How To Draw A Suit Of Armor

Ironman_2 It's one of those worries that keep your friendly Danger Room correspondents awake at night: "If I was kidnapped by terrorists and forced to make them weapons, would I be able to secretly build a suit of bullet-proof armor and fight my way free?"

Tony Stark shows how it's done in the new Iron Man movie. But how easy would it be in real life?

Maybe not as hard as you think.

We'll ignore the optional extras (rocket-powered flight, built-in weapons) and concentrate on the armor's main function: making sure that when you burst out in your new get-up, you don't get turned into a sieve by a fusillade of AK-47 slugs.

In fact, complete suits of bullet-proof armor have existed for centuries. It's a popular myth that gunpowder made armor obsolete; armor-makers just improved their product.

In 1642 Sir Arthur Hazelrigg MP was a commander of cavalry in the Parliamentary army; his troop were known as 'lobsters' for their full armor. Cavalier officer Richard Atkins shot him, getting so close he touched Hazelrigg with the barrel of his pistol before discharging it. "I am sure I hit him for he staggered and presently wheeled off…". Atkyns tried with his second pistol, hitting Hazelrigg squarely in the head again at point-blank but with no effect, "for he was too well-armed, with a coat of mail over his arms and a headpiece musket-proof."

King Charles later joked that if Hazelrigg had been "victualled as well as fortified, he might have withstood a siege." How we laughed…

Very few could afford the cost of this type of armor, and the weight of it meant that it was not suitable for infantry. But bullets could still be stopped by a stout piece of iron (anyone else remember "A Fistful of Dollars"?) – and this was observed by the man who must be the patron saint of home-made armor makers, Ned Kelly.

Ned_armour Kelly was Australia's most famous bushranger: an outlaw who was either a simple horse-thief or a resistance fighter for the oppressed Irish against the oppressive English rulers and landowners. His story and especially his last stand at Glenrowanhas been the subject of many books, films and web sites.

Kelly and three of his gang wore suits of home-made armorforged from the mould boards of ploughshares. (How they did this was quite a puzzle – the mystery is investigated here) The mould boards were iron and described as being 'as thick as a dinner plate.' It took at least six to make a full suit which weighed around eighty pounds. They were proof against rifles at ten paces, and during the gang's last stand at Glenrowan police fired volleys at them with little effect. Kelly himself was hit dozens of times but kept fighting and had to be physically overpowered.

Unfortunately the weight of the armor and the restricted view from the visor were major handicaps: Kelly himself, though known to be an excellent shot, did not manage to hit any of the police besieging him. The armor did not completely cover the body, and this was its ultimate failure: with multiple injuries, including leg wounds, Kelly was unable to escape.