How did Ned Kelly make his armour?

Born in June 1854 to an Irish convict father and an Australian mother, Ned Kelly was raised in rural Victoria, where his family was often in conflict with the law.

From a young age, Kelly was exposed to the criminal underbelly of his society, and by the time he was a teenager, he had already been arrested multiple times.

The charges ranged from assault and robbery to horse theft. Kelly's life as a bushranger, however, truly began after he was falsely accused of shooting a police officer.

To escape arrest, he fled to the bush, accompanied by his brother Dan Kelly and two friends, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart, forming what would be known as the Kelly Gang.

The gang was involved in a series of robberies and violent confrontations with the police, including the infamous police murders at Stringybark Creek in 1878, for which the gang members were declared outlaws with a bounty on their heads.

One of the most famous episodes of Kelly's life is the siege of Glenrowan in 1880.

The battle ended with Kelly's capture, while the rest of his gang was killed.

Ned Kelly was tried and convicted of multiple crimes, including murder, and was executed at the Melbourne Gaol on 11th November 1880.

The idea to don armour reportedly came to Kelly after he became aware of the police's intention to engage him in a shootout.

His understanding of warfare, possibly inspired by the accounts of medieval knights, made him realise the potential advantage that a suit of armour could provide.

The Kelly Gang’s armour was crudely constructed, yet quite effective for the time.

The gang used old ploughshares, a type of blade used in ploughs for farming, as the base material for their armour.

This was readily available from local farms and provided the necessary strength to withstand gunfire from the contemporary, relatively low-velocity firearms.

Creating the armour was a challenging task that required a lot of ingenuity. The metal ploughshares were first heated until they were red hot, then hammered into the required shapes.

Given the limited resources available, the armour plates were moulded on a green log, possibly of a eucalyptus tree, with the aid of sledgehammers.

This would have been a painstakingly slow process, further complicated by the gang's need to avoid detection.

The end product was not technically a 'full suit' of armour but rather a collection of plates that protected the wearer's front torso, back, and head.

The helmet in particular was fashioned in a square shape, with a narrow eye slit for vision.

The entire suit weighed about 44 kilograms (around 97 pounds), an impressive feat of strength for those who wore it.

The armour was painted with a mixture of oil and lampblack, giving it a distinctive black appearance. No one is quite sure why this was done.

Perhaps it was for camouflage, or perhaps it was simply the result of the materials they had on hand.

The most famous usage of the armour was during the siege of Glenrowan on June 28, 1880.

The Kelly Gang, dressed in their suits of armour, engaged in a ferocious shootout with the police.

The armour, as it was intended, helped protect the gang members from being immediately felled by gunfire, but it was cumbersome and left the gang's legs exposed.

This proved to be a vital flaw, as it was a shot to the legs that finally brought Ned Kelly down.

Following the Glenrowan siege, the suits of armour were confiscated by the police.

Today, they can be viewed in various museums across Australia.

The crude yet effective armour in some way also mirrors the raw, unyielding spirit of Ned Kelly himself.

To some, the armour symbolises what can be done by ordinary men who, when driven to the edge, adopted extraordinary measures.