[E. Andersson]

Hello to all of you,
This is my first post here at myArmoury, even though I've been reading your forums/reviews/articles practically daily for almost a year now! I've been into medieval arms and armour for a few years now, and have accumulated a small arsenal of replicas to match, mainly pieces from A&A (knightly pole axe, hungarian axe, spiked mace among others).
So now, with my hunger for sharpened steel satiated, I've turned my gaze on to the field of armour and other such things. I'd like my future harness to include pieces of plate, mail AND scale (along with the arming clothes underneath of course).. that would constitute a transitional harness, right?
I'm not sure why I feel so strongly about that, it's just the vision that keeps on flittering inside my mind!
So anyway, I already have a customized (as in crowned with arching pheasant feathers) so-called Sugarloaf helmet (and I must say that I've yet to experiance any hardship with breathability, even while having it on for hours on end).
The other pieces of plate armoury I'm drooling for would be a pair of gauntlets (http://www.bestarmour.com/detailsparts/rukavice41.html, these ones to be precise), and a breast plate (with back)perhaps fitted with a fauld/lames, and of course a gorget to complement the helmet, and something to shield the knees/lower legs/feet.
......alright, that's practically the entire harness right there

Hah, but joking aside, that'd leave the arms/shoulders, waist and upper legs areas uncovered by plate, and I'd like to have pieces of mail and scale armour to make up for that.
Are there any historical examples that shows something even just reminiscent of what I'm yapping about here?
Do any of you folks have something wise to tell me?
Please?

Now, I'm terribly sorry to say that I've run out of time to describe this any more clear. I'll be back and continue with this thread as soon as I can.

Oh oh oh and also.. I do not feel very restricted by the thoughts of having a historically correct harness (as in, an entire harness from the same time-period).. you can say that I've no problems whatsoever with mixing pieces from different centuries, as I'm more interested in having a harness that looks the best than being 100% correct. In my own humble opinion, of course!

Thanks to all of you,
E. Andersson

[Sean Flynt]

Sounds to me like you could be happy with what a man-at-arms might have worn in the mid-to-late 15th c. You could replace the great helm with a simple sallet or kettle hat, then add a jack of plate (as close as you'll get to scale in this context, I think) maybe with jack chains if long-sleeved or mail sleeves or plate if not, maybe a mail standard to protect the neck (you could make that) and maybe plate leg defenses. Gauntlets would be appropriate here, too. You already have the poleaxe to complete this kit.

Of course, none of us can hope to be quite as cool as PJ in this 15th c. kit, but it's a worthwhile goal! I really need to find a sallet!

[Nathan Keysor]

I believe I have seen a later 14th Century effigy of a (german?) knight with a fauld of scales. I'm not 100% on this and can't remember the source but the 14th Century was the transitional period so there is a lot of experimentation going on. Also, remember that very little actual armour survives from this era (I would guess less than 1% of what was produced) so who knows what was really the most common. Nowadays most of what we see is copies of extant pieces (Churburg etc...) But a mix of leather, padded fabric, mail and plate was probably fairly common especialy for the average knights who couldn't afford the newest Italian fashion and also coudn't afford a fullsize effigy. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is: you're the one spending the money so get what you want.