The Armour Archive

Gaston de Clermont

Your grace there's some dissonance for me between what you said about manipulating shields with your body and what I'm seeing around the 3 minute mark here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg_2t-sXov8
Could you explain your take on that?

Gaston de Clermont

That's awesome wrapped in a spring steel blanket of awesome right there.

Gaston de Clermont

Awesome! Alden rocks.

Gaston de Clermont

I like flax fibres. It seems like pretty much anything is more comfortable than blue foam.

Gaston de Clermont

Jeff- the php bit of your site link isn't working for me. Just this works fine:
http://www.wassonartistry.com
The pretty brunette with the short hair on his site is Jeff's wife, Stacy.

Gaston de Clermont

I use roofing nails for the vast majority of what I do, and I pein on the outside almost all the time. It's way easier once you get the nack, they're lighter and tougher than brass rivets and they pretty much never fail me. For the era I focus on they look more correct than a big domed head too.

Gaston de Clermont

I'd really like to meet you too, but since I just got a new job in January, I can't go to Gulf War this year. I'm going to try to convince my wife that Pennsic is OK.

Gaston de Clermont

The US Navy developed something along the same lines called Fluid Film. It does a pretty good job and it smells nice. Well, it's nice if you like the smell of damp sheep.

Gaston de Clermont

6oz is generally about right for spaulders, though with good quality leather you can go a bit lighter. 8oz is about what most modern belts are made of.

Gaston de Clermont

I honestly haven't tried raising 410 it should work. You might have to anneal it a bit more often than 1050 or 4130, but since you've got a solid heat source there it shouldn't be a problem. I hate how long polishing can take! I've noticed with 410 it can help cut the time down a lot if you start wi...

Gaston de Clermont

Did you raise the elbows or weld them? They look nice either way. You're doing some great polishing work.

Gaston de Clermont

Good job dropping 60 pounds! That takes a lot of will power. These deeds of arms can be exhausting, so getting in the best shape you can makes a world of difference. Fighting in your kit, particularly in the helm you're going to be wearing helps a lot too. You can tell who does it regularly and who'...

Gaston de Clermont

The Cistercians were founded near Dijon, the capital of Burgundy, and they're the mourners in the Valois dukes tombs. It makes them extra bad ass in my book. It's so nice to stumble across a couple of my favorite folks talking about my favorite monks. I wonder if there's any direct link between the ...

Gaston de Clermont

Philippe- Your kit looks good! The surcoat really makes it pop well. Consider wearing the belt at the base of the breast plate or lower on your hips. I know most plaque belts would be worn about where you have it or lower, but it's giving you a bit of a roll in the middle, which isn't the look they ...

Gaston de Clermont

Greaves of some sort are pretty key to an accurate portrayal of this time period. Even a frontal gutter greave makes a kit a lot better. I'll toss some hopefully interesting and relevantl links at this thread from my blog. The persona I've been researching is Burgundian from 1396, but I've been look...

Gaston de Clermont

Do you have the soup can knees squared away yet? I could make you a pair in spring steel in trade for a banner.

Gaston de Clermont

I agree. The shape of the knees and the roll at the top of the cuisse are good too.

Gaston de Clermont

My avantail used to be about that length. I took a couple inches off it and I've been pretty happy about it. It really depends on exactly what you're trying to reproduce and what's protecting your neck though. It seems rare to me to find that much maile in the 2nd half of the 14th century without a ...

Gaston de Clermont

What's your head made of? The hard rubber heads are heavy enough that they can make even a fairly stout pole look whippy. Also consider how you're using it. If your hands are far from the striking surface the rattan will flex between your more forward hand and your opponent to the point where they m...

Gaston de Clermont

We've done both. The school has a strong enough draw to get folks to drive a couple hours to fight at them on a week night, so the regular practices have large numbers and high quality turn out. The school has been run on Sundays of some events too and done pretty well. Doing some more formal pick u...

Gaston de Clermont

It's beautiful work. I think if you made a bevor to go with it the piece might sell faster.

Gaston de Clermont

Sure Gryf. Our Knight School was started by Sir Giotto. It has a little of the flavor of an Altantian speed tourney, but with the sides being intentionally imbalanced and more instruction. Here's how we typically run them: The knight line up on one side of our field with enough space between them fo...

Gaston de Clermont

I submit Dukes Lucan and Logan

Gaston de Clermont

A lot of the Osprey books are artist interpretations of original pieces. Maybe we could help you figure out what that drawing is based on? I

f the thigh protection is hidden it may not matter a lot what you used for armour there.

Gaston de Clermont

The padded collar might not be enough if it's not particularly rigid, but for padding for the joints it's relatively rare for marshals to really hastle you as long as you have something there. I do recommend having some padding even if your armour fits you very well- things shift in the fight.

Gaston de Clermont

You're starting with a good question, but might I suggest a different approach? Find an effigy, statue, or illumination and do your best to copy it as exactly as you can. It's even better if you can find other pieces from that era to help you fill in the gaps and average out some of the oddities, bu...

Gaston de Clermont

The Knight School Coenred mentioned was started in my barony, and I agree, it works quite well. It's been a good draw for many knights and unbelts we don't see at regular practices whether we run it on week nights or on Sundays of events. The feedback portion is particularly valuable. The class-like...

Gaston de Clermont

6 Layers of linen may be sufficient, but it's a bit subjective. I'd be checking how deep the elbow cops are. If they're fairly deep it's difficult to break your elbow from a collsion with the cop, assuming it's not floated to a strange position. If the cop is shallow, you might want more padding as ...

Gaston de Clermont

The ankle bit of these is tough to planish since there aren't many shapes which match what you want very closely. You might have some success planishing from the inside. Take a cheapo ball pein and re-shape it to the curve you need, place the outside of the piece on an anvil face and tap away. Use y...

Gaston de Clermont

My barony's war company could use a great banner, and I'd be willing to trade some steel bits for it. Could you point me to some images of your work, and give me some more details about what armour you're looking for? Maybe an illumination or effigy you're looking to copy?

Gaston de Clermont

I sewed mine in, so Sextus' constraints on the puzzle are a bit different. For the guys who've done velcro, did you put a strip along the forehead? My biggest concern is it shifting there and letting an eyebrow get gashed open, or blocking your vision.

Gaston de Clermont

The triangular embossing is also seen in the Churburg #13 arms, which are late 14th century Italian manufacture. I'd expect most arms of this time to use hard articulation. The Italians were exporting armour in this era so I wouldn't say you have to be Italian to wear it.

Gaston de Clermont

I like the look of these. How do you wash them? Do they impart any taste to the beverage they hold?

Gaston de Clermont

Dead sexeh!

Gaston de Clermont

All that said, make sure your kit's in good shape and your weapons are beyond legal. I've never gone through a Gulf War inspection without getting something bounced, but rarely had trouble anywhere else.