Whole suits of printed plate, finished until they read as polished steel, are standing on long-term show in an art cafe. Nico Printed Antiques would rather have them out where people walk past than shut away in a basement box, and having seen the result that seems a fair call.
The lineup covers real breadth. One harness follows the Maximilian style of roughly 1520 to 1525. Another is a mid-16th century half-suit worn with slop pants that are sewn and paned, and the last set is the Dos Aguas garniture, meant for the lists as much as the battlefield. At least one suit is genuinely wearable, built up from gorget, cuirass, tassets and arm harness, and the maker insists accuracy is never traded away.
Construction is straightforward FDM at heart. Plates come off a modified Ender 3 V3 KE in 1.75mm PETG-CF and ASA, with some ASA pieces vapor smoothed in acetone. Finished assemblies are held together with brass rivets, buckles and leather straps, while dark oil paint worked into edges and recesses adds convincing grime.
The finish is where the effort shows. Seams get putty and a flush sanding at 120 and 220 grit, then filler primer, wet sanded and wiped down with a tack cloth. A glossy black enamel base cures for a full day before Alclad II Chrome and Polished Aluminum are misted at 15 PSI through a Badger 150 airbrush, and Aqua Gloss seals it all. The result passes for metal at a glance.
Two open points stand out. Acetone smoothing cuts down on paint grip, a genuine trade-off in this pipeline, and the Maximilian suit still lacks its leg harness from the period. Whether silk or metallic filament could ever replace all this post processing remains a question the maker has not fully answered.
Project by Nico Printed Antiques. Watch it on their YouTube channel: