Drunkethics

Lego armor - the Warhorse

2012-02-26T12:00:00.001-08:00

Its lego time again! And yeah, first it was the rider, now its the horse!
The armor is removable like all of my previous projects. I might modify it a bit but thats all. I'm also working on improved version of my lego minifig armor - the problem there is the size of the rings...so im making custom micro rings which are even smaller.
First pic - the horse and the rider both in lego chainmail armor.

Top view.

Back view

And two 3/4 shots.

It turned out better than the lego minifig armor mostly because of the above mentioned ring size problem. It IS being adressed though. Of course it will be a while until results come out of this. Stay tuned.

Starting weekly(or so) featurette

2012-02-26T09:14:00.000-08:00

Oookay since I'm hardly a workaholic, I can't produce nearly enough projects to keep this blog regularly updating, so I will start featuring other blogs&sites of handmade artists, crafters, medievists and such. After all they all could use the extra publicity and besides most of their stuff IS interesting.

The pilot episode of my featurette will be Mediavisticals
Started by some of my favourite reenactors from Chigot (as we call them - the Chicool guys). Its 6 months old by now but they started effectively posting only recently. What can be seen there is a number of articles showing the items crafted by Chigot, be they medieval clothing, weapons, armor or accessories and daily items, with the occasional stray post. Now they are still filling it in, its not that they don't have stuff to post, so keeping an eye out will be a good idea. I know for once that I am...

Another homemade medieval crossbow guide part3/3

2012-02-25T13:02:00.000-08:00

Last part.
Part 1/3
Part 2/3

This part will show in detail how to make the nut of the crossbow, the trigger lever, and partial assembly and finished product. What's missing is full assembly tutorial and the making of the bow itself.

Now the nut is finished, and its time to make the second part of the trigger mechanism - the lever.

Unfortunately the photos for the lever are insufficient.

Finally the body is polished and assembly can begin.

The finished crossbow.

As you can see from the date, this is just a few months old.

Another homemade medieval crossbow guide part 2/3

2012-02-25T12:54:00.000-08:00

Continuing from here. Another homemade crossbow 1/3

Now the holes for the trigger and the nut are being trimmed.

And the nut is tested for good positioning and smooth movement.Thats kinda important - if the nut is not moving smooth it might misfire or worse.

Another homemade medieval crossbow guide part 1/3

2012-02-25T12:44:00.000-08:00

Oookay with the permission of maister Aule from Vidin, I'm posting here his guide for Vth century crossbow. Its the same model as the one in my previous guide - Medieval crossbow guide but its a bit bigger and with more attention to detail. Its also more than twice the size of the other one so it will be separated in several posts to relieve people with dial up.

Starting with the making of the body from a single wood block.

Mind you this is only supposed to give it basic shape. You can also see the bit that will be turned into the nut.

Now after the body is given some rough shape, its time to mark and carve the trigger and nut positions.

End of part 1.

Medieval crossbow guide

2012-02-18T07:45:00.000-08:00

This is NOT made by me nor do I take credit, but it comes from a certain hungarian who will probably read this soon anyway. This is a (very picture heavy) guide on making a moderately powerful medieval crossbow.

First the lever for the trigger.

Now the piece from which the nut will be made - its from bone. Feel free to improvise.

Side view of the body - still a lump of wood, but you can see how the lever goes.

Top view.

After shaping the body.

Preparing the front.

Another look at the trigger, some extra holes& carving done.

Now the actual mechanism.

There is a small steel spike here to stop the nut from being worn out by the lever.

The bow.

The holding piece.

The parts after some finishing touches and finally - assembly.

This is what the end of the string looks like.

Now this is for a fairly low power crossbow and the design can be modded for more durability. Anyone who tries this only needs to know the mechanical principles after all. I for once would add a thumb holder for the bolts.

First it was the torrents and I did nothing...

2012-02-11T23:47:00.000-08:00

Yeah once more im joining the crowds that are going against Sopa, Acta, Pipa or however else you want to name it. I'm also here to deliver a warning. We will all die in horrible pain if they are not stopped. Why? Because bunny says so. And you better listen when bunny speaks.

If you are not worried about your own personal safety, at least do it for the kittens ok?

