Making ChainMail Armor – PART 3(Cutting)

After curling the iron wires as shown previously, its time to cut them into rings aka chain mail links.

Based on a single wire coil…the cut is made in such a way as shown above.

using the thick wire cutter, cutting would be breeze but my fingers hurt after a certain amount of time.

Each cut on the wire will produce a single chainmail link…I need lots of them for a real mail-shirt

At the end of theday, A BAG OF CHAINMAIL LINKS FOR THE NEXT STAGE.

Making ChainMail Armor – PART 2(Winching)

Based on the tutorials, the first thing is to winch the wires into spring like shapes.

Of course, the wires must be cut of more manageable sizes.

Next the end must be twisted using pliers to form an anchor for the winching process.

Pop it into the hole as mentioned previously

and start the winching process…it takes a little strength and patience…persistence too.

At the end of the winching process, use the pliers to flatten it against the rounded surface of the shaft.

Next cut the anchor and flatten it as done previously.

With both sides flattened…its time to remove the wire coils for the next procedure of cutting them into chain links.

It is advisable to make several coils before cutting them.

Making ChainMail Armor – PART 1(TOOLS AND MATERIALS)

I’m always into armor especially when it comes to cosplaying since 2004. But rather than making light weighted prop armor, I opt for the real thing so that it feels like armor…real armor during those periods. To accommodate that…of course I need to play with my weights and exercise more but that another story.

Actually I made plate armor using aluminum and rubber/pvc sheets. But after watching Kingdom of Heaven on DVD about a month ago(heck I’m late watching that fantastic movie), I decided to make a chainmail wearing medieval soldier. I did a few crusader characters but they are not clad in chain-mail. This time I’m a little ambitious…I wanna make a full chainmail shirt with long sleeves…who knows, I might add a brigandine armor vest in the future if this works.

Using the tutorials from web, I decided to make it based on the European Pattern of 4-in-1 which I think is the simplest(just to start off).

So I bought some strong tools like

Thick Wire Cutters, Pliers and HackSaws(No pix sorry)

As for the materials…it is relatively thick iron wires

that are ever available at the local hardware shops either in small rolls or by weight(which is much cheaper if you need lots of them)

To start make rings outta this wires, I need something to winch them into shape…I was out of ideas until I saw this thing.

hanging at the shop and decide to buy em.

After that, I saw off the screw thread with a hacksaw at the end to avoid unwanted jams between the wire and the surface.

And then I drilled a hole on the other end to jam the wire for easy winching.

Whether or not if I succeed in making my Chainmail…the following entries will show my progress as I go along. Stay Tuned.

80-200 at Taiping Zoo

I’ve not posted much lately…so I better get cracking.

About a week ago, I acquired a rather poisonous lens…Nikon 80-200 AF-D F2.8…well not the one with VR(Vibration Reduction) but its poisonous nonetheless.

To test if this lens is really worth my hard earned RM2500 I plunged into it, I decided to take it for a Spin at the closest zoo I could go to…Taiping Zoo. here’s a few samples I would like to share

I was being given the EYE

I would like a ride like that

Wow, what big eyes you got.

Kiss Kiss, Fall In Love

Too Much Fizzi Drinks will cause mouth cramps

For the rest of the pix(30 in all) —> LINK

all in all, I’m satisfied with the lens o mine but I’m definitely not satisfied with my trip…most of the animals I wanna shoot(lions, tigers, orang utans, etgc etc) are either too far away for me to shoot or sleeping on the job due to the hot afternoon sun.

okie dokie, I’ll be revisiting the Zoo again many times soon.

COSPLAY SHOOT – 13TH JULY 2008

I have planned this shoot for the past two weeks after getting to know a few cosplayers studying in a college/university of a town close to mine…well about a few tens of kilometers away and a little burn of fossil fuels hehe

The shoot will involve two cosplayers(term) be as the following characters

Fujioka Haruhi(OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB)
and

Allen Walker(DGRAYMAN)

The shoot will be located at IPOH RAILWAY STATION as well as IPOH OLD TOWN AREA.

I sincerely pray for clear skies and golden sun rays for Sunday.

The photos will be posted as soon as I get my hands on the after the shoot itself.

