The Armour Archive

Gaston de Clermont

Undoubtedly, that's Bertrand du Guesclin, the mastiff of Brittainy, now residing in the St. Denis Basilica, near Paris. Vive le Crapaud! m The sculptural style is suprisingly homogeneous within the basilica's collection, which would raise some question about when the pieces were executed. These are ...

Gaston de Clermont

It seems a number of sucessful fighting styles these days keep the hand further forward than the more traditional styles do. It's harder to link up with the legs as a power source that way, and it may really be a bit slower. The abruptness of the style and the extra defense of the sword might compen...

Gaston de Clermont

Is there any documentation about armour and weapons specifically for tournament in the 14th century? Steve A great general source Duke Finnvarr compiled from Froissart: m Specific examples: m -see the battle axe reference at the end m -again the battle-axe is used, though this time specifically on ...

Gaston de Clermont

Ceddie asked for criticisms. I loved this event, but in the spirit of making it better- I was suprised and slightly dissapointed that folks seemed to be accepting fairly light blows. I'm torn about doing the Deed in the fort. It provides a nice backdrop and contains the fighting but it also hides it...

Gaston de Clermont

Ingelri, Where do your swords typically mush first? You might be hitting lower on the blade than your friends, which can rock helms more. Are you targetting skin more than they are? Like Ceddie said, even a light stick can leave some nasty stripes on bare skin. Sometimes the light sticks leave uglie...

Gaston de Clermont

Geoffrey- there's something about the look of your helm that I just LOVE on a weird visceral level.
Gawin- total badass picture, man. I'm glad you were on my team!
Here's me at the Deed at Gulf War, leading off an English prisoner:

Gaston de Clermont

I'm in the red, black and white leading off a prisoner in the Deed at Gulf War.

Gaston de Clermont

I'm concerned folks are loosing site of what an authenticity Nazi looks like. It's not the authenticity that most folks really have the problem with, it's the mean attitude. Just being right about a subject (I fought in the deed, and I'm quite sure the weapons were pretty appropriate) doesn't give y...

Gaston de Clermont

Jehan's response made me chuckle, and while he's factually correct, uttering that phrase leaves you squarely holding the a-hole ball. Instead we should try to share our knowledge and enthusiasm for the era, and guide folks who are missing key information. Think of it like being a missionary- you cou...

Gaston de Clermont

I believe the effigy to be a bit later than his death date. You cite his death at 1361, but the armor style looks rather more 1375-1380 to me. In particular, the hourglass gaunts he wears I'd put at post 1375 most likely, and certainly no earlier than 1370 (at least in that form). It may be a bit l...

Gaston de Clermont

Great rig! You might be able to elongate your torso by moving your belts either up to just under the ribs (along with shifting the breastplate up) or down to below your hips. Or you could do a double belt kind of thing like St. George here. I'm struggling with justifying the exposed plate look in my...

Gaston de Clermont

Are you looking for music used on the battlefield, or songs about deeds of battle? Some of the latter can be found here: m m The link is kind of a wussy arragement, but you get some idea from it. I've seen a number of illuminations of horns and shawms used in tournament processions, but haven't seen...

Gaston de Clermont

You rock, JP! Is there someone in Glen Abhenn we have to bribe to make this happen? I'm willing to sacrifice a keg of cider for the cause.

Gaston de Clermont

Could folks shout out about where laminated (rattan on rattan) poles are legal? They're not kosher here, and it's pretty anoying. I had to make a floppy headed thing for Gulf War and it still nearly got bounced.

Gaston de Clermont

Beautiful pictures!
De Calmont- as you have almost impeccible taste in names, I'm happy to help you out with gear. This is even more fun to do than the pictures would have you believe. The bald guy with the ear to ear grin in the photos? That's me.

Gaston de Clermont

Spearweasel- it was nice getting to hang out with you a bit more this war too. With the bands of hail on the radar and the neglected families at home, Aedinius Sextus Maximus and I won't be going to practice today.

Gaston de Clermont

I had an absolute blast! It was a good crew to fight with and against. Folks looked very spiffy. I'm really looking forward to all the pictures. I have so many things to improve for next year- cased greaves, sabatons, better gauntlets, better maile , a nicer surcoat, more interesting ransoms...

Gaston de Clermont

Oh- I first met Roisin at Maelgwyn's chivalry discussion, and she made a good impression. It was fun to get to sing "Born on the List Field" with knights from all over the known world when her knighting was announced.

