The group I reenact with is endeavoring to improve it's Elizabethan impression and to that end our captain has decided to allow the musketeers to wear some armor as they did during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. To that end, I am thinking of picking up another Peascod Breast and Back, this one without tassets, or just a Breastplate. In either case, I want to finish this set differently than my other one. I blued my other Breast and Back, leaving it sit for a while before applying the oil. This made it a lighter color and finish. For the new set, I'm thinking of trying to get a much darker blueing or possibly even painting it with milk paint. My question is, does anyone know how common this was in the late 16th and early 17th century? I have seen and read of examples of painted breastplates from the mid 14th to early 16th centuries, but I can't recall seeing any after the reign of Henry VIII. I'm thinking of painting it either solid black or painting it white with a red cross, the Cross of Saint Andrew being the English Flag during the 16th Century.
