The Armour Archive

Ok...
I have had it with the maintenance and up keep of my powder coated lamellar...

I am probably going to buy some of those Noble Plastic Plates so I can have a fairly maintenance free armour.

Has anyone used the Auk plates and how are they?

I know they had some problems with them breaking under normal SCA combat conditions... has that been fixed?

as long as they are hidden they are fine, you do intend on hiding them right?

I made a suit of lamellar for my 8 year old out of the auk plates. I dont think I'd use them for adults though. I like the bigger ones for that. I've made two suits of those for friends and they are both in love with them. i love my aluminum TBob lamellar or else I'd have a suit of that. It looks great, works great.

Sarnac,

We have a Knight here that uses a curaiss out of them. In his opinion, they realy don't protect worth a crap, but they do look pretty nifty. They are conciderably thinner then the newcastle, but also alot smaller and look more "real". If you do end up using them, I'd realy suggest using some kind of kidney/shortrib protection in conjuction with them.

Cheers

Sixtus

I had looked into Noble Plastics meself for some time before I decided I was going to make my whole brig vest myself. However, I did see a useful photo of the interior of a lamellar vest one guy made that had a very convenient piece of padding sewn in conjunction with the plates themselves on the inside, a piece that went around the whole kidney/short ribs area. Couldn't tell what the material was, but I'm sure you could think of something.

I almost did the same thing myself with the newcastle type lamella... however the Auk type are very thin and do flex quite a bit. They are nice for the look in themselves.. but I would imagine you'd have to have a HIGH pain tolerance to use them as a stand-alone armour for SCA activitiy

Sixtus

For another option,WMA has some awesome stainless plates availible.....

The plates can take some abuse, but I agree that you'll need some padding in there. IMO, they look far better than the newcastle.

hmmmmmmmm.....

I only wear an under tunic and fighting tunic under my current kilbanion...

I am pretty put off that many think that I would require extra "armour" under my armour.

Tarquin Bjornsson wrote:as long as they are hidden they are fine, you do intend on hiding them right?

no I did not.
I was actually planning on making a set like I have now.

No Sarnac...
Say it ain't so!

NooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOO!

Buy Adams instead, shiny, stainless, D shaped. Coool

yes they are pretty.... and shiny... but are not correct for my period and persona...

I need a tombstone shaped plate... like the Auk.

I own a set of the "newcastle" lamellar and I find it very protective. I am working on a set of hardened leather to replace it because I want the added authenticity. Aesthetically I find that the darker colors simulate dyed leather so effectively that many people have to touch the plates to determine that they are plastic. The "metal-looking" plates are much too thick to be metal and the lighter colors just look too...plastic.

My considerations in wanting to replace the plastic with leather include the desire to do school demos and the evil influences///////////////// inspiration towards authenticity that I get from the LH participants on this forum. If those factors do not weigh heavily with you then you may be very happy with the plastic lamellar.

I have worn mine without any padding but I prefer a light gambeson/subarmalis and a long-sleeved under-tunic. For most times and places where lamellar was worn this gives the right sort of look, while trying to cover it with a tunic or surcoat would just look wrong.

sarnac wrote:but are not correct for my period and persona...

sarnac wrote:I am probably going to buy some of those Noble Plastic Plates

[img]http://www.honorblade.com/phpBB/images/smiles/101.gif[/img]

You're one of my heros Sarnac. You're making me want to cry.

Would you consider titanium, your excellency, or do you require a "leather-look" material?

Jehan, squire of Sir Vitus

Don't you have the Birka style plates from the AA order currently?

If so, I know that Andrixious from www.CalontirTrim.com sells the Birka style plates in a variety of metals. I have a set of SS ones and they work great.

If you're trying to do Mongolian looking lamellar, the birka plates are just wrong. The shape is wrong and the lacing pattern is wrong. Not to take away from them but if you're trying to do Byzantine you're fine. Just not Mongolian. The Newcastle plates are fine, just stick to the dark colors. I like the pewter and black personally.
It's forever armor. i think the only thing you';ll ever have to do is relace it occasionally. our guys that wear it dont need anything under it either. It does a real good job.
If I hadnt lucked into my aluminum stuff I woulda gone there and I love authentic stuff.
You can do a suit with the thighs and upper arms and it's just the tits. Seriously.

[quote="D. Sebastian]You're one of my heros Sarnac. You're making me want to cry.
[/quote]


Dude....

you havent seen my kit lately...

I had the plates powder coated black to cover the fact that they were shiny metal to better look the part....

now after 3 years they are scratched to hell and look like crap.

I tried using enamel paint to touch it up but that made it look worse!

I would have to SANDBLAST and re powdercoat every plate.

that is a LONG and Expensive process.

