So I got to work on the torso armour. I cannot undo having seen the shapes of the original papercraft and it really did help hugely. I mostly though used the collars as they were so I didn’t over complicate the shape by trying for a perfect fit- don’t ask me about Nyreen’s simple collar and how that got drafted…:
So as per above I taped lunch paper around my mannequin and taped the collars to it to create a base to stick the collars to, it will also form the “straps”. I then cut the paper in to two parts (left and right, front and back combined) to create a solid base to stick the chest plates and all the back componants to. In doing this I wound up finalising my decision to use leather to make the armour from. The collars self support and so long as I take care when storing I won’t have to worry about any warping. Also with this front opening underlayer I have worked out the method of getting in and out of this. The chest piece acts as a plastron.
So the chest pieces were roughly copied from the paper and trimmed to shape on the form. I adapted the base pattern quite heavily to eliminate excess cuts and straight edges. This is a bit like using a T-shirt as a guide to fit a bodysuit. You get a good head start to have a nice standard shape.
I am Faora! Ehem… yeah I may be using this pattern as a spring board for other armour…. Oh and yes the base still needs cutting away under the arms and to the swoop back pieces but this was to make sure it actually fit.