I mean its what the internet is made for - kittens. Why are you here if you don't love em?

Bloody cold weather

2012-02-09T07:52:00.000-08:00

Uuuuh the damn frost is killing me. With most of my classes being in the afternoon, my sorry self gets frozen. Program for the last semester could be better, no argument here. Still I can't complain...if was on the campus or the student dorms I wouldn't have to drag my behind for 2 hours due to not having a car, but then I again when I get home, I get in home home - not some room shared with 2-3 others. The cold is stopping my work dead in its tracks - no way to work on the balcony like that, I value my fingers way too much, not to mention losing any desire for hard labour. Some good news is that all the effort gathering my savings in a bank deposit is slowly paying off. Too slowly of course, but it can cover the internet bill for now.

The warrior kitten

2012-02-01T07:02:00.000-08:00

Beware, beware for he is coming....

And - he's not named yet. I couldn't decide on a name, so I'll set up a poll for this. Also taking suggestions in the comments.

Finally finished my latest mini project - the awesome warrior kitten, ready to rise up to all challenges.

Moderately difficult project. Nothing too tiresome for my eyes. Used gold plated links. As with all my projects the armor is removable with ease, and since its on a life size plushie it could on theory be placed on a real kitten, but I have no intention to try something like this.

Anyway - here's the rest of the photos.

In other news...I'm not too good. Its my last semester in university. After that its diploma time and then bye bye. And i'm not very certain i want to be a lawyer anymore - kinda freaking out because of all this....

My newest addition to the armory

2012-01-29T00:11:00.000-08:00

So, this Friday, after finishing with great success the university exam session - 5.5 average out of 6 max on the grades - that would be something like A- for you english speakers, and getting some money in my pocket, I decided to buy myself a little gift which I've been thinking about for a while. So I went to the center where there are half a dozen hunting/weapons shops and bought myself a pistol crossbow.

The absolutely cheapest variety - for about 10 bucks or so. Gotta say, so far I'm impressed by this little bastard, as the holes in my wardrobe will testify. It has good power delivery for its 20kg pull strength, and it was a real bugger to put the bow string on - I got no problems to string bows, but bows are well - bigger, I have more room for leverage.
I already did a few things to it - namely, removing the sights, which would hardly be useful anyway as far as im concerned, and adding a bit of cushioning to the cocking mechanism - my fingers are taking enough abuse as it is anyway. Basically, I'm going to mess with this one until it breaks. At 10-15$ per unit, I really don't care if it does, because its awfully cheap and even if it does all I need is the bow(its steel) and the string, I can make a new body for it.

The fresh guard of Riften

2012-01-25T09:56:00.000-08:00

You know, Skyrim is, at least by my humble opinion responsible for 1 breakup every few days. Its one of those things you know - the ones you store non-perishable food, divorce your wife, put your kids and pets for adoption for. So anyway, instead of arguing about it, me and my girlfriend, decided to do something about it.(she was with the camera)

The Fresh Guard of Riften

Now, this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the guard of a town called Riften
In west Tamriel born and raised
On the archery range was where I spent most of my days
Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool
And all shootin some x-bows outside of the inn
When a couple of elves
Who were up to no good
Startin making trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
And said 'You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Riften'
I begged and pleaded with her day after day
But she packed my armor and send me on my way
She gave me a kiss and then she gave me my ticket.
I put my helm on and said, 'I might as well kick it'.
First trip, yo this is bad
The cold is freezing my gonads.
Is this what the people of Riften Living like?
Hmmmmm this can't be alright.
But wait I hear there're tricky, thieves and all that
Is this the type of place that they should send this cool cat?
I don't think so
I'll see when I get there
I hope they're prepared for the hero of Riften
Well, I crossed the border and when I looked around
There was an elf who looked like a cop standing there with his bow out
I ain't trying to get shot yet but too late
Alas, he got my knee here
and sprang with the quickness like lightning - disappeared
I whistled for a wagon and when it came near
The license plate said fresh and it had arrows in the rear
If anything I can say that this wagon was rare
But I thought 'Nah forget it' - 'Yo homes to Riften'
I pulled up to the house about 7 or 8
And I yelled to the cabbie 'Yo homes smell ya later'
I looked at my kingdom
I was finally there
To sit on my throne as the Guard of Riften

On micro maille - tools, tips, and basics.

