I have been at this awhile and finally have a few items for sale. Some of you may have seen my previous postings on my parade armour reproductions. The objects are as close to the Museum pieces as humanly possible.
See listings
http://www.goantiques.com/detail,milton-shiel...58163.html
http://www.goantiques.com/detail,16th-century-shield,1558209.html
http://www.goantiques.com/detail,16th-century-shield,1558213.html
What do you all think about the pricing? I know the Milton is up there but it takes forever to make it.
We tried to price the Henry II shields within the reach of most collectors.
Feel free to ask questions. I can also send additional High Res Images.
Sam of Kings Armoury

Sam, your shields look beautiful. As for your pricing question, the market for high-end production [url]swords[/url] seems to support similar price levels, so it is possible that parade shields can command those prices. But only time will tell.

Your site describes the production process like this:

Quote:

... Each piece is completely hand shaped, plated, polished and then numbered. This shield is a created on a per order basis. It is not cast or pressed, but electroformed over a weeks time atom by atom in copper and nickel silver....

I am having some difficulty visualizing your process. Can you provide some more explanation, preferably with some pictures? I would also be interested in seeing some additional views of the shields, showing the sides and backs of the pieces, to getter a better feel for the entire product, and not just the 'money' view.

My deepest congratulations.

Great products, really great.

Bruno,
Thanks much. Its taken me a ton of work to get this right and I do appreciate the kind comments.
Steve,
In the 19th century Elkington perfected the use of Electrotyping to reproduce artifacts for Museums and the Royal Family. The process is complex but amounts to electro-depositing metal onto a DC current matrix much in the way plating is accomplished. It allows details to be created one metal ion at a time so there is zero loss or surface detail.
It is really the only viable way to pull something like this off. Lost wax Casting is too expensive and then you have the weight factor. Sand casting looks terrible and you still have the weight factor. The shields weigh in very close to the originals and the surface finish is really fine.
As far as the pictures being money shots, I suppose that is true! Besides the back is really boring compared to the front
( I do only get 4 pictures on there). :D
I am trying to make some of my money back, setting this shop up was very expensive and each piece takes me a week to complete. We are working on appropriate cloth handles and will post some pics of the back when we get them done. For now there are just buckles for straps and a support at the top to hang them. They will have period correct handle position, wether people will use them or not remains to be seen.
Thanks Steve, BTW, I will not be posting pictures of the process just yet, I dont mean to be mysterious, the details are trade secrets for the time being. You will be able to find information about Electrotypes on the internet..
Sam