The Armour Archive

James Arlen Gillaspie

A 62's sabatons were not originally attached to the greaves, and there are missing lames fore and aft at the bottom of the greave. A 79's are in better shape.

: DSC00503.crp.jpg (99.99 KiB) Viewed 301 times

James Arlen Gillaspie

Hello, Tom; the essential problem is that the thing was listed in Ferdinand II of Tyrol's 'Hall of Heroes' as belonging to Sigmund of Tyrol, but there is no paper trail. A 62 certainly does not compare to A60, which is much smaller, though Pierre Terjanian thinks he was still growing when he got it....

James Arlen Gillaspie

This is a bit of working life polish found under the (mangled) latten rosette on an Italian morion c. 1575, obviously several times life size. The rivet hole is about 1/8". Note the heavy grinding striations, which I would estimate as being about 150 grit U.S.

: IMG_4400sm.JPG (96.16 KiB) Viewed 602 times

James Arlen Gillaspie

Don't worry about how asymmetrical your cheek plates are. The last time I was in London I had an excellent opportunity to have a very close look at the fine Churburg armet now owned by the Royal Armouries, and I had to laugh at how wonk-a-do they were. No photos allowed, or I would have been able to...

James Arlen Gillaspie

There are some parts that just don't work together, but that is the minority of situations. The fact is that a complete harness made by the same master (actually his shop, with most of the work done by journeymen 'platers') was super rare. Most armour was made to be bought off the rack like clothing...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Without a doubt, studying the 'Sigmund Gothic' will tell you nothing about mid century Italian plate.

Except, perhaps, by the remarkable design differences.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Erik's post should be a 'sticky' that is addressed to every bonehead that thinks he will make a living making armour for the SCA. I know of only a handful that have done it, and it all depends on making stuff so fast that it would make their head spin right off their shoulders. It is only the stuff ...

James Arlen Gillaspie

The biggest problem is finding/making sheet or even plate that is refined enough. It changes how you work it; it doesn't air stretch worth a hoot, unlike modern 'mild steel', so you have to do a lot more of the work hot, 'dishing' it by what Mac has christened 'squashing' but which I call 'anvil rai...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Nobody needs Lamborghinis, custom motorcycles, Alexander McQueen dresses, symphony orchestras, opera, van Gogh, or movies, either. Hell, we went for thousands of years without any of this stuff, and nobody noticed. “Allow not nature more than nature needs, Man's life's as cheap as beast's.” -King Le...

James Arlen Gillaspie

The famous 'Sigmund gothic's greaves and sabatons (long tips detached) together come in at about 2 1/2 lbs apiece, with probably a half pound of that being the sabs, which were very thin. 'Cleaning' over time can lead to substantial losses in thickness; I continually remind people that what we have ...

James Arlen Gillaspie

studio? Bah; it's an Atelier !

Dam' straight!

James Arlen Gillaspie

Grand bacinets for the field did not keep the wearer from turning their head. If you didn't make it big enough to turn your head inside it (think space helmet here, people!), you didn't make it right.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Mac said; The risk is in charging too little. We have all seen where that leads. The craftsman gets swamped with orders that don't pay the bills. He either wigs out, or churns along eating rice until the end of the backlog is in sight. I personally went through some very lean times in the '80 that w...

James Arlen Gillaspie

It's called a 'dishing stump'.

Hardwood stumps work best. You only need half the torus! And it doesn't have to be bottomless.

James Arlen Gillaspie

It appears to me that the rivets are holding on the straps running under the wrists. It is a pity that the artist has done the usual thing of distorting the form of the gauntlets in order to accommodate the 'praying' hands pose.

James Arlen Gillaspie

I don't believe the Greene or Thorpe effigies show true grand bacinets, but rather a sort of precursor in which the gorget mimics the shape of the aventail and is not riveted to the bacinet, allowing for some movement of the head. Last I knew, I was not alone in this view; Jeff Hedgecock, for exampl...

James Arlen Gillaspie

We had our second annual local renfair, and I had this harness on hand had sent it to me for an art gallery exhibition, so I put it on a volunteer to add a little colour to the fair. The breastplate is not a true peascod, but of a form that crops up every now and again and seems appropriate for the ...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Something to keep in mind regarding illustrations showing 'Romantic' armour is that such things showed up in tournaments, and artists found tournaments a much more accessible source for grist than battlefields.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Back when I was a sort of SCAdian I refused to add more weight to my shield (lightly used, I've always favored great weapons), and my household were of a similar mind. We just made four sided boxes of SCAdian 'cuir bouilli' and slapped them on. Done.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Over twenty years ago, graphic artists were being advised to charge at least $50/hr if they expected to have a middle class life style. Self employed people have to charge a lot more to make the same money, because of self-employment's hidden costs.

