The Armour Archive

Klaus the Red

Um... that was lame. (da DUMbum.)

Klaus the Red

He is on the Archive, if a fairly recent convert. Barring Jeff, I can't say enough nice things about the work of Adam Berry of White Mountain Armory, a sentiment echoed by more folks than I can count. One of the best helmsmiths out there, period. Only problem is he's probably got back orders up the ...

Klaus the Red

Its probably worth pointing out Adam that 14th century to early 15th century faulds appear to be purely leather articulated... Au contraire- you're forgetting the fabric-covered ones. The velvet-covered BP with fauld in Munich "underlaps," because the lames are riveted to the fabric at the top edge...

Klaus the Red

I highly recommend talking to Geoffrey the Younger (Jeff Wasson). I don't know if he's made that particular style before, but he's certainly capable and hasn't much of a backlog at last report.

http://www.wassonartistry.com

Klaus

Klaus the Red

I'm fixin' to reprint and bind my PDFs of Boccia's and ffoulkes' articles on the Chalcis find for my library, along with my motley collection of photos of said items. I'm hoping someone can clear this up for me: exactly which items in the 14th century/Bashford Dean corner of the Met's armor wing are...

Klaus the Red

Yeah, but there are more greivous armor errors in Ashdown than there were in The 13th Warrior...

Klaus the Red

Here's Gottfried.

Klaus the Red

PM me, I just had dinner with an armorer friend who has expressed interest in taking on your commission in exchange for the Churburg volume... I don't stand to get anything out of the deal except the satisfaction of finding a good home for the merchandise.

Klaus the Red

Shameless self-promotion! (My site is still in progress and the images up on it currently are a little old- my work has gotten much better since I made those various items, IMHO.)

Klaus

Klaus the Red

Hmmm. I've been doing successful garb-for-armor deals lately so I've half a mind to try to arrange some sort of three-way swap, but that may prove to be too complicated. Just for the hell of it, though, what style of legs and sallet are you interested in? Do you have specific historic examples you'r...

Klaus the Red

I still have my original copy.

Would consider trades for armour- 15th C. legs and helm (sallet) are what I need to finish my kit.

I don't suppose I could interest you in a hand-sewn arming coat?

Klaus

Klaus the Red

I'm inclined to agree since, compared to the collar on the fellow in the brigandine, that man's collar is rather floppy, appears unlined and matches his sleeves.

Klaus the Red

The earliest mention I'd heard of before for dating standards was for the late 1360s. I've got this beat (if this is a standard and not an integral collar) with the effigy of Gottfried von Bergheim, died 1335. The image is from Bildindex.de, and the original image is too big to post so I'll try to ...

Klaus the Red

I can't add anything to the sage advice above, save that you can take comfort in the fact that the medieval armorers also made mistakes and probably punched multiple holes before they got it right. The Italian leg in the RA no. AI 23/224 (in the back of Osprey's English Knight 1300-1400 ) appears to...

Klaus the Red

I was under the impression that the original difference between a coat and jacket was length, since Jacket comes from Jack, ie, "Jacques," the common man who wore a short working garment- as opposed to the nobleman who wore a longer coat/robe. Which of course makes no sense when applied to the short...

Klaus the Red

That's the critical bit. I recommend making a good suspension visor that you can adjust to have the helmet ride higher or lower on your head to line up with the oculars. Then remember that period width oculars, by their very nature, suck.

Klaus the Red

Not bad. The proportions are a little squat- I think the pivot arms should be a little thinner and go back farther. The vervelles line is supposed to take a 45 degree turn and continue up to the upper corner of the face opening- ie, under the visor- not stop at the bottom corner. NB, all these comme...

Klaus the Red

That's Beathan's work, then? It looks very similar to those made by the Moore brothers (and I suspect they might all have adapted their designs from Craig Nadler's pattern here- http://www.bladeturner.com/pattern/klapp_visor_bascinet/klapp_visor_bascinet.html ). I have a Lewis Moore helmet myself. I...

Klaus the Red

By the way de Grey's left arm is turned, it does look as though the rerebrace does not connect directly to the cop. This is something you see a lot more prominently in some German effigies, with the rerebrace really floating above the elbow. I have fought with a reasonable level of comfort in arm ha...

