Leather armor patterns

I have a Huge sheet of about 14oz leather and i am looking for a good simple pattern for chest back and shoulders. I have basic leatherworking skills and I can get access to some more advanced skilled people.
 
Probably more than what you are looking for, but I am a fan of the samurai style armors.
I am looking at making something like this eventually...

haramaki style:
haramBush.jpg

or Tsuzumi style:
kawatsuzumi.jpg


http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/katchu/katchu.html
 
It really depends on how much leather you've got, and how good you are at working it. The simplest breastplate pattern would look something like this :

breastplate.gif


Where A is an inch or two short of the width from armpit to armpit at collarbone height, B is the distance from the point of your collarbone to your waist, and C is half your waist measurement at the widest point of your torso.

From there you could either add a backplate (which would be the same sort of pattern, with a wider A as you would not have to compensate for your arms needing to reach forward) or just use belting to buckle the sides of C to each other and add either a single loop behind the neck from the A corners or a Y-strap that links them both to the C corners on your back.

The best way I've found to make a dirt simple pattern for this sort of thing is to toss on a comfortable disposable t-shirt, and cover it in a couple layers of duct tape, keeping the fit close to your body. Once the whole shirt is covered, you can remove it by cutting up the side seams, and there you have a quick and dirty blank to work from. After that, you just have to spend a bit of time trimming the edges inwards until everything feels comfortable when you toss it on, then trace that final pattern onto the leather and cut it out.

Here are a couple shots of the brigandine I used to wear, to give you an idea of how a breast and backplate can go together. The two narrow parts are shoulder armor, but beneath it is 2" wide leather strapping that has the breast and back plates suspended from it.

113852960_cef70d19d5_m.jpg


This second one shows how the armor sits on my torso, so you can see what kind of allowances we made for ease of movement.

113852961_7da209b5be_m.jpg
 
Thank you Wraith that's a more sensible answer then I've /ever/ been able to find online, or have ever been told by different people. You're answer seems simple and effective. :thumbsup:

Can I ask how you did the studs?
 
The one I'm wearing there is actually based off of something between a Battle of Wisby-style coat of plates and the shape of the Japanese dô, as worked out by my good friend and prop-smithing mentor Josh (Lost Nation, here on the boards). The rivets are standard two-part speed rivets you can get at any Leather Factory for ~$20 per 500, run through the corner holes in steel mending plates with the corners rounded, sandwiched between three layers of canvas duck.

For the canvas, we just ran a sewing awl through to make room for the rivet without breaking the threads, but to put rivets like that in leather you'll want a standard hammered punch to pre-make the holes, as a rotary punch won't exactly reach the middle of a breastplate. :thumbsup:

It holds up nicely, too. Been using it for almost five years now, and the plates are just starting to wear through the canvas at the corners.
 
On Etsy There are several patterns that cost money. But please don't pay for the scroll case - it's literally a cylinder.
 
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