Greenwich Buckhurst armour

[Chris Gilman]

Here's the center design gilded and painted. I'm not completely happy with the plating. I'm going to talk with my long time plating company and see if he has any suggestions on a faster way to get a denser gold deposit.

[Ckanite]

HOLY HELL CHRIS!!!! Those look AWESOME!

[Keegan Ingrassia]

The contrast in color between the bluing and the plating is beautiful, but that texture contrast inside the gold area is just gorgeous. It really makes the etch leap off the surface.

[Jason Grimes]

Jason,
Yes, I had considered bees wax as a way to get specific dots. I'm not sure the best way to apply them. It may be as easy as a large straight pin.

I would try a wax pen like the ones that jewelers use here:

https://www.gesswein.com/p-1675-giles-p ... gJc1PD_BwE

Both my dad and my brother are jewelers and use these to create custom wax models to cast.

On the gold color, I have always been partial to the more orange colored gold, it seems more rich in my opinion.

Jason

[James Arlen Gillaspie]

When I was doing electroetching, I tried many things, starting with asphaltum. Screw asphaltum. "You have an apocalypse coming, you need something with some hold". I seem to remember Valspar metal primer having the most stick'um. I cannot understand why Rustoleum has the lion's share of the market.

On the gold color, I have always been partial to the more orange colored gold, it seems more rich in my opinion.

Me, too. The real gilding I see on armour is very red.

[Chris Gilman]

Found this article this morning. https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/a-l ... 57.article
My bluing results seemed to be too dark. The salts instructions called for 650f / 340c, but based on this article, I should be closer to 480f / 250c.
I'll do a test at 250c and see what color I get.

[Chris Gilman]

Today was cutting masks and adapting them to the greave. I have to start with the main pattern on the front plate, so I can cut sections to fit the lames while matching the main pattern. I still need to add the wider vine boarder on the sides and mask the large area on the main plates.

[Jason Grimes]

This is just epic! Good luck on the etch, I'm sure it will end up really good.

Jason

[Mac]

That's looking pretty nice, Chris! I am excited.

Mac

[Ugo]

Squeeeeeee!!!!!!!

[Chris Gilman]

I have been stalled for a little bit, with being sick and working on the house for the upcoming the holidays. But, I have tested copper acetate as well and it has the advantage of not having a buildup of copper like the copper sulfate does, although it does not seem to etch quite as aggressively. I also had an issue with my vinyl cut software not being able to handle a large file. The pattern is so complex, with so many elements (nearly 2500) that it didn't want to cut the whole pattern. I called tech support and they are working on a solution with drivers for another cutting program.

[Zubeydah]

this is utterly fascinating!

[Indianer]

I wish a good and quick recovery Chris! Take it easy, just have fun

[Johann ColdIron]

This is a fantastic project, Chris. A really neat blend of technology. The newer tech like vinyl cutting fused with the old tech of the acid paste is a great fusion to get this done in a reasonable manner.

The etching popular on 16th century stuff has always seemed the most daunting aspect of it's reproduction. A completely different talent is needed for it rather than the 3D forming effort needed to build something.

This is a great way around it. I was afraid it was going to look to mechanical but the acid work softens it enough to really look nice.

[Tobias Capwell]

I'm stunned.

This is the best etching reproduction result I've ever seen. I stare at the Buckhurst armour every day and this is a shockingly precise replication of its appearance. As others say above, its so fascinating to see how the mastery of modern processes and materials (working alongside traditional methods) can produce such a close imitation of a historical technique.

[Gerhard von Liebau]

Well, there you go, Chris! Now you don't even need to finish the armour. You've already stunned our guru. ^.~

[Chris Gilman]

I'm stunned.

This is the best etching reproduction result I've ever seen. I stare at the Buckhurst armour every day and this is a shockingly precise replication of its appearance. As others say above, its so fascinating to see how the mastery of modern processes and materials (working alongside traditional methods) can produce such a close imitation of a historical technique.

I am deeply honored you think it so. While I have had 3 decades of experience making things that have to match specific styles. I generally only have to make movie people happy and that's only hard, because they most often don't know what they are looking at.
Someone with you credentials and experience is certainly an entirely different level of critique.

Thank you for the kind words.

I will do my best not to cock up the actual armour.
Chris

[Kristoffer]

I will do my best not to cock up the actual armour.
Chris

Don't worry, Mac and Jeff can just whip together a new one in a heartbeat if you cock it.

No pressure!

[Chris Gilman]

OK, Holidays out of the way, back to work.
I have done about 40 different tests, using a combination of ingredients and ingredient ratios, (Copper sulfate, Copper acetate) as well as different etch times and number of etchings. I have also practiced ways to repair the vinyl resist with asphaltum resist, since with multiple application of etching paste, the material can start to lift, or at a minimum, I loose dots. The best applicator for the I have found for the asphaltum resist is a "Henna" applicator bottle, available as a kit from Amazon.

The batches I have been mixing are: (by volume)
3 parts fine salt (I bought a large 196oz. container from "Smart & Final" a local restaurant supply)
6 parts Copper Sulfate This is a much finer grind than the "weed killer" variety.
1 to 1.5 parts 7.5% Vinegar
The trick is to mix the salt and copper sulfate together, then add the vinegar and mix. It will seem like too little vinegar, but after mixing, let the mixture sit for 1 to 11/2 hours and re-mix. There is water trapped in the salt (and possibly the CS) and as the solids dissolve the extra water is released and the mixture changes from a "wet sand" consistency to a paste. This is important if you want to make it stick to a vertical surface. Too much vinegar and the paste will get runny after it sits for awhile.

Here is the first section of the armour to get etched. It's the front of the left greave with the ankle lames. I had etched this piece earlier, but the copper buildup from the etching process was difficult to remove and I was concerned about damaging the vinyl resist so I let the paste sit longer and this did not work well. As a result, I had to very carefully sand down the etched areas and re-polish. Thankfully Mac and Jeff planish very well before sanding, thus the already thin metal was consistent in thickness and I didn't run into thin spots while sanding. (Something that cost me two greaves when I had made them for my 1330's kit. )




Here is a close up of the center of the greave. This was 4 applications of paste at 60 to 70 minutes each. You can see some of the "repaired" dots. I may abandon the dots in the vinyl and just add them with the asphaltum resist straight away.


I would like it a little deeper, but the vinyl is so fine, it begins to lift on the 3rd application. Longer times seem to be less effective. 60 to 90 minutes gives a good etch and still allows the copper deposit to be removed easily. On the larger pieces, where the pattern is larger, I can probably etch 5 or 6 times, to get it deeper. In the close up images I have of the original armour, it looks like the breast & back are etched deeper than the legs & arms.

Now, back to applying the vinyl to the rest of the greave & sabaton pieces.

[Steve S.]

Amazing work!

Steve

[Mac]

That's looking pretty impressive!

Is the gray color the "as etched" surface, or have you laid paint into the recess?

Mac

[Chris Gilman]

Thanks.
Etched surface, no abrasive cleanup.
no paint.
For plating prep, I have been scotchbrighting the etched surface.
I also need to clean up (slight etch bleed and refine some sanding lines) the "to be blued" areas.

[Mac]

For plating prep, I have been scotchbrighting the etched surface

Try a Dremel wire wheel for the clean up of the etched surface. I'm pretty sure that's what I used on the Palmette Garnature. Make sure the wheel is well broken in before you take it to a good piece.

Mac

[Chris Gilman]

I have fully etched to front of the left greave and have most of the back masked.
You can see the real armours lower lag on the screen and if you look close, you'll notice the negative space on the outsides of the figure 8 pattern are a little larger on mine. This is something I'll correct on the rest of the armour as I work my way up, but I will make the right greave match this one.



I have taken to putting the background dots on with the asphaltum resist, as this makes them more durable and makes cutting and weeding the vinyl easier. I am also reinforcing thin areas and loose ends of the vinyl masking because these are the areas that are the most vulnerable during cleaning between paste applications.

This is the back plate of the greave and the different tools I'm using to apply the resist.


It's too late here to start an etching cycle, so I'll try to get the back etched tomorrow. Then on to the right greave.
Now that I have the system down, I should be able to get the right greave done in 2 or 3 days, unless I get interrupted. (Like I may have to go to South Africa next week)

[coreythompsonhm]

Looks great!

[Chris Gilman]

So, by a fortunate series of work related events, I found myself needing to go to South Africa last week, by way of London and had time to visit with Dr. Capwell at the Wallace. Dr. Capwell was gracious enough to take time out of his Monday morning to open up the A62 case and allow me to compare my etching samples to the original.
This can be scary, since no matter how close you think you are to an original, a side by side comparison will almost always reveal differences. (some times major ones)
This was the case with my etching samples. While my armour is considerably larger than the original, and as a result I have had to enlarge the decorative pattern, I was not prepared to see such a huge difference in dot size.
The original Greenwich armour, which I have learned from Dr. Capwell, there are 4 or 5 known examples with this same etched design, have dots that are about half the size of the ones I have done. Being half the size, there are also twice as many as I have used. The main part of the etched design seem to be pretty close between mine and the original, especially when you take into account my suit is so much larger. But, I will have to experiment with application and etching of these new smaller dots, since the resist can come loose after a number of paste applications.
It was not possible to open the display case completely, so some of the pictures had to be taken at odd angles or through the glass of the case, but they are still very useful in showing the differences.

Here is the Left lower leg, next to the original. It is a little deceiving because my ungilded piece has more contrast in the etched areas, but I'm pretty happy with the general pattern.


Here is a closer view of this comparison. You can see the dot size difference better.


The is one of my earlier test pieces next to the decoration on the reinforce breastplate. Being an early test, I didn't worry about lost dots in the pattern, but here you can clearly see my dots are much too large and not nearly dense enough, even given the scaled up main pattern. Also, this being the larger part of the pattern on the original breastplate, the floral work inside the figure eight is denser than my sample, which is a copy of the greave pattern.


The plan , if I can produce the smaller dots consistently, is to gradually make them smaller and denser as I work up the armour. So that the upper part of the suit is closer to the original. Given the over all enlargement of the design, I probably won't go exactly as small as the original, but I will try for something much closer than I am now.

[Jason Grimes]

It's fun to see how they filled in the dot pattern on the original. So cool you were able to compare your efforts with the original as well. I think your's holds up really well.

Jason

[wcallen]

I think it holds up really well too. Good job.

On a side note, where would we be without Toby? Always helpful.

Wade

[James Arlen Gillaspie]

Seeing the background dots on the original, and how dense they are, I was reminded of Italian etching, which is usually done by scratching thousands of little circles in the resist, as opposed to German, which are usually painted on. Just the thing for the shop's apprentice! It also reminded me of how the better quality Italian etching is bilevel, apparently done by etching the main pattern first with the background left naked, and then covering the whole pattern with resist, scratching in the thousands of little circles, and etching again. The bilevel etch is great for a restorer, as it makes it far easier to clean without messing up the etched pattern! Victorian etching is usually all the same level, which makes it a pain to clean, and the dollar value of Vic'y pieces being what it is, usually not worth the effort. Alas, it is too late to have Chris check for a bilevel etch, but maybe Toby could check (I would be surprised if it was, though; it looks as though the dots have been cleaned up). It gave me an idea as to how the parts already etched could be made to match the later; cover the pattern with resist, paint dots of appropriate density, and re-etch.

[Chris Gilman]

I had considered this very thing. My first etch is not as deep as it could be and re-etching the pattern could be done. (although a lot of work) I did not know this was something that was done in period. The Buckhurst seems to have all of it's etching at one level. Although, there are differences in etch depth from one piece to another.

[Gerhard von Liebau]

I think it looks great as it is. The armour is already twice as large as the original... The dots might as well be, too.

