The Armour Archive

Mac

The thing that bothers me most about the ergonomics is the shape of the lower edge. The place to receive the shoulder is too far forward, and to "sharp". I'd like to see something more like this. (with apologies to Augusto BB. for hijacking his sketch :oops: ) https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/JVhIW...

Mac

I do not trust it. Aside from it ergonomic problems and unusual overlap of the visor and gorget plate; the collection it is in has a number of handsome but dubious items in it. I think of it as one of the "insidious fakes". It's almost believable, and we really want to believe in it because it's goo...

Mac

Small update: I contacted the seller just for good measure and she agreed that the mixing should be better and quicker/shorter but she also said my 1:4 mixing ratio was definitely a large part of the problem and that I should not have gone over 1:3 alginate to water, preferable closer to the advise...

Mac

Thanks for the quick reply guys! You're very welcome! How much effect does the water temperature have do you think? Quite a bit, I believe. It may be time for some tests with small batches and a thermometer. Or... just as a crude demonstration, make up two identical dilutions; one out in the shop w...

Mac

I think you need to get a better mixer. I use this type. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41dbWr2bX6L._SX425_.jpg Something like it can be found in any big DIY store. They are not very expensive.. especially compared to alginate. :sad: You might also try mixing with less water till t...

Mac

You have certainly done your homework, Kerry!

I wonder where anyone got the notion of the overlap direction being different for armor used on horse vs. foot.

I'm not sure I've ever heard that before, but I'm pretty sure I don't thing it's supported by the evidence.

Mac

Mac

I believe, if I remember the documentation correctly, that Eichling's armour was designed as a Polish Hussar anime type of armour. That's a bit of a disappointment, really. I'd always sort of hoped that the inspiration for that armor had been one of these Amazon armors from 15th C art. https://i.pi...

Mac

And here is Jessica Finley in her Kastenbrust : https://i.pinimg.com/236x/5c/70/03/5c7003d89c3c2a0a0110093069c80676.jpg It seems to work for her, but I still don't think that the Kastenbrust should be the "go to" women's breastplate. The rounded armors from the same time probably have more usable b...

Mac

What about this piece? It is No. 57 Roman-Style Breastplate in Heroic Armour of the Italian Renaissance and Musée de l'Armée, Hôtel National des Invalides, Paris G. 298, they date it c. 1545-1550. https://bookandsword.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/musee_de_l_armee_g_298_muscle_breastplate.png?w=800 I...

Mac

Johann ColdIron wrote:
Nice "Ring Belt" Chris! That is great.

Sharp Suit.

I was about to mention the breathtakingly authentic belt, but you beat me to it.

Mac

Mac

I feel as though I'd like to point something out. There seems to be a very prevalent idea that the Kastenbrust would be a good choice for a woman's armor, but I don't think that's necessarily the case. The place where a Kastenbrust has its volume is at the bottom of the rib cage. This is not where w...

Mac

.... also, from that same thread... another woman's cuirasse I made. I am presenting it here for contrast. So, I finally got around to looking at that bag of photos. Although it turned out to be three bags of photos, there no others of the woman's thorax. I did however find another woman's armor I b...

Mac

I think if there were women among knights, boob armor would be pretty common. My lady, for example, would like to have armor with defined breasts. Maybe even with defined nipples. I'm snatching a quote from a previous thread ...... This is a "what if" Etruscan woman's thorax. I have been hesitant s...

Mac

Assuming that imfamous metal dress was made to combat stands for the time, then its a very good example of "boob" armour that is historic, but it more resembles a Kastenbrust, and doesnt allow for the "valley in between" as seen in armstreets work. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/11/e5/cb/11e5cb1049...

Mac

I am personally under the idea that "boob" armour is a joke. ..... Someone critique my more or less academic take on this. The artists of the middle ages and renaissance sometimes depicted women in armor. They did this in a number of contexts. Sometimes it was to show the ancient Amazons, and other...

Mac

Those gauntlets look like they are coming along nicely!

Have you got enough motion in the knuckle rider? You are going to need about 40° of flex on either side of that knuckle.

Mac

Mac

I wonder why the folks who are interested in decrying the supposed dangers of "boob armor" don't seem to notice the things that really are treacherous.

Here is one of my pet peeves.

Mac

Mac

jenzinas wrote:These were recently posted on facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/shyam.verma.96 ... 9521712035

Those would be OK if you were making Roman loricae.

