Steam Punk Armour?

[Drac]

Holy monumental effort! Found this one on the armour archive, quite impressive by armor standards or by steamy ones.

well color me impressed/envious!

[Alain Raethorne]

Oh man! I remember that! It's what got me into wanting to make armor in the first place!

[Vagabond GentleMan]

On a pseudo-armor tip:
I've been fashioning some SP goggles with combat in mind as of late.
I'm not much of a mad-scientist type, I'm more of a fighter, so I'm always thinking about how to make SP armor and combat-related SP stuff.

So I used the iron goggles that the Heidelburg Mensur fencers used as loose inspiration, and took a pair of German WWII safety googles as a base, adding heavy-gauge brass-rod protective eye-grills on hinges to flip down over the high-impact safety glass.  The bars on the grills are angled such to provide protection primarily from downward vertical and diagonal cuts.  Got rid of the elastic strap and replaced it with a buckled leather strap, of course, fairly standard SP stuff.

I'm not done, I still have to develop a locking mechanism for the grills when they're down, brass plate some of the steel parts still showing, and add a little more leather just for aesthetics.

My soldering skills are a little rough, so they might not be the prettiest things you've ever seen, but when they're done I'll post a pic up here for y'all to check out.

Hopefully I'll also put up some Steamy Gangs-of-New-York style streetfighter bracers, my winter gorget,  brass-pauldron-having military longcoat, and brass-shin-plate-having 'battle spats' at the same time, but maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.  I just kinda dig the idea of presenting it all as 'an ensemble', ya know?  Maybe even with my brass codpiece to boot.

[Col. Simon Bivney]

I wonder does  the steampunk aesthetic which inherently embraces victorian retro futuristic look and feel embrace the medieval as well? I think perhaps as colorful decor for ones book lined study perhaps.

In any case I have been immersed in this site since I had seen it referred to in an old post somewhere here on the forum.

http://forums.armourarchive.org

It has made me realize I really do love the medieval. Granted I would not want to live in those dark times or deal with the politics, dogmas, hygiene, ignorance.... well there is a lot not to like about the middle ages, but armour and weapons however are to be loved. In whole they represent an ingenious debate (in artifice!) between the technology of the day, and a desire to live and to impose order.

[harleyrider86]

Does it have to be hardened armor??

Why not a padded fencer's jacket laced with a light wire mesh that can be electrified??

Mark

[Burr]

Does it have to be hardened armor??

Why not a padded fencer's jacket laced with a light wire mesh that can be electrified??

Mark

That's a good point. Arcanum had a few novelties in this area like that.

[Leonard Lightning]

When it comes to SP armor plate actually does work against bullets.  Armor wasn't outdated by guns nearly as much as cannons.  Artillery ended the rule of heavy cav.  Even the arquebus was alot bigger than a modern rifle.  Where as the victorian ball is much more in line with modern calibers.  That said I think plate armor could be very SP.  I also recently saw a video of plate being shot by a modern .44.  The bullet bounced off!  It seems if you had enough money there was a method to forging multiple strips of metal into a plate and then sandwiching another plate to the back of the whole thing.  The problem being that you have to make a suit of plate that takes about 4 times as long to make as a normal suit which still isn't a quick thing to do.

[akumabito]

Also works as a Faraday Cage against various types of raygun..

[Captain]

There were several varieties of "bullet proof vests" sold in the late 19th century.  Some supposedly worked since almost all bullets were still  unjacketed lower velocity soft lead.  The problem was that they are not particularly comfortable and no one gets shot at that much. 




Some uniforms still had chainmail epaulets and gorgets.

[cryptolucien]

Like Captain mentions, gorgets were still widely in use. As you can see in the pics above, they could be very dressy as well.

I participate in rapier combat in the SCA and still use my old heavy fighting gorget for it. However, I am making a dress gorget for when I am not on the field.

Breastplates were still in use as well. They had incredible stopping power against most any handheld firearm over 30 yards away (there were a few exceptions of course). I would recommend making the primary armor out of 14 or 16 guage steel (since you will be wearing it for hours, it does take a bit to get used to wearing 12 guage). If fitted and stapped correctly, it will feel "right".

You could also make one out of leather (which I want to make next):

Spoiler: ShowHide

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=71794

Lucien

[Nex]

Woah that is amazing.

Personally I don't think I would put metalics on it to pretend it was metal armour I'd just leave it as leather armour that gives a bit of protection from blunt impacts. Maybe some small metal studs or banding in certain places to add a little more protection and variation.

However yes you are quite right you could easily make a leather piece look like a metal one and the leather would be potentially easier to work with and certainly lighter and a bit easier to wear.

[cryptolucien]

I know what you mean. Unless it was plates to reinforce the leather, or brass decorative elements added, I wouldn't use metal on leather.

[Captain]

Like Captain mentions, gorgets were still widely in use. As you can see in the pics above, they could be very dressy as well.

