The Armour Archive

James Arlen Gillaspie

Something I have seen using standard TIG rod for mild steel (ER-70VOS? Something like that); After polishing, a line of a distinctly different color was often visible.

James Arlen Gillaspie

The big question I would have about 'Viking' mail is the 'wire' thickness BEFORE corrosion. I expect the vast majority were excavated finds.

James Arlen Gillaspie

The best thing to do at Les Invalides is to go straight to the door that lets you into the section with the armour.

James Arlen Gillaspie

I don't know why no one has mentioned theMusee de l'Armee (in Les Invalides), which contains a nice selection of pig-faced bacinets and some other late 14th c. armour. I'd do that and the Cluny, which last few times I was there had one nice piggy and a few other bits on display.

James Arlen Gillaspie

When it comes to 'buff leather', I usually use Clayton's of Chesterfield out of the U.K. Stuff literally stinks, though, due to sulphur (antifungal?), but is pretty supple. I've also used Jarnagin's ( http://www.jarnaginco.com )once, but it was much stiffer. It didnt' smell as bad, though.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Klaus, I can't remember what we concluded about the age of the mail. Brian Rainey would surely recall it, though. The sleeves were on the wrong arms, if I remember correctly.

James Arlen Gillaspie

I've personally examined this garment (along with a bunch of A.R.S. members), and we're pretty sure it's a 17th century fencing jacket with mail sleeves added on. What you need is a doublet properly made for your specific time and place and just add points as needed.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Whoa! Check out the poleyns on the Henry VIII harness!

James Arlen Gillaspie

I find the armour of their earlier history fascinating. Have a look at flickr.com and do a search for Korean armor, and Korean helmet. You'll have to wade through a whole bunch of tanks and other stuff, though. I rather like this reconstruction.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Ah, yes, 'White Mountain', the infamous 'backwards Phrygian'.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Keep in mind that when it comes to steel, 'hard' is NOT the same thing as 'tough'! Tough is what you want. Hard steels have a tendency to crack and even shatter. Be sure and test your results thoroughly. We might want dentproof, but a dent is better than a crack.

James Arlen Gillaspie

The long points on the 'Sigismund gothic' are detachable by means of a spring pin. The long points on the A 60 'gothic' in Vienna (thought to be made for Maximilian I back in ~1480, long before he was emperor) are not. Both were made by Lorenz Helmschmid. The 'Sigismund' points could not be worn wit...

James Arlen Gillaspie

WE are the ones who live in an age when REAL vampires are threatening the entire planet. It occurred to me today that in an earlier time, the Venetians would have been burying investment bankers with bricks in their mouths! Much more satisfying to their victims than bailing them out, I'm sure!

James Arlen Gillaspie

One of Hollywood's biggest problems is putting good looking accurate armour (on those VERY rare occasions when they managed it) into the wrong time period. Otto Preminger's film 'Saint Joan' had some pretty nice German 'gothic' armour in it. The 'Joan of Arc' Ingrid Bergman was in gave it a bit of a...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Cliff, flickr.com is a happy hunting ground for a lot of the sort of thing you're looking for. If you are not already familiar with the fellow whose handle is 'roelipilami', you need to get to flickr.com and do a search on his name. You're already familiar with the armsandarmourforum.com, I'm sure. ...

James Arlen Gillaspie

One of my favorite mid 15th c. illustrations shows a foot combat with poleaxes inside a barrier, and both combatants are wearing grand bacinets. One of them is looking over his shoulder.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Jeanne d'Arc did not wear a skirt, of course. Queen Isabella of Castile (think Columbus) wore armour during the siege of Granada, but I don't know that any part of it survived, unfortunately, as it would be a definitive example.

James Arlen Gillaspie

You do realize that it's a bit like saying, "OK, I will be starting a repro of the Sistine Chapel ceiling after a few months of study", no?

James Arlen Gillaspie

If there's anything Ugo knows how to do, it's make a helm with 'PRESENCE'!

James Arlen Gillaspie

We were working with Ron Maxwell ('Gettysburg') on a 'Joan of Arc' film in which the costume designers saddled me with designing ALL the armour except for the lead. But H'wood decided to go with Le Mess(enger) instead. So much for that.

James Arlen Gillaspie

If you have studied WMA of the Fiore dei Libari or Ringeck schools, the first thing you think is that a bar grill makes for a wonderful place to grab. In the SCA, that sort of thing is forbidden. SCA combat can be huge fun, but it doesn't have much to do with real fighting techniques. As to why 17th...

James Arlen Gillaspie

That's a condottiero popularly known as Pippo Spano, as painted by Andrea del Castagno. He died in 1426, and the fresco shows armour of the sort in use when the fresco was painted, c. 1450.

James Arlen Gillaspie

I think that the helm has to allow you to tilt your head back and look up, hence the slight flare in the back and that shadow of a sharper flare at the bottom.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Fluid Film will take care of it. It's good for everything to do with corrosion or rust.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Jiri, the first punch I ever had was a Parker-Kalon, which had significantly more punch power than a Roper-Whitney No. 5, (but less throat). I've broken a couple of the punches, though; they break at the base, for some odd reason. I've never been able to figure out where to get replacements. The No....

James Arlen Gillaspie

How about the most famous one? It was made for Maximilian II in 1557.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Yep, that would be the one!

James Arlen Gillaspie

Well, Dragon_Argent, cleaning, repairing, and restoring the real thing for collectors keeps me pretty busy these days! It would be awhile before I could get to such a project. I applaud your taste, though, as that is one of my favorite harnesses in the Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien. It looks ev...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Are his feet bare?

James Arlen Gillaspie

No, no, no. I have posted NO 14th c. examples. THIS is an early (c. 1410) breastplate of the form you want to modify into an early 16th c. breastplate.

James Arlen Gillaspie

The pictures I posted are both of early 16th c. breastplates. There's one of those odd three piece backplates in the Delft example, though.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Here's the gauntlets that go with the harness I posted earlier.

James Arlen Gillaspie

The short answer to your question is that a very late 14th c. breastplate can be cut down to a reasonable approximation to an unfluted breastplate c. 1520, and you could use part of the old top to put a big roll on it. This breastplate in Delft, though, wouldn't need much adaptation, except that it ...

James Arlen Gillaspie

"But the wreck's location, 62 miles (100km) away from the rocks, suggests the 74-year-old admiral was not to blame.

His ancestor Sir Robert Balchin said:"?!

How is THAT possible?

James Arlen Gillaspie

You have a very good eye. How high they are shown doesn't register with most people. Think ballistically; if you were facing incoming, where would you want your besagues?