The Armour Archive

I have my handout for the class I am teaching tomorrow online at http://www.cox-internet.com/kmarsh/armour.doc . The class will be given at our annual SCA Candlemas feast in Austin, TX.

This class is more about philosophy of historical recreation, research methods and planning techniques than about specific types of armour. I hope to generate some dicussion and answer questions in more detail about several topics that are mentioned briefly in the handout.

I know that some will object to my use of hidden plastic in my example. I will talk about other examples, but I want to make the point that a well-researched and authentic appearance can be achieved without huge cost or encumberance.

I would welcome any suggestions for the class, both for tomorrow and for future use. Part of my goal for the class is to teach the things I wish I had learned when I first started in the SCA.

My suggestion, if you have not already done this, is to have a full suit as an example. If possible, use a period picture and make an SCA armor to match it. It is so much easier to learn if the teacher is showing examples, rather than just describing them. I want to see that the result actually looks like the picture.

We have all read some great ideas on how to make a kit that looks like it should, but we very seldom see examples from the same person who described the kit. Examples will give you credibility. Barring this, use some good line drawings to convey the same information.

I assume that what you are trying to give your pupils is the idea that it isn't any harder to look good on the field than to look crappy. The problem is that they won't believe you, not deep down inside, unless they can actually SEE that you are right. If they look at a basic armor with a tunic over it and say "I can do that" then you've done your job. If they look at the text and then look over and see that every "Viking" who is out on the field is wearing a mess of obvious barrel bits, they will think that you are really downplaying the time and effort involved in looking decent.

For new folks, an estimated price list (actually check this, by the way) and sources for patterns (the plastic knees, the splint arms, the gorget, the body armor) will help a lot. Otherwise, they end up going to the other jokers who are already out there fighting and doing whatever they did.

Eventually, it would be great to have three or four versions, perhaps borrowed from authentic-looking fighters, so you can show different time periods. Also, you might want to tone down the differences in class or station within a given time and place or hold off on that until they are more advanced in their personae, unless it truly makes a huge difference in the final armor. Just do a "generic Viking" and a "fighter from the Maciejowski Bible" and maybe a footman from 1350. All of these are possible, even simple enough for a beginner. Most folks just need to be pointed in the right direction and given the deep-down assurance that they CAN do it.

-Patrick