02-21-2012, 09:38 AM
Ok, as promised. Here's a shot of my Musculata back when it was a work in progress. Since this (old) pic, I made brass pin closures from bar and square stock, and added leather shoulders to it. I've also just finished my Subarmalis in white with red pteruges, so I'll have to get a decent shot of it all coming together and post that later. This photo I already had on hand.
I started out by cutting out the front and back plates with my SkilSaw/SawZaw. I made a paper mock up first for the pattern. Once I had the metal cut and the edges filed down I used a sharpie marker to draw the musculature. I know it's not very anatomically correct, but I didn't want to get in over my head. Using a wooden log and 1'x2' I carved out a few shapes to dish in. I dished out the basic shapes with ball peen hammers of 2 different sizes.
I later chiseled the front to define it a bit more, and smoothed out the hammer marks and flared the edges on the arm pits and belly. All in all it was fun and not very difficult. The most important thing is to be careful and deliberate with your hammering, and always hammer symmetrically! If you hit the bottom left ab 35 times, do the same to the right! Going back and forth between each side as you go and being even helps to keep it from bowing out and bending/warping diagonally.
And yes, it's stainless. I know, I'm one of those damn SCA people =)
I started out by cutting out the front and back plates with my SkilSaw/SawZaw. I made a paper mock up first for the pattern. Once I had the metal cut and the edges filed down I used a sharpie marker to draw the musculature. I know it's not very anatomically correct, but I didn't want to get in over my head. Using a wooden log and 1'x2' I carved out a few shapes to dish in. I dished out the basic shapes with ball peen hammers of 2 different sizes.
I later chiseled the front to define it a bit more, and smoothed out the hammer marks and flared the edges on the arm pits and belly. All in all it was fun and not very difficult. The most important thing is to be careful and deliberate with your hammering, and always hammer symmetrically! If you hit the bottom left ab 35 times, do the same to the right! Going back and forth between each side as you go and being even helps to keep it from bowing out and bending/warping diagonally.
And yes, it's stainless. I know, I'm one of those damn SCA people =)
Max Little
