Hello.

I would like to share with you some pictures of me and my friend in Italian style armours.In my equipement (the guy in cuirass)only arms are new.My friend Filip has brand new equipement(exept helmet and mail-he is going to buy cuirass too)
There are of course many things to improve(as always) but for our rather limited students' founds it is not bad I think...

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Great looking armour and I sort of like the look of partial plate with maille shirt: This may have happened at times I would think with armour acquired by a poorer man-at arms or Knight as battlefield booty or as in real life today buy what you can presently afford and build up your kit gradually.

The other possibility is that partial armour might be worn by choice if more agility was wanted, or lighter armour worn on a chevauché or on campaign.

The barbute are really interesting to see on a person's head because when just seen by themselves in reference books I assumed they would be smaller and covering mostly just the head: It seems that the coverage was much more head and neck to the shoulders. Getting air would seem to be easy compared to an oldstyle barrel helm or with the visor down on a hound's skull bascinet !? A quality shared by the sallet styles when worn without a bevor or with the bevor upper lame lowered.

A brigantine would also look good on that maille shirt as an optional armour solution. ( I'm assuming some historical overlap were these may still have been in use with what looks to me like 1450 to 1480 armour. I'm not sure if brigantine were still popular in the late 15th or early 16th centuries. )

Brigandine would be great of course but somehow the price is two times higher than plate cuirass made by armourers in Poland..At least those who I know and I'm sure that they can do it properly...It is funny because in medieval times brigandines were cheaper and could be used by lower rank soldiers...
Well, you are right about barbutas...my shoud be more close to head in the lower part of the bell...It was ordered as a copy of the museum example but armourer gave it some of his own ideas..unfortunately.But it looks well and it is comfortable.It is made of 2,5mm steel and survived many full strenght blows.The breathing is excellent and I can see almost as good as without helmet.The nasal is a good protection of the face and I still have both my eyes and all teeth :lol:

Maybe my armour is too 'full and knightly' for heavy infantry officer but our group is 'designed' to participate mainly in tournaments and unstaged combat where standard soldiers equipment isn't enough to be allowed to fight.Also filip as my sergeant is equipped better than simple soldiers.
The rest of us who are simple soldiers would have lesser standard ..more simple and cheaper equipment.When they get it(we just started our group not even year ago) I will post some new pics.

Hm. Well, the armor makes a great deal of sense for tourneys and judicial combats. If your group had meant to use it for the battlefield instead, then there would have been more paint, plumes, and surcoats. If you're going to die in battle, you'd want to die well dressed! ;)

Cool..... let me get my stuff on and meet you guys out there, lol. Is there an extra pole-arm around?

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Well, since other people seem to be getting in on this:

[ Linked Image ]

Very nice armet Josh.Is it a copy of the original?If yes do you have a picture of it?How much can you see?What about head movement?

Very nice armour gentlemen.

Michal,

I agree it is funny the brigandine is more expensive but it does require alot of cutting and such for a nice one and the fabric or leather could be expensive as well. I look forward to seeing it finished.

Your pole axes are really cool! Gotta love them.

RPM

Michal, thanks for arming me. Your suits are great! The tassets flow very nicely with the cuirass. I particularily like the slim looks of your friend's mail with the arm and leg defences. It is a new take I havn't seen before. Yes, the helm is a grand bascinet, but it is more of a "dog-muzzle" style. It has almost no maneuverability, but the vision is suberb through all the breathing holes (almost 90!) and more than makes up for the stiffness if you keep mental track of your opponenet's moves. Josh, your suit is pretty awesome also. It seems to be cabable of being very maneuverable. the gauntlets are superb. We're just missing Randall here, maybe he will surprise us. Michal, have you gotten any weights on your complete armour? BTW, what is our company goung to be called, lol?

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The armet is not a copy of an original; it is a very heavy piece made by Mark Berry, with certain modifications orignially intended for SCA combat. I can see very well out of it, and the head movement is unequalled, though I expect that to diminish somewhat when I finish my wrapper for it. The rest of the suit is based on armours B3 & B4 in Mantova, with some elements (arms and tassets, mostly) taken from a cuirass in a museum in Bern.

Thank you for the compliments on my armour. It weighs 71 pounds, including arming clothes and mail voyders, skirt, etc. The helmet and front of the cuirass are around 3+mm in thickness, with the back being 2mm or so. The rest of the suit is 1-1.5mm thick. Most of it is custom work by Patrick Thaden, with some pieces by other armourers, including myself. It is quite comfortable and allows me a nearly full range of motion; I played SCA in it for years. It is, however, very hot and I need help to put all of it on.

Here are a few more pics, if anyone's interested:

http://www.mediumaevum.com/josh/Picture%20019.jpg
http://www.mediumaevum.com/josh/Picture%20021.jpg
http://www.mediumaevum.com/josh/Picture%20024.jpg
http://www.mediumaevum.com/josh/Picture%20027.jpg
http://www.mediumaevum.com/josh/Picture%20039.jpg
http://www.mediumaevum.com/josh/Picture%20008.jpg
http://www.mediumaevum.com/josh/library%201%20088.jpg
http://www.mediumaevum.com/josh/library%201%20097b.jpg

Not all the pieces of the harness appear in these photos, for one reason or another. There are more tassets for the hips and butt, and mail voyders, etc. for the gaps (these have been attached to the arming doublet since the photos were taken). I also have an exchange barbuta for it. Please excuse the rust; those photos were taken just after a gruelling week of use in re-enactments and parades last summer. I have polished and repaired the armour since. In particular, the gauntlets are nicer, since Patrick Thaden spent some time on them for me.

Some of you guys are giving me sabaton-envy. I still need greaves and voiders too... Too bad none of my pics of my plate armor include the gaunts or helm.

Here's my crusader kit though... (and yes, those are coconut shells hanging off my belt!)

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the milanese style...I really like it, especially the pieces L'Archevêque made me last year. Too bad Ijust have the arms on pictures....But soon the kit will be complete and we'll take pictures.
The places I've found great brigantines they were quite at the same prics than well made steel cuirasses...

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Nice Milanese suits, lads! And best of all, great greaves! Something that is altogether too often missing from an otherwise fine suit of armour is a decent set of greaves, so its very refreshing to see them, and good looking ones at that!

And Josh, VERY nice armet you have there. No bevor for it though? Although I guess for SCA combat it's hardly necessary, as long as you have decent throat protection under the maille. Anyway, nice armour. Nice greaves!

Cheers!

Gordon

Michal, could you show some angle and detail shots of the armours? By the way, the name is great... Viva la Compagnia Del falcone Internazionale (I may have mixed up some languages and grammer there, I'm sure that Bruno could straighten that out.) :)


p.s.; Michal, I think you just started an army... lol

Josh, I don't mind the rust at all. As a matter of fact, a reasonable amount of rusting, dents, and dirtiness actually makes a suit of armor cooler in my eyes--for some reason I can't fathom--I don't really have much patience for knights in shining armor. Gore-splattered and blood-stained armor is even better, though it's not something I can realistically expect to find in the modern age. ;)

Michal,

Excellent start on your armour. Both you and your friend look quite the warriors!

As someone who does a fair bit of rebated steel combat, I would strongly suggest your very next armour purchase be a gorget or mail standard. Neck protection is one of most important harness items, probably right after the helmet. Things can go horribly wrong when swinging steel, even in choreographed sessions. Get something on your neck.

Cheers!

Kel Rekuta