[Anil Ogretici]

Hi Jens, thanks for your comments.
You are right about the sheep part

The sources are very limited when it comes to hard copies. I got some Osprey books but I guess everyone agrees that Osprey books are not historically accurate, at least most of the time.

For internet search I use generally this site http://manuscriptminiatures.com/search/?year=...ew=gallery for images for a certain time. And also this forum and some others.

I would really appreciate if you could advise some sources about the normans.
Thanks again.

[Mike Zielinski]

Hi everyone, I saw here a lot of good kits and few of them was awesome now it is mine turn to share.
Below I uploaded photos of me and friends who are in my group. We are late 15th century gunners
but especially we have some stuff from very late XV and early XVI cent.
It links with history of our city where at those time became to high meaning in medieval Poland.
We have weapons for 10 soldiers but unfortunately our artillery counts 5 persons


(from down to up) First and second picture is from winter (?February?) 2011, third is from battle of Świecino (Schwetz) August 2011 and the last one is from show during tournament in our city also in August 2011. Enjoy

PS. Here are some movies from Świecino battle - the best late XV century event in Poland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtBlmrkz29k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTCwTUxezLM&feature=related

Cheers,
Mike from Poland

[Carl W]

Here is one I am working on photo fuzz still trying to figure out this resizing thing

[Christopher VaughnStrever]

Here are two pics of my recent soft kit... I went Armor--> Arms--> Soft kit--> dinning accessories. I wanted more pics but sadly I wasnt able to complete the photo shoot today, here are the two decent shots out of the day, I'll be taking (and posting) a few more shots tommorow





If your wondering how I attached the dagger, I used the leather straping from the sheath as points, and viola la' it worked perfectly without a belt.

[Joe Fults]

Chris, your soft kit looks really nice. In fact it almost looks like it might end up compelling you to make an upgrade or two in other places.

[Christopher VaughnStrever]

ok, so I promised more photos... i did an entire photo shoot with my soft and hard kit +some dinning accessories.

any comments on what/when/where I best represent would be appreciated. I know that idea should be considered first, all I really tried to stay apart of was the 15th century.

[Sam Gordon Campbell]

The one where you're swinging the flail looks like it comes straight out of Talhoffer's fechtbuch!
Nice soft kit! Simple, and when done well impressive too.!

[Daniel Sullivan]

Chris,

Both soft and hard kits are looking pretty good! Happy to see you were able to make use of the lance rest ....

Regards,
Dan

[William P]

chris, all of the photos you have of your harness are amazing as ive told you before that sallet is particularly amazng wth its artculated tail. that harness looks amazing and the effort you apparently put into maing it properly fit you really shows, and the flal looks excellent too.

[Zac Evans]

Chris. Lots of people are giving you lots of deserved compliments, so I won't repeat what they're saying too much. I will add that your dedication to getting a kit together has been great to watch unfold, as you strive to get better and better over time (Even if I don't quite agree with every choice you make in regards to the order of doing things. My assumption is that research would always come first ). You did ask for criticisms and next steps though, so I'll throw that out, but bear in mind I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so it may come thick and fast.

Before I do start, I'd like to say that I'm massively critical of my own kit. I don't like wearing inaccurate equipment, and am aware that not everything I wear/own meets my own standards. We're all building things slowly, getting better over time, and I'll be the first to admit I've not yet "made it" as far as I want to go. That said, your kit:

Soft kit:
You've spent a lot of money on this: It's HE, so it's good and will serve you well. It is unfinished though. 15th century soft kit always needs a Coat or gown of some kind. If you go with HE on this too, then you will need a doublet too, as they are open to show the doublets kneck. Some cuts of coat don't require this though, so have a look around and see what you can see. You only really need a doublet or pourpoint at once, but can wear both if you want. Without a gown though, you are essentially walking around topless as far as the 15th century is concerned.

Hard kit:
As an entry level armour, this seems to work well. You can obviously run in it, and it looks like you can fight in it too. For complete accuracy though, there are a few points I'd like to make.

The waist is too low, and doesn't come in enough. The Medieval waist is higher than the modern jeans waist, right up at the bottom of the ribcage. This gives you more movement in the abdomen, and spreads the weight better, as the lower half of the cuirass is held better by resting on top of the hips, instead of the entire weight hanging from the shoulders. Here is an example:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/28553_389868983166_2953336_n.jpg

Here the neck to waist measurement is roughly 1:1 with the waist to groin measurement. Your cuirass is almost 2:1, which will effect how you move and fight, and will seriously hamper you if you decide to ride in it.

Using the same image we can see that the greaves could do with some attention too. These are the hardest thing to get right. Mine are too big. In order to work the best they need to be as close and as thin as they possibly can. This supports the cuisse better, which makes the whole leg harness more comfortable, and assists in maintaining contact with a horses flanks. I find that mine are fine for foot combat, but can cause problems on horseback. You may decide yours are good for your needs, but for complete accuracy, the closer the better.

