A bunch of open shops and a gorget later
I've lost track of the open shops I've had since the last entry, and I haven't been taking pictures consistently. We basically got Count Reynard's legs done before Gulf War, leaving him to do the strapping. We had a very busy shop on March 4th. Here's a quick glimpse at that one:
Robert's in the foreground getting a lecture from Master Peter. Reynard and Baron Avery are in the background working on Reynard's legs. I think it's Maelgwyn on the left. It's been productive, but the muse isn't moving me so much lately, probably because my Gulf War related goals are kind of meaningless now. Onward to Pennsic, right?
I have finished the gorget I've been meaning to make. I'm trying to emulate the mail standards I've been seeing in late 14th/early 15th depictions. It's a bit tough because so many of them have helmets on, so you can't see what they were wearing for throat protection. I'm working on a look like the kings of France and his upstart vassal have on here:
And I'm going to lay down a few quick snapshots of what I'm seeing in effigies. Note the close similarities in the dagging on the collar (which I totally failed to capture in mine unfortunately).
For mine I want a bit more protection than maile alone will give me, so here's the spring stainless plate to protect my throat, before it was fired:
And in the forge:
I stitched a leather liner to the inside and some excess maile I'd trimmed earlier from the edge of my avantail around the outside. I attached part of a leather gorget Barnet had made me around the back to mostly pacify marshals. Maybe that will even protect my spine a little. Let's fast forward to the finished product being modeled by my wife's teddy bear, Nougat:
I went out to California a bit over a week ago for business, and dragged my armour along. I met up with some old friends in Sacramento for tapas, and my buddy Alvar bought me some desert. It was good to catch up. I had a good practice at my old knight, Brion's place. Duke Paul showed me quite thoroughly that there's much more I have to learn about glaive. I had some good fights with Brion, and some good stuff with Ajax until I blocked a great shot with just my left thumb. It's kind of gimpy still. I'm not sure if I can reduce the occurrence of such things with a change in the thumb design or not. I'd love to, since I'm just now gaining enough strength back to pick up a glass. It seems like a freakish shot really. Ajax was very apologetic, I was even using a glaive he'd loaned me at the time, and it was just a bizarre and random injury. It was fun watching him, and chatting with Sir Mark, who has some of the fastest hands I've ever seen. I learned some stuff about his equipment that might help me capture a bit of that.
Seeing Western fighting from a very deep pool (seriously there was a prince there I didn't even talk with- I'm sure he's an awesome guy, but he and I may have tied for the title of least remarkable fighter there) in such immediate contrast to what we're doing in Ansteorra was startling. I knew they were different. But the power and ferocity of the offense I saw (and felt!) at that practice was phenomenal. Fighting in Ansteorra tends to be a combination chess match and endurance event. With the guys I faced in Brion's back yard it was like fighting a tiger- they're not mad, or out of control or anything, they're just relentless, dispassionate killing machines. Little twitches I can get away with here are fatal mistakes there. I really have to get out there more often and take my gear with me.
Robert's in the foreground getting a lecture from Master Peter. Reynard and Baron Avery are in the background working on Reynard's legs. I think it's Maelgwyn on the left. It's been productive, but the muse isn't moving me so much lately, probably because my Gulf War related goals are kind of meaningless now. Onward to Pennsic, right?
I have finished the gorget I've been meaning to make. I'm trying to emulate the mail standards I've been seeing in late 14th/early 15th depictions. It's a bit tough because so many of them have helmets on, so you can't see what they were wearing for throat protection. I'm working on a look like the kings of France and his upstart vassal have on here:
And I'm going to lay down a few quick snapshots of what I'm seeing in effigies. Note the close similarities in the dagging on the collar (which I totally failed to capture in mine unfortunately).
For mine I want a bit more protection than maile alone will give me, so here's the spring stainless plate to protect my throat, before it was fired:
And in the forge:
I stitched a leather liner to the inside and some excess maile I'd trimmed earlier from the edge of my avantail around the outside. I attached part of a leather gorget Barnet had made me around the back to mostly pacify marshals. Maybe that will even protect my spine a little. Let's fast forward to the finished product being modeled by my wife's teddy bear, Nougat:
I went out to California a bit over a week ago for business, and dragged my armour along. I met up with some old friends in Sacramento for tapas, and my buddy Alvar bought me some desert. It was good to catch up. I had a good practice at my old knight, Brion's place. Duke Paul showed me quite thoroughly that there's much more I have to learn about glaive. I had some good fights with Brion, and some good stuff with Ajax until I blocked a great shot with just my left thumb. It's kind of gimpy still. I'm not sure if I can reduce the occurrence of such things with a change in the thumb design or not. I'd love to, since I'm just now gaining enough strength back to pick up a glass. It seems like a freakish shot really. Ajax was very apologetic, I was even using a glaive he'd loaned me at the time, and it was just a bizarre and random injury. It was fun watching him, and chatting with Sir Mark, who has some of the fastest hands I've ever seen. I learned some stuff about his equipment that might help me capture a bit of that.
Seeing Western fighting from a very deep pool (seriously there was a prince there I didn't even talk with- I'm sure he's an awesome guy, but he and I may have tied for the title of least remarkable fighter there) in such immediate contrast to what we're doing in Ansteorra was startling. I knew they were different. But the power and ferocity of the offense I saw (and felt!) at that practice was phenomenal. Fighting in Ansteorra tends to be a combination chess match and endurance event. With the guys I faced in Brion's back yard it was like fighting a tiger- they're not mad, or out of control or anything, they're just relentless, dispassionate killing machines. Little twitches I can get away with here are fatal mistakes there. I really have to get out there more often and take my gear with me.
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