The Armour Archive

Trevor

I'd recommend cuisses that were plastic/aluminum/steel covered in leather and studs. A steel or leather poleyn would be attached with rivets and really big washers underneath to keep the poleyn from pulling out of the leather. Just make sure the studs/rivets don't go all the way through the under pl...

Trevor

Honestly, I wasn't fooled. But that was ONLY because I have seen their site recently. Nice helmet-it seems that they have some real artisans that make up the real thing in metal then take molds off of that. They have supplied several movie productions, including Alexander and TimeLine. A real improv...

Trevor

I'd say there are two markets. First, there's the market for the entry-level fighter. This is quite large, and there are a lot of armories out there trying to keep stuff in stock. Of course, the quality leaves someting to be desired, as the market is not supporting moderately priced pieces. The chea...

Trevor

I'll second that. The best deals in armor for someone with limited funds is to buy used. Get with the local SCA branch and start asking around. A lot of times, people will just give you their old hand-me-downs. It'll have some rust, but that can either be polished out or painted over. Alternatively,...

Trevor

One of the guys that makes armour locally where i am at says they are dumbasses. (just out local ones) he said they tried to mix historical with modern with fantasy etc. so i was wondering what a true sca was like Well, the "true SCA" doesn't exist. That's because the group is absolutely frickin' H...

Trevor

I may end up getting a cuir bouilli cuirass if Uilleag can find some evidence for them in the early 14th century. I'm planning on basing the kit in at around 1350, approximately. I won't be terribly picky, and will incorpate stuff within a twenty or thirty year period to either side of that date, a...

Trevor

Very nice exeution! The design is very good-nice liines over all. The tabbed design is period-just not seen in the Mac Bible. There is a 3D example of this sort of helmet in the Well's cathedral seen on page 56 of Arms and Armor of the Medieval knight by Edge and Paddock. Don't worry about the occul...

Trevor

The possibility of me giving the SCA a go has now flown out of the window. I mean, there are some pretty good faux furs out there now, or even rabbit pelts in leopard pattern. That is just laughable! I know I've argued that the SCA doesn't seem to have WELL defined rules regarding autheniticity, bu...

Trevor

Greg, I'm sorry you're disheartened. But I'm glad that you decided to get input before dropping $1200 on a rig. Don't give up on your project-just do it yourself as a side project. The armor is simple enough to make yourself-why not do it right and make it out of bronze? There is a lot of really coo...

Trevor

It looks nice-but unless there is a lot of decoration on it you can get something similar in steel for about the same price.

I just don't see how this stuff would be as good as a properly done piece of armor made by people who fight.

Trevor

Owen wrote:Except, that what IX wears is pre-17th century, and blue plastic isn't.

Yet, it does not evoke the atmosphere of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, which you so carefully and willfully ignore....

Sticks out like a turd in a punchbowl.

Trevor

Your crest could be a bendy-straw.

Trevor

Here's one thing to encourage conservatism: the exorbitive cost of armor. If you had spent a ton of money to buy the equivalent of a Lear jet, you'd be loathe to give it up as long as your jet continued to work. I have to agree that there was an outside force to start the transition to plate. After ...

Trevor

After reading Ulieag's posts about his most recent foray into authentic armor, I recently acquired the book "Art and Arms. Florence, city of the Medici" at m In it, there was an excellent article on cuir boili armor, with plenty of information that I have seen no where else. It talks about the const...

Trevor

Trevor, it would be interesting to see the pic you refer to. Of the literally thousands of medieval shoes that have been found and are referenced in Stepping Through Time, Shoes and Pattens, and a few other misc. articles I have found not one has a high heel. If such a shoe did exist in medieval eu...

Trevor

It's interesting that someone made the point that Romans silvered their armor. In an age where bronze was the "lowest common denominator", gold colored armor doesn't make you stand out from the pack. But, when iron and steel were the "new" materials, it was much more trendy to make yourself look "si...