James Arlen Gillaspie

I think there are people who would be willing to take that 17-7 for more than you would pay for it.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Let's just refer you to Mac's thread, 'Dusting off the cobwebs'. Look down the page; you'll find it. That will teach you a lot about the specific armour style you seem to favor, and a lot about armour in general. As far as making a backplate to accomodate wings, think about how she would get into it...

James Arlen Gillaspie

The famous 'Sigmund gothic', the quintessential late 15th c. German harness, still retains one of its pauldron reinforces. As for the 'tasset-legs', if you make them right they remind people of slinkies (do the young'uns even know what they are, anymore?) and are like wearing heavy blue jeans. Excep...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Gardbraces (I usually just call them pauldron reinforces) are subtle. They are actually shaped in such a way that they do not interfere with the pauldron's range of motion.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Your options are less limited than you think. Look up 'crupellarii'. Very interesting. It's a pity we have so little data. Not buying the 'bucket' helm, though; if the sculpture is indeed showing one, the top is not flat, but rounded.

James Arlen Gillaspie

I have a strong suspicion that the tulip shape is due to the cuff actually covering the ulna bump. It would need to, in order to make sense of the short gauntlet cuff. The strong flair of the cuff would keep it from rubbing the ulna bump. It would make for a very long lower cannon, indeed.

James Arlen Gillaspie

A lot depends on the type of soldier and place. Spanish sword and buckler men commanded a healthy respect, and large oval shields were common among Italian light infantry for much of the 15th century, maybe clear through to the 16th. Men-at-arms often carried some sort of shield when involved in sie...

James Arlen Gillaspie

You haven't told us what your persona is. There may be an alternative you have not envisioned.

James Arlen Gillaspie

That, to me, is assurance that it was not done with a sword, though a 16th century zweihander could have done it. I don't think that the mid 14th 'great swords' had the mojo.

James Arlen Gillaspie

As someone intimately familiar with the original, not bad! I think you have succeeded in your purpose.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Yes, getting the hell out of the way is the best defense against the big pole arms, unless you have one yourself. I wouldn't want to take a shot in the shin from the haft by stepping forward. It would be interesting to see if any of the dead showed a badly shattered left shin.

James Arlen Gillaspie

I don't know why I didn't chime in on that earlier thread. A 62's backplate is wider than the inner dimension across the breastplate, and it takes a bit of a trick to get them mated, as the spring tempered steel can throw back two men at once who don't know the trick. The difference in width means t...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Hey, I didn't do anything that any single, obsessed monomaniac with an eye for subtle detail who's willing to spend himself into oblivion to get the required information couldn't have done. Mid 15th c. Italian is next!

I have been to Mantova, but I need to go again!

James Arlen Gillaspie

What I want to know is why they keep yammering on about swords and ignoring pole arms. Going for ankles is a great thing to do with a glaive; the target's only option is to jump up in the air in time with the swing! It makes for a good reason to wear greaves when fighting on foot.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Mac, good call on the re-purposed pauldron lames! :D The 'pucker' of the crest that Mac has drawn is an ubiquitous feature of German 'gothic' knees. I've never seen one that didn't have it. For the curve of the poleyn to just go right into the flat spot on the center without the 'S' curve would just...

Re: Greaves redux

Re: The idea of a "composite armour"

Re: Original finish on armour

Re: Milanese harness in progress, continued

Re: The idea of a "composite armour"

Re: The idea of a "composite armour"

Re: $100/hr shop rate

Re: Wrought Iron - for armouring?

Re: $100/hr shop rate

Re: Greaves redux

Re: $100/hr shop rate

Re: Agincourt Great Bascinet, bevor and gorget - Patterns

Re: How much do you charge for labor?

Re: Wooden Dishing Doughnut?

Re: Early 14th century gauntlets

Re: Agincourt Great Bascinet, bevor and gorget - Patterns

Re: 16th century Illuminatti time to show off your kits!!!

Re: Is this armour documentable? OR Brigandines + armets

Re: Looking for "shield gauntlet" pattern

Re: How much do you charge for labor?

Re: Mystery stainless steel I found at the scrapyard?

Re: Various plate armour questions

Re: Various plate armour questions

Re: Various plate armour questions

Re: Need Early-Period Gauntlets

Re: regarding late 14th century arm harnesses

Re: Shields in the 15th century ?

Re: Need Early-Period Gauntlets

Re: medieval dead - Visby

Re: New sallet

Re: medieval dead - Visby

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: Designing a knee, trying to get it right

Re: medieval dead - Visby

Re: Designing a knee, trying to get it right