First off, I painted the arm guards. If you look at the BBN, the arm guards have an interesting textured look that I had no idea how to replicate. As it turned out, the regular old pattern of the fiberglass cloth I used will end up getting the job done. I used some Krylon Camo Paint. If you want to paint something and have it come out utterly and completely flat, Krylon Camo is the paint to use. The only issue I have with it is that the color palate is limited to what you'd want to paint a HUMVEE in a warzone but since the armguards are supposed to be black that wasn't really a problem.
For my sons second birthday his uncle sent him a Japanese style shirt much like the one I'm going to have to make, and a set of samurai swords. My wife is Japanese (I'm Chamorro and Irish...my son's just confused) so that gift makes more sense than you might imagine except for that fact that sending swords, even play ones, two a two year old with as much enthusiasm as my son has is a bad idea in any cultural context. To prove the point, we've recently been sparring with the sword set and he managed to break the tang (the part that guards your hand) over my head.
Given what I'm up to now, I viewed the broken sword as an opportunity to add to the costume, so I started by covering the sword sheath in more of the leftover pleather. I then covered the back plates, made a center section, and stiched everything together. It looks like a lot of work but it really only took about an hour to complete the whole backside and attach it to the breastplate.
Here's some shots of where I'm at now.
Before I go to bed I'll shoot the sword with a couple of coats of paint. I'll need to make a new tang, but that can wait till tomorrow night.
More to come!
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