Friday, December 16, 2011

Early Birthday Present - A Personal Insanity






Today is young Genghis' birthday party. It's about a week early, but what do you do when your kid is born on Xmas eve?

He's getting a really cool party this year. He and nine of his friends (including his brother) are off to the new Laser Tag facility in Launceston, for a few hours of running, screaming, jumping, and laser-zapping. I expect massive carnage. I also expect a bunch of very, very tired boys.

Once we're done, we'll head back here for the triple-layer chocolate cake with peppermint marshmallow, and a bit of a backyard barbecue with the firepit and all. In the meantime - well, Genghis got permission to open one birthday present. You can see it in the pictures above.

Obviously, I've been working at it for a while. To my variously Medieval friends: yeah, I know the links are too large, and it's a bit funky around the shoulders. But you know what? That is one deliriously happy not-quite-nine-year-old boy there. And remember that the armourer who put that particular chain shirt together has no prior experience whatsoever.

Hooray for the Internet, eh? I poked around a bunch of websites, and found out how to make basic chainmail. After that, it was all just cutting and bending.

It's a bit scratchy, but the boy loves it. He hasn't taken it off. (Of course, that's going to be challenging. It's a close fit. He'll have to tip himself up and shimmy out of it. I may even remove another couple of links.)

Happy birthday, kid!

6 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday to Genghis, and the maille looks fine more than fit for purpose.

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  2. And thank YOU, sir for tips on websites to help me become the maille-man.

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  3. My pleasure, if one thing beats learning something, it's sharing it with some one.

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  4. My second son is mad for chain mail - he has made some of his own, literally from scratch, but only as far as (I think) head covering and arms or something. Mind you, he also made his own ghillie/yowie suit too, with some stuff he asked me to get for his birthday. I reckon that's some good work right there, and the smile says it all!

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  5. I'm not surprised he had to make it from scratch. There's not much by way of supply out there. Buying rings of any kind is a lot more expensive than rolling and cutting your own. Kudos to the lad for determination, though!

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