another then and now and improvements thread (pic heavy)

brookswift · Post by **brookswift** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:31 pm

okay, so now that i have a decent kit together i thought i'd post it and ask about possible improvements and ask about what people think of it.

This is my old kit (slightly updated from my VERY first kit, which had a COP that could have fit 2 of me inside)
http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/7e8/3af/7e83af11-37f6-4583-8f2b-05bb2e257c45
Yes, those hose are made of moving pads, yes, they are like little autoclaves for my legs
http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/270/500/27050025-f9f7-4a36-b4c6-7e6d41fd09b9
and btw, that shield weighs more than 10 lbs
http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/5b4/4a9/5b44a90d-0cdc-4584-beaa-5946f6b37f3b

now here's my new stuff (notice that my breastplate buckle slowly deteriorates over the course of the war)

http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/8e6/90a/8e690a1a-f319-445f-af50-8bfa43399e73

http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/382/1c1/3821c114-5ab6-497c-8fea-2a0e79f8d6aa

http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/84c/3e9/84c3e9f3-b80a-407e-b380-6281cc0e19e2

http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/b58/29c/b5829cb4-0b58-4fde-8eef-8a06567a4e40
I know i'm wearing non-period kneepads inside of my knees (until i engineer a period solution) and I haven't quite figured out how to strap down the visor on my new beautiful bascinet (below). greaves and sabatons have proved hard to aquire.

http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/021/920/0219200b-ad5b-4d07-a487-80018b76576d

advise is always appreciated.

brookswift · Post by **brookswift** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:34 pm

oh, right... i'm trying to portray late 14th century french

Murdock · Post by **Murdock** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:32 am

for the visor i built a spring catch for mine.

I cut a hacksaw blade off and rivied it to the inside of the helmet

I drilled a hole and stuck a rivit through the hole and used the tensionn of the blade to hold it in place.

The rivit is just long enough that it's a huge pain in the ass to open it while it's on. The visor goes down and it's locked.

No goofy strap.

brookswift · Post by **brookswift** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 3:29 pm

do you have any pictures of this rig? i'm having trouble visualizing what it looks like/how to do it.

Murdock · Post by **Murdock** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 5:20 pm

Well the pics i have of it all you can see is a tiny golden dot at the top right side of the visor.

I'll see if i can get some better ones, i may have to tear out the liner though.

mordreth · Post by **mordreth** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 5:28 pm

If anyone in your area has "best of the hammer" there's a fairly good description of how to do a spring catch in vol 1.

Henry of Bexley · Post by **Henry of Bexley** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:00 pm

Other than the strap, is the BP holding up okay?

This is the first time I've gotten to see some of my stuff on other people... very neat feeling.

EDIT: I don't see greaves... do you have greaves? You should. :wink:

brookswift · Post by **brookswift** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 12:36 am

well, i had some serious dents in it after estrella, but they came out with literally one or two hammer strokes. i've also had to adjust some of the lames on the faulds because after a good hit the top lame opens up, but it works quite well overall (now if only it fit over my gambeson AND mail).

i don't have greaves. i looked for people selling greaves and the basic message i got was "you have to have them custom fitted and i won't custom fit something like that without a client showing up in person for measurements" it's either that or spend $800... which i don't have right now.

Malachiuri · Post by **Malachiuri** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 1:45 pm

As for knee padding, I have gone with wrapping wool cloth thats 8" wide or so around my knees 6 or 7 times and then securing it down with a garter.

My leg armour is very, very tightly tailored and I just hated to think of a bulky knee pad ruining the look.

So far the wool is cooler, works well as padding... and looks nifty.

audax · Post by **audax** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 3:46 pm

brookswift wrote:well, i had some serious dents in it after estrella, but they came out with literally one or two hammer strokes. i've also had to adjust some of the lames on the faulds because after a good hit the top lame opens up, but it works quite well overall (now if only it fit over my gambeson AND mail).

i don't have greaves. i looked for people selling greaves and the basic message i got was "you have to have them custom fitted and i won't custom fit something like that without a client showing up in person for measurements" it's either that or spend $800... which i don't have right now.

Mad Matt makes good looking greaves that are very affordable and do not require fittings.

brookswift · Post by **brookswift** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 1:55 pm

oh, update on the breastplate, the hinges blew out at west crown. :-p i had a bit of fun... my legs also blew out and had to be repaired.