OK. Helping a friend piece together a 1st kit. He is thinking of a 'post-viking danish' persona. Wide enough definition. I'm thinking Wisby.
What we've got is:
13 ga. vaguely pembridge great helm
2 lame elbow cops w/rerebrace
leather vambraces
leather clamshells/demi's
really nice 6 lame stainless archer's knees
leather gorget
& the body. Well, the body is composed of overlapped oval & trefoil shaped aluminum plates rivetted to a leather backing. It looks really nice, actually. But it belongs on Norman's website somewhere, in my mind. Do you think I could modify it to make a COP of some sort, I would it fit with the rest of the kit?
For that matter, does ANYTHING fit with ANYTHING in this kit? What time & place would it be closest to, & how can it be altered?
piecing together armour, trying to make it period
13 ga. vaguely pembridge great helm - 14th century, sorta
2 lame elbow cops w/rerebrace - How pointed are the elbows? If they are the standard, shallow dome of the SCA elbows they aren't period.
leather vambraces - most likely another SCA creation
leather clamshells/demi's - definately an SCA creation
really nice 6 lame stainless archer's knees - 15th century or later and would need to be attached to a leg harness.
leather gorget - yet another SCA creation.
Dan
2 lame elbow cops w/rerebrace - How pointed are the elbows? If they are the standard, shallow dome of the SCA elbows they aren't period.
leather vambraces - most likely another SCA creation
leather clamshells/demi's - definately an SCA creation
really nice 6 lame stainless archer's knees - 15th century or later and would need to be attached to a leg harness.
leather gorget - yet another SCA creation.
Dan
Not satisfactory.
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Mad Matt
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Not as hopeless as you might think.
Sell the archers knees and get some simmons knee cops or those fancy one-piece ones Krag makes.
Gorgets didn't exist at all in the 14th. But you've basically gotta have one for sca so hiding it will work perfectly. To hide it put either a coif or flase coif (just the skirting attached to the helmet) on.
Those arms are just fine. But if you wanna switch to steel vambraces you'd be suprised how easy it is to make a set of gutters. You don't even need to attach them to the elbows just point them to the gambeson.
Maille maille maille. Lots of it and you get a much cooler looking kit.
Either a hauberk (mid-thigh elbow length sleeves) or a false one. Ie. the areas covered by the leather and plate thingy are missing from the hauberk. The pieces of hauberk are sewn to gambeson.
Now for the body armour thingy. Not really sure what it looks like from the description.
But the coat of plates was made in so many different variations that anything you do that follows the same basic principle is ok in my book.
So take all those plates off and rivit em back on on the inside. Same holes same placement just on the inside. Or even easier if the design of the thing allows it just turn it inside out.
Gauntlets. Well 14th c people are basically out of luck here as far as authenticity and sca regs. You can make a choice though. Historically accurate finger gaunts and a basket hilt. Or anachronistic gauntlets and quillions.
Cuisses: Once you get some new knees adding some cuisses would be a nice touch.
Get some leather. Cut it out, put on straps and point or rivit it to the one piece knees. Optionally you could also put on interior splints or even just stick some rivits through the leather so it looks like there's splints underneath. Easy. Greaves are basically a must. Cuirboulli or even just plain ole leather is fine. So is splinted and full plate but you do want to try and keep with the theme of the whole harness.
Now piecing together a harness like this you are definitly portraying someone from the lower upper class. Ie. rich enough to have armour but not rich enough to afford all the new high-tech stuff. Thus the plate arms and the leather legs.
Top it all off with a tabard or surcoat and voila it's not a hyper accurate harness but it is much better then it was and probably a fair bit better then most.
------------------
The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory
Sell the archers knees and get some simmons knee cops or those fancy one-piece ones Krag makes.
Gorgets didn't exist at all in the 14th. But you've basically gotta have one for sca so hiding it will work perfectly. To hide it put either a coif or flase coif (just the skirting attached to the helmet) on.
Those arms are just fine. But if you wanna switch to steel vambraces you'd be suprised how easy it is to make a set of gutters. You don't even need to attach them to the elbows just point them to the gambeson.
Maille maille maille. Lots of it and you get a much cooler looking kit.
Either a hauberk (mid-thigh elbow length sleeves) or a false one. Ie. the areas covered by the leather and plate thingy are missing from the hauberk. The pieces of hauberk are sewn to gambeson.
Now for the body armour thingy. Not really sure what it looks like from the description.
But the coat of plates was made in so many different variations that anything you do that follows the same basic principle is ok in my book.
So take all those plates off and rivit em back on on the inside. Same holes same placement just on the inside. Or even easier if the design of the thing allows it just turn it inside out.
Gauntlets. Well 14th c people are basically out of luck here as far as authenticity and sca regs. You can make a choice though. Historically accurate finger gaunts and a basket hilt. Or anachronistic gauntlets and quillions.
Cuisses: Once you get some new knees adding some cuisses would be a nice touch.
Get some leather. Cut it out, put on straps and point or rivit it to the one piece knees. Optionally you could also put on interior splints or even just stick some rivits through the leather so it looks like there's splints underneath. Easy. Greaves are basically a must. Cuirboulli or even just plain ole leather is fine. So is splinted and full plate but you do want to try and keep with the theme of the whole harness.
Now piecing together a harness like this you are definitly portraying someone from the lower upper class. Ie. rich enough to have armour but not rich enough to afford all the new high-tech stuff. Thus the plate arms and the leather legs.
Top it all off with a tabard or surcoat and voila it's not a hyper accurate harness but it is much better then it was and probably a fair bit better then most.
------------------
The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory