Anywho, I've been designing some new bracers and working out the kinks in said design over the past few months. The design is loosely based off of Boromir's bracers which Aragorn wears for the rest of the movies after he dies. The main, large piece is traced directly from my old bracers plus two inches, so they reach the ends of my forearms, giving more protection on the outside. I freehanded the curve on the back end, and it turned out rather nice.
The second piece, which has the straps integrated into it, I freehanded as well. These are rather junky pieces of leather, but they're robust, and I won't get all self-conscious about keeping them looking nice. They'll weather well.
The buckles are Christian Fletcher designed buckles manufactured for the harnesses on the Valiant Armoury Signature Bristol Swords that I ordered from Sonny. The eyelets are Tandy Leather Factory's "antiqued" eyelets, so they match the buckles nicely. Though the top pieces of leather look a bit lighter ithan the bottom ones, it's only a slight difference; the camera made it look a lot more drastic than it really is. They're still a little stiff, but they're molding to my arms well, and feel AWESOME when worn over my linen tunic and wool shirt. I've got a few yards of dark brown quilted material from JoAnn's that I'm planning on making into gambeson-esque pads to go under these...hopefully before next saturday's festivities.
Anyway...enough jabber. PICS!
This one's an in-progress photo...I couldn't find my scratch awl, so I grabbed a 2x4 and nailed down the ends, using a third nail to punch all the holes. See, you don't need a bunch of fancy tools to work leather!
Aaaand finished:
