Paladin Body Armor Update

My plans are evolving since my last post about body armor. I now have 3 potential options,

Modify

I recently picked up this leather jerkin from Kult of Athena.

It is a nice, light leather. I'm toying with riveting leather plates underneath to create a brigandine.

I'm not sure I want to risk ruining it, though.

Make

I'm still considering making a brigandine from scratch.

I gave up on the Simplicity vest pattern, which I mentioned in my previous post. While I like the overall look, the pattern was too complicated for me.

Instead, I used a tabard to create a mock-up in canvas.

For the real thing, I'm considering dureasuede. It comes in 58" widths and sold by the yard. One yard should suffice for a brigandine shell.

Fake

Another option I mentioned before was to create a leather cuirass and then add rivets to make it look like a brigandine. That might be the easiest to do. 

I can use the pattern from my faux lamellar.

I will modify the cut a bit and fasten the pieces together with rivets instead of cord.

Which One?

Right now, I still lean on modifying the jerkin from KoA. But at some point, I may try all 3 methods, looking for the easiest and cheapest.