0 My newest addition to the armory

So, this Friday, after finishing with great success the university exam session - 5.5 average out of 6 max on the grades - that would be something like A- for you english speakers, and getting some money in my pocket, I decided to buy myself a little gift which I've been thinking about for a while. So I went to the center where there are half a dozen hunting/weapons shops and bought myself a pistol crossbow.

The absolutely cheapest variety - for about 10 bucks or so. Gotta say, so far I'm impressed by this little bastard, as the holes in my wardrobe will testify. It has good power delivery for its 20kg pull strength, and it was a real bugger to put the bow string on - I got no problems to string bows, but bows are well - bigger, I have more room for leverage.
I already did a few things to it - namely, removing the sights, which would hardly be useful anyway as far as im concerned, and adding a bit of cushioning to the cocking mechanism - my fingers are taking enough abuse as it is anyway. Basically, I'm going to mess with this one until it breaks. At 10-15$ per unit, I really don't care if it does, because its awfully cheap and even if it does all I need is the bow(its steel) and the string, I can make a new body for it.

0 The fresh guard of Riften

You know, Skyrim is, at least by my humble opinion responsible for 1 breakup every few days. Its one of those things you know - the ones you store non-perishable food, divorce your wife, put your kids and pets for adoption for. So anyway, instead of arguing about it, me and my girlfriend, decided to do something about it.(she was with the camera)

The Fresh Guard of Riften


Now, this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the guard of a town called Riften
In west Tamriel born and raised
On the archery range was where I spent most of my days
Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool
And all shootin some x-bows outside of the inn
When a couple of elves
Who were up to no good
Startin making trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
And said 'You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Riften'
I begged and pleaded with her day after day
But she packed my armor and send me on my way
She gave me a kiss and then she gave me my ticket.
I put my helm on and said, 'I might as well kick it'.
First trip, yo this is bad
The cold is freezing my gonads.
Is this what the people of Riften Living like?
Hmmmmm this can't be alright.
But wait I hear there're tricky, thieves and all that
Is this the type of place that they should send this cool cat?
I don't think so
I'll see when I get there
I hope they're prepared for the hero of Riften
Well, I crossed the border and when I looked around
There was an  elf who looked like a cop standing there with his bow out
I ain't trying to get shot yet but too late
 Alas, he got my knee here
and sprang with the quickness like lightning - disappeared
I whistled for a wagon and when it came near
The license plate said fresh and it had arrows in the rear
If anything I can say that this wagon was rare
But I thought 'Nah forget it' - 'Yo homes to Riften'
I pulled up to the house about 7 or 8
And I yelled to the cabbie 'Yo homes smell ya later'
I looked at my kingdom
I was finally there
To sit on my throne as the Guard of Riften

0 On micro maille - tools, tips, and basics.

Right. Now, after doing a good amount of projects involving it, its time to write in depth about micromaille.

Micro maille or nanomaille or however you decide to call it is chainmail made by rings ranging from quite small to microscopic. It is by all means NOT something a newbie should try to tackle. First things first - supplies.

Supplies for micromaille can be bought at a jeweller's supply store - a real one or online. Usually you will find copper with some plating - in my case gold-plated, rhodium plated, bronze plated copper rings, but if you have the money - you can even do real silver for example. I don't think anyone has the money to do real gold...
The links will be moderately expensive too - for the amount of money needed for a chainmail shirt, you will barely get enough to fill in your hand.

 If you need something specific, because the stores will only have preset sizes, you can buy wire and make your own links. The wire is sold per meter usually(at least where I buy) and could be well under 1mm thick.

As an example - here are microscopic links I made by myself - so tiny I could fit them under my fingernail.

2 TOOLS


First of all you will need the smallest pliers you can find and then some! Those are pretty small but they are still not very comfortable for the job - I'm thinking about customizing them a bit. The nail clipper? Well...Its what I used to cut the home made microlinks above.

A magnifying glass of some sorts, or a monocle is also a good idea - you will ruin your eyes in no time otherwise. You won't be able to even do anything if you have eyesight problems in the first place, without one of these.

TIPS

VERY IMPORTANT!
And related to the above mentioned thing about the magnifying glass. ONLY WORK AT GOOD DAYLIGHT! Don't try to work on a lamp light or if its dark! Just don't! You will be looking at an optometry cabinet in no time. Its just not worth putting on glasses for this, believe me.

Forget about speedweaving. The rings are so small the only way to actually work is 1 by 1. Its impossible to grasp them by hand properly and they tend to slip a lot, so just do it 1 by 1.

Get something with a lot of tiny boxes. Like a fisherman's case or a tool box or something. You will need somewhere to keep those links sorted out and safe from getting spilled all over the floor. Good luck gathering them if you do!

That's all I can think of for now but I will add more later probably. Might split this into several posts too.

0 The golden bikini of awesomeness(and win)

Been a while since I made a one these! Most fun you can have for a couple of hours indeed, especially the fitting&measuring part.

 

Needless to say there isn't nearly as much fun without making some slightly naughty photos. However I gotta keep this place following the rules so  PG13+ warning here.

http://i.imgur.com/JLUOk

 http://imgur.com/QTidH

http://imgur.com/mVnJr

Unfortunately, now I'm going to bore you with design notes. This is not my first piece of chainmail bikini, but definitely the best so far. Design wise - its simple. I attached the cups to an ordinary bra, which helped a lot with putting it on and off and keeping it comfortable. I used gold plated rings for jewellery which was also a good idea. I've made chainmail bikini from the same steel links I use for armor, and while the results are ok, its  a good several hundred grams, which is simply unsuitable. These copper links weight much less. Work time is just several hours with a price tag of supplies about 10$. If you feel like it, you can surprise your girlfriend too with one of these in just 1 afternoon.

0 The cave spider

I saw several of these in the shop where I buy my supplies and I could not resist making one myself.
For those who don't play Minecraft - the cave spiders are a nasty variety of the normal ones, that can only be found in abandoned mineshafts deep underground. They can kill a player very quickly thanks to their venom.

Ok so MAAAAYBE it does not have glowing red eyes really, but I'll see what I can do about it - and yes I know cave spiders are not greenish, but I could not find blue-tinted ahem...body parts, nor black for that matter. Maybe I will have more luck next time.

0 Lego armor - new and improved

Happy new year everyone!

Here is the second version of the armored lego. Now the chainmail is a much better fit, and the coif looks much better.I will do version 3 though - will try for classic norman armor - coif integrated in the hauberk.

The front is slit(as it should be) so walking is OK.

 The back is now symmetric and completely covered.

 The coif has a proper bishop mantle from gold plated rings. Its easy to fall off though, nothing I can about about that. Maybe an elastic tied in the rings?

 And finally - full chainmaille gear.

 The sides can't be closed off - it blocks arms movement. Better results are possible with smaller rings, but I doubt I can get any smaller - besides I don't think i can find the tools for such tiny work.