I got the first set done as a favour... but after doing it he wanted to Kill me for letting him!

his exact words were "never again"...

so I either put out huge cash to re do my entire kit... and remain armourless for a long period of time.....or spend a far more modest amount to get a kit that will look nice for far longer while I revamp my metal kit.

tough decision.....

as I will certainly be hailed as a hypocrite for those who have chided me for putting too much emphasis on a period look on the list field.

*sigh*

Bummer.

Jehan, squire of Sir Vitus

Jehan de Pelham wrote:Would you consider titanium, your excellency, or do you require a "leather-look" material?

Jehan, squire of Sir Vitus

I would not consider titainium....because from what I have seen it would be cost prohivative.
If I could find the plates at the same cost as the Noble plates... I would consider it.

I do have enough aluminum plates that make up the front of a kilbanion, but I dont have enough aluminum plates to finish it. Besdies that I do not like the look of unfinished aluminum... it just looke wrong... which the Noble plates... for the most part...look ok.

hey... if anyone knows where I could get cheap powder coating or aluminum anodized... I am all ears.

Sarnac, what are your current coated plates made from?

Would you consider cur leather lamellas?
You could always back it with (laced onto) a more rigid material if you feel it would not be hearty enough.

Has anyone tryed high gloss paint on the Noble plastics stuff? It might make them look like laqured leather instead of black plastic.


do you think plating the metal in brass or copper or nickel would prolong the life of them?

What about gun blueing them? That might make a cool look?

Thorvaldr sent me a sample of the waxed leather lamellar he sells. I think it's comparable to the noble plastic stuff in price.
It's very fine work too. The only thing I'd ask is that his holes were bigger to facilitate lacing.

I think Brettun's village does or used to sell leather heels for cowboy boots for dirt cheap. They were about 10oz leather and pre-cut all you had to do was drill and or cuiri boille and lace.

Sarnac;


I see and understand your reasoning. I will not heckle you as a hypocrite though others will. Now, please keep in mind how many people look up to you, you are like the house leonthas in ealdormere (as far as mongols are concerned). Let me also say that if they (the plates) are covered they look great. Is there not a mongol tunic that Jo could make for you that could cover your plastic stuff (like kasimir's white tunic).


just my two cents

Sarnac: I maybe have another option for you... if you're being a Mongol, have you considered a jawshan? It could be made from leather, and not all that expensively... it would be accurate to persona, and not all that difficult to make, depending on what you need done... what I don't know is if it could be done for the price of the plates, but I've got to do one in a little bit anyway, so I might be able swap you something.

/got a lot on my plate and never done a commission, unless you count sharpening some axes for folks, but there sure seems to be a lot of folks wanting to see you not in plastic...

Sarnac,

Have you considered glueing a very light leather (garment weight) over your metal scales? You would have to relace it all, but it would be fairly cheap.

Konrad

What's a jawshan? Got a pic?

Online? No, I don't, unfortunately. Take a couple/three pieces of hide, glue them together into a strip about a hand wide. Take another strip, and attach it with lacing the same way you'd hang lamellar rows. Continue that process to cover the torso, and shape it to the torso. By strap or by metal clip, attach the front and back together at the shoulders. If it's a middle-eastern version, mount the front and back together with hinges on the side. Paint, varnish, lacquer, gild, what-have-you, to your heart's content.

I'm in the middle of one project (felted fleece quiver), but I'll bump the jawshan up in priority so it'll be the next thing I make, and I'll show pictures if you like.

I've owned both Auk and Newcastle; the new Auk plates are thicker and more protective than the original run (which were recalled) and the Newcastles are quite thick in my opinion.

If I had to choose again between the two I would choose the new Auk plates. Incidentally, the only color that really looked okay is "pewter" (I purchased pewter and copper).

Missy Rogers at Noble Plastics is a just a dream to deal with as well; a very, very professional person who stands behind her product.

I've also owned and used Torvaldr's leather scales and I have a box of his leather lamellar plates right now. His website is http://www.skaldic.com and I think his product is top-notch.

The leather armour from Skaldic is extremely protective as well. I'd actually wear it against a rebated steel sword - I can't say the same about the plastic lamellar.

The trade-off however is weight. The plastic weighs less than a third of the leather on a plate-by-plate comparison, in fact perhaps even a fifth as much.

Right now I am gearing up to do a run of water-jet cut titanium lamellar as a personal experiment and hopefully I will have something to report here on the AA by October.

Hope this helps; please feel free to pm me on Legio or here if I can be of any additional service.

Best,
Karl
House Beckenham

Sarnac, make the armor you're happy in. The plastic stuff looks fine and it holds up well. The only opinion that really matters here is yours. Just sayin.

White Mountain Armoury wrote:Sarnac, what are your current coated plates made from?

6061 t-6 aluminium

Animal wrote:Sarnac, make the armor you're happy in. The plastic stuff looks fine and it holds up well. The only opinion that really matters here is yours. Just sayin.

dude....

if it were only that easy....


*sigh*