The Armour Archive

James Arlen Gillaspie

Ahh, thank you, Bruno!! The steel described is a more complex alloy than I was thinking.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Where are the pics?

James Arlen Gillaspie

It depends on the stainless alloy. Some are more ferrous than others.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Speaking strictly for myself, I have spent a bit of time trying to figure out a terminology that makes classification of images most efficient. I have been leading a(n unsucessful) campaign to use the word 'helm' for any steel head protection that covers the whole head, and 'helmet' for anything tha...

James Arlen Gillaspie

A couple of pic's of a late 16th c. tourney visor. This is tourney damage, and should not be confused with damage in actual combat. I have, however, seen and handled pieces with similar marks that were clearly field pieces, just not nearly so many on a single piece. Now, if someone with a working sc...

James Arlen Gillaspie

A pretty good looking pair, indeed.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Yes, indeed! The 'Bargello' and the Museo Stibbert in Florence; the Stibbert is a wonderfully atmospheric place. Love it. Very near Rome, the Odescalchi Castle, and I think there's a collection in Rome itself, but I'll have to leave that to someone who's been there;I've only been to Northern Italy. ...

James Arlen Gillaspie

It looks more to me as though the artist has faithfully rendered the stress put on the mail by the weight of the breastplate. Along with what Jason said, Kastenbrust armour was occasionally used to indicate someone from an earlier time; consider the figures in the Kenotaph of Maximilian I, and this ...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Yes, I would have to agree - very likely a straight iron-carbon alloy, just the way I like it.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Note that nothing is said about the carbon content of the steel or any alloying elements.

James Arlen Gillaspie

It has clearly been 'modernized', whatever it may have looked like in earlier times (assuming the 'logo' is not actually of modern origin)

James Arlen Gillaspie

That just makes them look more like most of the real ones.

James Arlen Gillaspie

The SCA needs a hard, solid, kick to the

James Arlen Gillaspie

All right, this is the LAST TIME I post this picture to this forum!

Get it while you can!

James Arlen Gillaspie

The 'York' helmet (Coppergate to the diehards) was decorated with a reasonably pure copper/zinc alloy which was, if I remember rightly, spot on for 'Merlin's Gold', which was 85% Cu and 15% Zn. It looked about like 14K gold when polished.

James Arlen Gillaspie

In the later 15th century, the armour in Scandinavia was pretty much northern German 'gothic', with a bit of regional flavor.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Umm... I'd have to add a 'caveat' to that. 'Latten' alloys a few centuries back were usually mixed to be faux gold, and had much warmer colors than a typical brass these days. They were often not just copper and zinc, either, but could contain many other metals, including a little real gold. I think...

James Arlen Gillaspie

I'm going to put in another plug for the Kelvingrove in Glasgow - if armour is your focus, forget Edinburgh and go directly to Glasgow. A very impressive, important collection. That's where the 'Avant' harness lives. Also, when it comes to armour, the Wallace now rules in London, the Royal Armouries...

James Arlen Gillaspie

1. Bring tripod.

2. Go to the information desk after you get your pin.

3. Ask for a tripod pass, fill out the paperwork.

NOTE: this only works on weekdays!

James Arlen Gillaspie

NNNOPE... It's a 'Helmschmid'. The visor isn't all the way down. The construction is very eccentric; it is not an armet OR a closehelm, constructionally. It is the non'gothic' version of this helm, slightly different hinge position. Fred, try searching 'roelipilami' on flickr.com. He had many pic's ...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Try Jeff Wasson at wassonartistry.com(you could try me, too, but there's no telling when I could get to them).

James Arlen Gillaspie

That's FABULOUS! Don't ever throw it away!

James Arlen Gillaspie

I used 1/8" stainless rivets from R. J. Leahy for this helm, plenty of them. They're much stronger than mild steel.

James Arlen Gillaspie

If you can only do one, Schloss Ambras.

James Arlen Gillaspie

My dictionary has the pronunciation of cuirass as kwi ras', accent on the second syllable. For good measure, cuirassier is kwi' ruh sir' (middle vowel is a schwa, two accents with the heaviest on the last syllable).

James Arlen Gillaspie

Chivalry and the Perfect Prince: Tournaments, Art, and Armor at the Spanish Habsburg Court by Frieder; anyone have a copy? It looks good, except that it's small, doggone it!

James Arlen Gillaspie

[url]Flickr.com[/url]

They will allow you to post BIG pictures for the detail everyone here wants to see. Do a search for roelipilami and you'll see what I mean.

James Arlen Gillaspie

For me, 'kaspar's' Churburgbook IS a 'tool', as well as art (I haven't seen the new one yet, but I'm sure it is on the same level). It shows me the sort of details I need to know about in my work!

James Arlen Gillaspie

What is the rated capacity of the shear? The thing that attracted me to this type of shear is that it can be a cheap way to cut very thick sheet. And I do mean thick.

James Arlen Gillaspie

1050 with a pearlitic microstructure is pretty efficient against low velocity rounds, of the sort in use in the 16th and 17th centuries, if thick enough. It works better than wrought iron, mild steel or 304 stainless.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Go with 'Fluid Film'. Track down a local distributor. The stuff is used on off shore oil rigs. It works. Period.

http://www.eurekafluidfilm.com/

James Arlen Gillaspie

The man is in AUSTRALIA.

James Arlen Gillaspie

No, Jiri, no fun to be had with that stuff. It was all I could find for a client (struck out in the salvage yards; they usually won't let a private person walk through the yard, as these days they only exist to ship the stuff to China), and it has been one of the worst working experiences of my life...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Don't worry too much about it. Most of the real stuff was a bit rough. Looking close up at and handling many real pieces can often be helpful for curing 'Helmschmiditis'!

James Arlen Gillaspie

The links look round in cross section. Isn't that more an Italian feature?

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