Cardboard Armor

I made this for protection during cardboard tube tournaments ( http://www.tubeduel.com/ ). It protected me well; I took second place and I believe I would have won had the final match been allowed to progress to its natural end. Damn refs, grumble grumble.

I used the following as a general reference, and for the names of the parts (several of which I did not previously know):

http://www.reliks.com/suitofarmor.ihtml
http://www.swordsandarmor.com/mall/suit-of-armor-Dragon-Slayer.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_armour
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuirass

Step 1: Breastplate and Backplate

Having quite a bit of experience making clothing, I figured fitting cardboard around the body would not be too difficult. As it turns out, there are some differences between the stiff cardboard and the much more malleable fabric. I worked out a technique of scoring the back of the cardboard with the cap of a pen along lines I wanted it to bend on. This, along with a way of making darts, allowed me to shape the cardboard fairly accurately.

For the front and back plates (together these are called a cuirass), I first drew a flat shaped based on my body measurements. For the front I used these:

• front of the waist (a little more than half my waist measurement)
• length from waist to shoulder across bust
• length from waist to bottom of neck hole
• front of the bust (quite a bit more than half my bust measurement)
• width from arm to arm, above the bust
• length from waistline to underarm hole

For the back I used these:

• back of the waist
• length from waist to shoulder
• length from waist to bottom of neck hole
• width from underarm to underarm
• width from arm to arm across the shoulder blades

I drew the front with darts at the bust so the armor plate would fold out there. (I didn't bother to put any darts in the back plate and this was fine.) A less busty person would need less of a dart, but most people will need at least a small one. We're all just curvier in front. I did place the waistline for each piece on the edge of an existing fold, where the original box had an edge. I also left about an inch of extra cardboard there out of habit, but it turned out this was a good thing (see Step 6 about the pauldrons).

Cut out the pieces with a knife of some kind - a utility knife or box cutter works well. Cut only the lower side of the dart marking all the way through. The upper side, cut through only the top layer of cardboard. Then peel the top layer and the corrugations off, revealing the inside of the corrugated sheet. It looks like a small flap. To construct the darts, bend the cardboard so the dart edges meet, and hot glue the flap down to the outside of the front plate.

It's easier to bend the cardboard if you score the inside first, just run the cap of a pen firmly along the line you want to bend on. A stiff ruler helps a lot for scores that run diagonally to the corrugations. In addition to the bust area, score and bend the shoulders and sides.

Comments

[bobonung]

Thanks for the knight helmet. I used it last Halloween for my Monty Python Black Knight costume, turned out great!

[yellowcatt]

Your cardboard armour reminds me of what me and some friends would make back in the early 80's.
We were working in a stores then and Saturday mornings were really quiet so we made cardboard armour and some would guard the mezzanine while others tried to capture it. At one time we were using the forklift as a siege engine.

[cool knex13]

I am not saying this model is bad but you could make a bit more effort in making armor.

I'm making paper armor that takes me 100 hours.

[cool knex13]

also 3.5 star

[Ernext]

is very useful and this helped too much for me, thanks!

[willisawesome]

I HAD A SOCIAL STUDIES PROJECT AND THE CARDBOARD ARMOR INSTRUCTIONS REALLY HELPED US OUT

[dinosaursoup]

I'd like to do this for a history project. We have to dress up as historical figures and I have chosen Joan of Arc. I might duct tape or spray paint on the final project if possible.

[gchace]

really just had to choose fruit of the loom huh.... didnt you? But other than that its %$#&$#@^Z#$%ing sweet!!! 8-0

[Darwinfish]

In the middle ages, underpants could stop a broadsword. Fruit of the Loom mellowed out a little later... XD

[jack harkness]

Thanks for the great instructions.
My 9yr is almost finished with his costume and I basically just supervised (and did the exacto knife work leaving him with the scissors stuff).

To give it a nice finish we decided against paint but rather are using aluminum foil with a dab of glue and he will call it the SilverNight.
As well, a shield will be attached to one of the arm vambraces.

[hellrider75]

easy and fun i will try this thx

[bustedit]

hmm, a bit of criticsm has been posted, but i think this looks great, and i love the Fruit crest

[ylpihs]

Absolutely love this the armor looks really cool

[cyprian916]

thats a pretty could base for a structure but i would have put more work in and come out with a better finale product.

