I just finished up a second reproduction of the Wallace Collection's a82 painted sallet (recently mentioned in the "painted armour" thread) a few days ago. Anyone interested in the process of its construction is invited to read about it on my blog.

The finished helmet:

[ Linked Image ]

-Jeffrey Hildebrandt

If you hadn't claimed it, I would have thought that was the Wallace piece. That is great beyond description.

bloomin awesome Jeff, amazing work!

Glad it came out so good, I know the owner will be jolly happy with that!

Beautiful work, Jeff!

You seem as accomplished with a brush as with a hammer! Excellent work (as usual).

For those who might not have been familiar with the original upon which this is modeled, some references.

http://wallacelive.wallacecollection.org/eMus...tion%2Fpdf

http://wallacelive.wallacecollection.org/eMus...detailView

Thanks for your compliments, fellows.

I think the project turned out better than it could have thanks to the excellence of my reference material. I wish all of the major collections had digital catalogues like the Wallace Collection's.

Jeffrey,

I've said it before but I will say it again- utterly heart-flutteringly wonderful work. It is always so hard to nail the historical aesthetic, in plain steel, let alone oil paint. You really hit one out of the park here.

I wish there were more digital catalogues too! But I completely understand why there are not... it was an incredible amount of work, and the Wallace is quite a small collection, comparatively speaking.

I'm so pleased that it was of use on this project!

TC

Thanks, Toby!

I only have a faint notion of how much effort the catalogue took, but I am certain it was worth it. It is an immortal work!