Klaus the Red

Yeah, I was looking at that one yesterday myself. I've done some experimenting with a civilian version of the Charles de Blois and found that interlining and quilting the peplum alone helps stiffen it against the dragging effect of hose points. There's also a detail of a painting I sketched from the...

Klaus the Red

We could take a page from Prince's book and introduce a system of unpronounceable hieroglyphics, like emoticons in the form of little stylized yet easily identifiable drawings of garments of different types so there's no confusion about what kind of item we mean...

Klaus the Red

In a nutshell, I do believe neither in "riding light" armour nor in the lightness of a substantial arming garment. Especially because in most cases that I am aware of, when high rank people ( like, for example, Tyrolian counts ) are depicted wearing one, the hem of a maille shirt is protruding from...

Klaus the Red

My gut tells me that visor's a little on the SCAdian side to be authentic- large and overventilated. It's approaching the proportions of the 15th century great bascinet visor Konstantin just described. The 14th century round nose tended to be much more compact, round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes no...

Klaus the Red

I'm sorry, that's my error. I said "Revival" when I meant "Historic Enterprises." Apologies for the confusion. I knew exactly what I wanted to say and it got lost on the way to the keyboard.

Klaus the Red

I've have not seen this belt of eyelets on any of their gambesons. They actually show the pourpoint under the gambeson. There are two photos right on their site, under "arming garments" (and they have only this one item), of two different gentlemen wearing the coat, one in black, one in red. One fe...

Klaus the Red

Since there are no substantial differences that I can see between full leg harness of 1380-90 and that of 1420-30, I can't think of any reason the suspension system should change radically. A foundation garment is a foundation garment, even if the cut changes a bit over 40 years. As to the armorer w...

Klaus the Red

Mm, I second that.

Klaus the Red

VERVELLES.
More vervelles.
Gothic scabbard chapes and throats (my sword is feeling nekkid).
My badge of a boar passant in belt mount and livery pin form.
Gadlings and decorative back-of-hand ribs for hourglass gauntlets.
Did I mention vervelles?

Klaus the Red

Sorry, that's the sense in which I meant wraparound- something that open in the back but goes at least 2/3 of the way around from the front to protect the ribs and kidneys, as opposed to a front-only BP with cross straps such as we see on the mounted figure in the Pistoia. And probably neither of us...

Klaus the Red

Heavily padded + plate harness = overheating. So far as I'm concerned, heavy padding is for mail only, or to stand alone as protection against cutting weapons; a foundation garment for a plate harness has no need to be so thick, as it's not protecting against anything except armor bite. I'm fairly a...

Klaus the Red

Are you any good with a pencil? I always museum-hop with my sketchbook as well as my camera, and I sketch even if photography is allowed- it lets me absorb so much more detail if I have to translate the object through my brain to my drawing hand. There's a 1420 crucifixion retable in the Gardner her...

Klaus the Red

Actually, in the Rene illustration (pp. 182-183), I spot three: top left corner in the green jacket and faceted helmet, tending to a horse; bottom left corner, leaning on the barrier; and top right, at the left-hand end of the group of banners, with a tail projecting from under his chapel-de-fer. I ...

Klaus the Red

That would be very cool. If the display permits, pictures slightly from the side would be helpful to get a better idea of the shape of things. I'm also interested in details of his lentner and camail cover. In terms of dating the round-nosed klappvisier, the fresco in the chapel of San Stefano (Mila...

Klaus the Red

Ol' Walt's visor is weird. On the one hand, it has the "pointy chin" projection that is typical of some round-nosed klappvisiers; on the other, is has the side mounting arms (very subtle in the sculpture) with corresponding side pivots on his bascinet. I've never seen a visor with quite so strongly ...

Klaus the Red

Happy to advise, so long as you promise to spell "Churburg" correctly in future. You're unlikely to get hit dead center in the upper back, unless you receive a centerline wrap from a really tall opponent- your shoulder blades might receive some abuse, though. Whether you should decide to armor them ...

Chalcis items in the Met