Shin armor...

Once you've done the shoulder armor and have worked with    the place mat material, double sided tape, the shin guards shouldn't be too   bad.....

One difference, though....For the shoulder armor, I was   able to do everything out flat, then bend later. The shin guards have too    severe a bend which doesn't allow three pre-adhered layers to cooperate.    You'll have to work on a pre-cuved surface and adhere each layer    separately...then cut out the shape. You sort of work from the inside out.

"Here's where the fun begins.."

Materials you will need:

Four place mats per leg, plus a few extras for mistakes

More tape...more exacto knife blades.. more alcohol    (rubbing, not drinking..:)

Tin snips or heavy duty scissors

Heavy duty utility knife and a few extra blades

Twelve rectangular rhinestones from a craft  store(optional) or cut twelve  small rectangles from place mat

~8" wide roll of thin aluminum flashing (Home Depot,    etc.).

Shoe Goo shoe repair glue or GOOP adhesive

STEP ONE: Make a template

Make a template of the shin armor and raised pieces out  of poster board

STEP TWO: Cut and shape your flashing

Be careful of sharp edges and little shards of  metal!

Cut a piece of metal flashing into approximately the    length of your poster board prototype. Cut the end that will be touching the    top of your foot into a curve that mimics the template, but leave about 3/4"    of the template to overhang the flashing.

Cut the top of the flashing into a rounded curve that    roughly follows the contours of the top of the armor,but let the template over    hang the top, as well..

Take you piece of flashing and gently curl it around your    shin to shape it. It helps to have a cylinder like a rolling pin to ease it    into shape without making any severe angles or dents. Get it nice and tight on    your shin.

This resulting curved piece is the one upon which all    layers will be placed, one at a time.

STEP THREE:Base layer

Trace the outline of the shin armor onto the back of one    placemat to use as a mounting guide. Cut it out, but don't cut right on the    line. You want to have ~3/4" - 1 1/4" excess where possible. (You can use    scissors.. the fine tuning comes later.) Apply the tape (the long way,    parallel to the shin armor) to the front of the metal and stick the rough cut    placemat onto it. Work from the center ("shin bone") outward to avoid weird    creases and lumps. Helpful hint: Only remove the backing from the centermost    strip of tape and get you placemat in the right spot. Then remove the tape backing on each side of  the center strip,  working outwards.

STEP FOUR:Backing for boot protection/strap holding    layer

This next layer will keep the edges of the metal flashing    from wounding your boots and will provide a layer to attach the calf straps...

Apply another WHOLE placemat to the INSIDE of the metal    flashing with tape, with the shiny side facing up. You only need to tape what    will be touching the flashing. Make sure that this whole placemat completely    covers the other rough cut placemat. Now you should have two placemats, spongy    side to spongy side, with metal flashing sandwiched in between them. Trim the    inside placemat along the contours of the rough cut outside place mat.

STEP FIVE: Top layer (the one the public will see)

Finally, you can take one more place mat and do a rough    cut following your template, but again, do it outside the line..only this time    by ~ 1/4". Make the U shaped tongue cuts. Stick this piece on top of the front    layer, working from the center outwards, just like the in step 3. This top    most place mat becomes the template for cutting the other two layers. Get all    of your layers stuck together with the tape, THEN do the close cutting on your    template line through all three layers. The adhesive on the tape likes to gunk    up the blade, so carefully clean it off with alcohol here and there. Change    blades as necessary.

It is more difficult to cut the three layers in this    pre-curved shape. You may need to use the edge of a work bench for the long    cuts, and possibly a large cylinder for the instep/knee cap cuts. The cuts    don't come out as nicely as when working flat, so you may need to sand the    three layers on the edges to sort of even them up a bit. First with rough,    then with fine sand paper. Remove the gummy residue with alcohol.(Becareful    not to saturate the edge though, or your pieces may loose their stickablilty.)

STEP SIX: U shaped tongues

Do what you did for the shoulder armor.

STEP SEVEN: The raised pieces

Add your raised pieces to the front. The center most    piece on the fanned out knee cap region is the highest (most raised) layer of    them all. The six little rectangular nubbies should be ~ as high as center fan    blade. I'm going to use rhinestones for the nubbies and shoe glue will work to    hold them on.  You may use carpet tape or a glue to adhere the raised pieces.  I found a glue called Instant Vinyl at Joanne's fabrics that actually worked on this stuff.  Darth Sye found some shoe glue that worked, also. Test glue on scraps!!

STEP EIGHT:Making the calf strap holders

Mark where your straps will go, then cut slits into the    backing piece for the calf straps to feed through. You may need to use a screw    driver to gently lift the calf strap holders up, and use needle nose pliers to    pull your strapping material through. I'd suggest not adding the strapping    until after the paint job, but I know you can't wait to try them on!

Ok..you had your fun..Now remove the calf straps, but    slip something under the strap holders like narrow scraps of placemat or    toothpicks, or whatever. When the paint goes onto the backing, you don't want    it to seal the strap holders down.

(Vader has four straps holding his shin armor on. The   top one starts about and inch or so below the nubbies (where the armor turns    the corner to come down the side of the leg), the bottom one is just above the    ankle. Space the other two out evenly in between the top and    bottom strap.)

STEP NINE: Painting

Prime twice in the same fashion as you did you chest    armor.

Paint front and back of shin armor with a couple of coats    of gloss black plasit-kote bumper trim  spray paint. (see chest armor instructions for paint details)

STEP TEN: Calf straps

Add your calf straps. I'm thinking elastics with velcro.    Use what ever you'd like to get them tight...but becareful not to tighten them    down with such force that you tear the strap holders right off...That's why    I'm going with elastics. I did a test run with some old suspender elastic, and    it worked great!  You can make your straps so that they are permanently fastened in a closed loop, or make them so that they velcro tight around your calf.  I did mine in a closed loop and I actually have to put them on OVER the boot without my leg in it first, then slip my foot inot the boot and zip it up.  If your boots are nice, tall rubber boots, you can permanently fastened your shin guards to the boots. Do what ever makes you happy.

STEP ELEVEN:

Wear them!!

Don't forget!! Before starting.....you still need to print  out the illustrations for the shin armor >>>>>>>>>>>>> instructions..otherwise, this could be very confusing!!

To:  Shin armor illustration page

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