Leather Scale Armor Cuirass

This project is the sequel to the scale armor pauldrons I made many years ago, to complete the armor set and expand my skills! A cuirass is a piece of armor to protect the torso (front and back) that often consists of two pieces connected together. In historical armoring, they were most often made of metal, and would protect the wearer from most kinds of weapons. Mine is more fantasy inspired, but there are plenty of historical kinds of leather armor, especially in the early middle ages. I was heavily inspired by the work of Black Raven Armory, and the style I designed is similar to several of their armor sets, I'd highly recommend checking them out, they've got some beautiful and very impressive work.

For this project, I focused on improving my pattern making skills, practiced leather carving for the first time, and learned to dye and finish leather.

Starting and ending photos by Nicolas Bruno.

Materials

1. 4 sq feet of 5 oz Oil Tanned leather (I get mine from Springfield Leather Co)
2. 5 sq feet of 5-7 oz Veg Tanned leather
3. Seran wrap
4. Duck tape
5. 8 brass double buckles
6. Fiebings medium brown leather colors
7. Acrylic Resolene
8. Antiquing gel
9. Brass double cap rivets (upwards of 200)

Tools

1. Sharpie & pen
2. Xacto knife
3. Leather whole punch
4. Hammer
5. Pliers
6. Rivet setter
7. Needles and waxed thread
8. Sponge
9. Swivel knife
10. Burnisher
11. Tooling spoon
12. Tracing stylus
13. Cutting mat
14. Cup for water
15. Trash bag, nitrile gloves

To start, I researched different styles of armor, and narrowed down to a few styles I liked best. You can see in the second image several of the options I was considering, many of them inspired by some of the beautiful Black Raven Armory designs.

Once I had a few options I liked, I made a duck tape body pattern, by wrapping my torso in cling wrap, followed by a layer of duck tape. For this step I definitely recommend wearing a shirt you don't care about, and getting someone to help you. Once I'd been turned into duck tape mummy, I drew the rough shape of the pattern on one half of the front, and one half of the back. When you're doing this, make sure to leave enough room around your arms and shoulders so you have a good range of motion. Then get your helper to do the most difficult step, cutting the form off you down the middle back. Be careful!

Once you have your form off, refine any wiggly lines and cut out the half front and back patterns. This is where I made sure the shoulders and sides were the same size and lined up properly. I decided which portions would be scales vs solid leather, and separated the outer scale sections from the main body on the back and front. For the decorative carvings, I used the pattern to make paper templates of the collar and strips of carving that would go along the edges of the front and back solid panels. I then drew the designs I wanted on the paper, so I could trace them onto the leather later on.

*A note- I didn't need any darts in my armor, but if you do make sure to draw them onto the duck tape from, and cut them into the pattern once you have it laid flat.

Using the duck tape patterns, I traced out the front and back panels onto the veg tan leather, tracing one half and then flipping it over to get the exact mirror image for the other side. I traced the front, back and collar piece, then cut out all the shapes with a fresh blade on my xacto knife. It usually takes several passes to cut through the leather, so don't rush and make sure your blade is sharp.

With all my shapes cut, I applied water to the entire front panel until it was mostly saturated, then put my paper carving pattern on top of it and lightly traced on the design with my stylus. I did this on both edges of the front and back panels, then did the same for the collar piece. If it becomes hard for you to press down on the leather, you probably need to add more water and wait a moment for it to sink in. I like to apply water to the entire piece I will be adding carving to, just so I don't risk discoloring it by only putting water on the area to be carved.

Finally, it was time for carving. With the patterns traced onto the leather, I reapplied water to the surface, then carefully followed the tracing with my swivel knife to cut in the pattern. Once I had all the lines cut, I added more water as needed and deepened and beveled them with my tooling spoon. I like to add the bevel to the outermost lines of the design, to make it pop a bit more. This step can be difficult, so I recommend practicing on a test piece before doing the real thing, because there's no way to erase here.

*I did this step in such a hurry that I have few pictures or videos, but I added some videos of me doing the same process on a different project.

This was the step I was the most terrified for, I had never dyed such a big piece of leather and I was concerned that it would turn out patchy and ugly. But hey, waiting and worrying never taught us any skills so I had to just jump in. I had three veg tan pieces to dye: the front, back and collar panels. I covered my workspace with a trash bag to protect the surface (this is where you want to put on gloves, which I always forget) and started off by dampening the leather of the first piece to help the dye apply evenly.

I poured a little Fiebings dye into a plastic container, and used a sponge to quickly apply it to the surface and edges of the leather. I have seen different recommendations on how to do this, some people say to apply it in strokes all in the same direction, while others say to use circular motions. I personally used the lines in one direction but I will say I had to apply it very quickly and go back over it to make sure there weren't visible lines. I'd do your own research, and also do a test piece before going straight at your lovely creation. I let it dry for a few hours, then applied another coat to all the pieces to get my desired color. You can make a darker color with multiple coats, or a lighter one by mixing the dye with a little water to thin it.

