The Armour Archive

Maelgwyn

Welcome to the Archive! Are you looking for someone to take a commission or to help you with a project or just provide some information? I do a bit of armouring and help people with projects but I don't take commissions. If you let us know what your particular interest is, one of us may be able to h...

Maelgwyn

The JSTOR collection can be reached from any member institution. The list of participants in the US is at http://www.jstor.org./about/participants_na.html . The nearest one to my house is...several blocks away!

Time to pack up some blank floppies and visit the university library!

Maelgwyn

For creative rather than duplicative designs to be reasonable you need to have enough examples (artifacts or artistic representation) to get a sense of the range of a type of object. I'll use Tom's quest for all 5th century helms that might have been known in Roman Britain as an example. After looki...

Maelgwyn

With my glaive, the butt spike IS the backup weapon. For spear I have used a dangling mace and I agree with D. I don't like it. A mace or an axe dropped through a ring on your belt seems to work for some people. A dagger or shortsword in a well-secured scabbard might work as well. For it to be worth...

Maelgwyn

Other titles in the Dizionari Terminologici series: 1. Materiali dell'et del bronzo finale e della prima et del ferro 1980 Topic: Bronze age, Iron age, Archaeology ISBN: 887038005X OCLC: 7741664 2. Armi difensive dal Medioevo all'et moderna 1982 3. Armi bianche dal Medioevo all'et moderna 1983 Topic...

Maelgwyn

Tom, http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/456_Vill ... asale.html has more primary images (mosaics and frescoes) of 5th century Romans than any other site I've seen. I haven't spotted any helms but there are dozens of examples of tunics and cloaks, and other items of interest.

Maelgwyn

You can also find silk fabric at A1 Fabrics. Selection seems to vary quite a bit over time. http://www.a1fabric.com/catalog.php?cat=6 Today they have noile for $5.99 and chiffon for $9.99.

Maelgwyn

Why is it always sarmatians though? Well, the Sarmatians had a big influence on Roman cavalry tactics and equipment through a series of contacts from the 1st through 5th centuries. Ammianus describes battles with Sarmatian cavalry playing a key role on both sides. Their influence on armour and weap...

Maelgwyn

Your Grace,

That is very good news! I had been hearing about revised rules for over a year so I had begun to lose hope. I'll look forward to seeing those rules. Somehow I didn't think I was the only one having trouble with that issue.

I wonder if the other kingdoms will make similar changes?

Maelgwyn

I have to wonder about the wisdom of one clause that appears in many SCA kingdom's boffer rules. I suspect it was written once and then copied into other kingdom's rules because it sounded like a good idea. At least one parent/legal guardian must be present at all times while the minor is engaged in...

Maelgwyn

The Burgh helm has ear holes but is otherwise very similar to the Berkasovo. Yes, the simple lines and nearly identical examples of the Augst and Worms helms make me think of mass production in a fabricae. The Dura Europos helms article is no longer online at the original location but I bet someone ...

Maelgwyn

One good method is to pull out several different Osprey titles and let them look through the color plates until something catches their eyes. Barbarian warriors : Saxons, Vikings, Normans is good for browsing through a swath of early medieval history. Any survey of historical European armour can als...

Maelgwyn

Are Gardenhelmes worn by Gardengnomes? Bran, I believe the British example referenced earlier is the Burgh Castle helm, which looks a lot like Adam's "Romano-Sasanid ridge helm". There is also a helm from Augst, Switzerland but it is nearly identical to the Worms helm. Dawn of Time Crafts shows nice...

Maelgwyn

Don't laugh Wulfe, that was one of the things they got right...except the Ala Primae Sarmatarum had been in Britain 225 years by that point and shrunk down to the Cuneus Sarmatarum. They still would have had a lot more than 6 troops left by the time the Romans pulled out in 407...roughly 100 years b...

Maelgwyn

When you have finished, post your impressions on the Philosophy forum and join in the discussion. The only thing better than reading this book is talking with others about it to improve our understanding, share our insights, and support each other as we strive to become more worthy.

Maelgwyn

Were their any Vikings back then? I think it was the Dal Riadans raiding across the North Sea that gave the Norse the idea! In the 5th-6th centuries you have Vendal culture emerging in Sweden as I recall but it is too early for "Vikings". Angles, Saxons, Frisians, Jutes and Wends are coming across ...

