Dan P's breast plate and faulds

Here we go...the most basic armour I make, yet I think it is right up there among the prettiest. This is the three piece armour, and I recon it takes 21 hours to make the whole kit, breast plate, back plate, faulds and tassets. I'll have to get faster at that.

Here it is from the front. I wonder if it really IS hanging a bit low on the left side? Ah well, I'll double check that, but I think it is just because it is not hanging on a real body, but rather on a piece of machinery in my shop.

The other thing you don't see is the picadills on the front. I didn't put them in before doing this picture. Mind you, you would not see the picadills in any case, they are hiding in behind the plates where they will provide a chafe guard and won't get in the way.

This is the faulds, fully open. The holes in the top line up with the holes in the breastplate above, and there are two rows of holes in the bottom lame. Dan can choose the higher or lower ones to suit himself.

The tassets are nothing special, just rounded on the bottom, with a compound curve at the top to match the compound curve (a ten foot ball) in the faulds.

The steel at the top won't dig in because there is that leather strap protecting him. As long as I had the leather strap there, I added a couple of eyelets to it for Dan to hang his arms. Or his shoulder harness. Or whatever. The big buckles in front look pretty industrial, but then, they ARE made from new tool belts. They are strong enough to provide years of service, and if Dan chooses to go with a handmade buckle, or for that matter, any other buckle, well, its easy to drill out that copper rivet and put in a different buckle. Might change the whole look of the armour. The centre buckle is just a cute little thing I found at the Sally Ann, a buckle off a one dollar belt. I cut off the cheap belt, and mounted the buckle on a decent leather strap. An excellent use for a lonely but pretty buckle.

Under the buckle you see two eyelets. They match a couple of eyeletted holes in the middle lame....(the placquart). Although in period, the middle lame was a "floating" lame, that is to say, it was not attached to anything at the front, a couple of eyelets help to centre it. Not really necessary, but nice to have.

I made the centre belt an inch too long on purpose...if it is annoying, then Dan can cut the excess off with a pair of kitchen scissors. If it was too short, then we would have had a much bigger problem.

And the strap goes under the bottom lame (called the cinqulette) and on a whim I decided a little decoration was needed. The lions are cheap (like five bucks) but I think they "make" the look of the armour.

This armour has been sprayed with a coating of clear lacquer. The leather has been masked off, so Dan can colour the leather straps with common dye if it suits him. Or he could leave it plain, to turn a nice brown sun tanned Arizona saddle colour.

(Oh, and Dan, I need your shipping address.....I'll be shipping on Thursday)