[Edgar]

For that old, early Middle Ages, Black Steel look, try painting the cardboard matte black, then, after it dries up liberally use Graphite dust on it.

[gchace]

GREAT suggestion thanks

[Edgar]

Happy building! :)

[bcjfla76]

You can also hot-glue some velcro along the inside of the seam. This would allow the wearer to easily put them on or take them off.

[gchace]

another aesome suggestion

[MillenniumMan]

I have to admit, the design is simple and at the same time kinda cool. Now, if you could do this with sheet metal, you could go and really kick some serious a$s!

What's missing though is gold paint and a dragon design on th breastplate. Still, really cool...

[dungeon runner]

Oops, broken link. The real article is here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorica_segmentata

[dungeon runner]

Good armor, I must say. Did you think about using Lorica Segmentata? It's was used a lot in Roman armor. You can check out the wikipedia article:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorica_segmetata

[swords45]

i painted the vambraces with gold paint, it looked awesome

[Camisado]

Cool! Now let's make some out of metal..... MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! Errr, uh... 5 stars!

[olleres]

same dude i wanna make armour with metal........i give this person a 10/5...
:))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

 

[trebuchet03]

So today was our home game... A few days ago, a friend and I started construction of our armor. Photo Left (friend) Gauntlets Vambraces Chest and Back Plate Lower Leggings with knee caps Helmet with mane Shield Cape Sword Photo Right: Me Gauntlets (with knuckle covers) Vambraces Pauldrons with fringe Faulds with fringe Chest and Back Plate Lower and Upper Leggings with functional knee covers Shield (made from an Aluminum disk sled and fabric covered) Helmet with mane and fringe Two tone cape Sword Sword Sheath In both cases, thing are tied together through grommet holes :) A lot of people stopped us to take pictures - it was a lot of fun :) Walking up stairs, in my case (full leggings), was a little difficult - I'll have to articulate those pieces a bit better for the next game. For now, things will be hung on the wall :p

[red-king]

that's some very nice armour you made!

[foxtroot]

Hey, can you please put some instructions on how to make that? It looks really good! THANKS!

[foxtroot]

Oh My God! HOW'D you BUILD THAT??????!!!!!

[rachel]

Hey, post some more pix where you aren't hiding behind your shields! I mean the shields look great but we can't see the cuirasses, pauldrons, or faulds. Also how did you solve the 3-d bending problems? I guess to sum up, where's the Instructable???

[trebuchet03]

Coming... Sorta... The mad construction dash... and many failures created a lack of pictures :/ I'm going to go back and take some images - and grab some images from sketchup models :p

For the 3D pauldron bit :D I started with a 13"x13" square and scored the diagonal... I cut the score halfway to create a triangle and curled/trimmed the corners... Hrmm.. probably hard to picture from that description - so yes, instructable coming soon (along with everything else waiting - including meatloaf cupcakes :p).

I made the chest and back plate with mostly 2D planes - which solves the 3D issues of faulds. But, in my case, it makes the butt piece stick out funny (so I cut it a little shorter). Yes, there were a few "Assless Chaps" jokes - but the cape covered that up :p

More images here - but that's before I curled the pauldrons down properly...

[fluffybuddy]

having trouble finding cardboard. do you know any places in melbourne... and is this armour flexible???

[flio191]

this made me LOL

[tevers94]

same

[lycoris3]

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL!!!! wonderful ending! me and my sis were rolling!!! and yes, reather funny if i must say so myself.

[Ender1234]

ha ha man my friends are never going to stop making fun of me when I build this...I'm going to try to put some foam camp pad down on the front and back of the "cuirass" to see if it'll hold up better (we hit pretty hard with or foam swords). I'll let you know how it goes. I atcually don't larp, but my friends and I saw Role Models were very inspired :).

[chaitanyak]

this is a really well documented diy ! maks me want to go make it right now :)

[yerjoking]

Looks like half a pie :S Lol, nice ible :D:D:D

[The Jamalam]

i just realised, that these are kind of spaulders. pauldrons guard the armpit as well.

[petethecactus]

UR A GOD