Armour

Plate Armour

I've been making plate armour for a couple of years now. The projects below are approximately in order of when they were used in history, although many of them overlap. Most of my focus so far has been on early armour and some transitional. In the next year or so I hope to start reproducing a full plate suit from the 15th century.

Spangenhelm

Side view

This was the first part of an experiment using an English wheel with small aluminum panels. It is loosely based off of the later spangenhelm designs. I would place this in the 10th-13th centuries. The frame is made from 12 gauge AL. The spangens are thin AL sheet. Initial forming was done with wooden hammers and a sandbag. The English wheel cleaned it up quite nicely (and quietly!), however it does leave tracks in the material. These could probably come out with extra work. Polishing was done with steel wool. The pictures show it currently waiting for rivets.

Spangenhelm with Nasal

Front view

This helm was made at the same time as the spangenhelm above. I used the same methods and materials, but changed a number of dimensions. The biggest difference is of course the nasal. This protects the front of the face without obstructing vision. This helm would also have been used into the 13th century. They are commonly associated with the Normans. The pictures show it currently waiting for rivets and show that I ran out of 8-32 hardware of reasonable size. It will look as normal as an AL helm can once the rivets are in.

Early great helm

Front view Side view Inside view Full outfit

This style of helm shows up around 1200 and continues to be used until the 1250's when it is replaced fairly quickly with the next helm (see below). This helm leaves the back quarter of the head open to attack. Some of them have a flat face, but I like the dished version. My helm is made from all 16 gauge hot rolled (scale removed in vinegar) and perforated steel. The perforated steel started out a step smaller than the maximum allowed for SCA rapier combat. After it was dished, the deepest area stretched out conveniently to the maximum. The hood is attached for rapier fighting. What I want to do is play with the SCA sidesword experiment and recreations of 13th century fighting like I33. It will also get used for stage combat and maybe some live steel sparring. The liner is linen stuffed with cotton scraps.

1250 era helm:

Front view Side view

This is my first helm. It is based off of depictions in the Maciejowski Bible. It is made from a combination of 12 and 14 gauge hot rolled steel. It has a camail attached to it. It is debatable how authentic that is, but it is a compromise based on SCA regulations for neck protection and its already heavy gauge. The picture on the main page of me wearing this helm shows how high off the shoulders this style of helm sits. The camail replaces the more authentic full coif underneath and allows me not to wear a gorget.

Kettle Helm

Article on how I made this helm Almost finished

This is my second helm and my first raising project. The skull was raised from a single piece and then the brim was riveted on. The skull started at around 10ga thickness, just under 1/8". All of the heating was done in my small coal forge and forming was done on the various metal things at hand. The references I used show this style of helm in the 13th and early 14th centuries. I am sure this type of helm was used later as well.

Armoured Surcote

Outside Inside

This is a 13th century armoured surcote. This is the first attempt so that I can see how well it holds up. The fabric is a heavy cotton trigger. The plates are two 22ga sheets each, which works out to about 16ga. The metal is from a huge steel alloy sheet of scrap I found and used because it wont rust. Most of the damage taken so far was during the riveting process where the fabric got pinched and tore around a few plates. It's still in decent condition after a bunch of battles and tourneys at Pennsic XXXI.

Early coat of plates

Article

This is a 13th century coat of plates based off of the St Maurice statue. Follow the link for more information.

Full Gauntlets

Right

SCA heavy combat (wisely) requires full hand protection. This is my first attempt at a plate gauntlet to look like a scale finger gauntlet. The scale finger gauntlets were used at least by the end of the 13th and early 14th century. I still think it looks mare advanced than the 13th c gauntlets should, but I like it better than the overused pumpkin-shaped basket hilts. The left gauntlet is still in progress.

Churburg #13, 9 Piece breastplate

Unfinished Finished

This is a reproduction of a 14th century breastplate in the Churburg armoury. The stop rib is unfinished and I left off the lance rest and etched brass. The unfinished picture shows how far I got after a full week of work before the buyer backed out. Eventually I'll line it and strap it with leather like the original and polish it up again.

Brigandine Gorget

Front view

I made this gorget for rapier fighting. Gorgets did not really get used until the 15th or 16th century, but I needed one for safety. The design is my own, made from 20 gauge steel and suede leather. I don't know if this type of gorget really existed, but I don't know of any before the modern period. The closest thing to this used in 1250 was leather collars on gambesons, so I at least wanted the leather look. My hood covers it when I'm fighting.

Buckler

Picture

This buckler is 16ga, a tad heavy by some rapier standards but still fairly easy to use. It was made in 3 sections: the body, the boss, and the handle. The outside edge of the body was rolled inwards to aid in catching blades. This buckler does a good job of stopping blades instead of allowing them to glance off into the body. This was made with rapier fighting and staged steel weapons fighting in mind.