tried some kabuto's

ruthardus · Post by **ruthardus** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:10 am

one in black is male, th iolet nad white one is a kabuki face for female helm. open to critique. sorry the pics are a bit fuzzy

InsaneIrish · Post by **InsaneIrish** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:19 am

I've seen these up close. They are both very nicely done.

Maeryk · Post by **Maeryk** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:25 am

Really sharp. I so dig that style of helmet. Always have.

armorbug · Post by **armorbug** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:18 pm

VERY nicely done! So, if one were to commision such a kabuto, say in the zunari style, what would the ball-park figure be?

ruthardus · Post by **ruthardus** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:13 am

by zunari your referring to the broad dorsal plate with 2 large dished side plates, and a taller, more corled front visor, then I can try. to be honest, these are my first 2 attempts at Japanese helms. my knight is sir Saito - of japanese persona, and i origionally wanted to make one so his lady's helm would be comparable to his great kabuto. I made a second since the 16 piece patterned top I worked out looked so cool and easy since I got ahold of a whitney punch. I am asking between 400 and 450 for these type, depending upon detailing (like roped edges, more detail in mempho, etc.) I painted the purple one, and blued/blackened the male one. I would eventually like to try powder coating for japanese helms.
The mempho's are fixed/non removable. the laced lames around th helm are different material. the ladies is kydex, the male is 12 oz. black leather, tooled and punched. I did this to reduce weight and add movement. The leather turned out much nicer than I planned. I cant wait to see his with the blue/silver lacing he's using.

Effingham · Post by **Effingham** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:28 am

Quick note...

You *do* know that the Japanese didn't do strip-spangens, right?

It's a pretty helmet, but it's not Japanese. It's Japanese *inspired*.

Effingham

ruthardus · Post by **ruthardus** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 12:17 pm

yes, but I have notes several spangen origionated Japanese "style" helkms, and yes, they looked ok to the un-historical eye. However, my origional insiration came from a museum pic that had 16 thin pannels in a spiral to form a dome...each with the outside right edge raised up to create a 1/4" fin type line to the point. VERY nice. so I worked out my passion for spangens into what you see finished.

Blackoak · Post by **Blackoak** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 12:20 pm

That looks really good. Now you just need to paint that bar across the eyes black.

Uric

Maeryk · Post by **Maeryk** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 12:25 pm

ruthardus wrote:yes, but I have notes several spangen origionated Japanese "style" helkms, and yes, they looked ok to the un-historical eye. However, my origional insiration came from a museum pic that had 16 thin pannels in a spiral to form a dome...each with the outside right edge raised up to create a 1/4" fin type line to the point. VERY nice. so I worked out my passion for spangens into what you see finished.

The collapsible veggie steamer style.

Baron Alejandro · Post by **Baron Alejandro** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 1:48 pm

InsaneIrish wrote:I've seen these up close. They are both very nicely done.

So have I! Oo la la!

DELETEMYACCOUNT · Post by **DELETEMYACCOUNT** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:01 pm

Would you ever consider making just a so-men for someone?

ruthardus · Post by **ruthardus** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:13 am

ok, being this is a rather new area for me, a So-men is in the same catagory as the mempo? I looked it up and found sites that list them all together, but what specifically is the difference between a mempo and a so-men? and, to answer your question, my knight said the same thing, just make mempo's and see what people think.

Effingham · Post by **Effingham** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:03 am

This is a somen:

This is a menpo:

Somen are full face, menpo up to just under the eyes.