Maelgwyn

The preliminary web site calls it a "neck guard". The full report is scheduled for a conference in October. Hopefully we will know more after that. The x-ray shows scales stapled together in a pattern that resembles the outer part of a bishop's mantle. I'm working on one that will use a leather stan...

Maelgwyn

Model the brass plates on your mantle after the Carlisle find and you can claim you got it in the same raid when you got your subarmalis.

The brass on your vambraces will be heavy and will dent a lot. I'm using carbon steel splints on mine.

Overall, this sounds good!

Maelgwyn

Lace each row as tight as you can. Depending on the hole pattern of your lamallae you may want to allow a bit of slack between rows.

Maelgwyn

Hear now the words of the great and all-powerful Oz//Iolo! As several members suggested, the Anna Comnena quote is in translation, and even if you get a Greek linguist, this is 11th century Greek, not modern, and many terms may have changed their meaning. As has been noted, Anna C. was not an expert...

Maelgwyn

Best wishes to you...you will be in my prayers. It is a shame that the land of Gilgamesh and Ur of the Chaldeans is now home to such a mess. Restoring civilization there is a noble cause and I have the utmost respect for each soldier who has the training and the courage to be part of it.

Maelgwyn

How are you shaping the c-channel around the curve? If you use notches, how far apart are they?

Maelgwyn

I like my 24x36" oval, and I am also 6' tall.

Maelgwyn

I've asked Iolo to drop in on this discussion as this is one of his primary areas of historical study (other than pre-WWI battleships). I asked him about the Anna Comnena quote and his impression is that it describes the use of a belt hook or possibly even shoulder strap arrangement for spanning a c...

Maelgwyn

I do 6th and 16th century Britain. Naming practices changed enough over time that it is unlikely for one name to be suitable but some name elements endured, so "Timotheos of Byzantium " could become "Timothy Baker" and all your friends would just call you "Tim". My son does 6th century, my daughter ...

Maelgwyn

When someone posts "I am attempting to join the SCA" it seems only helpful and kind to advise them about SCA rules or customs they might be inadvertently breaking. Our reluctance to provide meaningful guidance to new SCA members in general has not served the SCA well over the past 30+ years. While t...

Maelgwyn

...I was hoping that I would get more help with some scenerios that work well with CA, but except for a hanful of replies, most people haven't offered any ideas. I believe different scenerios and some specific scenrio rules will make a bigger difference that some of the other proposed "solutions". ...

Maelgwyn

1. Outside of the description in the bible I don't believe there is any evidence available about ancient Hebrew armour. No surviving artifacts, no other literary descriptions. You may learn something from looking at egyptian and babylonian examples but I'm not sure how relevant they would be. 2. Whi...

Maelgwyn

Here are a few pics from our boffer tourney at fighter practice last weekend. Guess which fighter is "Artorius ap Maelgwyn" [img]http://www.cox-internet.com/kmarsh/images/PICT0001.JPG[/img] [img]http://www.cox-internet.com/kmarsh/images/PICT0002.JPG[/img] [img]http://www.cox-internet.com/kmarsh/imag...

Maelgwyn

Next to the threaded rod stock and angle iron on the aisle with the screws and bolts.

Maelgwyn

Well, engineers can learn more from things that fail than they do from things that work. In this case it sounds like both of your treatment methods produced scales that were too brittle, and the linen thread was too fine to withstand the impacts of combat. In my first attempt at leather lamellar I t...

Maelgwyn

I think we all agree on the value of a padded cote/tunic/subarmalis/gambeson. I've started a new thread to continue discussion of leather lamellar.

Maelgwyn

Sir Mord raised three concerns with his old armour of leather scales sewn together, which I would consider to be a form of lamellar: The problem with this armor was repair time. Once a month, at least, I was re-sewing the thing. The second problem was replacing worn-out scales. This became expensive...

Maelgwyn

... Yes, Maelgywn, I do expect the combination of a padded tunic (call it what you will) and scales riveted to leather to protect me. ...Still, I really haven't found a body armor that I can afford and that I can repair. You wouldn't happen to have any suggestions? I don't think that scales riveted...

Maelgwyn

I've seen some nice wool fabric at http://www.a1fabric.com/catalog.php?cat=2 lately, but I don't see your madder red today. I'm glad you asked though, because I saw some things I wanted when I checked.

Wool and linen...good stuff. And silk...I didn't buy any green silk
yet but I'm sure I will.

SCA Boffer rules and Blended families

Problems with leather lamellar