Why is a New Zealand-born aspiring organic horticulturalist replicating the armour worn by Ned Kelly for the latest movie on the Australian bushranger?

It goes back to when Guido Gouverneur fell in love with the blacksmithing craft at the age of five while watching his father toil over a forge and anvil.

Guido Gouverneur applying the torch to Ned Kelly's helmet. ( Supplied: Wendie McCaffley )

"Like everything, it's not what you know it's who you know. We had a phone call out of the blue from someone we hadn't seen in 20 years," Mr Gouverneur said.

"He asked me if I would be interested in making armour for the Ned Kelly movie and, of course, I said yes."

Mr Gouverneur has now applied his skill and love of working with steel, to produce some of Australia's best known steel work for the movie The True History of the Kelly Gang directed by Justin Kurzel, starring Russell Crowe.

The film is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Australian author Peter Carey.

All the work was done in his workshop overlooking fledgling fruit trees and vegetables on land near Bellbrook, on the NSW mid north coast, that he and partner Wendie McCaffley are developing for organic certification.

While the call may have been out of the blue, his track record in the centuries-old craft has resulted in him being bestowed a National Trust Heritage Award.

Probably not surprising given that not only his father was a smithy, but his grandfather and great grandfather also plied the trade.

Uncertainty over armour

Mr Gouverneur then set about replicating the famous armour worn by Ned Kelly and his gang at the final shootout almost 140 years ago at Glenrowan in north-east Victoria.

This included travelling to Victoria's State Library where the original armour is stored, along with other Kelly memorabilia. The outlaw was hanged at the Melbourne Gaol in November, 1880.

Although access was limited as it is stored in a glass box.

"There is a fair bit of documentation. Although the thing about the documentation is that none of it is consistent.

"Nobody really knows which armour is which. After the siege, the police dragged out the armour and put it in a pile. So there is a whole lot of conjecture.

Guido Gouverneur has been fascinated by blacksmithing since he was five, when he watched his father at work. ( Supplied: )

"How did the armour get made and who made it?"

The uncertainty over the armour is not a major worry as the movie is a "take" and therefore there is room for artistic licence.

While there may be room for the movie prop to be not exactly the way it was one 140 years ago, this has not been the case for other work of Mr Gouverneur.

Since first leaving New Zealand aged 26, the 60-year-old has been involved with sites harking back to the early days of European settlement in Australia.

This includes the restoration of the Dawes Point Balustrade directly beneath Sydney Harbour Bridge.

"The armour is the most iconic piece of Australian metal work along with Sydney Harbour Bridge and I am quite fortunate to have worked on both," Mr Gouverneur said.

Fashion design meets blacksmithing

Ms McCaffley, who started her working life as a fashion designer before moving onto blacksmithing, works alongside Mr Gouverneur.

A photo of Ned Kelly on the day before his execution. ( Supplied: National Archives of Australia )

Her rag trade experience helped in a variety of ways with the Kelly project.

"There was a requirement to draft up the suits of armour to match the body measurements of the actors. It was pretty much a standard pattern cutting," Ms McCaffley said.

"Then it was translated on to the sheet metal."

While the two enjoy plying their skills with metal and have not totally put it behind them, now it is producing organic food which is occupying much of their time.

Having left Sydney, and despite having a workshop which is a converted dairy, it is their wish to be part of the increasingly popular paddock-to-plate.

"I've got this idea that we are going to grow a menu, where we can provide fruit, herbs, vegetables which are heirloom-based, that is very nutritious," Mr Gouverneur said.

"I want to be involved in the new style of agriculture, which is sustainable," Ms McCaffley said.