Brienne's Blue Armour

[Maya]

So, I have decided to make Brienne's blue armour.


I got hold of some Craftiflex from Duskraven Costumerie. Duskraven Costumerie | Supplier of Craftiflex
Having never worked with the stuff before, I purchased Kamui's cosplay Worbla book and got the basics down.
I do sword combat on the weekends and own a set of these:



I patterned the forearm bracers today, making adjustments for the Brienne armour. My armour's inner forearm is scooped, Brienne's is straight.
Using the sandwich method, I made the inner and outer forearms and used the real deal to shape it.
Why don't I just wear the real deal? I think 8 hours in this gear and my arms will be dead. Craftiflex is beautifully light!

 

[Maya]

Progress....

I am 3/4 through painting the bracers. The blue I have chosen is a little brighter than is visible in the show. My plan is to layer black over top and wet sand to get that gleaming blue/grey appearance.

Four layers of primer. Four of black undercoat. Three blue to that point.

Also have 30k worth of jump rings coming for chainmaille construction.
Plus a black hide for the leather rectangular segments on her gambeson.

I'm hoping to get the belts from The Inner Bailey Quality Handcrafted Leathers, Made in the USA.
Medieval Eyelet Belt For the waist belt
Sir Robert Sword Belt For the sword belt

Just waiting on a return email!

 

[SmilingOtter]

Very nice so far. Are you ordering through The Ring Lord?

 

[Maya]

No. I ordered the rings from a dealer on ebay. I didn't want real chainmaille so that I could wear the costume for longer periods. I have purchased light jump rings.

I have ordered the belts. Very nice and at a reasonable price too! They will be useable for my re-enactment group as well.

I have also purchased a black leather hide from an Australian wholesaler so I can make all the leather strapping for the armour. Just need to source buckles and rivets.

Hi. My name is Maya and I have a cosplay problem

 

[Maya]

The lames of the pauldrons and rerebrace patterned, cut and covered with Craftiflex.

The edge was patterned with a leather working tool that carves a channel in leather. It makes a nice approximation of the edging that Brienne has on her armour.

Next I will shape each piece then paint in the same style as the vambraces.

 

[Maya]

 

[Maya]

 

[Maya]

So...much...chainmaille.

 

[Contec]

The ringlord has plastic rings also for sale... they are not as heavy as real rings and they can be painted.

 

[closet batfan]

Wow, this build looks so cool. Can we see more pics of the chainmail and possibly an explanation of what's what? It's seems very different to normal chainmail. Are they stitched onto the backing?

 

[Maya]

Next stage is the chest armour. I'm still working on sewing the chainmaille onto the gambeson. It's slow, frustrating work. But it's getting there. Will post pics when that stage is done. I still have to do a 'collar' section on the gorget.

 

[Maya]

First coat of Rustoleum Gloss Blue. It will need sanding because every little imperfection shows up with the gloss. Plus I don't want it quite so shiny in the finished product. I plan to layer up about 8 coats of this colour, get it nice and deep before lightly spraying a charcoal/black colour and wet sanding that.

 

[closet batfan]

The armour looks really well made especially the chest piece, Im not sure about the colour but I'm sure you know what your doing judging by the rest of the work. Awesome

 

[Maya]

The armour looks really well made especially the chest piece, Im not sure about the colour but I'm sure you know what your doing judging by the rest of the work. Awesome

Thanks Oh the blue is just the base coat. Needs a lot more work than that done to it to get it to the dark blue/black of the show. I just wanted a rich blue as the base colour to start with

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry! I missed this question. The chainmaille is a very simple four in one design. I created long strips of maille and I'm then sewing them onto the outside layer of the gambeson. I will have a thin cotton batting lining for the skirts and arms, just to supply some support. As you can imagine the chainmaille + leather is quite heavy, despite the robust fabric I'm using.

 

[Guri]

Loving this - very excited to see the progress!

 

[Maya]

This is with two light coats of black, wet sanded to smudge it up.
Its in the process of getting light coats of varnish to seal it up and protect the paintjob. After being outside in varying Australian temperatures, several of the pieces have become misshapen. I will need to gently reheat and bend back into shape.
I will take photos as I strap up the armour. I plan to use a combination of leather and fabric straps.


Needs a bit of a tidy up, but the skirts of the gambeson have all leather and chainmaille attached. I used split rivets on the skirts to attach the leather. The whole thing is quite heavy. I am in the process of sewing up the arms now. With only two weeks to go I'm panicking a little. This has been months of constant work! I didn't realise the insanity of the undertaking back then But then I was determined to finish.