Helmet Almost Done!!

Well I really should try to keep this more up to date. I have worked on this helmet a couple times in the last few weeks and have everything roughly fitting now. I need to have Robert over to do a final fit and then rivet the cheek and face pieces on. Maybe one more session and at most two too finish!!

P.S. Don’t mind the workbench clutter. I was cleaning out a couple cupboards and it's usually not this bad.

Helmet update

I worked on Robert’s helmet again tonight. I had miscounted the number of rivets needed to finish the top. Instead of 15 it was actually 24. I am down to 12 left and I did a little shaping on the other parts for the helmet.

Robert's Helmet update

Well I did some more work on Roberts helmet last night. I closed two rivets and then started shaping pieces. All the parts for the top of the helmet are now shaped and either riveted together or bolted waiting to be riveted. 15 bolts will have to be replaced with rivets to finish off the top but I will wait until Robert can attend again before doing those.

Since the top is shaped I decided to continue breaking my rules and started shaping the pieces to attach the back slats and also first cheek plate. I would like to shape and fit the pieces ahead of time so we can concentrate on riveting for our next get together. This way it may be only 2-3 sessions before the helmet is finished.

Worked on Armor

Robert (my household member) stopped by last night at 7pm and we worked on armor and other projects until a bit after 11pm. Much was accomplished and we are talking about getting together weekly again.

It had been long enough since he last dropped in that we needed to review the state of our various projects. We started with Robert’s kit and had him put it on and check everything for fit and completeness. He has an arming cap, gorget, gambeson, athletic supporter, steel legs, aluminum gauntlets, heater shield and sword with cross hilt. He is still borrowing my helmet, steel arms and Balian’s spare breast plate. In addition his sword will need a thrusting tip since that is part of the authorization now.

For projects in process, his new helmet is about 20% finished and his butted chain hauberk about 60%. After our review we indentified that he needed several additional items and made a project list. We will probably stick to one project each and finish up one before we go on the next item. This will work best since we have not been getting together as often and I would rather finish one thing at a time instead of having all of them partially done. In addition the agreement has been that I would work on his helm and other items but only when he was present and that if he came by more often the stuff would get done quicker.

Project List in rough order, new helmet, chain hauberk, sword tip(we may actually do this next week), blue or brown helmet, arm harness, body armor so hauberk can be used, axe, great sword & polearm. So after the review we started working.

Robert split his chain hauberk down the front and began adding in extra rows. The mail was too small to be worn over his gambeson and needed to be expanded. When he made it, he fitted it while wearing a tee shirt. He split the mail, added several rows and ended up running out of chain links. So then he started helping me work on the helmet. He says he will come back next week with enough links to finish off the front and will probably add longer sleeves but will do that on his own now that he knows how to make his own links and expand/contract the mail. He had essentially made a chain poncho and didn’t know how to make the chain grow or contract for necks and arms etc. He spent the last couple sessions making the rounded neck. He ended the night with the chain hauberk about 80% done.

I took the helmet and began riveting in the pieces for the top. Previously I had shaped all but 4 of the top pieces and had held them together with nuts and bolts. By 11pm I had 24 rivets to go on the upper portion of the helmet. 12 are for the top pieces I haven’t shaped yet. For a couple of the last rivets I had to have Robert hold the helmet so I could use a tool with the hammer to be able to reach into the helm. I may cheat a little and shape more pieces before we get together again but will wait for Robert before I rivet anymore parts together. Considering the remaining shaping and the enormous number of rivets needed, I would guess the helmet is now 40% done. If I work on some shaping this week, I may be able to get it closer to 50% before we next meet.

Armor repair

I have apparently neglected the routine maintenance of my Armor!!! At a recent practice my shield edging came loose so I switched to two sword. Then after a couple minutes my sword finally pulped out and it broke at the cross guard. In addition I have been having problems with my leg armor. If I wear the legs for a couple hours the leather stretches and the knees drop down too far.

Having taken a complete inventory of my fighting kit, I need to put some work into nearly everything. So I am starting at the top and working down and fixing everything. This week is my helmet. The interior liner is loose and the leather cord for the aventail is frayed so I have taken them both out to replace.

