Helmet update

When I first started talking to Sir Donngel, the guy building my helmet, we agreed on May being the delivery date for my new helm. For the last week or so I've been thinking about emailing him, just to say, hey, where are we at? Can I still expect the helm sometime in May? I've tried really hard not to be obnoxious about it, or a pain in the ass. So I was going to sit on my hands until around May 3rd or so.

So imagine my delight when I got this email this morning:

Nickolas,

Attached are a few pics I have of the helmet. The brass is worked out, the skirt /wrap plate is done. I just have to finish up the drawings for the the etching.

And even more exciting, of course, were the attached photos.




Look out! I'm pinhead! Wow... just, wow. It looks really, really cool. The damn thing is nearly a reality now. I'm still a little anxious about what the final plaque will look like... but everything up to this point has been so amazing, I expect no less for that.

Damn.

Latest helm news

I got an email from my armorer, Sir Donngel, a couple weeks ago. After the successful mild steel test piece, he moved ahead on the stainless. But, after he had the top more or less completed, he discovered it was too small. He wasn't sure if the stainless just didn't stretch as much as the mild, or if his calculations were off. And, he told me that the friend he was going to have do the brasswork told him that he doesn't have the time to do it.

So, it seemed, we were basically back to square one.

This was pretty disappointing news, of course, but I told him again that I was willing to wait. Even though we had talked about a May delivery, I wanted the helm done right, not quickly. But, he said that he thought May was still do-able.

Then! I got an email from him this morning saying that he had the new top nearly completed! And there was a photo attached!

Awesome, huh? Looks really smart! This fills me with hope, because the top is the tough part. There nothing fancy about the rest of it.

Well, except the brasswork. That's the part that I'm worried about. Because if I can get this helmet anywhere near what it looks like in my head, it will be absolutely stunning.

Sir Donngel is suggesting that he etch the brass. He says it's not a period technique for this kind of helm, but I don't really care. I only care what it looks like when all said and done. I'm exploring some brass options on my own, too. So, I hope, I hope, I'm really close to getting this new helm.