2012-01-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

Right. Now, after doing a good amount of projects involving it, its time to write in depth about micromaille.

Micro maille or nanomaille or however you decide to call it is chainmail made by rings ranging from quite small to microscopic. It is by all means NOT something a newbie should try to tackle. First things first - supplies.

Supplies for micromaille can be bought at a jeweller's supply store - a real one or online. Usually you will find copper with some plating - in my case gold-plated, rhodium plated, bronze plated copper rings, but if you have the money - you can even do real silver for example. I don't think anyone has the money to do real gold...
The links will be moderately expensive too - for the amount of money needed for a chainmail shirt, you will barely get enough to fill in your hand.

If you need something specific, because the stores will only have preset sizes, you can buy wire and make your own links. The wire is sold per meter usually(at least where I buy) and could be well under 1mm thick.

As an example - here are microscopic links I made by myself - so tiny I could fit them under my fingernail.

2 TOOLS

First of all you will need the smallest pliers you can find and then some! Those are pretty small but they are still not very comfortable for the job - I'm thinking about customizing them a bit. The nail clipper? Well...Its what I used to cut the home made microlinks above.

A magnifying glass of some sorts, or a monocle is also a good idea - you will ruin your eyes in no time otherwise. You won't be able to even do anything if you have eyesight problems in the first place, without one of these.

TIPS

VERY IMPORTANT!
And related to the above mentioned thing about the magnifying glass. ONLY WORK AT GOOD DAYLIGHT! Don't try to work on a lamp light or if its dark! Just don't! You will be looking at an optometry cabinet in no time. Its just not worth putting on glasses for this, believe me.

Forget about speedweaving. The rings are so small the only way to actually work is 1 by 1. Its impossible to grasp them by hand properly and they tend to slip a lot, so just do it 1 by 1.

Get something with a lot of tiny boxes. Like a fisherman's case or a tool box or something. You will need somewhere to keep those links sorted out and safe from getting spilled all over the floor. Good luck gathering them if you do!

That's all I can think of for now but I will add more later probably. Might split this into several posts too.

The golden bikini of awesomeness(and win)

2012-01-12T06:10:00.000-08:00

Been a while since I made a one these! Most fun you can have for a couple of hours indeed, especially the fitting&measuring part.

Needless to say there isn't nearly as much fun without making some slightly naughty photos. However I gotta keep this place following the rules so PG13+ warning here.

http://i.imgur.com/JLUOk

http://imgur.com/QTidH

http://imgur.com/mVnJr

Unfortunately, now I'm going to bore you with design notes. This is not my first piece of chainmail bikini, but definitely the best so far. Design wise - its simple. I attached the cups to an ordinary bra, which helped a lot with putting it on and off and keeping it comfortable. I used gold plated rings for jewellery which was also a good idea. I've made chainmail bikini from the same steel links I use for armor, and while the results are ok, its a good several hundred grams, which is simply unsuitable. These copper links weight much less. Work time is just several hours with a price tag of supplies about 10$. If you feel like it, you can surprise your girlfriend too with one of these in just 1 afternoon.

The cave spider

2012-01-08T03:16:00.000-08:00

I saw several of these in the shop where I buy my supplies and I could not resist making one myself.
For those who don't play Minecraft - the cave spiders are a nasty variety of the normal ones, that can only be found in abandoned mineshafts deep underground. They can kill a player very quickly thanks to their venom.

Ok so MAAAAYBE it does not have glowing red eyes really, but I'll see what I can do about it - and yes I know cave spiders are not greenish, but I could not find blue-tinted ahem...body parts, nor black for that matter. Maybe I will have more luck next time.

Lego armor - new and improved

2012-01-02T06:29:00.000-08:00

Happy new year everyone!

Here is the second version of the armored lego. Now the chainmail is a much better fit, and the coif looks much better.I will do version 3 though - will try for classic norman armor - coif integrated in the hauberk.

The front is slit(as it should be) so walking is OK.

The back is now symmetric and completely covered.

The coif has a proper bishop mantle from gold plated rings. Its easy to fall off though, nothing I can about about that. Maybe an elastic tied in the rings?

