The Armour Archive

im in need of patterns for samurai helms can any one help me out

See the reply to your request on the samurai history forum.

im not finding the forum do you have a link

Check the "I Want To Be a ..." Forum

Talk about fortuitous....


A recent Kabuto modification I just worked on included a serious rethinking of how a japanese helmet can be modified to be more protective (for SCA use) yet still maintain the relative japanese appearence.

Having been around many kabuto wearers before, the basic problem I observed and noted in conversation is that the tail lames dont protect the neck if the plates are jostled or your move your head up or down too far. And unless your using a mempho, you may have issues integrating a safe chin/neck area with a bargrill.

My solution was to adopt a close helm or sallet bevor approach. I forged a really tough hinge which was welded into a cup shaped bevor. This bevor opens up (swings downward) to open up the helmet, allowing the wearer to put it on. When it closes, it adds significant protection to the throat. There is a lip on the bevor. This can be used to attach the neck plates. Sorry for the small image, its from a cellphone camera.


I welded very strong tabs to the actual bevor. I call them the 'teeth.'
I then welded very strong slots up inside the helmet.
When the bevor is closed, the teeth rise up inside the slots.
This teeth/slots approach meant that the bevor can endure serious punishment and wont twist or torque when struck. It stays in place. Here is an image of the teeth:



I also lathed out some salt and pepper shaped knobs (see above image too) to secure the cord for both the chinstrap and/or to tie up the bevor.


Keep in mind that the tail should only be "decorative" It can articulate or move on laces however your first goal is to protect the entire head first before concerning yourself with the tail. The reason I say this is because a spear shot can go up inside the helmet, between the side of the head and the tail and obviously cause injury.

Here is a sketch I made for a recent helmet modification I did. I may build a kabuto from scratch at this point but I will obviously be mindful of the head protection first and foremost.




A bunch of people have asked me for better photos or a tutorial with patterns of the bevor. I cant give you better photos however I will be happy to make some nice sketches of the designs, with some basic patterns. Lmk if youre interested.

Hello,

I am far from a master of Japanese armor (but I'm bored tonight) so I did a little research. I will assume everyone reading this has at least found Effinghams site, specificly this page: http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/katchu/katchu.html

The Zunari Kabuto seems the easist skull pattern to design. I would start similar to any spangen helm with a good set of measurements of the width and length of the head. Then I would draw 1:1 scale drawings of the front and side view over a tracing of the head. This will let you capture the design and the scale in your mind as well as being the framework to take measurements off of.

Andrews design modifications are one possible engineering solution (and a rather decent one) but there are others. It is very important that the back of the skull is protected for SCA and other contact combat sports. Typicly that means extending a rigid back of the helm down below the Shikoro. If you are wearing a gorget (can't find the japanese term if the piece even exists in jpanese armor) You can also actually extend the back of the gorget up until it almost touches the helm. This provides the necessary protection without altering the helm design. It does however make the next step more difficult.

If you desire the Menpo that is fixed to the helm you can have it open at the chin the way andrew draws or you might consider hiding a hinge under the Mabizashi and attaching the Menpo similar to a hound-skull or other clap visor. That would allow he Menpo so swing away from the face for removal without coming loose.

I believe that the braided rope tied over posts is the period closure method and it is acceptable everyplace I have ever been a SCA marshal.

Anyhow. That taps my engineering abilities with japanese armor. Sorry I couldn't be more help. (like have an actual pattern). I think I may know someone off-lin who does. Let me see what I can do.

Sean

On the heels of the PMs and emails Ive gotten about the pivotting bevor plans, here is another idea I thought of that I think will work.

Basically if you lift the tails up....(they are of course decorative in a sense) then you can pull back a backplate door/flap and put your head inside the helmet.

The mempho would be just slightly oversized and/or pushed a bit more away from your face than a real mempho sitting directly on your face. ....or mabe the mempho could still sit directly on your face.

Either way, the idea is a sort of reverse close helm approach, rather than the front of the helmet pivotting up, the back does.....as seen here:

It would need to lock in place of course but I love this idea.

*sigh* more attempts to reinvent the wheel.

Andrew,

The reverse close helm concept has been worked out before. It is *possible* . The reverse of your hinged chin/bevor would work even better. But, end of the day, a menpo that mounts to the helmet or is on the face is just easier as well as closer to original.

Mykaru wrote:*sigh* more attempts to reinvent the wheel.

Andrew,

The reverse close helm concept has been worked out before. It is *possible* . The reverse of your hinged chin/bevor would work even better. But, end of the day, a menpo that mounts to the helmet or is on the face is just easier as well as closer to original.

Mykaru/MJ

Before I begin I have to tell you Im a huge fan of your work. I love your kabutos. Gorgeous. Great to chat with you.

In terms of the close mempho that was something I felt made sense, the more I thought about it.

Seems as though an opening that ones head can fully and snugly fit into (all the way into the mempho) makes sense.....then just bringing the backplate down into place, and dropping the tail lames.

Let me ask you, how do you pad your memphos?

What would be the period approach to padding them?


Cheers
Drew

Period? No padding.

Padding for myself? 1/2 medium cell foam. (the black stuff).

The problem is the koshimaki (the encircling band) is rarely flat and this is what the shikoro mounts to. A close helm style rear plate would have the shikoro mounted on it with the sum total pivoting up. Pivots on the outside ugly as, pivots on the inside = safety issue. Again *possible* but very difficult to get proper lines especially if the bowl is steep in the back or one of the odd shapes. It's not a bad idea. I spent about 6 months trying to get it to work 6-7 years ago. In the end, the way I work, the other is easier and looks better. YMMV
As I said your idea for the mount on the bottom of the menpo used on a backplate instead would work better. For that matter I can see how it could be done to make the back plate removable. That plus a removable menpo = dress/combat helm. It would be a compromise though. Easier to make 2 helmets w/ no compromises.

The problem has always been instead of building a corvette, we're building a tractor to *look* like a corvette but still do the duties of a tractor. It's possible, but in the end it's easier to build a corvette. (that's why I prefer straight reproduction work).

Mykaru wrote:
The problem has always been instead of building a corvette, we're building a tractor to *look* like a corvette but still do the duties of a tractor. It's possible, but in the end it's easier to build a corvette. (that's why I prefer straight reproduction work).

Well spoken. I too prefer historical work but do enjoy the challenge of trying to make that tractor look sexy.

Keep up the great work....do you have any more photos other than on your site?

Other photos? A few.
[img]http://www.blackhydraarmouries.com/cgi-bin/Aug1.gif[/img]




and of course the stuff in AoTM[/i]

Gorgeous man, lovely work.