Chain Maille Cheats & Shortcuts
Not everyone is going to wind and cut 10,00 links by hand So, for the rest, here's some tips from cardboard
on up.
Please feel free to contribute tips, longer write-ups and pictures!
PVC Pipe - The Weta Way
Cut up PVC (called something different
in NZ) plastic pipe into rings and make your own:) Dye it different
colors.
==Tammy
- How to make PVC Chain maille:
Knitted Maille
Maille as armor has many restrictions as to what the materials and design
may be, for it must protect it's wearer. Maille made in costuming, however,
is free from these restraints. The most common way to fake maille is to take
a very thick woolen shirt and spray paint it silver. This, while being the
cheapest way to 'cheat' at maille, is also the ugliest unless done with
proper care. This method is good for those who have little time, money, or
effort to donate to the maille itself, wishing instead to spend those
resources on the rest of their costume.
== Steamboat
Note: the knitted chain was used with some of the LOTR background
fighters.
A QND (Quick and dirty) way of making chain mail that Theater companies
use is to find someone who knits and have them knit the chain mail out of
heavy twine or cord. NOT yarn but twine like the brown stuff that's used to
tie up packages. (Try to use a natural twine not something plastic -
something moderately smooth, not too stretchy, and not too hairy.) Once you
have the pieces knitted then spray them silver. Voila, you've got cheap,
light chain mail.
==Fran E.
The standard fake is using knit fabric in sweater weight. Either knit all
your pieces to shape, in garter stitch, or get a rusted-iron-coloured
sweater from a thrift store, turn it inside out, and cut it up into whatever
shapes you need, and sew along the edges so it doesn't ravel (binding the
edges is better). Then spray paint just the top surface with aluminum paint
(get it at a car parts store). This looks like silver chain mail that rusted
underneath.
==CarolynKayta
Knitted Chain mail patterns
- Chain Mail Techniques from the Utah Shakespearean Festival
- Full knitting instructions, written for an experienced knitter.
You knit out of rust colored stuff, then paint the outside surface of it
in silver. That way it looks like rusted metal with a shiny surface - just
like real chain mail. Knit out of something the same gage as the links in
whatever you're copying, and make sure it's smooth like string, not fuzzy
like yarn. Use large needles, of the same size as the inside diameter of
those links. And it's only one stitch, nothing fancy. Increasing the length
of a row is done by adding stitches, and for every stitch the row is to be
shortened by, knit two stitches together as one. Do this increase or
decrease operation right where the change is to happen and you can add or
remove stitch width wherever you need to.
==CarolynKayta
Best bet it to use large knitting needles and cotton cord. Hammer
it flat and then spray paint.
It may seem faster to use a knitting machine, but you can't use them to
get the same look. You can't use the heavy cord to get the same large
loops.
Just a Dickey
Maille is often hidden under armor or a surcoat, so actors do not need a
full shirt.
A dickey is just a little fake shirt. It covers just the
collar area, the front open placard and maybe a couple of inches around the
collar.
In LOTR, Frodo's does not wear the complete Mithriel shirt during
filming. Only the front piece was the real maille.
Related to that, Boromir just has maille sleeves.
== Cat
Funky Fabric
When a girl I went to design school wanted "chain mail" but.. honestly
had NO chance of being able to make it.. or buy it.. or buy anything
similar, she did two things to get the look she wanted. She was happy with
it... but its for 'that scribbly grey mass' - not gonna fool anyone within
10 feet... she used the silver tulle stuff you can get. It comes in silver
and gold. You could line it with a similar grey-tone, or sandwich it between
the shirt fabric, and maybe a really sheer grey to tone down the silver? She
also got some silver yarn (from a very specialty yarn place) and with a
fairly loose erm. knit? she made some fabric that looked kind of like small
silver loops. I am not a knitter, so I can't give any advice on that, but
the yarn was dark grey with silver threads in it.
More expensively, silver-grey raw silk with a very loose even weave
might also give that illusion....
==Dawn
While looking for a cheap, easy and fairly effective substitute for
true chain maille for my son's Halloween costume, I noticed a roll of
bubble wrap (used to wrap breakable items for shipping) on the shelf in
the garage. Spray paint it silver, glue it to a cloth backing for extra
substance and it looks pretty good - from a distance. Cheaper and
easier than knitting.
==PA
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This page was last updated
04/22/08
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