Historical armour tends to have less rolled edges than Allan's work. Some have more than others, so this is a personal preference thing, but it makes it look less historical to me.

Finally, maille skirts in my opinion should go all the way around. Protecting the back of oneself was incredibly important. I imagine that this is a decision you have made to cut down on weight, but it does look a bit ahistorical, and I know that you are an excellent maille maker and could sort this out with little difficulty.

Sorry if this seems a bit harsh. Once again, I really respect your dedication to this portrayal, and your commitment to learning and doing things right. These criticisms are just there to give you some thoughts on where to go next. Even if you are happy to keep this kit as it is, they can be talking points when you are doing your demonstrations, ie: "I'm wearing just a pourpoint because the weather has got a lot warmer since medieval times. In the 15th century, however, they would have worn a coat as well."

Hope this helps.

Zac.

[Christopher VaughnStrever]

thanks for the input all the way around, Daniel, many thanks for that lance arest, it has come in very handy indeed! It sat on my shelf for some time, but then once I made my lance, I had a use for it and I have never taken it off since. Well one time the steel broke, so I had a pro weld the arrest together and it is solid now.

Thanks for the input Zac, there are some good points you made that I will use. As far as the soft kit goes, I know I have a couple more pieces to buy to complete it. But sadly I am just waiting to make my next big purchase to get those items from H.E. I just wanted to show what I have acquired up to date mainly.

All the ideas on the armor, I totally agree.

Many thanks,
-Chris

[Bram van Diemen]

My warmer weather soft kit. Late 15the century, burgundian.

[Emil Andersson]

This thread sure is great. Such a wealth of good ideas and arrangements!

I want to share some pictures of my own kit, although the pictures are kind of poor. They were taken by a guy on the sideline during fencing practice, but there will be more and better ones popping up later this year.

I'm portraying a 17th century two-handed-swordsman, with much inspiration taken from Alfieri's spadone work. Disclaimer: the kit is not accurate to the century in mind. The jacket is a 15th century garment, the sneakers are obviously out of place (no boots indoors!) and the hat isn't quite the same, but it's still close enough for me. And it looks good, anyway.

The sword is A&A's montante trainer which I received just a week ago. It's a lovely, lovely thing.

Pictures!
http://i.imgur.com/JBzGp.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/bpotO.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/FByuY.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DgYdS.jpg

And the inspirational sources.
http://www.historicalfencing.org/Pix/Alfieri-cover.jpg
http://www.nova-assalto.com/wp-content/upload...lfieri.jpg

[Quinn W.]

Pardon me, Zac, could you briefly explain what you meant when you said that thinner, more closely fitting greaves would better support the cuisse? My greaves are fairly close fitting, but they do not support my cuisse at all, and I was never aware of the fact that they should, or even how or where they would rest in such a way that the greaves supported them. I thought they were supported almost entirely by arming points near the hips, and since they overlap the greaves I'm not sure where a lower support point would be.
Admittedly my cuisse are much too large for me and not particularly accurate, but if I am due for an upgrade anyway I would love to know how to make them rest on my greaves. Thank you very much!

[Ben van Koert]

Quinn, good greaves are supported by your calves. This way the demi-greaves can be supported by them without weighing down on the instep. The cuisses are suspended from the hips. By combining this, the poleyns are 'floating' in between, sometimes suspended on the cuisse lames and sometimes resting on the demi-greave lames.
This way you'll have the least weight issues, but it's a fine balance that's hard to get right.

The support on the calves can only be achieved if you have closely fitted greaves. If you look at original greaves you'll see that it's very hard to find a straight line on any of them, closely following the shape of the lower leg that went inside it.

[Zac Evans]

@Quinn: Ben has the right of it. He usually does. A photo may help:



This is my leg armour. The greaves are too loose. They're better than they could be, but a lot worse than I'd like. The good thing is that they fit well at the ankle, and on the calf. This means that they don't rest on the top of my foot, giving me a lot of movement in that joint. Further up, they attach to the poleyn by means of a pin. This means that the cuisse is then resting on the greave as well. This splits the weight of the cuisse, both pushing it up from the bottom, and hanging it from the points at the top. When the cuisses are worn correctly suspended from a pourpoint (either doublet or petticoat), the weight is held over the entire body: Shoulders, waist, thighs, calf and ankle. In three years of fighting and riding in this leg armour, I have never had a broken point, despite only using one on each leg.

I hope this helps.

[Quinn W.]

It certainly does. Thanks very much to both of you!

[James Barker]

Me at Military Through the Ages (MTA) in Jamestown VA with La Belle Compagnie.



Wearing my early 15th century doublet.



Portraying an archer from the early 15th century, Agincourt era. Scale helmet (based on a solider in the St Denis manuscript), yew bow, and a cheap sword. Need to finish my arming doublet so I can put my maille shirt and coif on with it.

[Jaroslaw Dominski]

So here is my attempt to reconstruction of late 16th, early 17th century schwartz reiter from Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth territory. There is still a lot to do, so I would be very obliged for any suggestions

[Joe Fults]