And finally - full chainmaille gear.

The sides can't be closed off - it blocks arms movement. Better results are possible with smaller rings, but I doubt I can get any smaller - besides I don't think i can find the tools for such tiny work.

The Ringlord

2011-12-30T01:12:00.000-08:00

No, not Lord of the Rings, the Ringlord. And believe me, the name is no boast.

For the people who have the money but don't have the time to do home experiments, or those who want something exotic, there is the Ringlord.

http://theringlord.com/cart/default.asp

Its based in Canada and has...well everything. The Ringlord sells all you could possibly need for making chainmaille of all kinds and a few other things as well.One of my minor dreams involves driving up to the place with a big truck, several strong lads and grabbing everything thats not bolted down and we'd carry bolt cutters just in case.

Starting with the tools - it has all the kinds of pliers you'd need, the wire cutters and the saws for the coils, mandrels, more miscellaneous stuff like mini scales to calculate weight, welders, tumblers etc.

As far as products go it sells wire, coils and cut rings from trivial materials like copper, galvanized and stainless steel to exotic ones like brass, inconel, nickel silver, gold, niobium and titanium. The very prospect of making a titanium maille shirt is definitely tempting. The Ringlord is also responsible for the small leaf like scalemail that can be seen around the web - it makes them. Finally they also have finished maille shirts and sheets of chainmaille from most of the above mentioned materials. All in all the price range for most products is what i'd call acceptable. I've never personally purchased but I've heard a lot of positive reviews, and well let's be honest, there is no other like it. If you are on a tight budget, well you can daydream like me. But if you can afford it or its something special you want, look no further.

All in all - seriously just go have a look.
http://theringlord.com/cart/default.asp

The smallest(and most adorable) barbarian in the horde

2011-12-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

Right, so on this Christmas my cousin Nevena - a charming lil' girl got the chance to try out wearing real steel armor. Not exactly the proper gift for a little girl, but then again Nevena ain't into dolls anyway and did not complain about it being heavy at all. It was a bit of a challenge to gear her up- the helmet especially was way too big for her head so I had to pad it quite a lot. She found the whole ordeal really funny and she even wants to come to some of our trainings once the weather warms up. All well and good of course, as long as she is a spectator only. Oh well, at least I know what to give her for her next birthday - her own aluminium chainmail shirt. Let's hope she doesn't go all medieval on the boys that are teasing her in class(she is 9 and she started school 1 year earlier than the rest) or the teachers in her school. Its not that I am worried about the outcome, I just don't know how are we going to bury them all.

Now I know I may be in the process of creating the future warlord that will burn down your homes but we can't be sure can we? Right?!

I also took the liberty of turning some of the photos into motivational posters. I just couldn't resist the temptation.

Ok that's all! Now move along citizen!

Blog redesign after New year's Eve.

2011-12-28T06:55:00.000-08:00

Right, so, at some point next week(and next year too, as it happens) I will be changing the template of the blog again, This one is better than the basic blogger, sure, but on other hand its well - a stiff, I can't modify it much since I know almost nothing about coding, web design and html. I'd like to put on something brighter, and get some quick links and categories in here, leading to different sections - after all the first part of the blog involves tutorials, I'm not sure if many visitors are even aware of it, and a gallery for the finished projects/WIPs and so on. A welcoming message would be a good addition too, maybe a decent wallpaper for background if I can find a relevant one. While I know of several sites with blogger templates, I could use suggestions here, and when the time comes some help too I don't want to lose my nerve over a missing piece of code or something, nor do I want to turn my site into a total mess. Oh yeah - expect some juicy updates soon. I got stuff to show to the world. As Dexter from Dexter's laboratory would say - "My greatest creation is completed!", right before unveiling the new "greatest creation".

Birthday time! Turned 23

2011-12-27T01:21:00.001-08:00

Eh, How fast time flies. So yeah happy birthday to me...

Lego man in full armor

2011-12-25T07:43:00.000-08:00

You love lego. There are no exceptions, unless of course you are an alien trying to take over the world or a nazi or something. So yeah the idea was simple to implement once i got to making it. The quality of the photos is quite poor this time. I'll do a new session tomorrow. The armor itself needs some fixing too its not symmetric or a good fit yet, but the lego man was more problematic to work than the bunny.
My eyes are very tired and I just can't go on for today so yeah - fixes and new photos tomorrow.

