The Armour Archive

James Arlen Gillaspie

There's nothing quite like a polite leer, ma'am. :D I once worked on a 'Maximilian' backplate that had lines for steps chiseled very shallowly into them. The reason they were not obliterated is that, apparently, there was a design change that made the steps around the armholes to produce the usual r...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Having seen the real thing many times, the etching is all you could wish for.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Here's a photo of one of those gorgets with the cups over the tops of the shoulders. The strap is for the pauldron. It could well be that the strap has simply been left out of the painting since it would distract. I am thinking of a Vermeer that has a missing easel leg. The painting looks better wit...

James Arlen Gillaspie

I think that I probably spent more time planning the flutes than actually laying them in. Which is why they usually didn't. :D But do I just wing it? Oh, no. After all, my mighty mentor Lorenz Helmschmid planned all of his . Actually I just don't have the guts to just let fly. :oops: Kaiserburg, _c...

James Arlen Gillaspie

"Let not many of you be teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness." - James 3:1

James Arlen Gillaspie

Wade, the turns on yours are a couple of miles higher in the beauty department than the norm. Most turns look pretty rough by comparison. See Goll # 3625 for example.

James Arlen Gillaspie

That edge is turned to the outside over air.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Mmm, mmm... isn't that turned edge at the top of the bevor something...

: A 62 ref_arm_1697_002.jpeg (70.94 KiB) Viewed 573 times

James Arlen Gillaspie

Chris Dobson once showed me some photos that showed something very similar in the schaller now on A 60. When I examined the helmet in '95, though, I don't remember seeing it. It is thought that the structure in Churburg CHS62, with the downward projection, was for trapping the lip of a high bevor, h...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Also the hems on most if not all of these are just wrong, and none have the usual decoration on the hems either. Well... I thought that went without saying. :wink: Goll #3402 and #4779 bottom both look as though someone loved their bead roller and thought that a line of rivets like those on a Great...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Thanks much for bringing that to our attention! It reinforces my belief (based on my experience with real pieces in my work) that the 'seamy side' was the softer side, and often wrought iron. This seems very apparent in those pieces with a very high surface hardness, but the flakes detached from the...

James Arlen Gillaspie

The left hand is often ON the pommel.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Yes, it's that sort of thing I was thinking about.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Here's a shot I took of the Madrid gauntlet.

: A58old 007c.crp.jpg (72.11 KiB) Viewed 481 times

James Arlen Gillaspie

The first gauntlet I saw like that was on a tonlet armour in Madrid, made for Philip II's 'Knotwork' garniture by Desiderius Helmschmid in 1545. Dr. Mike Lacy and I irreverently christened it the 'Nose Picker' garniture. I believe I posted a picture of the gauntlet on the Arms and Armour Forum (the ...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Put 'em on Flickr, large format, if they're clear! Then put a link to them here.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Smart aleck!

James Arlen Gillaspie

Two knuckles per finger is a lot more normal than what people usually do. Scales are very common too, especially on the continent. Cuff geometry is critical, but hard for me to tell from the photos. It all depends on the client's range of motion, however.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Yes, that would help.

James Arlen Gillaspie

I once came across an Italian fresco (Siennese?) dated in the 1340's showing exposed breastplates on several soldiers in the background. I wish I could remember the specifics; it was awhile ago. The big question would be whether the frescoes had ever been touched up and the breastplates altered.

James Arlen Gillaspie

The turned edges on the 'Sigmund' cannons are pretty much just folded over maybe 1/8" at most.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Mac, this comment is probably wide of the mark, but I can't seem to find a photo in the thread that shows how long the lower cannons are, and am not sure exactly what you mean when you say that the gauntlet cuffs need to be spread a bit to clear the vambraces. You probably already know this, but for...

