Quick question, Boris...

The patterns on your greaves, how do you draw those and get them so symmetrical? I can't imagine that you do them all by free-hand!

Perhaps in one of your next posts you could show the whole armour together to give us some idea of your progress with this project thus far? I'm certain it would be very impressive.

Hope things keep going well for you!

Answering Jeffrey, I really draw my patterns by free-hand often, or at least free-hand drawing is an essential part of pattern-making process.
I will try to explain what I do on this sketch:

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1. First, I draw 3D sketch of the intended armour part (here is shown the central plate of the infantry greave). Unfortunately, I'm not quite good 3D artist, and although I have absolutely clear idea in my mind of what I want to achieve, usually the 3D picture is almost childish. But regardless, it helps me in clarifying the ideas.
When I have enough pictures of the artifact (better from different angles), I usually skip this step.

2. After that I draw by hand the contours of the future pattern on paper, but when the pattern is symmetrical (like in this case) usually I use ruler. What I want to achieve here are smooth lines and gentle curves.

3. After cutting the pattern I fold it alongside the central line and check the both left and right contours for matching. Where is needed, I correct the lines using the lesser half as a guide.
Sometimes, it's necessary to repeat steps 2. and 3.

4. After transferring the pattern on clear sheet of paper the work is done

Now, some work with the cavalry greaves.
The tar is applied everywhere and the excess tar on the central plates is removed:

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The plates reversed in a manner, in which the inscriptions could be read - as you know, in Arabic this is done from right to left

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The inscription on the upper one (which will be the left greave) is The Takbir - or Arabic term for the phrase Allahu Akbar - "The God is great";
On the right greave (bottom one) is The Basmala (or Bismillah) - a collective name for the whole Islamic phrase B-ismi-llahi r-rahmani r-rahimi, usually translated as "In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful" or "In the name of God; The most kindly merciful".

I have to say your project is amazing. I'd love to have one even without all the details you have added but they sure add something to the look of the entire harness. What an amazing piece of armour art.

RPM

What gauge did you use for the chain mail?

I used pre-fabricated maille. The wire is 1.4 mm with 8 mm inner diameter of the rings.

Did you make the mail rings yourself or were they bought somewhere?

I didn't make it, but bought it from here

http://www.battlemerchant.com/

I think it's "Made In India", but regardless the quality is still good enough.

Thanks.
This is really impressive what you have done.

Do you think the design would be very similar if it was 13th century armour?

Very interesting still.

Have you seen how well this armour stands up in combat? (SCA or other)

We don't do SCA in Bulgaria.

Instead, we prefer to work in close contact during our re-enactment events. And this of course, demands high standards in both safety regulations and armours.
So my current Ottoman armour (you can see it in the very first post in this thread) is battle-tested in more than half-a-dozen occasions, where it proved robust and reliable, although it lacks flexibility of the new project.

These days I made a test-fit of the infantry greaves.

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Because it was just a test, I didn't make the whole maille sections. From this test I figured out that they should be just a little broader, but generally - they are OK and I'm on a right way. I expect the greaves will fit almost like a glove :D when the sections are once completed.

Here is a short series of picture, showing the left greave on. To check the fit better, I was in one of my boots.

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The maille sections of the infantry greaves were refined and broadened by adding of an extra strip

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The empty triangle will be filled with another extra strip. Now, its sharp tip is limited by three temporary rings, while the opposite base - with a strip. all these will be removed after the test-fit which followed.

The greave looks like this:

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Yet another series of pictures of the second test-fit.

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Boris,
Beautiful work. When you finish this Turkish armor and I finish my Tatar armor, I'd be honored to ride beside you for the glory of the Ottoman Empire. ;)

http://www.forensicfashion.com/1571CrimeanGuard.html
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Hey Sam,
My historical loyalties are fickle -- even as I finish my Tatar kit, I'm working on several anti-Ottoman costumes too. I even recently did a Venetian-Dalmatian stradiot, that sworn enemy of the Turk in the Balkans. I go where the girls go! :surprised:

And oddly enough too, while you're doing your Moor, I'm working on my Iberian cruzado knight ca. 1212. I'm a member of the Texas Medieval Association and next year's program focuses on the 800th anniversary of the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. There are several Spanish medievalists in that group and although I'm not one of them, I intend to be the center of attention! So far I only have the Arms and Armor Iberian Mace (from myArmoury's own Chad Arnow), but the rest should be easy to assemble.

http://www.forensicfashion.com/1590StradiotCa...1SFRF.html
http://www.forensicfashion.com/1212IberianCrusader.html
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For my part I've done Indian and Japanese kits before. I have many Indian and bellydancer friends, which are opportunities to wear the Indian costumes, while I occasionally wear my samurai and ninja costumes to seasonal Japanese events.

Of course Boris, my samurai armor is inferior to yours -- mine is the "Oda Nobunaga" suit formerly sold by Hanwei. I enjoy it though, and it always gets a very positive response from the crowd.

http://www.forensicfashion.com/1858RajputPrin...YHY10.html
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http://www.forensicfashion.com/1568JapaneseSa...tival.html
http://www.forensicfashion.com/1581JapaneseNinja.html
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