Thursday, January 3, 2008

Erik's Armour

click on the images to enlarge.

This is Erik's armour, not quite done, but I figured the world should see the armour I made for him. It is a standard globose three piece suit...I call it a three piece suit because there are three pieces in the breast, three pieces in the back and three pieces in the faulds. I have not got around to drilling and eyeletting the holes for his faulds yet, and the tassets are on the drawing board still. But everything else is done!


Above is a closeup of the buckles. I scored a bunch of really robust, really pretty belts which I used for this armour. Unfortunately, they are roll type buckles, and they are not period. I chose solid, and heavy utility over period this time because Erik will most definitely be fighting in this armour. The belts came with a really nice stamped design....I rather like it. Too bad the design doesnt show when the straps are all buckled up.


From the side, the armour gives Erik a bit of a "pot bellied" look...that is the nature of the globose breastplate. It supposedly helps to deflect lances aimed at your stomach. I find that once he pulls all the straps nice and tight, it will look less "globose", and a lot more "tough".


The backplate is my standard three piece, with the characteristic South Tower scapula grooves in the back. Because the back plate is heavy sixteen gauge, the hammer needed to be pounded a lot harder to shift the metal, and not even a half hour of rolling on the wheel could get all the hammer marks out. Oh well...it looks like it has been built by hand because, gosh dang it, it WAS built by hand. I could have sanded those hammer marks out totally, but why...they show well.
What you don't see in the above pic is the flare in the middle placqart piece which covers and protects the buckle

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