Groan “winging it” 😊 Congratulations on the 25000. I love the way you show us your thought process even when it doesn’t work out. The Bracers turned out great, the dry brush highlighting is awesome.
super late to the party, but your idea about making the 'permanent' template is not a bad idea at all! In the past ive made my template as you did, then went over the entire thing (front and back) with packing tape or scotch tape - from there you can use an xacto knife or something similar to cut around the edges. just overlap the tape layers a bit and you essentially have the same 'permanent' template that you were trying to make. Holds up well enough to moisture and can take pretty decent pressure from a pen. I'm primarily a woodworker, and it transfers line through the template onto hardwood no problem, so id imagine it would work well for leather.
That iridecent trick would have looked SUPER realistic with crow/raven wings! They have a whole sea of blues and greens underneath the black. Also, the little crow for your editor is adorable. (the beak looks more crow like, a raven would have a less tapered beak with more of a rounded tip)
an alternative maybe for the parchment to make the tooling easier: I found that having printer paper and then sticking masking tape on the bottom actually protects the paper from becoming soggy, while having quite some grip to keep it from sliding around
I have been watching since that first episode. How there isn't a whole lot more people watching. Oh and I still think you need to make a leather dragon mask.
Buy a cheap laminator from Aldi's or Costco. I got mine for under 50 bucks when I was homeschooling my son, and it has infinite uses. Seriously cannot recommend enough.
A little tip for doing the beveling on leather, after you do the cuts with a swivel knife (assuming you have steady hands) you can use a clay sculpting spoon to bevel it and get a smoother line.
leather sculpting is boss. I sculpted a really intricate rams skull on leather Bracers using similar techniques. they make these tiny pointed metal spoon tools that work well too for all kinds of stuff
A follow-on accessory with this ranger build could be a pair of gloves. Create a plate to cover the back of the hand and attach it to a glove. Then craft in a hawk's eye cabochon or something like it. "The hawk's sight guides your shot" kind of thing. I got the idea from the Paul Hogan movie, "Lightning Jack", where he has an old Indian charm to increase his aim, a hawk's eye mounted in a wrist cuff.
As much as you keep insulting your process saying they look like scales. I want you to know that feathers are just modified scales. So either way, you were making feathers all along brother
If you want a cheaper way to do the templates, look for the acetate sheets...they're cheap and intended for overhead projectors, but work well for other things and you can print on it
Alternative method for wrapping the templates is to use overlapping packing tape. Might be a little thicker, but it’s more accessible and a multitasker.
I would love to see this on top of a full bracer set up (ie gloves, the wing overlay, and a full protective underbracer), I think it would compliment what you've got going on while making the piece feel more full and protective.
6:12 - You guys use it to cover shelves, but as a kid, we used that stuff to cover the exercise books we used at school. ....And we had THAT problem every. single. time.
I love leather work, and this turned out fantastic, but it bothers me that it's become such a fantasy trope that it was heavily used for light armor. I know, fantasy is literally, a fantasy, but it bothers me. Leather soft enough to move, wouldn't be good armor. Leather thick and hard enough for armor is pointless as then metal is a better option. Let's bring back authentic light armor, like the gambeson. It was actually used historically, was padded so helped with some blunt force. It was thick enough or could be made thick enough to slow or stop slashing damage and even some arrows. Plus, it was light and flexible as it was just multiple layers of fabric.
You could have skipped all that measuring by using the duct tape and tinfoil method. Wrap your forearm in duct tape with the sticky side out and then cover in tin foil.
Awesome work! Also Yes! You need a whole Valkyrie set chest piece, greaves and skirting armor along with a bird themed bow or something along those like and oh an awesome bird themed helm that would be so awesome!