Gallery - Ironskin

My interpretation of a mail bevor Long before the

My interpretation of a mail bevor

Long before the recent virus pandemic 14th- and 15th-century fighters were wearing facemasks of mail under the helmet. In a way the mail bevor is just a coif that doesn't cover the top of the head. Or it's is the more flexible version of a plate bevor that covers the throat.

In an upcoming video I will get into detail about the tailoring. My YouTube channel is simply named Ironskin. I'm looking forward to see you on board there.

#mailbevor #facemask #chainmailcoif #chainmailmask #chainmail #mask #maske #14thcentury #15thcentury #kettenbart #Kettenhaube #15thcenturyarmor #15thcenturyreenactment #reenactment #chainmailtailoring #ironskin #bevor #gesichtsmaske #nocorona #beforeitwascool #14thcenturyarmor #livinghistory #wildhaircut #needastrawfordrinking #ironcurtain

Carolingian Warriror in Scale Armor In this pictu

Carolingian Warriror in Scale Armor

In this picture Stefan Erdenkäufer presents us a Carolingian nobleman with spangen helmet and shiny scale armor. The scale armor looks so smooth and strechy in the manuscript depiction dated 800 to 850. However it is difficult to reconstruct the armor with good mobility in the armpits. This hypothetical reconstruction went through various iterations. For a long time the shoulder part had to be seperated from the torso as shown here. This is because it prooved unpractical to mimic the look of the drawing - at least for this reconstruction attempt.

Picture by Stefan Erdenkäufer respectively Stuttgart Psalter WLB Cod.bibl.fol.23 Württembergische Landesbibliothek

#carolingian #carolingianart #carolingiansword #dinastiacarolingia #Carolingiens #karolinger #karolinger #carolusrex #médiéval #Charlemagne #Carlos Magno Carlomagno #zbroja #merovingia #frankish #stuttgartpsalter #earlymedieval #earlymedievalreenactment #8thcentury #7thcentury #spangenhelm #frühmittelalter #hautmoyenage #altomedioevo #altaedadmedia #altaidademedia

Massive Chainmail Necklace Look at this massive l

Massive Chainmail Necklace

Look at this massive luxurious artwork! This is what you can buy at the Gold Market in Dubai. I spotted this in a video by @khalidalameri on YouTube. Its price must be between 55.000 and 820.000 US$ because this is the dollar-equivalent of the lowest and the highest priced jewellery in the shop.

Yet is it really chainmail though? At least it falls and moves like chainmail with ultra fine rings. Tag a friend who could wear this. ;)

Roman soldier 175 AD from a northern province. Th

Roman soldier 175 AD from a northern province.

The clothes are adapted to the climate. Instead of a Gladius there is a Spatha and the shield is smaller than a regular Scutum. Regarding the chainmail the Roman rings tended to be very small as far as we know today.

If you are interested in Roman reenactment I highly recommend you to check out @germania_inferior from the Netherlands. They do a great job bringing the time back alive and share very detailed info in their posts.

Pictures by Roland Zh. as photographed during a show of Legio XV from Pram, Austria.

Mail mittens #handtailored 😉 The typical thing a

Mail mittens #handtailored 😉

The typical thing about mail garments in the 13th-century is that everything can be attached - including hoods and mittens. Instead of mittens there can also be gloves or bifurcated mittens. The latter are mittens with a pocket for index and middle finger, one pocket for ring finger and pinky and one for the thumb.

When you sew mail onto leather there you can either do it directly or as I prefer have a leather laces run through rings at the edge and then sew this laces. You can you a pointy tool called awl to poke holes before you sew.

Parade armour of King John Casimir of Poland, abou

Parade armour of King John Casimir of Poland, about 1660.

Now look at this beauty of iron and copper alloy! There is little figure dangling at his chest. It looks like a sheep or a dog
Picture as taken from Wikimedia, originally found on wilanow-palace_pl.

#kolczuga #kingjohncasimir #kingofpoland #oiloncanvas #17thcenturyoilpainting

Early 16th century bishops mantle with irregularit

Early 16th century bishops mantle with irregularities

This mail cape of very fine rings is constructed of four triangular pieces joined together. One of the seams is in the front, one in the back and there is one on each side. The hem is decorated with a hem of copper alloy rings on the upper end and fringes of copper alloy rings on the lower end.

The part closest to the throat is made of denser weave. It even stands up a bit. In this area there is also a hook and an eye. Maybe there were even more of them originally.

Below that the mail continues with bigger rings. Fascinatingly these rings are dark at first and suddenly turn lighter below. It appears irregular - as if it happened unintentionally. It seems so because the ring size does not change. Perhaps the mailmaker switched to taking material from a different source or switched something else in the manufacturing process. Possibly that effect wasn't visible at first and only showed after aging. I couldn't imagine that the craftsman would intentionally give it an uneven appearance.

Pictures and info by Isaak Krogh, taken from his bachelor thesis: A study of mail garments in Veste Coburg. Item IE5

Bascinet with Aventail vs. Great Helm Iconic Cyli

Bascinet with Aventail vs. Great Helm

Iconic Cylinder or Streamlined Visor? With which helmet would you ride into battle?
Both helmets are rare, both are from late 14th-century and both are exhibited in the Royal armouries in Leeds. The bascinet or houndskull (to the left) is likely from a Milanese Armory. It is from Churburg Castle in northern Italy and dates to ~1390. The Great Helm from the 1370s (to the right) has a typical Hundred Years' War shape. Yet we only know of three surviving English examples. With a construction of barely shaped riveted plates the great helmet seems easier to manufacture. The bascinet howver is made from one drifted piece plus visor.

These are Inventary numbers 470 and 600 of the Royal Armouries Collection Leeds, UK. Pictures by Ironskin.

What is it and why does it have red marks? This i

What is it and why does it have red marks?

This is a 15th-century mail collar with mark from the city of Nuremberg, Germany. It is covering the vulnerable throat and neck area.

To understand the patterns of medieval mail garments, it is common practice to mark rings that deviate from the pattern 4in1. I call these spots expansions. Once you see the big picture, you understand that this is actually a long band with triangles inserted.

The upper/inner band of rings forms a standing collar. It has just slightly thicker wire diameter, yet that is enough to make it much denser. It is dense and stiff enough to stand up, yet still has a regular 4in1 pattern. The last row is made from slightly smaller rings. This helps to support the standing collar. