The Armour Archive

Sean M

There are some famous mid-15th century paintings which show the breeches between the legs, like Giovanni di Ser Giovanni, “The Game of Civettino" from the 1440s. I think that some people have them in the back of their minds. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Lo_scheggia,_desco_da_p...

Sean M

Also ... one of the basic engineering issues is that the small-of-back-to-back-of-knee line gets longer as we raise our knees. Hosen which cover the butt standing will tend to expose it as we mount a horse, drop into a fighting crouch, or do anything else other than stand upright. This is why 'plumb...

Sean M

As usual, sound advice Mac. Ive spent some hours browsing frescos and miniatures and the earliest joined hose to date I can currently find is 1380's. There's more digging to do but, in the meantime ive found some nice examples of BCSH. Both examples would work with the CDBP center rear pointing loc...

Sean M

I'm not super happy with wire for sewing these one. They are very stiff and behave sort of odd. Yeah, type the Cyrillic into Google translate if you want, but the lacing (not even through all the holes!) says "restoration" to me. There are probably already some helpful tags on Manuscript Miniatures...

Sean M

One post in viewtopic.php?f=1&t=174655&p=2667934 has Mac's rough-and-ready typology of gauntlet fingers, with a focus on hourglass gauntlets

Sean M

Ukrainian? - https://i.pinimg.com/564x/3b/b4/e8/3bb4e80499f20587b7cb7b89a10a0e4b.jpg Do we have any background with regard the top armour? Region/date/additional images? Nicolle, Medieval Warfare Sourcebook Vol. 2 page 115 has "A 13th or 14th century Russian Kujak or scale cuirass. ... State Histor...

Sean M

I want to get some scale gaunts and chausses made. I have written evidence for both... wish I had visual. Any of you fine people tried these before? RPM Ernst (Legend of St. Dennis mittens) and Russ (Prague St. George sleeves) have made armour for the limbs of tiny scales, but I think they both sew...

Sean M

A.S.H. Armour Services Historical celebrated its 10th anniversary sometime after March 2018, and held a 10% off sale at TORM to celebrate. He focuses on 15th century brigandines. Erik D. Schmid on his first career as a haubergier: What began in college as a slight interest would later evolve into a ...

Sean M

And here is Tasha's essay on how to design extremely baggy sleeves http://cottesimple.com/tailoring-2/bag- ... tailoring/

And Charlotte J's https://web.archive.org/web/20160206061 ... nde-sleeve

Sean M

I guess we are really dependent on the few academics who pick a topic and write a 'book for reconstuctors.' Maybe one day the Dutch will find a site with a few dozen gloves, and an 'Archaeological Leather Group' kind of person will write a PhD on them.

Sean M

Medieval gloves are one of the last frontiers. There are very few glovers out there, and I have yet to see any modern work that has the right construction overall. Unless someone wants to devote themselves to filling that niche, we must take what we can get. Mac When I was deciding to just go with ...

Sean M

It has come to my attention that in April of 2017, six years after Murdock acquired Revival Enterprises, the domain revival.us was renewed with the following information : Brian Price Revival Enterprises 3305 Mayfair Lane, Highland Village, Texas, 75077, USA Phone: +1.7084341251 Fax: +1.9784184774 E...

Sean M

In my search for books which talk about how to design clothing, not give a list of recipes which they may or may not have tried out, I discovered Kathleen Fasanella, the owner of a small ready-to-wear factory in California with a book and a blog. Posts like My Favourite pattern Drafting Books and a ...

Sean M

Old topic I know, but wouldn't the central rear pointing location on the CdB pourpoint indicate joined hose? It is possible however for BCSH to have, at the rear edge, a single eyelet to allow the hose to be tied together at the very top (via the central rear pointing location) This would give the ...

Sean M

Aaron wrote:Maybe we could see a real artifact next to the fake?

That would be a great project for a third person with digital editing skills, but by writing so much and posting a photo of the fake next to photos of the helmets that inspired it, he has already been very generous with his time!

Sean M

I am not responsible for any reenactment of the RED WINE scene in the Paris Tacuinum . This image just came across my pinterest feed. Sisera's cloak retains its folds right up to the neck, even when it is being used as a blanket. That's either artistic license, or evidence for some sort of formal ga...

Sean M

There are cloaks of the same general length with an open right side and fastenings along the right shoulder: https://bookandsword.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/altichiero_padua_st_george_presenting_raimondino_lupi.png I wonder whether they were cut like a 'Bocksten' or as an oval? An oval cut might le...

Sean M

It might be that both glue and wet leather are overkill and either provides enough firmness by itself. I could check the reports, but I don't know of source for moistening the leather before stretching it over the slats and sewing it. It would be great for someone who has handled several early scabb...

Sean M

Mac, I don't grok Pinterest, and I think that you have to accept that on a site like that, unscholarly people are not going to be scholarly. 20 years ago they were passing around redrawings of redrawings of medieval art in books, today they have photos on social media. Most people just want somethin...

Sean M

Today I had a look at the right sleeve. The lining is still one unit, the facing and interlining with the back seam incomplete are another, and everything is crumpled. A bit of work with the iron and they look better, but the other sleeve will be some work! In particular, I have to take in the wrist...

