[Andrew Babbini]

All,

I just wanted to share a couple pics of my new "Monday Suit" with you guys and gals. After roughly 11 months, this is the finished product. The harness is on it's way here and I'm pretty darn excited. The guy modeling it is slightly taller than I so a couple things may look a little off.

It's made by Mr Jeff Wasson of wassonartistry.com and is of tempered spring steel. I feel Mr Wasson went all out on this commission. All the way down to adding rivited maille for the aventail. Oh, and the cuisses, greaves and parts of the vambrace and rerebrace are splinted. Also wanted to add that Mr Wasson is a joy to work with and his prices are VERY reasonable. I dare say he under charges for his work. I highly recommend him. Well, enough chatter from me. Enjoy!

Respectfully,

Andrew

[Allan Senefelder]

Great looking harness! Jeff is a one of those quiet talents like Pete Fuller that doesn't get alot of lip service but does really outstanding work. He gave us a few pointers on a piece last year. Congradulations!

[Jean Thibodeau]

Looks real nice. Hope we can get more pics up close of the various parts as well as a full profile look at the bascinet.

[Hugh Knight]

Congratulations! Jeff is a good friend of mine and I've really enjoyed following his development as an armorer over the years. He's contributing a great deal to how the reenactment community looks, no question about it.

[Steven H]

Very cool.

Are the partially splinted vambraces based on a particular historical piece?


Thanks.

[Andrew Babbini]

Thank you, gentlemen! As a matter of fact Mr Thibodeau, I have a couple of good in progress shots of the helm.

Indeed Mr Wasson seems to be a hidden treasure of the armourer's world. I'm really surprised that he doesn't have a two year backlog.

Mr Steven,

Well, I've seen the partially splinted vambraces in artwork though I don't have them off hand to prove it. Plus there seems to be so little in the way of extant splinted defenses. So the short answer is that I'm not sure. Has anyone else seen partial splint vambraces/rerebraces?

[Vegard Stomsvik Pedersen]

Very nice armour!

[Randall Moffett]

I really like the look of the helmet.

As far as splint remains. AS far as the limbs go I think in ythe Wisby book is the frint section of a greave splint. Apart from that only art has been of use, though to be fair we dig up lots of thin slats that could be splints but alone without context hard to say....

RPM

[Gary A. Chelette]

Do you know the gauge thickness of it? I have a friend / armourer who has done his in tempered 20 ga.
It's extremely tuff stuff!

[M. Eversberg II]

Beautiful stuff.

M.

[Hisham Gaballa]

Very nice, love the great bascinet.

With regards to what you are going to do with it, Agincourt/Siege of Orleans reenactments?

[David Sutton]

Thats a fantastic suit of armour really looks the part. It also interesting that you've gone for a late 14th/early 15th century style too I think thats really cool, i've probably seen a zillion late 15th century/ Wars of the Roses white harness!

[Greg Mele]

Beautiful work! Jeff's craft keeps improving...

[Tim Lison]

Looks great! The helmet is fantastic! Great acquisition.

[M. Eversberg II]

I say you go do stuff in it and then write a review!

M.

[Andrew Babbini]

Hey gentlemen. Again thanks for all the kind compliments. In regards to the gauge of steel, I'm not too sure as during its construction, I took pretty much a hands off approach and just gave my input when it was asked. I'm a firm believer in the idea that if I let an artisan do their thing, I'll almost always be pleasantly surprised. I was very much so in this project. But anyway, I did let Mr Wasson know that I intend to use it for WMA activities such as "live steel" and other reenactment things so he constructed it with that in mind.

However, that's once I get out of Hawaii as there's mostly EMA things here. There is a very small SCA contingent here but that's not my bag really since it doesn't seem to allow for gaining experience in historical combat. I'm not bashing the SCA, just going off of honest observations. Just wanted to clarify that as I've seen SCA stuffs become a very touchy subject and get ugly so I don't even want to open that can of worms.

Yeah, the white harnesses are very nice and have one as well but I've always been intrigued by brigandines and other composite defenses. Have a good one, gents!

Respectfully,

Andrew

[Andrew Babbini]

Mr Eversberg,

You bet. I pick it up tomorrow and I'll post how it feels and functions. Just from the pictures I was sent, I have a feeling it articulates beautifully. Ah yes, the music of that slight click of rivets is in my ears already! Plus my wife has been awaiting its arrival and wants me to model it for her anyway. It's hard to turn down lady that gives you cat calls when you wear armour. *innocent shrug*

[Gregory J. Liebau]

Having assembled a 14th century harness before (most parts of one, anyway) for SCA combat while trying to maintain a sense of historic detail, I understand the attention that must have been given to this project by Jeff. I believe that a common mistake among the reenactment community is that people assembling pre-15th century gear tend to go to several makers to get all of their armour together. As individual pieces, it may all look fascinating.

But once you put it all on at once, there may be problems, aesthetically and functionally. Your wisdom in relying on a single, capable armourer to complete your harness has shown it's benefits. And I congratulate you for your acquisition, and salute Mr. Wasson for his delightful work! I look forward to more images of the armour, which is rather why I decided to post, as this thread seems to have fallen by the wayside.

-Gregory-

[Randall Moffett]

Andrew,

I agree. There is something cool looking about white harnesses but there is something really cool about the fabric and leather covered harnesses. I made the mistake of using an nearly off white canvas for the foundation.... I must have been having a mental lapse. Not I have to make a surcoat before I use it much or it will be covered in weapon scuffs and dirts stains (it rains alot in England= much mud!). I do like the partial splint look on the arms as well. Very interesting.

Gary,

I cannot find the thickness of the plate listed in the Wisby book, sorry. I could give you a complete reference if you wish. As far as I can tell with historic armours there is no firm connection to heat treatments and thickness being lessened. I have inquired of some of the top people who have looked into armour heat treatment and not a one has found that trend. That said many SCAer's do tend to go very heavy with untreated metal and much lighter with treated. It makes sense you can make a steel suit that can take the abuse a 14 or 12 can for the same weight as plastic for SCA combat.


RPM

[Chuck Russell]

holy cow that is awsome. it so different than that of the normal suit u see most people get. i love it. way to go man!!