came together, and though there are a few things I'd like to change (mainly the chainmail sweater and wedge boots), I'm pretty damn happy with it.
Pictures!
-------------------------------
UPDATE 5/17: I've officially decided to get this done for DragonCon 2014. So stay tuned for WIP updates!
So I've been considering doing Brienne's armor for some time now. I keep going back and forth on it, mainly because I've never done any armor and I think I'm just a bit intimidated. But at the same time, I've been dying to make some armor!
I had hoped to have it done for DragonCon but never even started on it. Instead I did her pink dress, which was cheap and easy (modded a dress found on eBay). Since it's been so well-received, though, it's motivated me to get back onto the armor. Here it is, for those who might be curious:
I have a lot of what I need for the costume, but it's the armor I'm not sure about. I've got some Worbla I'd love to try out, and I might use it on the smaller pieces. But what would you recommend for the chest and back pieces? I know most people when using Worbla will use two sheets of it, with foam sandwiched in-between - but that's gonna get ridiculously pricey. I do, however, like the idea of using Worbla as the top layer - that way I can glue down some cord/rope to make the ridges and heat the Worbla down over it. Do you think some thicker foam with just the Worbla on top would work all right? Or would another thermoplastic like Wonderflex, Styrene, or Sintra be better?
Here are some reference shots, for those not familiar with her character:
Last edited: