The Armour Archive

Josh W

I was privileged to get to see this cuirass in use and stand next to it in my own cuirass recently. It's gorgeous!

Josh W

I very hurriedly made my ten year-old daughter a Gothic half-harness for her costume to wear to a convention tomorrow.

It's mostly 18ga and 20ga mild steel, but the plackart is 16ga. The warhammer is foam, believe it or not.

Josh W

Yes, on August 28th, 2005, my nice green gambeson was slung over a chair at my kitchen table in my house. I had just finished polishing my harness, which was spread out all over the living room floor, when my wife decided to take us to visit her parents a couple of hours away in Leavenworth. The gam...

Josh W

Years ago, I gave Patrick a really nice enormous caliper that I used for this purpose which I bought at Metal By The Foot in Kansas City, MO. I wonder if they still stock those; I should get another one...

Josh W

Ooh!

I believe I know both the armourer and the customer.

I can't wait to see this finished!

Josh W

I'll add my voice to those endorsing Patrick as an excellent armourer and teacher. I own a lot of his work, and learned a great deal from him about the art over the years.

Josh W

Thought this belonged here, if it hadn't been seen already...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AZLnZ_HiNtc/T ... 2Bcopy.jpg

Josh W

The present state of my kit.

Josh W

I was fortunate enough to receive a sample patch of mail from this excellent gentleman. I'd post a pic, but he's posted several photos of his work, and he is a better photographer than I am. This is good stuff! The solid links seem to have been punched from a sheet and are much thicker than the ones...

Josh W

Just for fun--my friend Amanda wearing my harness:

Josh W

: AApic.jpg (18.35 KiB) Viewed 31932 times

What I wore to the Tourney du Cygne a few weeks ago.

Josh W

I want so badly to be part of something like this with my own harness.

Alas, everyone here seems to want to do late 14th/early 15th century.

Josh W

Dear God, but that cuirass is beautiful, Dan!

It's almost as nice as my 15th century Italian cuirasss...

Josh W

: 20882_10204278632629490_4789310179568147941_n.jpg (79.88 KiB) Viewed 3320 times

Recent pics.

Josh W

I keep hearing about a cut & thrust (?) tournament that took place at Gulf Wars called the "MOB" tournament.

I heard that it was awesome, and featured people in really nice kit.

What is it, and where can I see photos of this thing?

Josh W

There are few questions in history whose answer I want more then I want to know what the back armour of this piece looked like when it was new...

Josh W

I'm not in these photos, but both gentlemen are wearing kits that I own. Many of the components of each harness are my own work, too.

https://flic.kr/p/pNdWHM

https://flic.kr/p/qszste

Josh W

I resolve to finish the three or so personal kits I've got in the works.

Josh W

I remember being told that I needed to wear a kidney belt underneath my 15th century Italian cuirass, the lower backplate of which is nearly 2mm thick at the center. :roll: Some people seem to know only one way to do something, and the way they know is the One True Way, and they are unable to wrap t...

Josh W

Ummmm....

Why is the above post by myq13 edited to make it look like I said that I was in Amtgard?

I've never been in Amtgard. There isn't even a chapter near me.

Josh W

How thick were the steel plates on the originals? Is that addressed in Thordemann? I think I remember reading a thickness figure for the Kussnach coat of plates somewhere once, but I'm not sure I've ever heard any figures for the Wisby coats or any other finds.

Josh W

Bump.

Somebody buy this.

I helped her make it.

It's very sturdy.

Josh W

Some clarification is in order: I don't think that the KEM and his assistants are busybodies. In fact, I really got the impression that most of the marshals in the kingdom dislike sitting in meetings as much as I do. My biggest problem is that I just haven't learned to say "No." It was spending the ...

Josh W

So I was asked to assume the office of my local shire's group marshal a few months ago after the previous holder of the position suddenly stepped down. I had little experience at doing it, and had nobody to guide me since the other guy disappeared. It's been several months now, and frankly, it's kil...

Josh W

I suspect that this is only true if the single-layer plate is the same thickness as the scales. Historically, I believe most breastplates were of thicker material than most of the individual scales in scale armor. I'd be more interested in seeing the difference in combat performance of, say, a 2mm b...

Josh W

What about not being a 9th century Mercian? Is that option on the table?

Josh W

This one I just found. What strikes me about it is that it's post-1415 and it's specific about not just armor but cuirasses (often the thickest, as you know) being defeated by arrows. I suppose that depends on how you define "defeated." As you note earlier: In return the English loosed arrows, whic...

Josh W

Yeah, that's the only passage that leaps to mind when I think of Mongolian armour. I know next to nothing about Mongols; not my thing--they don't interest me a bit.

Josh W

Are there any? I have a friend who is making a set of aluminum lamellar (which is turning out well), but is growing worried about being shamed by other mongols in this kingdom for not wearing leather. Is this seriously a concern among SCA mongols? Can this person honestly expect to be jeered at by o...

Josh W

87 miles or not, next time you're in Manhattan, come see me...

Josh W

Late First Age Edain warrior of Dor-Lómin, perhaps a retainer of the House of Húrin.

Josh W

My cuirass weighs 26 pounds, and that's not counting the arming doublet with voyders, mail skirt, gorget/mail standard, tassets, and pauldrons that are worn with it.

Josh W

I'm not sure that I accept the notion that mail and lamellar were that much more effective than scale, brigandine, and coats of plates. That one seems kind of hard to swallow for me. Mail has been glorified a bit too much in recent years, I think.

Josh W

What Steve said.

Josh W

Also, in the Irish Annuls, there are a few mentions of warriors wearing stiffened or thick leather armor. Sometimes decorated with peices of metal, sometimes not. There is a specific mention of warriors wearing stiffend leather vest/jackets over thier leines. These were produced by a specific craft...

Re: New Italian suit

I made my little daughter a Gothic half-harness.

Re: Oil-Blackening Mild Steel

Re: Armor thickness caliper

Re: New Italian suit

Re: Apprentceship

Re: Front closing breastplate: Paulus Kal Solothurner Fechtb

Re: 2017 Show Us Your Kits!

Jorge Salazar's mail

Re: 2016 Show us your kits!

Re: 2016 Show us your kits!

Re: Photos of Italian tournament

Re: Ponderings on Copper and Bronze Age Armor

Re: 2015 Show us your kits!

Re: Gulf Wars

Re: New pics of museum piece. Analysis? (Fabric covered glob

Re: 2015 Show us your kits!

Re: 2015 Kit Resolutions!

Re: SCA combat in a great bascinet

Re: Sabratact

Re: Metal gauge for Wisby COP

Re: Lamallar For Sale!!!

Re: Does anyone else hate being group marshal?

Does anyone else hate being group marshal?

Re: Scale armor better than plate?

Re: Oval or kite shield possible for a 9th century Mercian?

Re: crossbow bolts and longbow arrows against armor

Re: SCA Mongols in metal lamellar

SCA Mongols in metal lamellar

Re: help with cutting metal

Re: what time period would this work for

Re: SCA body armour weight

Re: An inquiry for the armor experts. For RPG game design.

Re: "Hanging your legs" question

Re: There is too much leather armour in the SCA.