Christmas week!

Oh My Dog, its Christmas Eve! How did THAT sneak up on me so fast?
Its been a busy busy week here at the armoury...made 5 helmets in the last two weeks. Above is a picture of a few of them. They are not done yet....they still have to have the front Nasal bars put on, and some decorative brass work. Right now, they don't look pretty and chivalrous...they just look mean! I didn't really plan it that way...its just the way the new face plates come up, giving the eye slot the flat inward facing triangles.
Those face plates have big 3/4 inch holes in them so that the wearer can actually breathe in this helm. First one I made out of 16 gauge....I found that I could bend it in my bare hands....all those holes took the strength out of the face plate. Into the trash it went. Made one in 14 gauge steel. Better....but still needs to be supported in the middle. Client liked it, but I didn't think it was as good as the 12 gauge I eventually made these out of. (The smaller the gauge number, the thicker the metal. A stop sign is usually 14 gauge steel just for comparison purposes.) These are true battle helms....tough enough to withstand a guy with a baseball bat! Fairly roomy inside, about 3/4 inch of padding needed all around or else it rings like a church bell.
These are going to support the Wisconsin Renaissance Festival. The owner is a really nice sounding Dude, who is looking to get a troupe armoured up for, oh, just general purpose armoured soldiering. Human Chess games, Royal guardsmen, that sort of stuff. He wanted it to be good enough for anything. He's getting that!

Well, a couple of hours on these helms....then maybe seeing if I can find some "Peace and Goodwill Towards Men".

Merry Christmas