The liner (after a good washing) is fine and looks to be in better shape than I thought. One small seam had split and the thread actually holding it into the helmet had worn away. Now the seam is patched up and I am in the process of sewing the liner back into the helmet.

Friday Night at Skalla's Steading

Robert did stop by on Friday but he was later than normal and we did not get as much accomplished as I had hoped.

He was able to finish his Chainmail Hauberk. At the same time, I put a bit more work in his helmet and the main supports are now all in and we have started on some of the X’s and Y’s for the helmet. I hope to finish the top section and be working on the sides after one or perhaps two more sessions.
Before breaking up for the night we decided to take stock in what he had and what he still needed.

Completed so far: Legs, gambeson, arming cap, sword, heater shield, chain hauberk.

Still borrowing: Helmet, Churburg style Breastplate

Still working on: His own helmet, Arms ( He has vambraces but needs elbow cops), Gorget ( We discovered he needs to re-make his gorget, it’s too small to fit his new gambeson) He would also like to switch to round shield from the heater he is currently using. After those are done we will consider what to do to replace the Churburg Style Breastplate

So our schedule is: Gorget first, elbows second, helmet third. I hope to have the Gorget and elbows done in three weeks. If I keep working on the helmet it should be close to being done by then.

New Poleaxe

Sir Vitus von Atzinger has recently been offering SCA weapons on Armor Archive. He listed a nice looking Poleaxe and I have never been completely happy with my attempts at making one. They have always turned out too top heavy. Since this would look great with my 14th century kit and I wanted one made by an expert I snapped it up. It arrived the other day and here is a picture. I hope to do some grievous damage at fighting practice with this. Its pretty sweet and looks cool!!!

Working on Helmet

Measure twice and cut once was something my dad repeatedly reminded me when I was young. I should have remembered. I finished bending all the pieces for Roberts helmet and was in such a rush to make more progress that I installed one of the bands on upside down. I figured it out pretty quickly when the next piece failed to fit. Since I had pre-fitted everything I had an immediate sinking feeling that I had done something wrong. So the rest of my work time tonight was used up cutting off the rivets for the part.
Now that I have the piece off I will put it back on the next time I work on this (correctly since I wrote “this way up” in Black Marker on the inside) …..probably on Friday as Robert tends to drop in then.

Working on Robert's armor

Robert stopped by on Friday and we worked on his kit. He lacks elbows (he’s been borrowing mine) and he needs his own helmet (also borrowing mine). One of the helmet kits will be his as long as he does enough work on it. Friday he repaired his chainmail and we both worked on his vambraces and helmet kit. The chain is repaired and the vambraces are done. Next Friday we will cut out elbow cops and shape them. If we get far enough we can add the elbows but I expect it to be the week after.
I think he needs two more fighting practices with a couple different people to be ready to authorize as a fighter. After the elbows are done it will be time to take our show out on the road and make sure to attend a couple practices. Hopefully this will be accomplished in April and he can get authorized at the next event we can attend.
I will have to remember to take pictures of the progress. I always forget.

Illumination

Well its been more than a decade since I did any calligraphy or Illumination. I thought I would try my hand at some Celtic Knotwork. It looked great before I colored it in. I should have used proper pigments but instead tried to make do with what I had around the house. It turned out way to dark. It worked out but I must admit it looked better in my head when I was thinking about it.

More practice and some proper tools should help.

Second Helmet

Well I liked the first one so much, I decided to get a second kit and make a Helmet for Daryll. It arrived yesterday and I hope to put some work into it tonight.

New Helmet

Well after a couple hours here is a rough fitting. I have several more pieces to rough out and then starting to assemble it in earnest.

New Helmet

I have started a new project. I picked up a helmet kit from Zweihammer Armory for a Valsgarde 6 helmet. I will start working on putting this together for Robert. If this works well I may get one for myself.

Tuesday Guild night

Class got out early tonight so I dropped in on the local Art Guild at Teryll’s house. It looks like they are working on garb tonight. I hung out for a while and then had to go home to work on homework. It was nice seeing everyone.