Sean M

Mac, an advantage of the style of quilting in the Wallace liner is that it does not require a quilting frame. Garments 'made twice' on a frame like the Charles VI coat required a bulky tool which not everyone had. By the 15th century there were two families of guilds which made quilted things and I ...

Sean M

I think that this picture shows why this cut was popular in the 16th century: https://bookandsword.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/p1000696_four_panel_gown_scraps_facing.jpg?w=576&h=768 Those are the leftovers from 2.70 x 1.40 metres of wine-red wool. It is good to know that tailoring cost about 10% as ...

Sean M

Ah! I see.... the neck opening is too wide to keep the garment centered on your body. That's a surprising result of a seemingly small thing. Mac Hi Mac, that is counterintuitive but could be. The collar seam is 2 x 26 cm long, and my neck is 38 cm. As noted, the collar does not want to close. It co...

Sean M

Hi Mac! When I put my hand on my hip, I pulled the gown on that side forward a bit. That could be the explanation. Both back panels and both front panels were cut on the fold so the lengths -should- be the same, and when I fold it lining-to-lining along the back seam and lay it facing-up on the floo...

Sean M

The light is wrong for photography, but just to show that this is finished: https://bookandsword.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/p1000844_three_yard_gown_closed_left_cropped.jpg?w=430&h=783 https://bookandsword.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/p1000833_three_yard_gown_open_back_cropped.jpg?w=500&h=862 Things...

Sean M

18 out of 19 buttonholes on the left sleeve are cut and sewed, and about a third of the buttons are in place. I need to find another 20 m roll of the white buttonhole floss ... I think I have one or two more in my sewing kit. https://bookandsword.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/p1000830-e1523481409538.j...

Sean M

Hi Mac! If you are going to stuff many helmets, don't forget Jessica Finley's 'rolls of bowed cotton' approach. That might work better than stuffing the cotton lengthwise, since I think you really want to compress it along the radius of each channel. http://cottesimple.com/pourpoint-of-charles-vi/ch...

Sean M

It might be worth dropping in a link to the thread on Carol van Driel-Murray's new article which turned into musings about suspensions http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=187300 For some reason, there is lots of "late 14th century style" armour and clothing around, but very fe...

Sean M

Sean, Your research is outstanding. Hi Harry, I hope I get a chance to translate the French sources sometime! The most important bit is that they keep saying calfskin over beechwood, then in 1565 they start to talk about a layer of linen in between. Lining scabbards with fur or wool seems practical...

Sean M

I can't think of any suitable container which is at least 90 cm long and costs under 20 Euros. I think a length of PVC tube with a cap to close the bottom, filled from a tea kettle or two. I think the people who do shaker boxes don't have the water at a vigorous boil. A gentle poaching seems to do ...

Sean M

I forgot two important materials: oil or tallow to treat the swordblade before wrapping it in damp wood and leather and leaving it overnight, and bandages or clamps to hold the wood in place while it sets/while you see if the dugout is shaped right. Mac has had more success with 3 in 1 oil than tal...

Sean M

Hi John, humn, that seems like it could be a great solution for people with more space (say a bathtub or a house with some big, long storage boxes). I can't think of any suitable container which is at least 90 cm long and costs under 20 Euros. I have the kind of kitchen you'd expect in a studio apar...

Sean M

About half the buttonholes are finished and buttons are attached to the left sleeve. I notice that the delicate lining wants to slip away from the buttonhole stitch as I work it from the right side. Running a stitch around the holes through all three layers could be a good solution, even though I ca...

Sean M

For medieval events I will make a scabbard for my A&A Spada di Zogho. A scabbard is quick, cheap, and does not require many tools or expensive materials, and I don't know anyone who make scabbards with the typical late-14th-century suspension. Some of Datini's pairs of swords for fencing in the 1360...

Sean M

Mac, if the contrast is good the ImageMagicks and Photoshops of the world will outline a particular element for you ... but I don't know how, or at least not well enough to give a tutorial. LibreOffice's tutorials are not the greatest ... too many programs have some kind of online FAQ instead of a p...

Re: Avoiding the 'Diaper' Look

Re: Avoiding the 'Diaper' Look

Re: Avoiding the 'Diaper' Look

Re: Medieval Scale Armour

Re: Links To Important/Useful Threads In This Forum

Re: Medieval Scale Armour

Re: Medieval Scale Armour

Re: Armouring As A Career

Re: Surcote pattern

Re: Mac's blog

Re: Mac's blog

Re: Chivalry Bookshelf-Author Resolution,or "Don't Buy My Bo

Principles of Tailoring

Re: Avoiding the 'Diaper' Look

Re: Ludicrous Fakes

Re: Short Pleated Cloaks

Re: Short Pleated Cloaks

Re: 1360s Scabbard Project

Re: Ludicrous Fakes

Re: A doublet of white linen

Re: Mac's blog

Re: A Four-Panel Gown

Re: A Four-Panel Gown

Re: A Four-Panel Gown

Re: A Four-Panel Gown

Re: A doublet of white linen

Re: Mac's blog

Re: 1360s Scabbard Project

Re: 1360s Scabbard Project

Re: 1360s Scabbard Project

Re: 1360s Scabbard Project

Re: 1360s Scabbard Project

Re: A doublet of white linen

1360s Scabbard Project

Re: Mac's blog