CYBER CAFE NEW RULES AND THOUGHTS

This just in…actually was in the news on Tuesday. Once again, Cyber Cafes are under scrutiny again.

Tighter rules for cyber cafes(Star News – 8th July)

Perhaps for the Better or For Worse. Based on my PERSONAL POINT OF VIEW and OBSERVATION, there’s a few things bugging me about this issue.

1. The tinted glass issue is also similar to the tinted glass issue of cars were they are essential in protecting the people in direct sunlight. Without protection,it is killing, if you ask me.

2. 12am closure might be feasible with the thought of avoiding unwanted robberies or incidents after dark when patrons are returning in the middle of the night. But when just say if I have to send a rather important document before the morning comes and my home internet is busted, calling friends up in the middle of the night a great no-no. As for the case of no cybercafe opening after 12am, I’m unable to send that document and would cost me unforeseen loss and damages. That is definitely what I do not want.

3. As for co-business of games, gambling, pornography, music and publications with negative elements, its rather vague since games and music are part and parcel of internet nowadays. For your information, some are already made available on the World Wide Web. Ban on Pornography and gambling are already enforced by the cafes themselves. Lastly, what does publications with negative elements have anything to do with the cafes themselves. Does the cafe get a cut in profits from these publications? I don’t think so.

4. Booze and Cigarettes are already not allowed in these premises. The former is troublesome since you would want a patron to smash the PC in drunken rage after a much heated chat-room session and the latter is already banned since no smoking in an enclosed/air-conditioned environment. As far as the cyber-cafes I went, there were a complete absence of both of these unwanted elements.

5. As for students playing truant at a cyber cafe , isn’t that the responsibility of parents and teachers/school authorities? Also cyber cafes have already ban students in school uniforms from even entering their premises. If the student really change everything, well I’m sorry to say, they chose his path rather than school so we can’t really blame the cafes for being there. Of course, cafe staff must also be ever vigilant in sizing up the patrons before allowing them in.

6. As for the issue of truant itself. Cyber cafes are not the only place student go just to be away from schools. There are shopping malls, ruined houses, beside the river/road etc etc etc where they would hang out. Most likely, in my opinion the reasons behind the truant getting out of hand is something more complex than we can comprehend that required more research than simple quick-fixes like this one.

6. Lastly, the most disturbing of the rules is the submission of names with particulars of every person that patronizes the cyber cafe. This will definitely cost anxiety in everyone as well as turning off any potential customers. Not to mention the danger of these particulars falling into the hands of unscrupulous individuals. There would be a possibility of unwanted loans for people who did not even apply for them.

So based on what was in my mind since the day i read that news articles. I’m glad I have got it off my chest. I hope both the authorities and cyber cafes could settle this amicably on this issue a hand.

That’s all from me and my three pence on this issue…CHEERS!!!

Miss Model Of The World

Miss Model of the World Photoshoot came and went just like that…time seemed to fly by that 22nd June Sunny morning in THE LOST WORLD OF TAMBUN where 24 beautities in Swimwear(organized by my photoclub, Foto Imej Perak) were photographed by almost a hundred people, me included. I went there with two cameras, one armed with a 90mm Macro while the other with a 50mm standard lens…no thanks to the fact that my trusty Sigma 24-70 F2.8 lens is in hospital.

For the entire pictures(LINK)

The entire shoot last from 8am to 11am but managed to cover at least 7 models but the most pretties were missed…We all have to literally scream “PRETTY MISS, PRETTY LOOK HERE PLEASE” and many times she doesn’t due to the amount of people screaming the same thing. So had to pin point on her when she look at my direction.

Time passes very quickly when you’re enjoying yourself. So, I got myself about 100 shots but mostly were spoilt due to my lack of skill of using fix lenses and shooting models in general.

Okay. so make due of what I had for the upcoming photo competition. Had SEVEN entries in the sea of 1200 total. And the LIVE judging event was yesterday.

For the entries I sent in, (LINK) Oh, I also included the points I received.

I think I did rather pathetically, perhaps I should do more practice on this form of photography and listen attentively to the masters of the art. Hopefully my cosplay shoot this coming weekend would lend me a few better shots that these.

OkOk…that’s it from now. Perhaps later.

BE UPDATING SOON.

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