Issue 23

This one was very simple, yet it took a long time. This issue had very few steps, and each one was not difficult. However, the interval between each step took so long because I had to wait for glue to dry. That is the to secret this, and many other, issues. It takes so long because I must wait for the glue to dry.

That is also why I open the next issue and start that before I finish the current issue. When I make time to work on the armour I don't want to do 15 minutes of work and then spend hours waiting. While I wait for the parts from this issue to dry I will often work on a few parts from the next issue, until invariably I must also wait for that glue to dry too.

I suppose I could keep repeating this process. Every time I must wait, I open another issue and start on that. I would have five or six issues on the go at once, I certainly have enough backlog in my to-do pile. However, I have chosen not to do this for several reasons: I don't have enough room to work on the parts from six simultaneous issues, the parts in later issues often rely on the previous issues to be completed, and ultimately I just don't want to. Making this Samurai Armour is not a race. I'm still about ten issues behind, but I don't mind. I work on this project because it's fun and I do it to relax. The waiting is a part of the process.

So what about this issue? As I stated above, the work was quite easy. I had to make on anther set of plates, as I have done so many times before, and then attach a little silk pad to the left front quarter of the armour. This is a curious piece and I can't really work out what it's function is. I think it has something to do with the way the Samurai would carry his Katana, because this silk sheet covers the side where the Katana would also be kept. I assume it's there to stop the metal guard of the sword from rubbing against the armour. Perhaps this is done to prevent minor damage to both the armour and sword.

Issue 22

This was an interesting, but difficult issue. While I was working on this one I also started working on the next issue too, so I suppose I'll be posting about 23 soon...

About this issue, I first had to finish another set of armoured plates. I thought working on 1/2 scale armour would be easier then working on full sale, but actually I think in some ways it's a little more difficult. For example: to attach a set of armoured plates to the body you need to tie the string so they hang 4cm. If your measurements are not exact for every string then the plates will hang slightly tilted. This will cause one, or more, strings to be pulled and when pulled they look thinner then the others. The difference is only about 1mm, but on the smaller scale that is very obvious.

Well, perhaps it's only obvious to me.

Anyway, the bulk of the work in this issue was creating and installing the lining of the helmet. In this rare case working about 10 issues late has been a benefit. I'm not sure about the process that goes into creating this magazine set, but sometime after the the parts for issue 22 were sealed in plastic, an error was discovered. The leather band that attaches the lining to the helmet was cut the wrong way. The stretch of the material went along the short length, not the long. This would make installing the piece almost impossible.

Fortunately the company caught the error, and a note was also tossed into the magazine warning not to do any instructions after page 8 until you had the replacement piece that would be included in issue 25. I was able to go to my pile and take out the replacement part and finish working on issue 22 without waiting an extra three weeks.

The Mystery of the Box ...

Before I started to make this suit of Samurai armour I had to consider where I was going put it. I thought it would be cool to set it up for the high holidays, but I didn't want to keep it on display all the time. So where can I store it? Should I just toss the armour in an old shopping bag?

Fortunately, the good people at DeAGOSTINI had a solution. They have made a rather nice looking box to keep the armour in.

This box is free, however to get it you must send in a special postcard only found in issue one. On that postcard you must attach 35 tags, one from each each of the first 35 issues of the magazine.

In each magazine, in the bottom corner of one page is a little red number. To receive the box you need to cut out that little number from every issue and glue them to the special postcard. Once you have all 35 you send in the card and they send you the box.

I have not done this yet, as there was no point in starting until I had all the necessary issues. Yesterday issues 34 and 35 were delivered, and included with them was a note saying that I would be receiving the box in a separate shipment by the end of the month.

It would appear that I can get the box without cutting the corners off the pages of my magazines. I assume those who have a subscription get the box automatically. But there is an equal chance that I am mistaken and I will have to send in my completed card.

The expiration date for the postcard is in December, so I have a little time. I think I'll wait a few weeks and see if anything shows up in the mail before I start to cut my issues up.

Issue 21

This issue has been nice and simple, and that has been a welcome change. After completing a few complex issues it was nice to try something new and break out a needle and thread to do some sewing.

It has been a while since I last hand stitched something. Today's part was a small piece, and just the right thing to get me back in practice. I had to close an opening at the bottom where the stuffing was added and there were 5 points where I had to stitch the padding onto the back and shoulder strap sections.

This now means that I can no longer just remove the pins and separate the shoulder pates without severing some tiny thread. 

Issue 20

This was not an extremely complex or difficult issue. However, It did rate high on both accounts. As I mentioned earlier this was the issue that involved a lot of complex measurements and knots in ropes of various, but precise, lengths.

