Main > The Armoury
(was ailettes) now working on my kit
Sir Wolf:
so i started a pair of ailettes today. i cut a heavy piece of leather and dyed it. i am thinking of backing it with either another piece of leather or a piece of wood to attach it to the hauberk via ties. I need to paint the rampant lion on each with red as well.
its small but its a start :)
ok started on a new thin waist belt. I found a buckle and end that needed mounting so I cut a small long belt blank, burred the edges and am waiting for my drill battery to charge to drill out the holes larger in the bronze fittings to mount them to the belt. what color should I make the belt? I am thinking of needs-foot oiling it so it is a darker natural brown.
then hmmm. thinking of my surcoat. I really need to get that thing redone.
is my shield. So should I split my hauberk black and grey? make it all black with the lion on the chest. Ug I don't know what would look the best. hehehe.
my biggest problem with the kit is my legs. I want to buy a set of mail chausis from Icefalcon, but there in the 300 $ is the problem. Might have to go with the padding this year and fit it at Christmas time.
Sir Patrick:
Did you finish your ailletes, Sir Wolf? These are mine. They are boiled leather saddle-stitched to 1/4 in. plywood wrapped in felt. You mentioned you were uncertain if you were going to back yours or not. If you boil the leather, it gets stiff as a board (literally), so if yours is thick enough, you might not need any backing. Post some pics, if you have any. BTW, I vote for a black and gray surcoat with a red lion!
Sir Brian:
EXCELLENT! Well done indeed! Do you have any pictures of you wearing them? It is such a rare treat to see a harness with ailettes! :)
Sir William:
I love your shield man. A matching surcoat would be smashing! At the risk of sounding ignorant, what're ailletes? Like espaliers?
Sir Edward:
Yes, they're an earlier form of shoulder attachments. It's not clear historically if they were meant to be protective at all, or merely ornamental. Some believe they were meant only to add a little splash of heraldry on the shoulders, so that you would be identifiable from the sides without your shield, since they were made mostly of leather and tended to sit upright on the corners of the shoulders. The amount of protection they'd give would be minor compared to the mail underneath. But, being over the joints, they may have helped to soften blows at those points, so it's hard to say.
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