The Armour Archive

Sean M

In Drei Schnittbücher p. 132 paltrock (< German Rock "gown" ... unless that is a folk-etymology of a word with a different French root?) is defined as "a pleated gown, with a high neck which has loops or pickadils set into the collar." No sources or examples of usage are given.

Sean M

The Royal Armouries in England employed locksmiths who are usually understood to have made hinges, buckles, spring-catches, those little props to hold visors up, etc. (I don't know trades in early 16th century England so would welcome someone else commenting). I think that my trecento Italian source...

Sean M

Some of the armourers in Europe buy their buckles from specialists in different modern-medieval crafts, like medieval plattners did. How common is that among amateur armourers in North America?

Sean M

I know that printed textiles are difficult for people recreating historical clothing, because modern patterns are usually different and printing on cloth is its own trade separate from tailoring. A woman in Germany and her husband make wood-block stamps and distribute a line of dyes designed for lin...

Sean M

If you'd like, though, I can maybe put together some sort of article with what you're asking. Thing is, I don't know what you don't know. Or rather, I don't know what I do by nature, but other people don't see. Know what I mean? I do try to distill down the reasons behind what I do, instead of just...

Sean M

The Romans in the 3rd century of our era (Dura Europos synagogue paintings) and the Indians in the 18th century somtimes wore coifs without a solid helmet. Some of the Indian padded liners survive. Also, why have the skullcap/helmet under instead of over the maille if one is going to wear a rigid he...

Sean M

I look forward to seeing what Mr Lindybiege comes up with. He's a clever bloke. I don't always agree with him, but on the whole, he tends to get things right. I'd like to meet him for a series of long arguments over pints of beer. Yes, I think that he is throwing all of his ideas out there and hopi...

Sean M

All of the changes that make the silhouette into the final product are done by fitting it to the body. For the pigeon breast, specifically, I layer small towels onto the model until the chest is fitted in a desired way, and then I fit over that. Even then, if he slouches when he's wearing it, it lo...

Sean M

Apologies for being blunt: Why do you assume that I am not already doing all those things? And how satisfactory or otherwise have the results of these efforts been? You seem dissatisfied, but I can't put a finger on where you're looking to improve nor precisely why. Hi Konstantin, That is deliberat...

Sean M

Sean, As I understood it, you are looking for more then just simple fitting instructions, but more for advice on tailoring a garment to present a more correct period shape for a body that conforms to less then the ideal proportions, does that sound right? That's how I took your original query. Rola...

Sean M

The gist of what people are trying to explain to you are: Step 1: Take your measurements or, have someone take them for you. Step 2: Put said measurements onto paper/material using whatever formula you wish. (ie. the block/sloper) (found in tailoring/cutter's guides) Step 3: Make a "test" garment t...

Sean M

I'm left with a raised eyebrow on this one. You mention artwork, are the subjects in said artwork in "proper" proportion? I understand fashions change over time, but the waistline has gone anywhere from just below the ribs to just above the hips with the natural waist line being at or just below th...

Sean M

I talk about it above as "Thursfield", thanks! I respect that by comparing her sketches of medieval art, sketches of how her patterns ought to look, and photos of completed garments, you can see where the problems are (for example, she usually places the waist lower than on the art she is working fr...

Sean M

That sounds like exactly the sort of thing I asked for, thank you! A book on any style can be useful as long as it talks about principles and spells out its assumptions.

Sean M

"Make All Sure" is still for sale. Some parts are a bit conservatorial ("wow, originally armour was mixed media, and that is really difficult to conserve!") but it has an essay on Bashford Dean and his private armourers with an enlightening before and after photo of a gauntlet from Chalcis, an essay...

Sean M

Thanks Don. I have been talking to one or two people about specific problems, and rereading my library on late 14th century clothing, which is why I asked for an overview to drafting patterns. I definitely think that tailors trained to make suit coats and uniform coats have some skills which people ...

Sean M

Have you tried to google "drafting a pattern". Another shot at pattern drafting is to look up The Cutters Practical Guide. Well, the NMSU and Threads articles came from teh Interwebs. But I am asking people who know this art to recommend an introduction, not a mindless algorithm which gives me 10,0...

Sean M

I know that this forum has more plate armourers than linen armours or brigandiniers. But can you recommend any resources on drafting and modifying patterns? There have to be rules of thumb for using measurements and simple geometry to sketch out shapes which can be refined by instinct or trial and e...

Sean M

Many of them are relatively light, and could easily have been worn with relatively little other armour. The decorated lower edges and no provision for suspension of fauld/tassets definitely imply that they probably ended at the waist. There isn't any reason that you couldn't put normal armour with ...

Sean M

One possible selling point that I forgot to mention: it has twelve pages on tents, with patterns for a one-pole round pavillion and a two-pole rectangular hall.

Sean M

I have been staring at the aventails ( camaglii if you want to be all Italian) on the Pistoia Altarpiece. They have some typical features for late 14th century aventails on bascinets, including an “oval” face opening which comes close to the corners of the eyes and the bottom lip. Churburg 13 and 15...