Trevor

I also have an onion-dome round pavilion that was given to me that uses 3/4" round steel conduit to maintain its shape. I have yet to figure out how to pull that off with wood, although I would like to. Not only is it bogus from an authenticity point of view, it is a pain-in-the-ass to set up, requ...

Trevor

Michael B wrote:Try junk shops - over here, at least, melting pots are extremely common.

Like lead melting pots for casting your own bullets?

Trevor

Never seen an example like it, and there is no origin information. Methinks I doth smell a rat.

If it was worth $700 as a reproduction, maybe. But a lot of it's worth is that it's supposed to be something that's 400-500 years old. Without proof, I would pass.

Trevor

Destichado wrote:I think three days of listening to both the eriudite and the idiotic arguing ought to be enough to make up one's mind, don't you? He's chosen a side, you've done the same, end of discussion.

Thanks for the reply, but I was interested in what Greg had to say.

Trevor

Greg, I have to wonder why you asked us our opinion when it looks like you had your mind made up all along.

Trevor

Very nice looking poleaxe! I wouldn't see any reason for it not to pass-hadn't thought of splitting the rattan before-very interesting.

Trevor

It comes down to the amount of time spent to make the piece. You could make a large box out of wood very quickly if you wanted to. Take some stock lumber, cut it and slap it together with some nails. It would function, but would look like a packing crate. OTOH, you could spend time carefully fitting...

Trevor

you can also use crepe sole rubber. Go to a shoe supply store, or go to a shoe repair store and ask for "Creps sole" material. You want the black stuff, 3/4" thick. There is also a rating for stiffness, and you'll want the stiffest one they have. Erm, then, glue the sole material together using Barg...

Trevor

One of the qualities of being a knight is to fight well. Another is to be honorable and chivalrous. Sounds like Tamok has those.

There are other qualities, though.

Trevor

or, in the "members only" section of:

www.naughtyarmorers.com

Trevor

What he said.

OTOH, I think you're ready to do some Maximillian-the flutes will be spaced properly for that, and the "crisping" you can do with the stake as described-just make sure your hammers are mirror-polished.

Great, great job!

Trevor

Actually, I remember a picture of a 14th century gentleman that was posing as a lady. "Her" shoes had moderate heels-and they certainly weren't stillettos.

Damn if I can't find the pic, tho.

Trevor

Cool-thanks for the info!

Just goes to show when you start making generalizations...

oh well-I still think that the generalization is valid, but it also shows that there was a lot of variation in swords.

Trevor

Wear your safety gear in the shop . Every time. Glasses with side shields when using hammers or power tools. Gloves whenever you're handling something sharp or hot-and always during forming (but if the hand is holding the hamer-that's OK). Wear boots-steel toes if you've got 'em. I dropped a sheet ...

Trevor

I'd have to say run a leather strip all the way around and hang your aventail off of that. It's not as nice as having a removable visor, but it'll be decent.

Trevor

I don't have any formal studies, and I'd be interested to see what Oakeshott would show. But, I've looked at hundreds of swords. I'm basing my assertion on those swords that I've handled-both extant pieces and good-quality reproductions. It boils down to blade width and pommel size. Look at a bunch ...

Trevor

You know, I've done a lot of "impressions" in the last 20 years. (I hesitate to call them "personnas" because all they really were was a costume-I didn't develop a character at all.) I've been a samurai, a crusader, a viking and a landsknecht at one time or another. So please understand that I am sp...

Trevor

You know, the "race war" thing is pretty apt description. Hatred breeds hatred, and the rift between the SCA and the Tuchux is stupid. Just as stupid and any other race war. Sure, the Tuchux have a reason to not like the SCA, but they gave a lot of SCAdians reasons not to like them right back-all be...

Trevor

Judging by manuscipt illustrations, everybody and his brother was killed by a single sword blow to the head, and mail tore like tissue paper. Of course, a lot of those manuscripts are depicting legendary or Biblical events, so there's that to factor. The majority of manuscripts depicting sword blow...

ART AND ARMS. FLORENCE, CITY OF THE MEDICI