Two days ago, I decided it was time to see if I'd learned anything since then.
I'm currently constructing, both raising and welding, a tall peaked barbute ...or possibly a very deep kettlehat. The styles overlap so much in certain late 15th century examples, and I haven't quite decided which one I want... But that's incidental.
Right now, I'm completing the skull, and running into a stumbling block. Whether it's an italian sallet, dutch kettlehat, a barbuta, you name it, so many late 15th century helmets have a very distinct, almost hourglass-shaped silhouette: very slender aspect ratio, slighly bulbous crown, narrow around the temples, flaring out at the bottom. Very graceful. And very *unlike* most SCA helms.
At this point, making it is the easy part. But I'm tearing my hair out, wondering how I'm supposed to *pad* the helmet, while keeping the correct profile.
If I give myself the space I think I need -and it's possible I may be overestimating the space I need- I wind up with an obviously modern-looking brick. If I size it to my head the way I think it *ought* to fit and ought to look, I worry if I'll have enough room for the padding.
Thanks to the miracle of hot raising (who ever invented this should be sainted) and thick materiel, right now I can easily go either way. Once I progress from the skull to the skirt, through, I'm committed. In the mean time: worry.
There are sooo many gorgeous helms on the archive, I have to think that somebody's bumped into this problem (or perceived problem?) at some point... Any advice?