After the dye had dried, I used Fiebings vintage gel to darken the carvings, and add a little age to the leather. I put a little of it on a sponge, then wiped it over the whole panel, waited just a few seconds and wiped off the standing excess making sure not to wipe it out of the grooves. If I did it again, I'd use a rag, not a sponge as I wiped up more than I intended to and had to go back over some spots. This step really makes a difference, it looks so good afterword.

Once the antiquing gel dried, I sealed all of the panels with a coat of Resolene. It's an acrylic sealer so it protects the leather against water and other liquids, but can be a little shiny and plasticy so you can thin it a little with water if desired.

At this point nearly all the Veg tan leather was complete, and the next step was to trace and cut out all the scales for the sides. I chose this construction, because it made the sides very flexible and I have surprisingly good range of motion with the cuirass on. I grabbed my scale template from my pauldron project, and drew out 120 of them on the oil tanned leather. The number here will depend on your duck tape pattern and your design, but this was how many it took to fill those side spaces front and back for me. I cut out all the scales, and slicked the edges with a burnisher.

The 2nd image is a diagram of how to punch holes for this style of scale armor, scales in the middle will have all four holes and ones at the sides and bottom will only have two or three. Don't punch holes until you've decided where each scale goes. I did this by arranging them on top of my duck tape pattern pieces, then used the scale template to get the hole placement correct. I started assembling the scales with the bottom row, using brass rivets and a setter to get them secure. Sometimes the setter will push them sideways which is frustrating, so you can also use pliers. Think about where you will likely add the straps, and don't rivet through those holes or you'll have to pick them out later.

When I had each scale panel assembled, I set them out on a flat surface with the middle panel to determine placement. I attached the front with 4 evenly spaced rivets along each edge, and back back with 3 along the edge. Some of the holes I punched in the middle panels lined up with ones in the scales, but where they didn't I just punched new ones in the scales. This is also where I attached the collar to the front panel, but I'd wait on that step until later if I did it again.

As a final measure, I took and awl, needle and waxed thread and sewed down the topmost scales on each side, because they were sticking out and looking funny. This is optional and purely aesthetic.

For this step, I needed to attach buckles and straps to the sides and shoulders. I made myself a little paper template for the straps, making sure that the width fit through the brass buckles I was using. The length and placement of these straps will depend on your pattern, but to make sure they were the right I put the armor on using a belt to hold it on, and tested out the paper templates.

I cut out four oil tanned hole-side straps to go on the breastplate, punching one hole in the end where they would connect to the armor and four evenly spaced holes towards the other end to work with the buckle. I then cut four shorter buckle-side straps out of the same leather, and made an oblong hole in the middle of each for the tongue of the buckle. These straps ended up being about half the length of the hole-side straps. To attach them to the buckles, I slotted the straps onto the buckle tongues, then folded the straps in half and poked holes through both layers using an awl. I sewed a single stitch on each with some waxed thread to keep the buckles in place, then punched holes for the rivets through both layers of the strap ends. In the video you can see me also using superglue on the stitch knots, this is optional, I just did it for extra security.

Once I had all the buckles assembled, I determined the appropriate placement for them, and riveted all of them to the scale panels. They're each tucked under a scale so it looks more seamless and you don't see the rivets.

The last attachments needed were the shoulders, which proved challenging since I'd already attached the collar. I didn't want straps and rivets on top of my carving, so I ended up taking out the topmost rivets so I could attach straps to the bottom layer. For this, I cut two short straps out of my remaining veg tan leather, and went through the dyeing, antiquing and sealing, so they'd match the surrounding leather. I also cut two short veg tan buckle-side straps and repeated the process.

To anchor the hole-side straps to the breastplate, I punched holes through the ends of the straps, and through the breastplate about an inch from the edge of the shoulders. I riveted them down, then reattached the collar. Lesson learned: think about what order the layers should be attached in. For the other side-the backplate with the buckle ends, I put on the armor and determined around where the breastplate shoulder straps would reach to, and anchored the back buckles there.

The last set of buckles I attached were to be able to wear my previously made scale pauldrons with this set. The placement of this buckle set is entirely based on where the straps from my pauldrons sat, so I ended up anchoring them right below the collar piece.

The first time I put the cuirass on, let me tell you, it felt epic. Since it's made to me, it fits like a glove and is remarkably comfortable. I've been using it for three years at an immersive event, and I've felt absolutely awesome and been comfortable and protected. Years ago, I dreamed of making this set but never thought I'd be able to. Through this process, I learned how to pattern armor, carve and dye leather, and be confident in trying ambitious new projects.

If you too want to live out your armor-wearing main character dreams, it's not out of reach. This project took a long time, but really, it wasn't that difficult. If you're wondering, could I do that? the answer is yes! If any of this helps you make your own armor, comment and let me know, I'd love to see what you've made.