Has anyone seen the MRL Gothic Legs? -- myArmoury.com

Christian Henry Tobler

Greetings all,

Does anyone have any experience with the MRL/Windlass Gothic Legs? They look ok in the catalog, but as the mitten gauntlets have shown, appearances can be deceiving.

All the best,

Christian

Jim Venable · Posted: Mon 03 Mar, 2008 2:05 pm Post subject:

Christian,

I saw some last year at their annual warehouse sale. They seemed to be a typical Windlass product with varying degrees of quality. By that I mean that one set I saw had great articulation, sound construction, and sharp lines. But, a second set I examined looked like they were put together with less skill and care, and had rougher lines.
I was debating making a trip to their showroom this week. If I do, I'd be glad to look at another set and give you an up to date critique.PM me or let me know here.

Bill Grandy · myArmoury Team

Michael Edelson · Posted: Mon 03 Mar, 2008 10:02 pm Post subject:

As would I! I've been looking at these for a long time.

Christian Henry Tobler · Posted: Tue 04 Mar, 2008 6:53 am Post subject:

Thanks Jim - that would be most helpful!

CHT

Ed Toton · Posted: Tue 04 Mar, 2008 8:35 am Post subject:

I'd be particularly interested to know how they compare to the GDFB legs that CAS/Hanwei now sells, now that I've had a chance to see the latter up close.

Randall Moffett · Posted: Tue 04 Mar, 2008 10:31 pm Post subject:

Ed,

What did you think of the GDFB legs? I have not seen the legs but have seen three sets of the arms. Of the arms two were done quite well, the last one was ok but clearly not as good as the first two. If the legs are similar you have a decent chance of getting good ones.

RPM

Bill Grandy · myArmoury Team

Ed Toton · Posted: Wed 05 Mar, 2008 8:17 am Post subject:

...What Bill said. Happy

Unfortunately I still don't see any sizing information on these on the CAS/Hanwei site. As compared to the arms, the detail that struck me right away is that the legs seem to have a fairly snug fit, but the arms were ridiculously spacious, for folks with tree-trunk arms or something, in comparison to the legs. The legs seemed well articulated and shaped to fit over a thin to average person.

Jim Venable · Posted: Mon 10 Mar, 2008 12:55 am Post subject:

Hey guys. Sorry about the delay, but I didn't have a chance to visit MRL until Saturday. Before I start making comments, I want to make it clear that I am not overly familiar with plate armor. My interests primarily lie with other periods. So, if I use an improper term, or omit something you wanted to know I apologize in advance. Just let me know if something is unclear and I'll try to give better or more detailed information.

Counting the set in the showroom, I looked at three sets of the Gothic Legs. However, I could only make a visual inspection of the showroom set as they were part of a full harness display. The chasing(?), or embossing(?), on the cuisses and cops was noticeably rougher than that on the other sets. Since I couldn't handle them, that's really the only comment I feel I can fairly make about them. The following all apply to the sets they brought out of the warehouse.

- Articulation was pretty good. Lifting them by the top of the cuisse assembly, the demi greaves and cops articulated under their own weight, back to touch the cuisse. They were still in the plastic wrapping when I tested them, but their motion seemed smooth, and I didn't notice any binding.

- Finish was typical Windlass. Too shiny for my own tastes, but consistent, and their were no glaring hammer marks. They had been pretty smoothly dished and planished.

- The catalog doesn't state, but they looked to be all 18 and maybe some 20 gauge construction.

- One set was assembled with brass rivets, while the other had steel.

- The strapping was treated with Windlass' standard ugly brown acrylic dye.

- The chasing(?), embossing(?), while not crisp and smooth, was better than that on the showroom set. Still, this detail bothers me. Perhaps I'm being too picky, but it seems like this could be better done. But again, in fairness, I must say that I very rarely look at or price plate armor. The only similar type of detail work I've closely looked at was years ago, and crafted by Arms and Armor, so it was on a completely different level than Windlass.

- While they were still in the plastic wrapping, with protective sealant under that, I did not place them against my legs. There were some tears in the plastic, and I didn't want to risk getting some residual grease stains on my jeans. But they do not seem as outsized as the arms.

Overall, they seem a decent product. They're not perfect, but well, they're a Windlass product. I have absolutely no knowledge of the Hanwei product mentioned in this thread, so I can't make a comparison. I guess it comes down to affordability and what you plan to use the armor for. Like I said earlier, if any of you have questions, I'll do my best to answer.

Bill Grandy · myArmoury Team

Thanks for the heads up, Jim!