[Boris Bedrosov]

Meanwhile, there is also a progress with the shield. Recently, I riveted the leather handling straps and the loops for the caring ones; covered the front surface with the second layer of heavy linen and painted the back in blue.
The result looks like this:

[Boris Bedrosov]

Now, with handling straps permanently attached alongside the short diagonal, I am able to insist that this type of shield is one of the best for infantry combat (of course, considering my own experience - round, heater and middle-sized kite) - agile, easy for handling and offering very good protection.

[Boris Bedrosov]

My intention was to create a relatively simple, but still quite "Islamic" design for the front part of my shield.

After discounting some ideas, my choice is this one:



where the central image is the Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar), a.k.a. Saif al-Ali - the legendary two-bladed sword, belonging to both the Prophet Muhammad and his son-in-law Ali.
The picture itself was directly taken from authentic Ottoman shield, displayed in the Metropolitan Museum.



For the outer edge I chose one of the most typical Islamic designs - the vine stem pattern



And a closer view:

[Boris Bedrosov]

And the painting began.
Here is the result of the first layer of the silver and golden paints, put over the outer edge

[Boris Bedrosov]

The upper sections of the cuisses somewhere in the middle of the working process



and closer view

[Samuel Bena]

Very nice work so far Boris!
I especially look forward for the winged "deli" shield ....it sure starts to look awesome

Good luck!

[Boris Bedrosov]

Today the upper sections were finished. Now, they look like this:

[Boris Bedrosov]

And here the knee-cops are - polished, drilled, blackened - ready for next step:

[Boris Bedrosov]

And the next step is to rivet these two medallions:



and another (slightly different) view:



The inscription on the right means "Allah", while this on the left - "Muhammad". As far as I know, in Islamic tradition when both medallions are placed in this order (which can be seen in virtually every mosque), they bear the meaning of the phrase "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger".

And at the end I want to apologize to every fellow of Islamic faith for any mistake, which I may have made as a Christian who just has some interests on other religions. Every mistake is UNINTENTIONAL

[Luke Zechman]

Boris,
I have been following this thread eagerly. I really cannot wait to see the entire kit assembled. You do fine work, and should be proud. I think this kit is going to look top notch. Keep up the great work.

[János Sibinger]

Fantastic Job!
The brass elements, the blackened knee cops and the shield, especially the ornaments on the edge...
Simply beautiful!
Congratulations!
And just a short question if I may ask: what did you use to achieve this dark colour?
Best wishes!
John

[Boris Bedrosov]

Janos,
To achieve this dark colour, I heat the steel plate with a propane torch until it starts to turn blue, submerge it for a while in fine engine oil and after that - allow it to cool in the air.
If someone wishes, the process could be repeated several times

[Boris Bedrosov]

The medallions are riveted on the knee-cops.
Now, they look like this:

[Boris Bedrosov]

To János Sibinger:

When heating the plates, do this cautiously. Take care not to overheat the steel, because the resulting cover (when overheated) is not quite durable.
You can see this on the upper part of the right knee-cop, where the cover has gone on some spots.

[Boris Bedrosov]

These



are the triangular section of mail which will be attached to the bottom contour of the knee-cops.

[Boris Bedrosov]

Both knee-cops and triangular sections before



and after



the assembly.

[Nathan Robinson]

This is incredibly comprehensive and I'm enjoying watching its progress!

[János Sibinger]

Boris, thank you for the new pictures, and for the quick replies!
The knee cops look really great, and they will be even better as there will be contrast between the lower and higher areas.
Thank You again for the instructions!
John

[Boris Bedrosov]

The upper sections of the cuisses with straps and buckles attached

[Tibor Szebenyi]

Great work, Boris!

I'm also working on similar cuisses, to where will be the buckle on the top of the cuisse attached? I mean where will a strap for it hang from? This question was on-topic some time ago, but we couldn't decide it. From an additional belt under the torso armour?