The trickiest part of this suit had to be going from flexible paper patterns to rigid sheet steel. Paper can bend and drape, steel cannot, so every curve has to be forced into the metal by hand. Bierdz Blacksmith & Leathercraft handled that gap with scrap metal shims, holding articulation gaps in place while riveting so the moving joints still actually move after assembly.
Most of the work was done cold, with no heat at all, which is impressive given how much shaping a breastplate demands. Where the metal needed help, the maker spot heated it with a propane blow torch, securing the torch in place and using tongs to hold the steel in the flame. An anvil and tongs, plus ball-peen hammers, rivets, and temporary nuts and bolts, rounded out the process. The breastplate is 18-gauge mild steel with a 22-gauge backplate behind it.
The details that stand out to me are the finishing touches. The helmet has an eye slit, breathing perforations, and an internal padded lining. Strapping runs on leather with buckles made from bent steel rod, and the whole thing mounts over a modified thrift-store padded coat fitted with attachment ties. That is a resourceful base layer, and the riveted arm defenses, with vambraces, couters, and rerebraces, were shown moving properly when worn.
The clear trade-off is that this is a show piece, meant mostly for decoration and planned for Halloween, and it is not up to fighting specifications. It still took a strike from a long wooden pole and held up. One thing left open: the total weight of the suit has not been given, and I would love to know it.
Project by Bierdz Blacksmith & Leathercraft. Watch it on their YouTube channel: