Review- House of the Wolf

Vitus von Atzinger · Post by **Vitus von Atzinger** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:41 pm

Okay, a few months ago House of the Wolf offered a set of early 14th century hardened leather armour for sale here on the Archive. The set consisted of vambraces, rerebraces with a dished shoulder and front greaves. I cannot remember how much he originally asked for the pieces in question.
I cannot friggin' BELIEVE how nice they are. It is insane that nobody bought these. I got them in a trade deal, and I may trade them away again because they were made for a taller person than myself.
They are incredible. Beyond incredible- the nicest and most accurate-looking pieces of leather armour I have ever seen in my life.
As usual, the communication was stellar. The quality of the work is simply over-the-top.

Uilleag · Post by **Uilleag** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 5:14 pm

Good Sir,

You honor me. Your words, and the kind words of others here set a bar for me that I am not sure I can always reach.

This was the first set of 14c harness that I ever made as a matching harness.

<IMG src="http://houseofthewolf.com/gallery/greaves/gl14cgreaves.jpg">

<IMG src="http://houseofthewolf.com/gallery/vambraces/gl14cvambraces1.jpg">

<IMG src="http://houseofthewolf.com/gallery/Shoulders/gl14crerebraces8.jpg">

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 8:35 am

Dan, your work is amazing! I don't think I have seen anybody put as much time and effort into product developement as you do, and that shows in the quality of your work. Your experiments have taken leather armour construction to a whole new level. Are you sure you haven't traveled back in time to spy on some armourers?

In awe,
Cat

Brother Logan · Post by **Brother Logan** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 8:38 am

Ditto what Vitus and Cat said, plus he has really good taste in beer!
Cheers,
Leo

Torvaldr · Post by **Torvaldr** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 12:35 pm

As always, beautiful work!

Jehan de Pelham · Post by **Jehan de Pelham** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 1:25 pm

Someone with a truly interesting coat of arms should commission him to make a thin leather covering for a von Atzinger shield. THAT would be over the top.

I saw his ailettes that he made for Geoffrey of Wigmore. They turned a mediocre to up and coming harness (sorry, Geoffrey, I have to call it like I see it) into something extraordinary.

John
Jehan de Pelham, esquire and servant of Sir Vitus
www.mron.org

Gerhard von Liebau · Post by **Gerhard von Liebau** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 3:38 pm

I cannot friggin' BELIEVE how nice they are. It is insane that nobody bought these. I got them in a trade deal, and I may trade them away again because they were made for a taller person than myself.

I'll order them for someone shorter, next time;)

I wore the whole set to school one day with my riveted shirt and other gear... Only time I used it all. I didn't get any photos though, which I regret, as I probably looked cooler on that day than any other in my life. Awesome pieces.

But, that kit idea was too expensive, so I had to tone it down and in turn get these back to Dan for some simpler stuff. Excellent pieces on both sides of that transaction, all from Dan!

-Gregory-

[img]http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/files/14th_century_cuir_bouilli_157.jpg[/img]

Here's a picture of it all laid out on the day I got it, I believe. I hadn't been more thrilled about anything I'd gotten in the mail in my life, as it was my first set of custom ordered armor! The greaves and rerebraces fit like a charm, but I had to wrap my arms with ace bandages for the vambraces, as I never had a chance to wear them with a gambeson (which they were meant to go over).

MJBlazek · Post by **MJBlazek** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 3:51 pm

Would love to see a pic of this on someone...just to see how it looks in action.

Its a beautiful set.

Jehan de Pelham · Post by **Jehan de Pelham** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 3:51 pm

Oh, Gregory. That would have been so pretty to see at Crossroads in Time.

Oh, wait. Sir Vitus is looking to come to that event. :lol:

John
Jehan de Pelham, esquire and servant of Sir Vitus
www.mron.org

Vitus von Atzinger · Post by **Vitus von Atzinger** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 5:51 pm

I'm trying to find somebody it will fit who CARES about looking beyond awesome.

Oswyn_de_Wulferton · Post by **Oswyn_de_Wulferton** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 6:18 pm

What exactly are the measurements on that? I know a couple of people I could talk into doing 14th century (or heck, looking like that, even I would put together a 14th century kit!) Just have Greg make a matching breastplate, and all someone needs is a helm and gorget to look like they are a million dollars.

Gerhard von Liebau · Post by **Gerhard von Liebau** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 6:44 pm

For the tooling, I'd suggest having Dan make a breastplate to match. I can make the plate solid and clean enough, but I don't have the skills to do such lovely artwork.

As for the sizing... My calves are about 17" around at the widest point and my legs long. I was 6' tall when I made the order. My arms are rather skinny, but still long. The vambraces were meant to go over a regular sized gambeson plus my arms. The rerebraces were made to fit over a mail shirt which would be over the gambeson and my shoulders.

So, if you're around 6' and 160 pounds (like I was at that time) or someone you know is, there's a good chance this stuff will fit. Dan might have kept the exact measurements around, or Vitus could re-measure the stuff.

-Gregory-

Gregoire de Lyon · Post by **Gregoire de Lyon** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 7:00 pm

HotW vambraces appear to be unshaped tubes. How do they work in terms of staying where they are supposed to during combat and not interfering with hourglass gauntlets, couters, etc?

I am definitely interested in picking a pair up, but want to make sure that they will stay in place and play well with everything else first.

Thanks.

Uilleag · Post by **Uilleag** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:46 pm

Gregoire de Lyon wrote:HotW vambraces appear to be unshaped tubes. How do they work in terms of staying where they are supposed to during combat and not interfering with hourglass gauntlets, couters, etc?

I am definitely interested in picking a pair up, but want to make sure that they will stay in place and play well with everything else first.

Thanks.

Gregoire,

There is a slight shape to the vambraces, but it really depends on what the client needs as to haw much shaping they get. I attempt to stay fairly faithful to what the effigies show us as far as shape.....I fight in my various offerings all the time, (read other than helm and gambeson, everything is leather) I point my arm harness and leg harness, so they stay pretty well where they need to be.

However, my vambraces, should interact well with hourglass demis if they are sized correctly and straped over an arming garment.