Making Progress

I've been making progress on my new armor. Here is my status at the end of this week.

Cuirass

I started work on my faux lamellar cuirass.

The back plates have been cut out and punched.

Same for the front plates.

One thing I need to do is to cut creases between the individual "plates." This accentuates the illusion that the armor is made up of multiple lamellar plates instead of larger strips.

I cut the creases for one front panel. I need to finish the other front panel and the back.

Change of Plans

But then I decided to change my plans, a bit.

I was thinking that the best order for making the armor would be

1. greaves
2. tassets
3. cuirass
4. helmet

I need to order leather for the greaves, but I have enough to make tassets. So I put aside my cuirass, for the time being, and started working on tassets.

Tassets

I cut and punched plates for the tassets for one side. I still need to cut creases.

I plan to add a couple of loops of leather that I can put on a belt.

Greaves

I need to place an order for leather to make the greaves.

I have a template ready. It includes knee protection.

Painting

I want to paint the armor so it looks like metal.

I painted my first leather cuirass in gold leather paint. It looks fine, albeit a little flat.

I tried an experiment on a spare plate. I dyed it black then daubed on silver paint. I think it looks much more realistic.

My Plans Firm Up

After much pondering, I have come up with a plan for my new paladin kit.

As mentioned last time, I have been inspired by the Carolingian armor in the Stuttgart Psalter. So I plan to make faux scale - basically the same pattern as my faux lamellar, but with the rounded part facing down.

Here is an AI concept.

I will do a few things differently.

• No bracers. My gloves are enough
• I have a different design for the pauldrons
• Going to have the chimera logo on the shield
• No nasal on the helmet

Speaking of helmets, I was toying with buying this helmet from By the Sword.

But I pivoted, and plan to make one out of leather, using this Skill Tree video as a guide.

Another Direction Change?

When I originally conceived of Chevalia, one of the kingdoms of the Valiant LARP fantasy world, I based it on the High Middle Ages (~ 1000 - 1300 AD). 

Here is an example of typical kits for the era. I've been looking at modeling the knight kit.

Unfortunately, chainmail (even aluminum) is heavier than my current kit.

Lately, I've been thinking of another approach. I'll wear my tabard under my armor, like a tunic. I'll create another faux lamellar set. 

But I may tweak it to look like Carolingian armor from the Stuttgart Psalter.

Many soldiers are depicted with scale cuirasses and skirts.

I'm sure I can tweak my lamellar to look more like scale. Perhaps attach pieces with rivets instead of lacing.

I'm still planning on getting the Wyrmwick fluted nut helm.

More Thoughts on a Kit Update

Continuing to ponder updating my kit. I discussed the origin of this new path here.

Armor

Now I am leaning towards mail.

I thought about doing a fake brigandine (basically light leather with studs). But it will probably get nerfed in Amtgard.

Now, I have my sights set on this front-opening, aluminum chainmail haubergeon.

I asked the seller for a weight; that will determine if I go through with it.

Tabard

I already have a blue Carl Canvas Tabard that works well. But I'm thinking of getting it in red.

I would need to hem it.

Undertunic

I'm primarily going with a tabard because it is cooler than a tunic over my UPF shirt. But I'm concerned that it won't look that good.

Another option is to get a tunic and treat it with Rit SunGuard. This gives protection equal to 30 UPF.

I'm thinking of going with a linen tunic, like this Ragnar Linen Viking Tunic.

Helmet

This is proving to be a problem. I see that they updated the sizes for many of the polyurethane helmets on Medieval Collectibles. Now most show 23 inches, which is way too small for me! Meanwhile, the Wyrmwick nut helmet is too big!

Right now, the Wyrmwick fluted nut helmet seems to be the best option.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

A photo from many years ago.

This character is Rufus. He was a soldier in King Arthur's army. He set sail for the continent to join Arthur's war against the Roman emperor. However, Rufus's ship was caught in a storm and wrecked. When Rufus awoke, he found himself in a strange world - the world of Dagorhir.

Paladin Body Armor Update

My plans are evolving since my last post about body armor. I now have 3 potential options,

Modify

I recently picked up this leather jerkin from Kult of Athena.

It is a nice, light leather. I'm toying with riveting leather plates underneath to create a brigandine.

I'm not sure I want to risk ruining it, though.

Make

I'm still considering making a brigandine from scratch.

I gave up on the Simplicity vest pattern, which I mentioned in my previous post. While I like the overall look, the pattern was too complicated for me.

Instead, I used a tabard to create a mock-up in canvas.

For the real thing, I'm considering dureasuede. It comes in 58" widths and sold by the yard. One yard should suffice for a brigandine shell.

Fake

Another option I mentioned before was to create a leather cuirass and then add rivets to make it look like a brigandine. That might be the easiest to do. 

I can use the pattern from my faux lamellar.

I will modify the cut a bit and fasten the pieces together with rivets instead of cord.

Which One?

Right now, I still lean on modifying the jerkin from KoA. But at some point, I may try all 3 methods, looking for the easiest and cheapest.

Paladin Leg Armor

A bit late with this, but let me finish out my paladin series with leg armor.

I have a set of greaves from Red Dragon Armoury (also available from Medieval Collectibles)

They are serviceable, but I would also like knee protection.

Wyrmwick has a nice pair.

The Huscarl greaves from MC could also work. I would likely repaint them in silver.

Anyway, no need for a change anytime soon. As I said, my current greaves are serviceable.