Video Exhibiton

After taking a mild “hiatus” from armor after Charlotte/Dimitri, I decided to re-enter the sphere with a design I fell in love with: the weathered, gorgeous male viera. With this project, I wanted to level up and push my armor skills even further—however, I also wanted to refine and clean up the sewing I’d learned in my journey from Exarch, and marry it with the weathering I’d learned from San! A culmination of all of my new skills!

Materials used were poly wool for the top and suede for belts, with a linen blend for pants—the heavier fabrics were chosen due to this viera (the “Veena”) having an origin in mountain regions. All scraps and leftover trims were used for things like the pants “garters” and gloves, as well as the scarf.

First, a caveat: this entire project had to fit in a check-in suitcase in order for me to travel with it. All armor utilizes elastics or snaps and can be taken apart in halves; all 6 belts can be removed and packed separately with snaps. This allows all pieces to be cleaned and repaired individually if something breaks.

I began with a pattern from Tsuya for the top, which still had to have some major alterations for my broad shoulders and my smaller, petite height and neckline. The pants were a typical joggers-style pattern that I sized up then tailored down at the waist to increase the fullness of in the thighs to replicate the Viking-inspired “puff pants” that’s on the model. All of the armor STLs are from IsomoArt, but until this point, I had seen no one rig a set of this from scratch. The belts are self-drafted, and gloves are an altered fingerless glove pattern I had.

The Shirt: The poly wool blend shirt has approximately ~80 punched eyelets, with 2 types of yarn woven together to match the color of the skirt, as well as linen sleeves with suede and black crochet trim straps. Due to the heaviness of the fabric, the inside seams are pinkered, as flat felled or standard finishing would be too bulky. A back separating zipper allows me to put this on by myself.

The Skirt: Custom drafted poly wool blend with (some custom-dyed) trims—3 of them to be exact—layered on top to create the “fringe” on the bottom. It closes with a snap and is tailored with darts at the back waist so it “sits” on my hips.

The Pants: Linen blend to survive Texas, fully finished on the inside.

Armor: The armor was 3D printed in PLA and sanded up to ~400 grit and used XTC and filler primer to finish. The paint job is a derivative method from the Volpin Props’ painting book. First, all pieces were coated in an oil-rubbed bronze spraypaint, before layers of metallic silver and ruddy red-brown were layered on with a roller. Brighter silver and darker silver were sponged on, as well as a black wash around crevices, finishing up with drybrushed pale silver highlights and bits of orange-brown organic “rust” acrylic in crevices before being sealed with a satin clear spray.

Ears: The ears are custom patterned and feature a foam and wire core, surrounded by two layers of fur which have been shaved and colored with pastels before being finished with clear tacky glue to keep it neat.

Wig: My first time styling a wig, this is an lacefront that’s been teased and braided, with added wefts to the front and sides. The top streaks were airbrushed and shaded with pastels to match the wefts.

Scarf: Scrap poly crepe that was weathered and torn at ends, with a hand-sewn bow.

Gloves: Cut cord and leftover linen into strips, sewing each of them overlaid to make it look “wrapped” while remaining a single glove.

Spear: Similar to the armor, layered and weathered with spraypaint, metallic acrylic, plain acrylic. Wrapped with scrap suede cord and trim, blackwashed, and used two purse clasps to hook acrylic links individually painted and weathered. Breaks down into 4 pieces + separate chain to fit in suitcase.

The armor finishing technique a first-time technique and something I discovered on a whim and aimed for a more “organic” weathered look that read warmer than traditional weathering jobs. Additionally, this is the first set of armor that is entirely rigged with snaps and can be taken apart easily and packed in a suitcase—everything snaps on/off and can be replaced and cleaned. Additionally, this is probably the cleaning sewing and rigging job I’d done up to this point.

A detailed build thread can be found here.