Armor update

Took off work yesterday to work on armor. First, I drove down to Cleveland Leather. Now, anyone who has ever gone there knows that Cleveland Leather is a shithole. Decaying boxes of old rubber boot heels and leather scraps and dried up bottle of leather dye litter the aisles. A thick layer of grey dust coats everything. However, it has its charm. The old man (I never shopped there enough to learn anyone's name) who ran it was pretty knowledgeable about leather, and seemed to be a really nice guy, to boot.

One time I walked in there and asked for a double shoulder of tooling leather. As he walked me back into the dank bowels of the place he said, over his should, "So, what kind of armor are you making?" I have no idea how he knew I was buying leather for armor, I hadn't said anything about the SCA or fighting. I guess that after decades of selling hides he could just tell.

Sadly, when I was there on Monday there was a framed photo of him on the wall, with the words "In Memoriam" underneath.

This time, the dilapidated state of the place was even worse than usual. There was only one guy working there (the deliverance guy, you know who I'm talking about) and he had a total of three natural hides in the place. Three. In the past I've been there and they have dozens of different weights; this time? Three total, all eight ounce. He took a call while I was there and said something about "going out of business." That, and the big "CLEARANCE!" sign on the front door leads me to believe that Cleveland Leather isn't long for this world. It's a pity, really... I'll have to go to some modern leather store (if I can find one) and shop their brightly lit, well-stocked aisles; which will be more convenient, but no where near as interesting as pawing through shelves stacked ceiling high with leather scraps, mis-matched buckles and other peculiar odds and ends.

Anyway, this post is supposed to be about armor.

I took apart my lamellar and removed about 40 plates. These were overlap on the sides, so I think I can get away with it (I really need to get a lightly padded gambeson to wear under it to soak up some of the sting, though). I moved the buckles forward, and I think I'll be able to dress myself now. I didn't end up riveting anything on yet, I still need to dye the straps. Something I would have done yesterday, but the leather place didn't have any brown dye.

I did pick up some soft brown lambskin, and started edging the lamellar with it. I'm really not happy at all with how it turned out, but it's good enough for the Mark I version. And, considering I was up until 2:30am lacing the damn thing, it's going to stay on for now.

I figured out how to attach my existing leather paldrons to the shoulder straps; again, not the optimal look, but good enough for now.

Tonight I'll pick up some leather dye and finish and attach the straps. I need to get this damn body armor working so I can fight in it at the Wednesday night fight practice. Lord knows I can't afford to miss another practice this close to Crown.

I also painted my basket hilt and put the entire shield back together. I have to say, my shield has never looked more professional; I'm thrilled with how it looks. My wife wants to wait until it's closer to Crown before painting the household arms on it; once that's done it will look amazing.

Next up: cut out two new swords. I'm going to try to get that done tonight, too. My current sword is broomed out something fierce.