The Armour Archive

rhys42

I know there was a fellow at gulf wars a couple of years ago that was teaching many classes on the subject. Wish I could remember who it was. Very cool stuff. Had everything, making your own line, pole, lures, etc. That would be Master Rhydderch of Caerleon, in the Barony of South Downs here in Mer...

rhys42

Locally, I can mainly find linen-cotton (55/45) blends. (I do live within striking distance of Sir's but have yet to make the trek.) Some of my existing garb is 100% linen and I loooove how it breathes in heat, so my question is -- does the cotton content diminish that comfort level significantly? I...

rhys42

It doesn't offer much SCA protection except maybe armpits, butt, and armor bites but I suppose that it would offer a tolerable last line of defense in a real steel fight (but I am still too sane to ever plan to try that). There was an experiment going on in Meridies at one point to see if it would ...

rhys42

Siskin Steel here in Chattanooga sells 316 stainless in gauges up to 20, or at least they were the last time I checked. (Which admittedly was several years ago.) If you make inquiries, you want to specifically ask for "The Steel Store" as a call direct to Siskin will get you nowhere.

rhys42

This is something I've wondered about for a while with these...is the backplate put together with fixed or sliding rivets?

rhys42

Spray enamel works very well, but it can be a major pain to remove afterwards, even with liberal applications of acetone and elbow grease.

rhys42

Oh, I wasn't criticizing his work at all, just making some generalized observations on the state of armouring in the game as a whole. Sorry if it came across otherwise. This piece is a lot better than many I've seen, and certainly better than my first couple of attempts. I too would recommend curvin...

rhys42

No disagreement there. Great-looking armour won't make you a better fighter. But wearing good kit goes a good way to making you a better player , IMO, because it shows that you give enough of a crap to portray your character in a halfway believeable fashion, instead of throwing together something th...

rhys42

Virtually no one wearing armour in NERO (which I've played for the last seven years) is worried about protecting themselves from physical injury or bruising from a boffer sword; it's all about the armour points and for some folks, looking spiffy as well. All the rules state is that the armour must h...

rhys42

The best stuff I've found for doing "inlay" for leather is the "Treasure Gold" wax compound stuff from Hobby Lobby/AC Moores. It's just a wax with metallic pigment added -- IIRC it comes in silver, gold and copper. I used it on a LOTR-style quiver I made last year, worked pretty well. I just carved ...

rhys42

...and I don't know what to do with 'em. :D Was down at the unclaimed baggage store today and found a box of 80 "3/4" Dia. Soft Polish AISI 1018 mild Carbon Steel Balls" going for eight bucks. My tool-scrounging instincts kicked in and so they wound up going home with me. One question -- is this 101...

rhys42

Any more word on whether or not HF still carries it? Still listed on their website but I haven't gotten the funds together to order one.

rhys42

Sweet. Going on my Christmas wish list for sure. What size compressor would you recommend to go with that?

rhys42

Yup -- kite spar is what a lot of people use. I get mine from http://www.intothewind.com I've also heard of people haunting golf shops that do club repairs for failed or broken shafts to recycle into boffers. YMMV, and your game may not want failed golfing equipment turned into something that's used...

rhys42

I like "Don't block with your head" myself.

rhys42

Thanks for the clarification. My brain interprets things like "thirds" to mean literally, three equal sections so when it saw the photos there was a bit of a mismatch. Definitely gonna try this out, assuming any of our machines have a working buttonhole attachment. I imagine you could use longsleeve...

rhys42

Just take a cotton T-shirt and cut in thirds. Do this three times and then sew button holes though everything to quilt it. Sounds/looks intriguing, but I'm having a hard time understanding what you mean by "cut in thirds." Do you mean three equidistant sections or one cut up the middle and one up e...

rhys42

13 or 14 years old, down in the basement splitting a chunk of cedar to turn on the lathe. I was using a camp hatchet with the blade as the wedge and beating on the hammer face...with a claw hammer. Whacking two tempered chunks of steel together with vigor = a big "BANG" and a spark...and a 1/4" piec...