Mac

I think I was writing while Mark was posting

Mac

Probably not too many with consecutive numbers that high. That's my thought as well. Have you merchanted all of them? No. I used to go to fight :shock: Every year, a new armor. That was the rule for me. At Pennsic 15(?) I had two new armors; a Gothic and a Japanese. I was trying hard to impress peo...

Mac

I just realized that this will be my 41st consecutive Pennsic. That seems like a lot, dosn't it....? Mac Are you working on the Hundred Years War? ;) It seems like it. :) I sort of wonder how many people there are who have a longer string of Pennsics than that. Marianne and I (she has one fewer) mu...

Mac

rustmon wrote:Nah. Pennsic is not the name without you and M.

Aw.. shucks!

Mac

Mac

Casting plaster is plaster of paris. The weakest of the weak. Casting stone is closer to ultracal. Yes, it is the weakest of the weak; but it's what I use. :wink: It has one big advantage over the harder gypsum products. It is soft enough that it rubs off onto the inside of the steel when you try t...

Mac

Just a little note to say that I'm still alive and still preparing for Pennsic. The old-item stock is cast, cleaned, and counted; and we have about 15 new items all ready to go. There are two molds still on the bench for me, and I will probably abandon the one that's causing the most trouble. When t...

Mac

It seems like a sort of moot point; backplates and body builders. I've never heard of a body builder who wanted to wear armor. They seem to prefer a thin layer of oil over some of that fake tan stuff. :wink: Seriously, though, it would be an armorer's nightmare to try to put a cuirasse on one of tho...

Mac

The whole argument about boob armor pressing on the sternum is, for the most part, spurious. The question is this.... Does the inverted crest between the breasts actually get any closer to the sternum than one of the overly flat male breastplates that we see on the field all the time? If there is a ...

Mac

Dansknecht wrote:There are certainly images of things on belts, but they seem to be vastly outnumbered by barren belts...

This!

On the whole, reenactors put too much stuff on their belts. If the knife will fit in the purse, that might be the best place for it.

Mac

Mac

I already undid it :oops: The only photo he has is https://todcutler.com/collections/eating-knives-cooks-knives-and-other-knives/products/14th-15thc-bone-handled-eating-knife; I could always write him but I don't want to take his time for a cheap item. There are marks on the thong from where it had...

Mac

Sean M wrote: I don't like square knots for this purpose. I have a knife by Tod and I wish I had understood the knot he used.

Can you post a pic of the knot?

Mac

Mac

You see different things. If it's a short loop of cord, then it will have to be threaded through the belt. https://i.pinimg.com/564x/10/89/c5/1089c5d6a5e13672c49df54fd9ec4ee7.jpg A longer loop can be tied to the belt with a "lark's head". This one is just barely long enough for that to work. https:/...

Mac

Does the construction of the hosen Tom B. posted in the "Panzerhosen" have any bearing on this discussion? They seem to be open at the ankle for sewing it tight. http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=168341 I would call it lacing, rather than sewing in the case of the panzerhos...

Mac

Ok, so Voider plates, or compression plate voiders. I cannot find that term used outside of here, but this is a translation. Regardless there is very little literature or anything period on this unfortunately. I've seen the word "croissant" used for knee and elbow voiders of plate in 2th C armor li...

Mac

I like the shape pretty much! It might be a bit full just behind the ears.... but then again maybe not. It sort of depends on how closely it fits. Skulls are a bit wider in back that way, and if the helmet is close fitting, that might be needed. On the other hand, if you have enough "style space" in...

Mac

Wait! Hold the presses! It looks like I mis-remembered what I had read. :oops: Fortunately, the thread where I read it has just come back to the top. Since the 15th century treatise thread brought up the question, how were mail voiders held in place behind the plate poleyn, greaves, and cuisses? Wer...

Mac

this Panzerhose is now on display in the Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt. It reopened around 3 Weeks ago and now they also show their Coat of Plates (found 2002 in Passau). They also show X-ray photographs of the Panzerhosen. It's propably possible to reconstruct it, if you could visit the museu...

Mac

I've got a pinterest board on "gussets of plate" here . It's mostly focused on the early examples from art, but I should probably add some extant 16th C examples as well. So far as I can tell, all of the surviving gussets for knees and elbows are based on the so called "compression articulation", an...

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