I used rhodium rings for this one - the smallest I could find, still not small enough to look great but its ok.

Early summary and future schedule

2011-12-24T14:11:00.000-08:00

Phew, the year is almost done. So, while we are all busy with the holiday festivities, let's see how it all rounded up. I finished my 9th semester in the university, so far so good, but the best is yet to come as they say. I am for the time being without steady income, but my expenses are fairly low so it was not a problem. Next spring things will hopefully look different for my finances. In a happy relationships for which I'm grateful.
The new chain&plate mails will be postponed for a while - exam session is soon to follow in January not to mention that the cold weather is hardly an incenstive to hard work. That does not mean this blog will remain without updates of course. I found good use for the rhodium and gold plated links I bought. What exactly, you will see soon enough.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to everyone and a Happy New year. Let's hope it will be better than this one.
Cheers mates.

Photobucket issue is solved

2011-12-23T11:09:00.000-08:00

Okay,
the bandwidth problem is gone, all photos should be visible now, I will start editing every post, hosting them all on blogger from now on, that will prevent such a thing from happening again. It will take a while to fix them all, but it will be done soon.

Chain& Plate armor Second serving

2011-12-21T06:45:00.000-08:00

Right, now that the prototype is done and I got the basics of it, its time to start the new line of trendy and fashionable armor sets. I've started two at once to show my obvious dedication to hard work....Eh, excuse me, I need to trim my nose...Funny thing how quickly it can grow eh? Well actually its because I found parts that can help me start two at once.

Now this pair will be a little different, and that difference will be mostly due to an added belly plate. Recycling is the new rule of cool and while my own fashion sense is stuck around 1100 AD that does not mean I can't improvise, so yeah - I recycled those belly plates from what used to be kneecap guards. They don't look like much, having caught some rust and a bit misshapen since they were not planished, but for the current cause - it will do.

Whats important to note here however, is that unlike the simpler square plates used for the last set, these involve some actual hammering. Now I didn't plan to write about whitesmithing(no fire) so early on the blog so I'll just give a few basics.

The tools you will need here are above all - good hammers. Here you can see a ballpeen hammer you can probably find in the nearest handyman store. Next to it, is my own dishing hammer - I had it custom made for the job. The head is much less curved than the ballpeen. The ballpeen will still do if there is no alternative.

The other thing you'd need is a dishing stump. That could be an actual wooden stump with a oval hole on it, where you can shape the metal or you can use something else - like a sandbag. Right now I don't have a dishing stump, since my old one is now firewood.

Stop SOPA already

2011-12-19T06:41:00.000-08:00

You know I should really be writing this in my political blog, but this one gets more attention so I'm going for it here. As they say in South Park:
SOPA is bad mmkay?

No, really it is. The other law that allowed indefinite detention without trial is bad for americans only, and well - thats your internal problem. But SOPA will cause problems for the rest of the world too and that's a whole different story. I'm fifth year law student, I've learned at least something from my time in university and I can tell when something is complete garbage without a second glance.
Law making is one of the most problematic areas of creative work. We'd done some practical work already, there is nothing easy about it. Laws need to be accurate, as foolproof as possible, suited to the public needs, following the local constitution if there is one. Basically, an awful lot of things that SOPA is not. That does not even merit questioning and debate. The internet is perfect as it is, its the one thing that is under no one's rule. The very notion of trying to do so is an attempt for control over the free form of information. And he who wants to deny you information, in the end, always seeks to control you. What everyone seems to say about it, is that SOPA has provisions that bring up the possibility of it being misused. Excuse me? Of course it will be misused!That's why it was designed this way! It was also completely over the top - a classic in this case. They can cut back 1-2 steps to show willingness to compromise but in the end, the same deal will be shoved down our throats.

In the mean time

2011-12-14T00:35:00.000-08:00

Finding the originals to fix the photobucket mess is a wee bit of a problem, so in the mean time, I made myself my own motivational poster :). Not much really, just 5 minutes work in photoshop after I took the shots.