I participate in rapier combat in the SCA and still use my old heavy fighting gorget for it. However, I am making a dress gorget for when I am not on the field.

Breastplates were still in use as well. They had incredible stopping power against most any handheld firearm over 30 yards away (there were a few exceptions of course). I would recommend making the primary armor out of 14 or 16 guage steel (since you will be wearing it for hours, it does take a bit to get used to wearing 12 guage). If fitted and strapped correctly, it will feel "right".

You could also make one out of leather (which I want to make next):

Spoiler: ShowHide

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=71794

Lucien

Is this the same Lucien I think it is from AA?  This is Karl (Helweg)

I have a plain gorget (from 18th cent. kits) that I would like to work into a SP outfit.  Since SteamCon is Weird West themed this year I just haven't been working in that direction yet. 

Also we can't forget the Swiss Guard who still wear armour:

[cryptolucien]

Is this the same Lucien I think it is from AA?  This is Karl (Helweg)

I have a plain gorget (from 18th cent. kits) that I would like to work into a SP outfit.  Since SteamCon is Weird West themed this year I just haven't been working in that direction yet. 

Also we can't forget the Swiss Guard who still wear armour:

Possibly. There are two of us on there, and I don't post that often. But I do believe I've commented on a post by you. I'm the Lucien from lower Atlantia.

18th Century? That would look five shades of awesome!

LOL... Weird West? I'd totally go with the boiler plate that Marty McFly used in Back to the Future 3. But then, I'm odd like that...

[Captain]

"LOL... Weird West? I'd totally go with the boiler plate that Marty McFly used in Back to the Future 3. But then, I'm odd like that..."

I knew where there was the remains of an old pot bellied stove but the door was missing already.  I found another door though.  I think that I'll pass on wearing that around my neck for a con.   

A painted styrofoam boiler door maybe but I think that I'll stick to a gorget or the likes for some outfit(s).

There was always the Ned Kelly armour:

[akumabito]

should've thought about armoring his legs as well..

[Story]

    Laminated Linen Protected Alexander the Great

    Alexander's men wore linothorax, a highly effective type of body armor created by laminating together layers of linen, research finds.

http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/linothorax-alexander-great-armor.html

[Clym Angus]

    Laminated Linen Protected Alexander the Great

    Alexander's men wore linothorax, a highly effective type of body armor created by laminating together layers of linen, research finds.

http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/linothorax-alexander-great-armor.html

Might have mentioned this before but combining the 2 arts of linothorax and Cuir boulli could have some interesting results.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiled_leather

[Capt. Dirigible]

I'd totally go with the boiler plate that Marty McFly used in Back to the Future 3

Which itself was a homage to Clint Eastwood in 'Fistful of Dollars'....

[Captain]

I'd totally go with the boiler plate that Marty McFly used in Back to the Future 3

Which itself was a homage to Clint Eastwood in 'Fistful of Dollars'....

It has been so long since I watched Fist Full of Dollars that I had to look up this scene:

Fistfull of dollars - Final Fight

[nicromanov]

i remember reading a gamesworshop novel about an inquisitor (the steamiest of all 40k characters ) having a breastplate made out of solid obsidian ,whilst i doubt it could take alot of firepower, it would be very resistant to slpahes and stabs ,plus how cool would that look

[Clym Angus]

i remember reading a gamesworshop novel about an inquisitor (the steamiest of all 40k characters ) having a breastplate made out of solid obsidian ,whilst i doubt it could take alot of firepower, it would be very resistant to slpahes and stabs ,plus how cool would that look

Glass armour? Yes I would wager for ceremonial purposes only. To be lightly obtuse, kind of like a chocolate teapot or an inflatable dartboard it stretches the rational mind to breaking point. Easy to clean though....

[Thomas MSwift]

  Julian May's Tanu wore armor of a polymerized superglass called vitredur, and bubblewrap padding underneath!

[Mich]

I'm going to have a go at making some SP type armour....I now have my supplies, and will post pics if it turns out ok..* Bites nails*

[Morphine482]

Generally speaking, I go for the padded or leather look in most armor types when I think "steampunk."  However, if I were to go all-out, I'd draw my inspiration at the least from Privateer Press's Warmachine miniatures game.  Maybe not the most practical or effective of steampunk armor styles, certainly if you're going for accuracy or the "science" side of the science fiction, I'd look elsewhere.

However, their Warcaster Armor is platemail with a boiler strapped to the back that powers a deflector field.  And let's face it, it looks pretty good. 

Commander Adept Sebastien Nemo:
http://privateerpress.com/warmachine/gallery/cygnar/warcasters/commander-adept-sebastion-nemo-2010

Captain Kara Sloan:
http://privateerpress.com/warmachine/gallery/cygnar/warcasters/captain-kara-sloan

Available with 360 degree views, if it's not perfect, hey, it can at least be inspiring.