[Boris Bedrosov]

# Kai
As the diameter of the helmet is about 10 inches, the aventail and the nasal sit relatively far from my nose.
Be more correct - the distance between the nose and the nasal is about one - one-and-a-half "fingers" - this simply means it's far enough away.
When in rest I don't feel the aventail on my nose, I feel it touches me only when I move.
Anyway, I consider all these OK.

[Boris Bedrosov]

After putting my kid to bed , let's continue....

The aventail attached to the hook





I think, now it's clear why I don't consider this the manner someone would wear his helmet on for a prolonged period of time - at least the eyes and the sight are obscured by double layers of maille.
Just believe me, I've tried it - none would feel comfortable if this was done.

Closer to the upper portion of the nasal

[Boris Bedrosov]

And some images, closer to the inscription









It's very well visible why I don't like this "trainer-helmet" - particularly the very well-visible welding seams.

[Boris Bedrosov]

And the last several images





Birds' eye...



... and inside

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Boris Bedrosov]

Marry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too!
BTW, the "trainer-helmet" means that its purpose is to learn with it how to make such helmets. I hope, the next would be far better.

Well, with completion of the helmet this project is very near to its end.
It's finished as an armour, what was left from the entire planned kit are only the belt (underway) and the saber (underway also) with an appropriate scabbard.

[Boris Bedrosov]

And several images of the armour from the annual re-enactment of the Battle of Varna, 1444 - some are staged, others - "live-action"
My humble persona is the victorious Sultan Murad II

[Boris Bedrosov]

And some more.....








Well, that's it so far.....
Any comments would be highly appreciated.

[Gregg Sobocinski]

FANTASTIC! The images, the kit, the foggy back-drop,.... it's all fantastic!

I've enjoyed this thread very much, and those images are the kind of detail I was hoping for after the kit was finished! Thanks for the great journey!

[Kai Lawson]

I must echo Gregg--seeing the armor being made, and becoming a polished finished piece is wonderful, but seeing it worn and used is second to none. What a neat looking kit!

How does it move? where does the weight seem to be concentrated? Are there things you wish to modify or would do differently next time? Share the performance evaluation sir!

[Jean Thibodeau]

Well I assume from your many posts that you always see things that could be improved, but the overall package looks really really good and impressive as well as this whole topic thread makes it obvious that this was an " EPIC " amount of work that involved a lot of research about the original armour and weapons, and also the acquisition of the skills needed to make it all.

I assume that you started out with a great deal of skill with various tools and methods but you had to learn a lot more of it making and sometimes re-making parts of the armour.

As other's have written the whole foggy atmosphere in the pics sort of makes the pics look as if one had a time machine and was seeing real history.

[William P]

seeing the kit together and constructed is really, really amazing i am really in awe at how much detail youve put into the armour

i cant wait to see the kilic being finished because it looks to be really great

[Lafayette C Curtis]

For all these months I've been admiring the helmet from afar, and then tonight I tried to read the Arabic text. Which suddenly sounded eerily familiar. Is it al-Fatiha? (Nice touch, BTW. Which sort of reminds me of the Trijicon biblical-phrases-on-scopes scandal a while ago and makes me wonder if anyone in the Christian parts of Europe had a similar thought of engraving, embossing, or etching Biblical phrases onto their armour.)

Anyway, the helmet looked a little silly on the stand, but quite awesome when you were actually wearing it. Some things just don't belong on a static display.

(EDIT: checked back a couple of pages and found that you said it is al-Fatiha. Still a nice touch in any case --the calligraphy might look a little simplistic to real Arabs, but it sure as hell is far more readable than the usual sort of crazy curlicues and intertwined letters to non-Arabs like me!)

[Boris Bedrosov]

Firstly - Happy New Year, friends!!!
I would wish you very best in 2015 - piece, mainly health and, of course, some wealth!

Secondly, thanks for the very positive feedbacks so far!

