Issue 55 - Finished.

The Final issue

There were three steps to finish this issue. First, I had to assemble and attach a tube to the back of the armour that would be used to hold a flag or standard. Next, there was a covered cord that I attached to the helmet. The ends hang down from the ears and it is used to tie the helmet to the head. Finally, as predicted, I attached the golden yellow crescent.

Despite working on three separate parts, it was very easy to finish this final issue. What took much longer was all the after completion final touches. I used a polishing cloth to remove the fingerprints and smudges from the metal plates. I cut the ends off cords and puffed them up to look nice. Several large sections of the armour came with a protective plastic film on them . I had been keeping it in place while I worked, but now it was finally time to peel it off.

I also took the armour out for a little trip to another house, this one is a bit larger than mine and it has a traditional Japanese style room. There I was able to set up my completed suit of armour and take a few photos with the additional display options I had purchased. I have decided to include some of those shots, instead of the usual close-ups of the work completed this issue, because this is the final issue and I think the work done here is not as interesting as the all the work put in to get here.

Now that the work is finished I feel a sense of melancholy at finishing this project. I had grown quite accustomed to the work and now that it's done I'm at a bit of a loss. However, despite the other emotions I feel at the end of such a long project, what I feel most is pride. I am very proud of the work I have put into this armour, and I am very proud of the result.

I am also not sure what to do next. I have been looking at the DeAGOSTINI website, but as of today I haven't seen anything upcoming that looks very appealing. Before I started this Samurai Armour I looked at a few other magazine projects, but I passed on those because they were not interesting to me. Perhaps it will be a some time before I find something else engaging enough to try again.

Although this may be the final part of the armour, it's not the end of my blog. Soon I will be attending Anime North and, if it's possible, I'll try to bring my armour with me and display it there. I think that might be a story worth a post or two.

I do sincerely hope you have enjoyed reading the story of my Making Samurai Armour and although the armour itself is done, the blog is not quite...

SURPRISE!