Well, here are three of them, ready to go. Well, actually, two and a half....one of them still needs work...the top one. All the pop rivets must now be changed over for solid rivets, now that everything is in place! (thats what apprentices are for!) I also stil have to do some file work to decorate up the eye slot a bit. Have to be careful though...too much file work can render it unsafe! (An SCA Marshal tries to fit a broomstick into the eye slot. if it goes in, it is unsafe. I believe this is done when the occupant is out.) I tried to make it as much like as an American Eagle as I could, and still let it be good and European medieval. It looks kind of crummy close up but the crowd can see it just fine, and it is certainly distinctive. The lion on the middle picture might confuse people though. You can't really tell what they are from 40 feet away, hopefully the lion has spikey enough legs to make it different from the smooth eagle wings.
The bottom one is kind of neat. With those 12 gauge face plates, you don't need a centre bar to keep things from shifting around, so I did some file work on the edges. The top point was an aesthetic mistake, but for vision, that extra quarter inch cut out makes all the difference. The vision in this helm is stunning...you put it on, and the metal is so close to the eyes that it sort of disappears. I don't think it needs any brass work, or any further finishing....it looks different from all the others, and it is functional. It is doing its job...
The last of the set will be a brass Fleur de Lys on the brow, and that's pretty much it. Maybe I'll get that done today! These little details take a LOT of time...but it is time I quite enjoy useing up. These are not especially pretty, or especially artistic, but they are interesting, visually exciting, and they illustrate how a little customizing will go a long way to make a plain helm into a good looker. None of these nasals took more than a couple of hours to do.
3 comments:
I expect to see some pictures of that crazy party that I missed. Know that I stopped by briefly--in spirit (unfortunately, I was in the middle of a book so I couldn't stay too long).
Ah, but MY parties generally speaking are camera free. I DID get some pictures of Heather with her demon dog though...that should make for a good post!
Very nice! You are quite talented. I hope you don't get a broomstick in your eye.
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