The Armour Archive

Klaus the Red

I may not be in Bob Reed's class of knowledgable in these matters, but I know a fifteenth-century brigandine when I see it. Bourcher is absolutely wrong.

Klaus the Red

I question whether the Romace of Alexander images are meant to show plates on the outside. I think these are supposed to be covered in red fabric with silvered/tinned nailheads, and the black lines are simply emphasizing the shapes of the plates beneath, esp. in the second case, where you can see th...

Klaus the Red

The misericord, ie, to "give relief," in this case is a small ledge placed in the back of a choir stall that allowed a monk to sit back slightly and take some weight off his feet during long stretches of standing during services. The carving is underneath.

Klaus the Red

brigandine that was supposed to have been worn by Philippe le Bel (d1314)

Patently impossible. At best, he might have had an early coat-of-plates- the brigandine per se did not begin to evolve until much later in the 14th century. And that illumination is late 15th.

Klaus

Klaus the Red

Thankee.

Klaus the Red

Jehan, apologies if this was already asked and answered somewhere: do you have a Word doc or PDF somewhere of the latest draft of the event guidelines? I'd like to print out the updated info for some light reading and guidance for preparing my own personal kit checklist, but I'd as soon avoid sloggi...

Klaus the Red

That's the "Screaming Viking" look! I think there's a vertical bar across the mouth.

K

Klaus the Red

Whoops. Hebrides=Scotland... duh.

I think he's talking about making molds from already-licensed reproduction pieces.

Klaus the Red

Heh, that's too funny... I was just this very moment thinking about how to make a chinstrap work over a camail, and recalling that same thread and wondering how you did it... it's the Psychic Armorers Network! Are you talking about a single mostly-vertical strap as opposed to the cross-strapped "par...

Klaus the Red

Hey, like I said... arming-coat-of-the-month club! I'll be able to take measurements off your pourpoint pattern for any civilian wear, but I'll need new measurments over armor for any surcoats. Let's talk after I've cleared out my backlog.

Klaus the Red

That is a damn fine answer to the "SCA" question, and beautiful lines to boot!

...and the helmet is nice, too.

Klaus

Klaus the Red

For anyone who's successfully fought in SCA combat in a great helm over visorless bascinet- if such a thing is possible- how did you strap down the heaume to the satisfaction of the marshals? I'm assuming a chinstrap won't work if the bascinet has a camail in the way.

Klaus

Klaus the Red

That answers that. I will post the question separately and see what turns up.

Klaus the Red

Murdock, e-mail or PM me with your wish list and I'll try to be your extra set of eyes when interesting kit pops up.

Klaus

Klaus the Red

Hey Murdock- if you fought in a great helm over a visorless bascinet, how did you secure it to the satsfaction of the marshalls?

Klaus

Klaus the Red

You have pairs of eyelets sewn into the sleeves of the coat just below the shoulder for the arms, and along the peplum at the front of the hips for the legs, and then you lace the arm or leg harness to the coat through a leather attachment tab at the top of the rerebrace or cuisse, respectively. Klaus

Klaus the Red

after Crossroads in Time, some articles are going to have some character. And if I bring some stuff to sell, no doubt some characters will have some articles at the end, too. I think the difference between the mindset of this event and that of Pennsic, say, echoes a passage from Andy McNab's memoir...

Klaus the Red

See Jeff Wasson. He's been jonesing for another commission for a complete harness.

Klaus the Red

Most of them are in the British Museum, and I think a couple might be in Dublin somewhere.

Klaus the Red

I should have known Marla had the gift of gab.

Klaus the Red

Yep, that appears to be the one I saw- it does look earlier than 14th century what with the conical helmets with nasals, but it's a nice change since the Lewis set seem to be everywhere.

K

Klaus the Red

That's the gabardine, I presume? It sounds as though it doesn't hold up well to being stretched in two directions at once on the bias, whereas single-leg chausses are only pulling in one direction.

Klaus the Red

Which type of fabric were you experiencing the blow-out problems with? And do you know if they will send swatches?

Klaus the Red

This is not real silk, it showed up on one of my lists a while back and someone there bought some and said it is acetate.

Sorry, which product were you referring to?

Klaus the Red

"Which ISO standard?"

The "I'm-sick-of-looking-and-need-my-friends-to-bail-me-out" standard.

James, is the B. Black wool suitable for summer wear? I don't need Danskin-tight thin but I'd as soon not dress people in blanket wool.

K

Klaus the Red

..and by my reckoning, you only need about a yard to do a corazina.

Klaus the Red

Nick, you found a source for silk velvet? Nah, just caught a lucky break on the one piece. It's definitely upholstery-weight which is just what I need for my brig. I haven't seen any more since, from this seller or anyone else. If, however, you're in the market for Scalamandre's silk brocades or da...

Klaus the Red

Nice- I'm getting some swatches. They're a little on the high side, though, so I might have to raise some prices.

Klaus the Red

Over at another supplier, I saw 28% rayon (the backing, I assume) and 72% silk velvet advertised for the same price, so that's probably what we're looking at here.

Klaus the Red

I'd say at $20 a yard, if it's got even partial silk content, it's worth covering a general-purpose SCA body armor with. If it's plastic-backed, it's probably not something you want to make into a fully torso-enclosing garment for reasons of heat.

Klaus the Red

Regarding wear and tear, our gear will receive honorable use and adopt the signs of it. Indeed. Spotless kit is for advertising glossies and A&S competitions. Real life is dirty, and the 14th century doubly so. If this event took place tomorrow, I wouldn't wear my new arming coat to it; I'd want to...

Klaus the Red

Also makes a great severed head outside your camp.

Klaus

Klaus the Red

As for pics, at the very end a lot of stuff will be used up, wrecked, dirty ect.

Baptism by fire! If something is utterly destroyed at the end of a week, it probably wasn't done right. (As you and I both know, of late.)

K

Klaus the Red

I am looking for a reliable online supplier for medium-to-lightweight wool suitable for bias-cut hose (twill, etc), particularly in bright and hard-to-get medieval colors like primary blue and yellow. (I say "reliable" because I've purchased from fashionfabricsclub.com a substance advertised as 100%...

Klaus the Red

The price tag alone tells me they're blowing smoke out their ass- either that or they've been hoodwinked by their wholesaler and just don't know the difference. If anything, it's probably a silk pile on a plastic backing. I paid about $120 for a two-yard piece of the genuine article--Scalamandre sil...

Heaume over bascinet

ISO source for hose-weight wool