Sean M

Great pair of posts. It might be courteous to include Will McLean's take on the modern book and the original duel in the Further Reading. His point that modern novelists and popular historians often engage in just the sort of invention which ancient and medieval historians did is worth remembering w...

Sean M

A small, cheap bench mounted drill press would work fine, and be FAR faster than any punching method. Just stack 'em and drill 'em many at once. Just be sure to make liberal use of cutting fluid, to keep the bit nice and sharp. Yes, something with a drill press sounds like a great solution for some...

Sean M

Weren't tailors expected to be very good at estimating exactly how much they would need and cutting the cloth as efficiently as possible? Cloth was expensive, and if you asked for an extra half a yard per layer to be safe, your customer might chose the pourpontier down the street. I would certainly ...

Sean M

Basically you can't possibly see everything worth seeing in Italy if you live there for a lifetime and are independently wealthy and well-connected, but in almost any town which has not been mucked about with too badly you can't get bored either. Almost any town which was reasonably large in the mid...

Sean M

Signo wrote:Verona : Well, the nice part is pretty small, don't know of special museums to see, worth few hours there

If you are interested in the age of Chaucer and John Hawkwood and Bernabo Visconti and Fiore, Verona is certainly worth a few weeks.

Sean M

Nails in 0.9, 1.4, and 2.0 mm diameter are in the local hardware stores, so I will see how they work for Roman scales which tend to be very thin. For scales in the 0.5-1.0 mm range I am not so sure that they will take the necessary force without buckling, but fooling around can't hurt. Nails tend to...

Sean M

Have you thought about stacking them in a jig and gang drilling? Humh ... with a proper machine shop I can see that working. Something with a press and a custom punch and die set might also work. If I wanted to make a whole armour I would think of that, but for now I am just interested in some smal...

Sean M

I am thinking of playing around making some patches of small-plate armours such as scale and jack-of-plates. Making those styles of armour, especially the ancient ones, typically requires making a lot of holes 1-2 mm in diameter in thin (anywhere from filing-card-thin to ~1 mm) mild steel, brass, or...

Sean M

Dysentery exciting? I am sure that a modern MD equipped with a time machine could spend a whole career describing all the G-I infections which afflicted medieval camps. Even today, they can make good stories . Edit: Now that I think about it, stories about the dreaded GI give a whole new sense to "...

Sean M

Well, at least, I don't think that most medieval helmets were designed to be beaten on with clubs for a few hours every week for a decade or two without extensive repairs. A helmet for war was designed to deflect arrows, bolts, lances, and swords while being light enough to wear after a long campaig...

Sean M

Its also worth keeping in mind that SCA combat has different requirements than most types of historical combat. For example, SCA helmets with the regulation thickness of foam padding will often look bulky to an eye trained on 14th century artwork, but the right thickness of padding for your game is ...

Sean M

In appendix V of Fashion in the Age of the Black Prince , Stella Mary Newton englishes some lists of materials for upper garments in the Great Wardrobe Accounts of Edward III for 1343/4. Doublet for the king: Sindon, 1 ell Green longcloth, 2.5 ells (but same figure is given for two doublets) Linen o...

Sean M

Long boards all stretching in a parallel direction? Or some other arrangement? If the boards are all parallel, how do you get the spiral effect seen in the images? Is that from stitching pieces together to make the cover? Richard Underwood used three boards and five wedges of leather to make his sh...

Sean M

Wulfhere wrote:What did The Cutting Edge suggest?

Glued boards chiseled or adzed into a dome, with a sewn leather cover glued on, and a rawhide edge sewn on. Its based on Western European evidence but at least the period is right.

Re: Paltocks

Re: A vision of a dream - in progress, greaves

Re: A vision of a dream - in progress, greaves

Possible source for stamps for printing textiles

Re: Introductions to drafting and modifying patterns?

Re: "Mail Coifs - not as simple as they seem"

Re: "Mail Coifs - not as simple as they seem"

Re: Introductions to drafting and modifying patterns?

Re: Introductions to drafting and modifying patterns?

Re: Introductions to drafting and modifying patterns?

Re: Introductions to drafting and modifying patterns?

Re: Introductions to drafting and modifying patterns?

Re: Introductions to drafting and modifying patterns?

Re: Introductions to drafting and modifying patterns?

Re: Pubs by Int. Committee of Museums of Arms & Military His

Re: Introductions to drafting and modifying patterns?

Re: Introductions to drafting and modifying patterns?

Introductions to drafting and modifying patterns?

Re: Waistcoat Cuirass - rest of the kit?

Re: New book on sixteenth-century clothing (Drei Schnittbüch

Re: How to deal with maille around face-Aventail

Re: What Really Happened at the Last Duel?

Re: Punching Many Narrow Holes in Thin Metal

Re: Doublets and aketons in 1343/4

Re: What to see in Florence/Venice

Re: What to see in Florence/Venice

Re: Punching Many Narrow Holes in Thin Metal

Re: Punching Many Narrow Holes in Thin Metal

Punching Many Narrow Holes in Thin Metal

Re: Weights of these 14th-15th century helmets?

Re: Weights of these 14th-15th century helmets?

Re: Weights of these 14th-15th century helmets?

Doublets and aketons in 1343/4

Re: Byzantine shields

Re: Byzantine shields