For those of you contemplating hiring an armorer to custom make some plate armor, I have a suggestion that may save you time, money and result in a better fit.
Of course there's nothing better than being there, in the armorer's shop while he fits the armor to you as he works, but for many people that's simply not an option. The best armorers can work from a cast of the limbs for arm and leg armor, but plaster is heavy, messy and fragile.
So here is the solution that worked for me: Fiberglass cast tape. I'm talking about the stuff modern physicians use to make medical limb casts out of. It's simple to use, no mess, very light weight, very strong and keeps it's shape nearly perfectly.
The stuff comes in rolls that are sealed in foil packets. The rolls are available in a variety of widths, and for making an armor casts the tape needs to be no more than two wraps thick, so get the widest rolls you can find. It's supposedly available at medical supply stores, but I was not able to find any in the entire metro Phoenix area medical supply stores. I was able to find one roll at a shop that sells costume making supplies so you could try there too, but as with many things the best place to buy it is online. I use Orthotape.com and buy the stuff by the case.
http://orthotape.com/fiberglass_casting_tape.aspThere are videos on YouTube that demonstrate how to use it to make a cast, but it's pretty easy. That said, it's not something you want to try by yourself.
You will only need a few things but a couple you might want to buy online:
A bucket with clean, warm water.
A towel covering the floor.
A chair to sit on.
Enough rolls of medical gauze to cover the entire limb area to be casted in one or two layers.
The fiberglass tape.
Good, sharp scissors.
An assistant.
To use the tape, first you need to cover the limb with gauze wraps. Just one or two wraps with any cheap medical gauze will do. This you might want to buy online. I found I could wipe out several local stores of all their stock in every size, or I could buy an entire case of 24 rolls online for about $12. Once you've wrapped the limb with gauze, making sure to completely cover the entire skin area to be casted, you're ready to open the roll of tape. Have your assistant open a roll of tape while you sit and hold your limb steady. Swish the tape roll around in the bucket of warm water for about 10 seconds, and then roll it out onto the limb, going around and overlapping as you go. Continuously smooth out the tape to prevent wrinkles, as the resin in the tape begins to set very quickly and once hard, it's not going to budge. Keep the limb in it's natural position, fully extended, while the assistant wraps the tape around it, being careful not to wrap it too tight. You don't really wnat to make it snug because it will tend to shrink just a bit as the resin cures (it's made for making casts after all). You want to make the cast as close to the girdth of your actual limb as possible, so no more than one overlapping run over the entire limb (which may take several rolls of tape if your limbs are wide or long like mine). If you do it quickly enough and with finesse, it will stick together. After the cast is on, wait about 5 minutes for it to dry, then cut it off with the scissors, being very careful not to jab or cut your skin in the process. Once the cast is off, you can tape the cut open part shut with packing tape and stuff the cast with plastic grocery bags. Casts of both your arms and both your legs all together will weigh less than 5lb. Pack them snugly in a box and mail them to your armorer.
Viola', it's as if you're standing right there in the armorer's shop, and the entire process only took about 20 minutes and the mess consists of a wet towel and empty gauze and tape packets.
Here are some example pictures that one of my armorers used. I've used this technique twice now with two different armorers and it worked great both times.
An arm harness being made to fit my arm cast, after it was wrapped with bubble wrap to simulate my gambesson thickness. Note how the cast can match the contour of your body all the way through your shoulder joint:
A leg harness being sanity-checked before shipping. Note how you can see that my cast goes all the way from crotch to ankles:
Scott
