The Armour Archive

Mac

It's from Martin Schongauer's Christ with St. Veronica. https://collection.cmoa.org/objects/bbccea33-8a77-4221-9dc2-bc930c669417 Thank you, John! https://i.pinimg.com/564x/58/a4/23/58a42307f2abed5b8efd372d00f0cbcb.jpg I've put the relevant info on my pinterest detail. So.... what's an ancient Roman...

Mac

I found this detail on Pinterest, but there was no information attached to it. https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c8/cd/0d/c8cd0d51cbeaec3100f8877418020c3f.jpg It looks like a German engraving from the turn of the 15/16th C, but that covers pretty wide scope. I'd like to know more about it to give some conte...

Mac

That's coming along nicely! It's time to get get the cheek pieces attached with temporary fasteners, rather than "c" clamps. Here are the places where they did it on the real one. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/O5u_3rV18GW7u_8UnKUz2o2S9OmMA-2dUxAoQJmTLqfq9UXVuhc3ea9dPEVMD6SyO_D3goTHy3B2yseXlHCC41...

Mac

...... i have had a couple small cracks or seams which i could still see after hammering. I got them fixed but it occured to me that closing a little seam is basically a forge weld and should benefit from flux Is it that you closed them up under the hammer, hot, and they actually stayed closed? :sh...

Mac

2) Mac, how do you protect the weld/adjacent steel from oxidation when you "flow the weld on the inside?" The steel is sheilded by the rod flux when you lay the bead, seems like it would need a sheild gas or something when heated to melting temp on the other side. Ideally, in a gas weld, the atmosp...

Mac

Here are pics of it from the last time they sold it. https://i.pinimg.com/564x/5f/61/29/5f6129a868eec96c6261ebd85990f7b6.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/564x/6b/48/75/6b487586a315784d85830fbdac7d52cb.jpg I'm not prepared to call it a fake, but it doesn't really sit right with me. In fact it doesn't really ...

Mac

It would be a delight, but I'm not sure the logistics of it work out. It doesn't seem possible to work on the ceiling and build armor at the same time. That's one of the things that keeps me from just doing the ceiling. It would have to be done 1/4 at a time and everything in the shop would have to ...

Mac

Xtracted wrote:You know Mac, I would be happy to fix your ceiling if you build armour for me while I do it

I could go with that.

Mac

Mac

Another thing you might do is to get in contact with someone who has done the "armor as art" thing in an academic environment. Augusto Boer Bront has been there and done that. You will find him as Gustovic here. I'm sure he has useful advise about the pitfalls you need to work around.

Mac

Mac

There are a number of ways to come at this. You could start by narrowing down the possibilities.... --The project is for a art class, so the result has to show artistic vision. Your instructor will probably not be pleased with something that's a straight interpretation of medieval armor. --The proje...

Mac

Laeraor wrote: Not exactly sure how I'd change the fit and... everything else but if that's what I have to do I'd probably try it.

In general, starting with someone else's pattern means embracing their mistakes. It's almost always best to just make your own patterns.

Mac

Mac

Alrighty folks, I'm here to ask for some some guidance on what to do with my next couple months, as I am about to start the third and final, and entirely self directed semester of my sculptural metal course, which I hope to use to maybe get an apprenticeship later. For now, I need to decide what is...

Mac

I got a start on a new piece for the helmet stand yesterday, and the first coat of poly was dry this morning. Sean P, Thank you for goading me into replacing the part. :) Mac You wouldn't have been happy with it and gone back and done it anyway. You just realized it sooner. :) Perhaps; but a little...

Mac

John Vernier wrote:Looks good! The stand, I mean. The helmet is considerably better than good.

Thanks!

Taking those corners off the stand does a lot for it. They were really distracting, and drew the eye from the lines of the helmet.

Mac

Mac

Todd Feinman wrote:Freaking Amazing.

Rene K. wrote:nice, looks good

Thanks, guys!

Mac

Mac

Will do! I am going to make two pauldrons and the two-part breastplate. Excellent!.... you will be making Chinese armor.. right? .. and not forcing this construction where it doesn't belong? 2. If you punch the hexagons, they will be slightly dished 3. Any dishing very much affects the curvature of...

Mac

Here are a couple of pics of the template, Harry. Sorry I took so long :oops: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ssL30QX1KcxvAnXn9w4gciSNwIHLGkz4SYPLj6ilvyu0linLFBIh7RVdIiT_J3Js9Rqg8y-LdArS3Hln8ghaVzLo0BjrJu9Rvjd1ltlVm1klMa97bhgxvF_zYqcC5KvaP7tH92zCayMJsZmiJaSeC4Q05D-buzloCrcKp7w3d8LxXzAlR7n-qSXVcqDp...

Mac

We bought the house because of the "garage". It's a two story cinder-block structure with about 1,200 square feet of footprint. The previous owner entertained thoughts of turning the second floor into an apartment, so he insulated the floor. Like everything else he did, though, it was sort of half a...

