Some quick photos on Facebook...

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=101507...amp;type=1

Specifications:

Overall length: 55” (139.7 cm)
Blade length: 41” (104 cm)
Blade width: 2.1875” (5.56 cm)
COG: 4.5” from guard (11.43 cm)
COP: 22” from guard (end of fullers): (55.88 cm)
Weight: 5 lbs 1 oz (2.3 kilos)

Grip length: 11.5” (29.21 cm)
Guard Width: 11.5” (29.21 cm)



A very sweet handling sword for its size... Has jumped to the top of my "must have" list...

Best,

Howy

It looks wonderful, Howie. There will be some very happy new sword owners before too long.

A sweet-handling two hander!

Specifications? I note on the Facebook page the price is increasing? Oh, will the Tyrolean share the same blade?

That is a great bold looking sword.

Cheers

GC

This is great I love the the look of that sword! The blue grip is really nice and fits surprisingly well.

Congratz to Howie, Peter, and the rest of the Albion team, you guys did an awsome job :D







Regards.

Hello all

Got to grasp this beauty in my hot little hand today. Like Howy said, it has jumped to the top of my list. The blue works surprisingly well too. Great work.

I just got off the phone with Mike Sigman. I placed order number one on this one six years ago (!) so to say that I'm excited would be an understatement. It looks like a great one Howard and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

I haven't done a detailed write up of a sword in a long time, but expect one on this baby folks!

On the Albion Facebook page are now some pictures of the finished Maximilian available, if you don't already know:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Albion-Swords-Limited-LLC/109838441137?ref=mf

I own the Dane and I have a preorder for the Maximilian/Tyrolean for years too - but the pictures of the final Maximilian are a little disappointing for me. The reason is the size change comparing to the drafts on the website, as you can see below. As you can easily see the draft shows a significant longer blade. I measured it in Photoshop, it's about 5-7cm longer.

So I really love the change in size in case of the Dane - the drafts showed also a much longer blade back then but Albion decided to shorten the blade for the final one, too. In my opinion the final Dane is much more appealing on an aestethic and proportional level than the draft was.

In case of the Maximilian the blade was also shorten, but in my opinion it is now less appealing. What do you think about the different sizes?

Perhaps Peter could explain a little bit the decisions for the shorter blade? That would be great!

Thanks,
Ulli

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These issues are exactly why I approach a sword purchase in the following manner:

1) Assume concept drawings and rough specifications are exactly that, rough and conceptual. ( I don't know of any other maker who does this, yet Albion continually catches grief because people just don't seem to understand the idea of a rough concept. Perhaps they should just stop and leave us to our imaginations?)

2) Assume the maker knows more than I do about maximizing the swords design characteristics.

3) Just don't take the subject so damn seriously, we ain't curin' cancer folks. ;)

This perspective has always held me in good stead.

I was wondering what the limitation is on Albions CNC machine. I know they had to get a new CNC machine somewhat recently tobe able to create these longer blades, but I am curious as to the maximum blade length Albion could make. What is the limitation of blade size?

I have to say, I am very excited for this sword. I do feel that the Dane and the Maximillian could have longer blades. I like the Dane very much, but for such an extreme sword, I'm certain it could have been even longer. As for the Maximillian, I also though it could be a tad bit longer in dimension. Certainly, there were many examples of longer blades and longer zweihander... However, I suppose the quote has always been: "The Maximilian is inspired by the many examples of *smaller* zweihander (zweihander = two-hander) swords carried by the Landesknecht" So I suppose it is just what it says, a smaller 2-hander.

Ok, so, for a future sword, please do the Tall and wide XXII as previously you illustrated :-)

The only danger of doing a small version of a 2-hander, is that the XXII can be just as big... Either way, I love the illustration Peter made of the tall, large XXII. However, that seems like it could be bigger than this so called zweihander. It doesn;t change my desire for the tall, large XXII.


http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/download.php?id=19844


On another note, hopefully the XVIIIc is not too far behind as well. Look forward to the Principe or the other version... I forget now, its getting late ... I just know I have a preorder on it :-)

Peter, thank you for your explanations. Perhaps my written words with "little disappointing" seem stronger than they actually are.
You're right - when waiting for something for years and having only rough information (images) in mind, the final result could be a (little) shock. However in case of the Dane it was a very positive shock for me - I liked the final one instantly much more than the concept draw. And I also had preordered the Dane, so perhaps I unconsciously hoped for another positive surprise in case of the Maximilian/Tyrolean ;-)
Nevertheless I will remake my comparisons in Photoshop to appease my first impression from yesterday and think about your words. It would be nice if you could post the final data and specifications. Thank you!

Patrick, of course you're right - but for me looking at swords, handling them and so on is a very emotional thing, even with concept drafts. It's hard for me to be rational like you described. But I will remember your words next time! Perhaps the preorder possibility is a little bit dangerous for people like me ;-)
By the way I'm very focused on the proportion of blade and grip length, much more on an aesthetically (and personal opinion) level. So I don't have much knowledge about proper sword handling characteristics when fighting with them.

I would be very interested in hearing from both Peter and Albion regarding the challenges present in the design and manufacture of a large sword such as this. Too many of the replicas we see of this type are quite heavy and ungainly. What are the challenges in designing a sword like this in regards to issues of handling and feel. Likewise, are there any issues that have to be overcome regarding the manufacture and heat treatment of a blade this long?

Those of us old enough to remember the old days will recall that most reproduction swords were horrible in both their mechanics and proportion. Makers, both production and custom, really knew nothing about swords and were primarily knife makers. Hence, reproduction swords tended to simply be overgrown knives and handled accordingly. I can see similar issues when going from a singled-handed sword, or a typical longsword up to a sword of this size. I'm curious to know if the design principles and manufaturing have to be approached from a different angle.

This sword has moved to the top of my Albion must have swords as well... along with the Mercenary, Yoeman, Kern and Gallowglass. I must have this beautiful sword.

I received a pick-up e-mail from FedEx this afternoon, so the wait begins........tic, toc, tic, toc. :D

This sword is now up with photos at Albions website HERE -

That grip is Very Blue.

It will be interesting to see how Albion Europe photographs it. Their pictures are usually terrific.