The Armour Archive

Konstantin the Red

About any imaginable format got used at one time or another, from one shield either over the heart like a cop's badge or spread largely all over the chest, to powdering shields all over the surcoat and horse's trappings, to a display front, back and both shoulders, to piecing the entirety of the gar...

Konstantin the Red

Wolf, just remember that for any given century and nation, arming-garments would be padded, quilted versions of the fashionable garments of the day. Find a doublet you like, build it plain (at least one contemporary English authority in the slash-&-puff era found it necessary to mention that soldier...

Konstantin the Red

Lion, your blazon continues "...Or, passant guardant,wings erect."

Konstantin

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"Or, a pentaskelion of chevrons Vert, a barrulet vert"

Konstantin the Red

Indeed, Grimwar, with the exception of the power-tool idea, which is one I never thought of, so thanks! Joe, bevel the edges, then dye the leather, then slick the edges, and put the coat of sealer/shoe polish/beeswax on last. Wax will resist dye and keep it out of the leather. I definitely recommend...

Konstantin the Red

Nah, Ice, diplomacy is the art of finding a way to tell a fella to go to hell, so that he's looking forward to the trip.

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."

Konstantin the Red

Jason, I think we will need a more direct link. The link you give puts us on one single picture only, a depiction of the Holy Family.

Konstantin the Red

Here's how I do it, and it's just like they say on the directions. I prefer a rounded edge beveler -- I suppose a pedantically precise person would call it an "edge radiuser" -- to take the corners off the edge. I wet the edge with a damp sponge, and rub with the slicker, which gives the edge a glos...

Konstantin the Red

Another approach that's got a lot of people interested is to make the shirt's shoulders exactly like a mantle or camail -- a round top instead of a strap-&-squares top. Then the sleeves are tubes fastened to the edge of the round top and the body tube attaches to the round top front and rear, the re...

Konstantin the Red

Easier than you might expect, Ron. Put a triangular gusset in the armpit portion of your upper sleeve. The base of it will be as wide as the row of links under the open armpit on the body tube there; it sounds to me like you have closed the sleeves down around the armpit as tight as you can. Run the...

Konstantin the Red

Pics no workee, either here or at Arador.

Konstantin the Red

Works just fine for me -- Freiherr Elmer von Fudd came up just fine. That bascinet visor is that weird boofy-nosed variety that is all over Europe's manuscripts but doesn't seem to have any survivors in the metal. The hinge points seem offset upwards from the main body of the visor, and the cone of ...

Konstantin the Red

And if you're really in a rush to do it tonight, you can drill the holes and make it work, but your drill bits had best be plenty sharp.

Konstantin the Red

Many people like to use roofing nails for this. They are like small flat-head rivets once you clip the nail point off. Any shaft diameter between 3/16" and 1/8" will do well (5mm and 3mm+, if you are buying metric).

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."

Konstantin the Red

The other thing to do is get piano hinges -- hinge by the yard, saw 'em off by the inch -- saw off the bit you want and then go to town with files, drills, and swiss files to shape them until you have these real purty handmade looking hinges. For symmetry, close the hinge leaves until they lie on ea...

Konstantin the Red

Couter. No n. No problem.

No flutting, either.

Especially not in the kitchen, because your mom will probably make you mop it up.

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."

Konstantin the Red

Patri, you sound like a real candidate for a great bascinet -- after all, it works for that gentle out in Atenveldt. It's probably going to mean a custom order, though, as GB's aren't commonly found in the SCA. I gather one should not expect head mobility in this setup, though; about the only heads ...

Konstantin the Red

Or it's a strangely styled brigandine -- a brig would be contemporaneous with the 15th-c. harness on the other figure. The whole picture is very sketchy and fantastical-looking -- are we dealing with an illustration in a novel?

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."

Konstantin the Red

With 14-gauge galvanized, I'd go with either 5/16" or 3/8". Either will do for rattan combat and the 3/8 in particular will be lighter and more flexible.

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."

Konstantin the Red

Casein -- both glue and paint.

Konstantin the Red

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Stoffel: <B>Well lets see, I wear nearly full plate. In my current suit, <items 1-5 snipped> 6. Fell down a short flight of stairs. Ok, well that did kinda hurt, bot nothing se...

Konstantin the Red

Hal, I'm not following your description at all well, but no matter: here's a method that makes forehead and face plates in one, effectually making a five-plate barrel helm into a four-plate. A tall face plate is made and the sights cut in from either side with shear or reciprocating saw. The cut fro...

Konstantin the Red

An SCA spangenhelm is going to have extended nape plate coverage and broad cheek plates of a sort of post-Roman style. Sights and breathing are going to be bar-grill, no matter what, or at the very least some bar structural reinforcement if your cheek plates close up your helmet face to a Boba Fett ...

Konstantin the Red

This forum has held speculation that rebated blades were purpose-built and by the 16th century even boasted a specific, stepped configuration in plan to keep weight and balance similar to what sharp steel would have. If you just make the edges thick, the story goes, you end up with a lot more metal ...

Konstantin the Red

Edwin, those are called "cable ties." Electronics-industry thing.

Konstantin the Red

Or never mind the leather and have a strip of metal there with one edge perfed to take the mail rings. Neither flexibility nor removability seem to be criteria.

Konstantin the Red

Then it's time to let your fingers do the walking and find somebody who does heat-treatment. Since heat-treats are what they do for a living, you will get your desired results.

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."

Konstantin the Red

Many a great has been curved on a sliproller. You might want to dish the forehead and occiputal plates very slightly. Will you be using a flat top plate or will it have a crease?

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."

Konstantin the Red

Paint on the inside, Turtle Wax on the outside, and the finer the polish the more resistant it is to rust -- a smooth surface is less likely to trap water.

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."

Konstantin the Red

Curve it. Even three inches deep will help it balance on your arm. Kites were often curved much more -- to such depth that the enarmes probably were arranged for a vertical forearm. Width? Probably between 24 and 28 inches; 30 would be a bit much except in a very deep curve. Flat shields always try ...

Konstantin the Red

And there is the soft-hammer/hard anvil method. Slightly dish the metal, at least in its center, to get a start. Then set the metal on the face of an anvil or ASO and strike with a soft hammer at the part of the metal right next to the part that's touching the anvil. You are hammering at unsupported...

Konstantin the Red

It should also be pointed out that in my belted plaid-wearing experience, six yards of wool is nice and warm in dank weather -- and Scotland has a lot of dank weather -- and it's notably practical going through wet brush -- drapy fabric dries swiftly and does not cling to and chafe the legs. The pla...

Konstantin the Red

Some people here tell me it works a lot better with automobile-thickness sheet metal, which is considerably lighter than the 16 gauge we are typically trying to push around. You'd probably see the greatest success with 18 gauge such as for greaves or body armor. Of course, that also means shallow di...

Konstantin the Red

Pav, does or does not your beanie yet reach out to the corners of your head? In other words, does it cover the whole top of your head or what? That point or a couple rows before it is where you stop putting expansion links in.

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."

Konstantin the Red

He means a 14th-c. segmented breast. WHY he's bothering to execute it in leather at ten times the materials cost and one tenth the authenticity is the big question from this corner of the peanut gallery.

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."

Konstantin the Red

I replied to your post on Arador, m'sieu Gascoing. Bienvenu Ã l'Archive!

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."