Kai
As I've never wore full-plate armours so far, I could compare the yushman only with soft kits, maille, lamellar and scale.
The armour is flexible enough, it doesn't restrict my movements in anyway. In general, I would say (although quite approximately) - this is maille with some extra metal added.
As expected, the weight is concentrated on the shoulders, and the bulk is not the weight of the cuirass, but the weight of the cuisses. As you might remember



they were suspended on a belt, and it transfers most of their weight on my shoulders.
Of course, I feel the weight of the cuirass, but when the scarf (or belt) is properly tightened much of this mass is transferred to my waist.
Generally, I got good, workable armour. The things I want to modify next time are the helmet, bazubands and various mostly technological issues. As I learnt a lot new things during making-process (both theoretical and practical), which are NOT included in this project, I wish to use this new knowledge also.

Lafayette
As you noticed correctly - this is al-Fatiha indeed.
It might look like little simplistic, but this is because I used authentic 14th-15th C script, which is different compared with modern Arabic.

And BTW, the fog on the pictures is real, not a "Photoshop" trick.
During the last-year event we got good weather, and this fog was really cool - and as Jean said, we had a time machine this year.

[Boris Bedrosov]

As the winter came with some freezing colds and strong winds, these days I decided not to deal with steel but with belts.

For this project, my idea is to evade the "leather belt" cliche and to make silver-braided belt instead. As the armour itself speaks about a wealthy and influential owner, such belt would not be a bad choice at all.
As I don't have experience with silver-braiding (although have some knowledge how-to-do), I had a choice to order it to a local girl and of course - to pay a lots of money, or to try to make silver-braided belt (with a lot of pain-staking work) by myself.
Well, I chose a third option - to find some substitute, which at least gives the visual effect of the silver-braiding.



The substitute in this case are two braided belts from my "Uniform A" (extremely formal dress, similar to the Western Mess dress). In order to protect it from the steel of the armour, the reverse surface was covered with strip of leather.
Although synthetic, I think it's a good compromise in the equation "appearance - price - time needed". The pattern of the braiding could be seen here

[Lafayette C Curtis]

[Boris Bedrosov]

Hi all!

Resurrecting this thread for one final push - it's time to make the kilij
* The guard was fitted with the blade and sanded



before being decorated. At last, I decided to use the same diamond-shaped motif as on the khanjar - this would give the impression as both weapons have been made in same workshop

** The motif drawn



*** and cut; the guard is already polished



As I had some problems with the cast (some nasty little cavities near the surface of the guard) this time I was forced to use Dremel tool instead of hand-engravers. After the work was done the cavities (much of them on the opposite side) are barely visible.

**** The guard "locked" to the blade - this time I used a pair of steel wedges



***** Details of the grip (note the scales were not cut in shape yet - only the slots for the rear langets were cut so far)



The authentic Sultan Mehmed's kilij has a grip made of walrus tusks; the "pommel" is actually another shape made from the same tusks.
As I don't have access to such material, I've planned to use buffalo horn scales instead; they would be separated from the tang with brass separators. The brass pommel would be a separate detail.

[Boris Bedrosov]

As I work in parallel on all three remaining items - the kilij, the scabbard and the belt - here is some progress with the scabbard.
Generally, this time it was a sort of a challenge - not because I used poplar for the first time, but because of the complex form of the blade and its pronounced yelman.

* The halves chiseled



Note the upper half is already cut in shape, also note the complex cross-section; from tip to guard it changes three times - flat diamond, flat hexagon and flat pentagon.
For the yelman I needed quite wider cavity - as wide as the yelman at its widest point. Well, although I managed to ruin one scabbard because of lack of particular knowledge and skills, the second attempt you see is far more better.

** Using my favourite "sticks-trick" the halves are ready to be glued



*** Clamped with as many clamps I was able to find



**** And after glue went dry, ready to be filed and sanded

[Boris Bedrosov]

The previous week I was so over-tasked with work in order to finish these three remaining pieces of the set, that I even didn't have time to show my progress. unfortunately, I was short with just about one working day to prepare them for then up-coming event.
Well, the matter is quite different now as I don't hurry for nowhere; I hope I'll be able to finish this week.

* The scabbard filed and sanded - although the curvature is minimal, the shape is quite more slender than my first attempt



** Two closer looks at the slots for the forward langets





*** The kilij in the scabbard; note the relatively great dimensions of the slots - I need some extra free space here for the planned cloth cover and brass fittings

[Jerry Monaghan]

Hi Boris
Love your work also like your facebook page will visit quite often keep up the great work regards.