Vyrlli Armour
April 2022 – August 2022
Design
This suit of armour was inspired by a fictional race of dragons I had conceived of for a writing project around the time of construction: the "vyrlli". Accordingly, this suit of armour features a primary colour palette of blue, black, and silver, with component design greatly influenced by dragon scale patterns. This image shows the pieces for the armour's greaves (lower leg armour), cut out on raw leather and fully tooled with dragon scale textures. From here, the pieces would be dyed blue and black, painted silver to accent the edges, and assembled into a functional piece of armour.
Colouring
This image shows the colouring process for this suit of armour using one of the pieces from the spaulders (shoulder armour). First, I fully dyed each piece blue, then used a paintbrush to create a black gradient that radiates towards the centre of each piece. The final result of this gradient can be seen at the top of this page, where the full suit of armour is displayed. This image also shows the carved borders on each piece, which would eventually be painted silver to create a metallic appearance. This colouring theme was used for nearly every piece in this suit of armour, keeping each component consistent in design, though different in shape.
Laser-Cut Scales
The breastplate of this suit of armour consists of 1125 leather scales that I laser cut, hand dyed, tooled, and assembled. This image shows this process using a Glowforge laser cutter. Making these scales was an excellent way to use up much of my leather scrap from previous projects, ensuring that my excess leather did not go to waste. The scales each have a small hole at the top, where they can be attached to suede pieces of leather that form the underside of the breastplate. The end result is a piece of armour that appears fully constructed of dragon scales.
Array of Scales
A second image showing an array of laser cut scales inside the Glowforge. These scales are designed to overlap one other, their connection points hidden by the scales above them. After assembly, this led to a flexible breastplate design that affords the wearer a high degree of mobility and calls back to the draconic inspiration for this project.