Riddle Game #6

[Marras]

Wow, that was materials well spent!

[higgins]

Yeah, I was totally blown away how effective the use was. Basically the scrapping process was:

a) could someone make a lamellar piece out of it? if yes, keep it. if no...
b) could someone make a two-inch buckle strap out of it? if yes, keep it. if no...
c) ...scrap it

We have like two or three cardboard boxes of miscellaneous leather pieces that constantly find some kind of use in all kinds of repairs.

[higgins]

Okay, armor update.

Handy tip: Should you ever build a coat of plates or something similar, and even if you're in a super-hurry to make it to a tourney, like I was, please-please-please don't use spray paint and take your time to give the plates a proper coat the first time around. Repainting it later is a biiiiitch.

Exhibit #1: The inside of my armor after roughly six month's use.



Yeah.

You'd think that it was worn by a hedgehog or something. Well, normal use on a soft gambeson.

Here's some more:



Yikes. Sorry for the ugly flash, but it made the rust stand out more. Click on the above image to get a better view. I had already repainted some at this point.

Here I'm stuffing some rolled up TP under the plates to prop them up so that I could paint more than one at the time without making an ungodly mess:



Also, here's a good detail on how the spray paint comes off with a wire brush, but the rust doesn't:



Avoid spray paint in these projects!

And yes, before anyone asks, the paint is there solely to prevent rust.

[higgins]

Ahhh... gotta love the smell of paint thinner in the evening. Well, not really, but here's more painting gymnastics.



Managed to paint nine 10 plates simultaneously

Don't worry, the teaser is coming as well

[EinBein]

Nice work. How would knights from the middle ages protect their armor from corrosion? Any idea if they were shiny or rusty?

I'm checking this page every day in hope of the beta document Would love to try your take on the rules!

[Stempest]

What EinBein said. I've checked these forums two more times today after I saw the word "teaser" in your post, Higgins!

[thirtythr33]

Ditto on lurking.

As for cleaning armor and such, a tabard or short coat was the first line of defense. I heard maille was cleaned by dumping it in a barrel with sand and ground egg shells and rolled around to get rust off. Plate I imagine was cleaned with an abrasive and good old elbow grease... If you could afford a full suit of plate you probably already had a few lackeys around to maintain it for you.

[higgins]

Plate I imagine was cleaned with an abrasive and good old elbow grease... If you could afford a full suit of plate you probably already had a few lackeys around to maintain it for you.

That's pretty much my understanding of it. Of course, the best way to get rid of rust is to prevent it altogether, so, that could mean either keeping the armor oiled, or covering it with linseed oil and letting it dry. Apparently the linseed oil bonds with the metal when it dries and is pretty durable. Unlike real oil, it takes the mirror sheen off, but on the plus side it won't smear you.

Another way we sometimes use is covering it with acid, which blackens the armor and prevents rust as well. Acid and linseed is like the ultimate combo. Plus it makes you a black knight, which is always a bonus. Don't actually know if it was used in history though.

One more common practice is painting the the inside bits of your armor and helm. It prevents rust and basically gives you a peace of mind for half the armor's surface area -- plus as a general rule, the insides are convex surfaces which are harder to maintain. Again, not sure if this was historically done, but it makes a lot of sense.