James Arlen Gillaspie

On German 'Gothic' fingered gauntlets such as those in Churburg, 'Sigmund' harness, etc, the strip eliminates unsightly externally visible rivets to hold the fingers on. On the 14th c. hourglasses, they solve the problem of the difference in length over the knuckles when the hand is grasping somethi...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Thanks, Tom! It's clear that all the Vic'y stuff had the Siegmaringen backplate as their inspiration, some much better than others. 3321 ain't bad at all. The 4779 doesn't seem to have the holes for the missing border around the neck gusset the the Siegmaringen backplate does, which impacts its trus...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Ref_arm_4779here are two different backplates in this entry from Burg Kreuzenstein-Leobendorf. One is clearly Vic'y. The other one... I can't see anything wrong with it in the photos. The Vic'y one was clearly made in imitation of it, if very inexactly. The better item needs to be sussed out! It loo...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Oh, for the love of God, St. Michael and St. George... :roll: Now what? I'm with those who think that this is an early version of the cased upper cannon, but what a pain to make! The only thing that I could come up with is it makes it easier to go over a half sleeve of mail, but I am far from satisf...

James Arlen Gillaspie

About the helm shape, to my eyes it's not that the helm is too tall and you need to trim the bottom, I think that part of this problem is because the face opening is too tall, and thus the head sink too much in the bascinet. Ditto! At this point the best thing to do is err on the side of mobility; ...

James Arlen Gillaspie

What with the drop in fuel prices, it might not be that much more to fly to Vienna! Trying to time it so you're there when everything you want to see is there can be really tricky, though.

James Arlen Gillaspie

15 degrees per foot, that is. Now that I look at my own, I'm thinking I'm closer to 20. It's all about how far out of plane with the plane of rotation of your knee your foot usually points.

James Arlen Gillaspie

For men, about 15 degrees is pretty normal. It's always a good idea to get a tracing around their shoe soles while they are standing at rest, though.

James Arlen Gillaspie

http://observers.france24.com/content/2 ... harassment
No comment necessary.

: Afghani Armour.jpg (22.14 KiB) Viewed 484 times

James Arlen Gillaspie

This shows some of the damage to the borders on the right couter.

: couter crp.jpg (89.04 KiB) Viewed 285 times

James Arlen Gillaspie

I have handled the Wallace bacinet, and the skull is unusually small, striking me as child sized at the time. The proportion of the skull to the visor (which is very normal sized) seems to resemble the modern attempts more than any other. The shape of the skull is just a bit odd, too, seems a bit ea...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Oh, I'm not riled up at you, Thom! It would be hard to be riled up at Mr. Goll, either, seeing as he has done us such a huge service with his immense labors. He has somehow managed to miss some very basic things, however, even as, strangely enough, he has done a great deal of research into such thin...

James Arlen Gillaspie

I have sooo much to say about this - and not the time right now. The Armamentarium Heroicum was printed in 1601, and shows A 62 KMW perhaps as early as 1582. We see that the borders were in place already. The schaller and bevor shown are not those currently on the harness; the schaller is now on A 6...

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: Question about the Lyle Bascinet authenticity.

Re: Does anyone have any info on this armour?

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: Let's talk about templates.

Re: Goll's Thesis Topic #2: New details on well known object

Re: Goll's Thesis Topic #2: New details on well known object

Re: Goll's Thesis Topic #2: New details on well known object

Re: Goll's Thesis Topic #2: New details on well known object

Re: Goll's Thesis topic #3: Controversial or Suspicious Item

Re: Academia.edu article-Alan William Churburg Armour

Re: Philadelphia Museum of Art

Re: Philadelphia Museum of Art

Re: Philadelphia Museum of Art

Re: Philadelphia Museum of Art

Re: The Wallace Collection

Re: 1350 solid brestplate?

Re: Recent gauntlets

Re: Armour of the English Knight 1400-50: PRE-ORDER IS OPEN!

Re: 1350 solid brestplate?

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: Goll's Thesis topic #3: Controversial or Suspicious Item

Re: Goll's Thesis topic #3: Controversial or Suspicious Item

Re: Goll's Thesis topic #3: Controversial or Suspicious Item

Re: is that a 'piano' hinge?

Re: Forming a late bascinet, Wallace A74

Re: Habsburg Exhibit-Minneapolis Institute of Art

Re: How are greaves shaped?

Re: How are greaves shaped?

Afghani sexual harrassment protection

Re: Excavations at Cesis Castle in Latvia any updates?

Re: Bascinet of the Wallce A69 bascinet?

Re: Excavations at Cesis Castle in Latvia any updates?

Re: Excavations at Cesis Castle in Latvia any updates?