Was re-organizing some things in my shed this last weekend and stumbled across my "first armor" breastplate. I made this back in 2000 out of garbage cans, flower pots, PVC pipe shin guards, some of my dad's old army stuff, cut up dog collars to get the webbing and buckles, and a real M1 helmet as the centerpiece. It never occurred to me back then what can of worms I was opening!
Attachment:
20160911_105143.jpg [ 99.95 KiB | Viewed 5154 times ]
I kind of regret not documenting the build, but again, back then I had no idea what was coming! Here are a few shots of the helmet before I disassembled it to rebuild it for my 'version 2' armor in 2013.
Attachment:
helmet comp.jpg [ 301.97 KiB | Viewed 5154 times ]
I wore it the first time at a college Halloween party. The "D" on the chest was my college sports logo. The back plate had a devil painted on it, our mascot.
I lent it to a pledge brother for the following year's halloween party then kind of forgot about it.
In 2007 I dusted it off for another Halloween party. I didn't so much repair or update anything as much as just tape it back together and spray all the paint chipped parts black in hopes it would look worn and damaged on purpose. I still had no weapon at all at this point (not that I would bring them to a Halloween party.
Attachment:
comp2.jpg [ 254.49 KiB | Viewed 5154 times ]
From there it was a looooooong journey! But a journey worth making.
Attachment:
Armor evolution comp1.jpg [ 361.78 KiB | Viewed 5154 times ]
-v2.0 would be my pep attempt combined with my previous garbage can and flower pot techniques but all new builds. I used whatever I had handy including my work boots and had webbing made from backpack straps (recycled from v1 actually).
-v2.1 I would strip the breast plate down and rebuild the shoulder parts (smaller mostly) and improved range of motion in the pep body. A full repaint with better colors was done. I moved on from multicam and got some new 'close enough' pants decided to go sleeveless. Some upgraded accessories.
-v3.0 was my full on metal armor build.
I'm very happy with where I am now, but its crazy to think it was a 16 year adventure. Not all the early years were spent obsessing as my modern self has resources that young-me didnt, but still, this costume has literally taken 16 years to get it where I want it! Wild.
How about ya'll? Anyone else out there care to document their journey in this crazy world of costuming?