This issue also had me finishing another set of the armoured plates that make a kind of skirt around the waist of the armour. In total there will be eleven such sets, and each has six plates. Assembling these plates has been the only constant action in the first 20 issues, with only 6 issues not including at least one part. Finishing one of these sets does take some time, but I feel that I have become quite proficient at it.

Issue 19

This one was simple and interesting, and I finally had an opportunity to use my punch. However the overall piece is quite small. It's that little pad at the bottom and the ring attachment at the top of the back plate. Eventually there will be a standard mount attached at the back. However, I don't think the flag is a part of this armour set.

The next issue should be like issue 18. Only a few parts, but lots of work.

Issue 18

This was, so far, the most difficult issue I have done. I spent a few nights just slowly threading an endless series of holes. I was worried that I had made some mistake at the start and I'd have to take it all apart and start again. Thankfully it went together right, the first time.

I know the next issue will be much faster. While I was working on this one I took a break by getting the parts ready for the issue 19. It should be a lot simpler then this one. I have looked ahead at all the issues in my to-do stack and I know that soon I'll have a complex issue involving tying knots in ropes at precise measurements and it looks difficult, but not as labour intensive as this issue has been.

Yet, despite the difficulty, I am pleased with the final result. The helmet is really starting to look complete. Although I have yet to do the interior, and mask, and neck guard, I feel that it's coming together all the same.

Issue 17

Well I'm just putting the finishing touches on issue 17.

I feel that completing this issue has been a turning point for the project. So far I have been working on the small pieces, front, sides, etc.. all separately. However with issues 16 and 17 completed I have now assembled the back piece of the armour and, like a good rug, it really ties the whole project together.

Now I can link the 7 main parts of the body and, thanks to the display stand from issues 12 and 13, get a good look at the shape of my armour. I have taken the pile of separate parts and fitted them all together for the first time.

I think it looks damn good, so far...

The Prototype

There was a special display and event in Shinjuku a few months ago and I went to check it out. It included a complete set of the prototype armour from the magazine. I wonder if this is the same set that was used in the TV AD, and for the photos in the magazine? I might be, I don't suppose the company has too many finished sets on hand.

Issues 1 to 16

Sorry I don't have any photos for this part.

When I started the project I did not think to create this blog. That idea only occurred to me after I had started issue 17.

However, if you are hungry for the back story behind those "lost" issues...

After purchasing and examining issue one I decided to try the whole thing. So I signed myself up for a subscription delivery service and then I got to work. In the beginning things went quite well and I built the first 7-8 issues on schedule, but then I became too busy with my work, and my duties for Anime North, so I had to put the project on hold.

I intended to take a few weeks off and return to the project, but those weeks soon became months. While I was not working on the project my subscription kept delivering new issues, so my "to-do" pile was growing quite large.

Finally I had enough waiting and just a few weeks ago I decided to get back into the project. Now I have almost completed up to issue seventeen. As I was working on the latest issue I thought about creating a blog to detail my progress until I finish the project.

From now on I'll try to post something new about each finished issue until the whole set is completed.

TV AD

It's for the armour I'm building

     Check it out.

I never saw this on TV. I found it on the web after I started the project. My armour does not make such a loud "clink" noise. I think you would have to hit the pieces together quite hard to do that, and I don't want to damage anything.

Issue 0

OK. I realize some people reading this may have no idea what I am talking about "Making Samurai Armour?!?"

Let me fill you in. A magazine company, DeAGOSTINI, sells these hobby kit magazines.

Each week a new issue is released with a thin magazine, it's more like a chapter in a book, and a few parts of a much larger project. Each magazine is part of a series, and when the series is finished you have assembled something quite impressive.

Imagine you have subscribed to a 10,000 piece puzzle magazine. Each week you get an issue detailing the history of puzzles, famous puzzles, famous puzzle solvers, etc... and a small box with about 200 pieces of your huge puzzle. If you keep buying every issue of puzzle magazine then after 50 issues you will have all 10 000 pieces.

I am doing a similar project, but instead of making a puzzle I am assembling a 1/2 scale replica of Date Masamune's Samurai Armour.

It started back in late February when I was looking at the "Make Samurai Armour " issue one. I thought I looked quite cool, but was unsure if I really wanted to make it all. The total cost is quite high, and I was unsure if I had the skill to do it right.

However, I bought the first issue to check it out up close. It didn't look so difficult, and the parts were made of real metal! To me the justified the higher cost so I subscribed and got started.

There are 55 issues to complete this project. Currently I have 33. However, many of them are still in the box. As of today I have only assembled up to issue 17.