[Chris Gilman]

I have not been satisfied with the overall depth of my etched pieces. Longer etch times seem to damage the vinyl resist, partially due to the metallic copper deposits and this causes the paste gets underneath and degrades the original surface. Mac's research into etching pastes has recipes which include charcoal. We have suspected this may have some type of conveyor like effect, either to bring the active etching ingredients to the surface of the steel, or remove copper. Before my trip, I ordered some to experiment with. I received both "activated" charcoal powder and the Cowboy charcoal Mac referenced. The limited test I have done do not show any clear advantage of one over the other. They both seem to reduce the metallic copper deposits on the steel surface when the etch paste is removed. This makes surface cleaning between etchings much easier and less destructive to the resists. (My ratio was 4 prts. CS / 2 prts salt / 1 prt charcoal powder)
My brother, who does a lot with 19th century guns, mentioned bone charcoal as being very desirable for case hardening. A little research on bone charcoal revealed some research done in using this type of charcoal to absorb copper contamination in water and found it to be very effective. I ordered some and will test it this week to see if it improves the copper absorption from the steel surface.

The other issue I wanted to address is the size of the dots on my samples. Since my trip to the Wallace showed my background dots where considerably larger than the original.
Using the bottle to apply the dots smaller turns out to be quite easy and in fact, I have gone the other way and the dots now may be too small, given that the pattern for my armour has been enlarged to account for the armour being bigger.
Here are the latest tests:





While the overall size is a pretty good match, I'm not sure the smaller dots work as well, so I'll probably split the difference.

The other thing I'm not happy with is the gold. It is not nearly deep enough in color. As you can see by the above photograph, (more apparent in the side by side images in my earlier post) the original has a much yellower gold, a result of the much heavier gold deposit using the fire gilding process.
In this sample, I used a torch to blue the edges and as a result the gold was slightly discolored. I may be able to use this to my advantage, given that the salt bluing, with its more controlled temperature gave the gold an even orange hue. With a reapplication of gold, this color was corrected while still retaining a little of its darker color.



This latest sample has very good depth. A result of 5 paste applications at 1 hour each and a 6th application at 12 hours. With the charcoal added to the paste, the vinyl was less effected by the copper deposits. I also brushed some of the asphaltum resist over the entire surface and cleaned it off with solvent. My hope was this would leave trace amounts in the corners where the vinyl met the steel, hopefully "sealing" the vinyl to the steel a little more effectively. The combination of this and the carbon defiantly improved the vinyls ability to survive repeated cleanings. The last 12 hour etch did get under both the vinyl and the asphaltum dots, so it may not need to be left as long. Perhaps 6 hours will be better.

Given the scope of this project I will still investigate fire gilding options.

I have the artwork and vinyl's cut for the right greave and will get those applied this week and should have the second greave completed in the next few days. Then on to the cuisses.

[Johann ColdIron]

Another fascinating update Chris.

I like where you are headed with the smaller dots. Getting the proportion correct with the enlarged scale of the work piece is a challenge.

The tops of the original dots appear flatter that the work you are trying to match it with. Is it possible they were sanding the dots/dotted areas to a consistent level before proceeding?

[Johann ColdIron]

Another fascinating update Chris.

I like where you are headed with the smaller dots. Getting the proportion correct with the enlarged scale of the work piece is a challenge.

The tops of the original dots appear flatter that the work you are trying to match it with. Is it possible they were sanding the dots/dotted areas to a consistent level before proceeding?

[Chris Gilman]

Another fascinating update Chris.

I like where you are headed with the smaller dots. Getting the proportion correct with the enlarged scale of the work piece is a challenge.

The tops of the original dots appear flatter that the work you are trying to match it with. Is it possible they were sanding the dots/dotted areas to a consistent level before proceeding?

It does not seem like they sanded the surface down, but the dots were a more consistent size, and slightly larger than my most recent test.

These are the subtleties that make reproduction projects time consuming. Recreating things is harder than many people think. The original craftsman developed techniques that gave a pleasing result, often from a point of ease or convenience. When you try to reproduce these, you often come at them from a point of overly complex process or a time consuming technique. This may be what was required at the time, but I think in most cases, we can count on the fact the craftsman was efficient & quick, but I don't count out, lazy.