Replica Armor -- myArmoury.com

Gerald Fa. · Posted: Thu 02 Oct, 2008 11:05 pm Post subject: Replica Armor

Is Windlass Armor battle ready?

I have a Gothic Plate armor made by Windlass craft and it seems very good! And it looks very cool!

And who makes the best armor? Or just good combat armor…

Can any one tell me any information?

Matthew Amt · Posted: Tue 07 Oct, 2008 12:22 pm Post subject:

Ave!

Looks like you might have scared everyone with this one--your questions may be far more complicated than you realize! For starters, when you ask who makes the "best armor", we need to know a little more about what you intend to use it for: historical reenacting/living history, combat with steel weapons, SCA combat, LARP combat, home display, etc. Different armorers are often better for different applications. That said, Robert MacPherson is generally held up as one of the top armorers in the custom business, though he's certainly not the only one.

I don't know enough about the details of Gothic armor, nor have I seen the Windlass suit up close, but from what I've heard it's not really very accurate. The workmanship won't be as good as any decent custom work, either. That's why it's vastly cheaper, though! Again, how "battle worthy" any Windlass product may be will depend a lot on what form of combat you plan to participate in.

You might get more answers over at the Armour Archive,

http://www.armourarchive.org

Dig around and play with the search function, your answers might already be there.

Good luck!

Matthew

Michael Edelson · Posted: Tue 07 Oct, 2008 1:50 pm Post subject:

Some parts of that armor are terrible, others are outstanding for the price (sallet) and yet others can be made to be very good regardless of the price with very minor modifications (e.g. couters). All requrie some modification to achieve historical accuracy and functionality (the sallet has no visor catch and won't stay up, for example).

Some pieces, like the breastplate and backplate, can be made to be pretty good with some fairly extensive modifications.

As for how functional it is, most of it is on the thin side (but still within acceptable historical extremes), but really it's hit or miss. The gauntlets, for example, as said to have terrible articulation, but that's really the only thing wrong with them, and they may vary from one pair to the next.

Gerald Fa. · Posted: Thu 09 Oct, 2008 9:51 pm Post subject:

Lafayette C Curtis · Posted: Fri 10 Oct, 2008 12:36 am Post subject:

Gerald Fa. · Posted: Sat 11 Oct, 2008 9:16 pm Post subject:

Zac Evans · Posted: Sat 11 Oct, 2008 11:45 pm Post subject:

There is more to getting just the basic shape of the armour. The quality of finish and the curves is just as important. The breastplate you've shown doesn't have the elegant curves that it should. Also the skirts and breastplate do not meet where they should, with the back skirt being too wide and the front not being shaped enough.

The attached photo is Arne Coets and his harness made by Jeff Hedgecock. Jeff makes really nice armour, and is probably the best armourer working in America. See if you can see the difference in the lines and finish.

Chad Arnow · myArmoury Team

Zac Evans · Posted: Sun 12 Oct, 2008 7:02 am Post subject:

You will find that its still curved. Nothing is flat:

http://www.englyshe-plate-armourie.co.uk/Imag...D%2008.jpg

http://www.englyshe-plate-armourie.co.uk/Imag...D%2024.jpg

This is an example of armour made by Will West (English Plate Armourie). Its not as rounded as the Italian style, but the curves actually are what makes it effective armour. Any architect will tell you that arches and domes are great load bearing structures, so the same applies for armour. Because of this every plane should be curved. The example shown just doesn't look right, even for "German" armour.

Chad Arnow · myArmoury Team

Zac Evans · Posted: Sun 12 Oct, 2008 3:05 pm Post subject:

Agreed. In fact the armour shown is more like the italian gothic armour than the german gothic armour, as the waist is much more pronounced on german gothic harnesses, unlike the reproduction shown.

As for showing extant examples, I find that difficult, as there are very few still available, and most that remain are pieced together. However, reproductions can show harnesses from artworks or complete harnesses copied from extant examples, but remaining in the right style. For example, the Avant harness while often shown as an example armour is still incomplete, and some parts are actually 50 years out of date with the rest of the harness.