Gaston de Clermont

Audax (Martel) couldn't make it this year. She had to attend a training thing for work which means a big raise, and couldn't really pass it up. I was kind of bummed about her not going, since I was looking forward to thwarting her attackers. My big memories- Squiring Aedinius. Watching him do very w...

Gaston de Clermont

Klaus - I can see that if a piece is heat treated it would make you less likely to hack it up. It's harder on your tools, and it might crack. But I do little trims and adjustments to finished and fired pieces fairly often. It fixes cases where the wearer says "This is pretty good, but it would ...

Gaston de Clermont

Sure- So you've got a little challenge: to find a way to protect the crook of the arm. You can either flare the top of the vambrace and curl it over, which thins the metal, or add a little lame on, which doesn't thin it. If you've spent a few hours shaping the vambrace you might want to avoid any ri...

Gaston de Clermont

St. George

Gaston de Clermont

The Churburg #13 arms have a roll at the inner elbow that's not closed- it's not as exaggerated as the ones in the Met. One of them is cracked. With thin metal it's a bit of a tricky roll since you're stretching the metal so much. Using a separate lame keeps you from screwing up all the harder shapi...

Gaston de Clermont

Maybe I should start a religion, though... Deanism. Where the churches are made out of bits and pieces of other churches... It's weird how that sounds like the Cloisters in Harlem. Notice the hinges on the Musee de L'Armee arm are almost exactly the same as the copless vambrace next to the red velv...

Gaston de Clermont

Depending on the exact look you want you might be happy with tossing them in a kiln or propane forge. It can turn stainless to a nice even pencil lead grey. I'm not sure how long the finish will last you if the gaunlets are used often, but it's easy enough to redo.

Gaston de Clermont

Dr. Strong's dead on here, there's a steel loop around the buckle attaching it to the vambrace. If it were a roller buckle the roller would be on the other side of the buckle's frame. The buckle in the crook of the elbow is attached to the cop by a leather strap, and there are two attachment holes i...

Gaston de Clermont

The other dead giveaway is the placement of the straps. On 14th century armour (and very early 15th) the strap typically begins on the inside of the plate, passes through a slot to the outside. The Chartres arms are the most famous example of this. Like in the attached image? It's the same arm. The...

Gaston de Clermont

Doug, how can you be so sure? It's not like curators are never wrong, but unless it was found burried on top of a printing press, how can you know it's 15th century? What evidence are you seeing that it's composite?

Gaston de Clermont

MusÃ©e de L'Armee, Paris, previously discussed on the Archive. Probably early 15th century. The exhibit curators say it's late 14th century. If they're correct, it's earliest piece I know of with a lame on the inner arm. I recently finished a reproduction of it, and that lame works quite well. Ther...

Gaston de Clermont

Where are the buckles on your breastplate straps? Are they on the straps attached to the sides under your arms, or to the straps attached at the top of your shoulders? How far away is the buckle from where the strap is mounted? What is your opinion as to the best buckle placement? Mine are attached...

Gaston de Clermont

You have TOMAR- Inside there's a picture of the interior of one of the Churburg #13 arms showing slot articulation in the lame attaching to the vambrace. It's not exactly what Drew described, but it might give you some confidence to explore slots a bit. When I mispunch a hole, and yes, it happens ev...

Gaston de Clermont

I'm curious why it's "Blacksmithery" and "Equestrian" instead of blacksmithing and riding though... Equestrian denotes the use of a horse.... You can ride a number of things... Plus Equestrian is the right word to use! My point really is that the rest of the list are verbs, and ...

Gaston de Clermont

The studs on the cuisse (leg) are a nice touch . Did you make them?
It looks like there's a serious Renaissance going on in armour in Italy. I have to wonder what's driving that.

Gaston de Clermont

I feel a deeper cop makes the articulation easier, since you're getting so much of the bend from the cop itself. It looks to me that your lames are a bit too deep. Too much curve will push the lame away from the cop, creating gaps. A little curve gives you a few more degrees of bend from the joint. ...

Gaston de Clermont

Klaus, you raise an interesting point. I wonder if a lot of our pain in replacing rivets is caused by how we generally create the holes in the first place. If the holes were all made with a tapered punch, as I picture most period armouers using, then the hole would naturally be tapered too. It's ess...

Re: Churburg 14 breastplate strapping & buckles