rhys42

You could make pennywhistles from the smaller ones:

http://www.dougsparling.com/irishmusic/whistle/whistlemake/

rhys42

Hard to go wrong with a simple ball stake, especially if you can get one that's on a dogleg/offset shaft. You should also check out Halberd's newbie kits -- lots of bang for the buck there.

rhys42

A tip -- Using the spray cans (like DAP's Great Stuff) gets expensive because you'll use a LOT of it. I'm 5'9" and around 225; IIRC I used something like 10 cans when I tried making one of these, and still didn't fill the form completely. Probably be cheaper to get the two-part stuff they use for ma...

rhys42

I've bought from these guys; they had a stall at Gulf War this year: http://www.latex-weaponry.com/ They don't look as realistic/spiffy as the ones from the site Guillame2 posted, but they make a good product and the prices are more reasonable. If you're buying for use in a game, be sure to check wi...

rhys42

Thank you sir!

rhys42

Ditto. I'd like to get those pics too but both links seem to be DOA now.

rhys42

Something about brass kickplates from hardware stores to keep in mind -- they're usually coated in lacquer. If you plan to etch it you'll have to sand/grind that layer off before the etchant will do any good.

Just thought I'd mention it since I learned that the hard way.

rhys42

Wondering -- most breastplates of this type have the articulations going the other direction. Have you had any comfort problems with the lower plates biting you?

rhys42

Note that the finger lames are more decorative than protective. You'll want a basket hilt on both schlager and rattan. Why a basket for rapier? Just a leather glove is sufficient hand protection according to the current rules, which only specify "abrasion resistant" material for the hands. And most...

rhys42

I'm sorry, I'm sure I have misunderstood you somehow. I have a sudden vision of a fighter with a Burgh helm, cavalier boots, swept hilt rapier, a tartan kilt, a gypsy scarf and a pirate eyepatch. The outfit would need a fuzzy stuffed parrot perched on one shoulder and a nice holstein-print cloak dr...

rhys42

Be careful with that plaster as it can get HOT as it cures, and make sure you've got helpers on hand....

Google 'bodycast' or 'duct tape dummy' for a lot of good tips and how-to pages from folks who have done this before.

rhys42

The original floor of my shop is cinder block and I was concerned about moisture as it tends to get damp when we have heavy rains. I put in a raised 1" plywood floor with pressure-treated 2x4s and a vapor barrier underneath. Had some trouble getting it leveled -- had to shim it up in some places -- ...

rhys42

The shop building I recently refinished* is roughly the same size -- 15'x16'. Rather than describe the layout, here some pictures: http://rhys42.is-a-geek.org/shop.html The layout works OK for me, though I find myself leaving tools on the big bench all the time rather than putting them back on the s...

rhys42

OK, here's a question that keeps coming up for me -- better to roll the edge before or after forming? If it's a simple curved piece like, say, a cuisse or a gauntlet cuff, I can roll beforehand without much trouble. But something that's dished -- like for instance, the center and side plates for a C...

rhys42

Sure does, thanks for the clarification. That late in the evening (for me) my brain turns to mush. As opposed to the daytime when it merely achieves a Jell-O like consistency. I have a stone lifecast of my head made several years ago when I was into making latex masks and headpieces, so I often use ...

rhys42

I am having a tough time visualizing what you're describing -- I get Hal's template, but not this one. Then again, I'm tired right now so it may all come clear to me tomorrow. Pictures/drawings, perchance?

rhys42

I've never seen an option in Word to save an entire document as an image file...? If you want to publish a text-with-images document that can be read by a variety of platforms, three choices that come to mind immediately are Rich Text Format (RTF), HTML, or Adobe Acrobat (PDF). With PDF you don't ha...

Re: wearing Azon mail

I've got a lot of balls....

Re: IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve made an arming coat.