Mac

Thanks, Man! I think it's right. Someone needs to make a sample and shoot arrows at it. It might be a fun thing for Mike Loades. It will probably do OK against arrows. What "someone needs to do" is see whether or not this construction is suitable for making armor. Over the years, several people hav...

Mac

And now you know the terrible truth about my shop ceiling...... :oops: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5Mc0bLAegPi7COLrQyFqpRuvfQX9zTidi4lGRQv0_SkUg3a3ts9d8uZN4ESX2nmy_uXmj3ti6Y4LIOKr6Kt9MBxAMF-jMyi3cg2cEtPkbh0yEnWuqFvX31nxYNfgugUHLRZJKIuXJ81bp_6tOoOvsxGe_w50aiQ5iKyh7WindYIzibkU0N8QuPCkg8rblUkwaaE...

Mac

That's a very handsome shield! I like the floral work in the red field.

You know that last pic of of an ostrich, right? The horseshoe is the giveaway.

Mac

Mac

I've seen cracks like that form in places that have been raised quite hard, and I've also seen them in places where the steel has been overheated. In general, though, I think the cracks from burning tend to be a bit more random looking. This is certainly not the first example I've seen of what looks...

Mac

dr.charlemagne wrote:Mac, off topic. I would love to see you do a bit about your favorite hammers and stakes, and their applications....

Hmmm.... I should probably do something like that. Please nag me periodically till I do, OK?

Mac

Mac

I think I have seen engraved frontali ( the period name for Toby's "brow plate" ) for bascinets and fingers for gauntlets in Italian documents from the 1370s, but I think we mostly agree: that style of decoration was really popular in the 1380-1410 big pointy visor era, and the art which shows simi...

Mac

Mac, If you're inclined, I would like to see a photo of one of your chapes - but flattened back out. I'd like to see the pattern. I can shoot you a pic of the template if I can find it.... but the important thing is that I'm not cutting the places where the bottom will be closed until after it is f...

Mac

The first visual confirmation of a lance rest that I know if is from 1374, Italy. I think the earliest date we can reasonably posit for the Ch13 is around 1380*. That's when applied borders become a thing. So it's clear that lance rests existed by the time the armor was made. They were, however, a ...

Mac

Pics below per Mac. Not exactly "per Mac" :wink: I advise you to get both of those head views on the same piece of paper and draw the helmet over them. Superimposing the profiles on separate pieces of paper is a useful trick in planning, but by the time you are actually drawing the armor, the refer...

Mac

I've got two suggestions. The first is to get yourself an 18x24 sketchpad. These are large enough for two views of a helmet, and that makes reconciling the details a lot easier. The second is to try making the helmet as a can, rather than a two piece construction. A can makes it much easier to get t...

Mac

You will get better results if you draw your sketches over a head profile.

I strongly recommend that you draw all your views to the same scale and make sure that they reconcile with one another.

An hour with the pencil can save you a day with the hammer.

Mac

Mac

Something i have in mind, for me the lance rest is much to rough for this breastplate, so it could be the one that belongs to the more simplier other breastplate. When we look closely at the interior view of the Ch13 in Carlo's book, but see that the mounting rivets for the lance rest used to pass ...

Mac

That looks much closer to the original, Thanks! I feel much better about the new one. I'm curious about the ears that you added to the side pieces to accommodate the rivet articulations. Is that a guess on your part or do you have access to an image that shows those on the original. I don't believe...

Mac

Chris Gilman wrote:Looks like the correct direction. Nice.

Thanks!

Mac

Mac

On the left is the Mk1 of last week, and on the right is today's start on Mk2. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/OSUq1I_MVZKZQCc3VSKHrmqzWaQB2jlCcUh1HT0KGvrxP7QayPfxd9puM3rQlBLh5dayouxYJQ-naoF272SUmnQOVbCpwYNlaxvSfxR9Q3blSMYxmKl6sLagnlCic6-1FihLhAQ-zgcD2fbqYxoFqf641KUwxp-7f_AxwLLmiIcdU0GXMveDuuTjYNW...

Mac

Post deleted.

I screwed up and put it in the wrong thread...

Mac

Mac

Any thoughts on shape? Also, I'm considering either welding on an extension to get the last of the depth in the cheeks, or else just faking it with the brow and nape plate... I might be able to get away with that. Better to weld something on than to compromise the design of the helmet. Some folks w...

Re: Any idea wherer this is from?

Any idea wherer this is from?

Re: Helmschmied Wallace armour

Re: armour welds / forging flux

Re: armour welds / forging flux

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Re: The Palazzo Ducale bascinet.

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Re: Help with pattern choice

Re: Help with pattern choice

Re: Help with pattern choice

Re: The Palazzo Ducale bascinet.

Re: The Palazzo Ducale bascinet.

Re: The Palazzo Ducale bascinet.

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Re: Mac's blog

Re: 1360s Scabbard Project

Re: Mac's blog

Re: Helmschmied Wallace armour

Re: Helmschmied Wallace armour

Re: Helmschmied Wallace armour

Re: Mac's blog

Re: Mac's blog

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Re: Experimental helmet forging