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I have to give credit to a lot of people for this instructable, particularly Atrophius for his award winning instructable, which was my inspiration. I actually wanted to create a whole set out of sintra like he did, but because I'm out of work at the moment, I decided that cardboard was a more economical decision. Also, I didn't have enough time to make many ancillary pieces such as the leg and arm armor, and helmet. So this current piece will only include the body armor (do), and includes the shoulders (sode) and dangly crotch/ butt covers (kusazuri). Next year though, I'm going all out, and hope to post an even more awesome instructable with a top notch suit.
With that note, I did diverged from Atrophius' armor in many ways. The first is that I really wanted this to have an authentic look, and decided to go with a layered scaled Do instead of a stacked flat version.
I apologize for the lack of pictures for the Do and Sode, but I accidentally deleted them off my camera. I don't know how, or why, but oh well, they are no more.
This suit of armor got me many compliments, and I think it was totally worth the time and effort to make everything look good. Many people couldn't believe it was actually made of cardboard. It turned out sturdier, better looking, and funner than I expected!
With that note, I did diverged from Atrophius' armor in many ways. The first is that I really wanted this to have an authentic look, and decided to go with a layered scaled Do instead of a stacked flat version.
I apologize for the lack of pictures for the Do and Sode, but I accidentally deleted them off my camera. I don't know how, or why, but oh well, they are no more.
This suit of armor got me many compliments, and I think it was totally worth the time and effort to make everything look good. Many people couldn't believe it was actually made of cardboard. It turned out sturdier, better looking, and funner than I expected!
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Signing UpStep 1Materials
This was a not a particularly demanding project when it came to materials. All I needed was:
- Lots of cardboard (single corrugated is easier to work with than double, but weaker)
- Lots of yarn
- 2 cans of spray paint (I would use a name brand like Kreylon. I used a no-name brand for one can, and it didn't have quite the shine.)
Tools that I used were:
- Yard stick
- Tailor's measuring tape
- Razor knife/ box cutter
- Clamp vices
- Electric drill with 1/4" bit
- Sharpie
Time:
- The time spanned a couple months, but I'd say that if you're handy, it should take two weeks of 2 hours a day during the weekdays, and one day on the weekend (for painting)
- About 30 hours
Resources I used were:
For inspiration
- Atrophius' insutructable
For details
- Sengoku Daimyo
For accurate pictures
- Samurai Store
- Lots of cardboard (single corrugated is easier to work with than double, but weaker)
- Lots of yarn
- 2 cans of spray paint (I would use a name brand like Kreylon. I used a no-name brand for one can, and it didn't have quite the shine.)
Tools that I used were:
- Yard stick
- Tailor's measuring tape
- Razor knife/ box cutter
- Clamp vices
- Electric drill with 1/4" bit
- Sharpie
Time:
- The time spanned a couple months, but I'd say that if you're handy, it should take two weeks of 2 hours a day during the weekdays, and one day on the weekend (for painting)
- About 30 hours
Resources I used were:
For inspiration
- Atrophius' insutructable
For details
- Sengoku Daimyo
For accurate pictures
- Samurai Store
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The "Ninja" costume that you see in movies is actually the uniform of a stageehand from traditional Japanese theater. The black costumes were a cue for the audience to ignore their presence. Often tthe costumes helped them blend into a ddark backgrouns so that props like stormclouds looked to move on their own. The association of this costume with Ninja comes from a play where the main character was to be assasinated. The director had one of his actors dress up like a stagehand so the audience would ignore him until the last minute. For its time this was an incredible mindfrak. It caused a lot of hype and even some controversy among the theater crowd.
But it proved so popular that it was emulated by other theater directors and suddenly dramas had assasins written into them left and rright just so this technique could be used. In Japanese popular culture this became the iconic ninja.
Actual ninja looked like they were little more than peasants and laborers. People the nobles would not give a second glance to, much less expect to pull out a large dagger or shortsword.
If they were to perform a mission under the cover of darkness, then sometimes a hood would be worn and they would have clothes dyed in dark blues, greens and rusts. Simply because truly black clothing would stand out more at night
Hope you find this information valuable.
Sorry I ramble a bit somethimes, thanks for your instructable
I apologise if I seem argumentative, I do not wish you grief, I only want to share information from what I have learned from over 25 years of study in both Daito Ryu Aiki-jujutsu (Samurai training) an Iaido (swordsmanship).
Peace to you friend.
Btw, sorry for the late reply.
V Here's my katana it's quite a bit shinier now it's just an oldish picture !
5*!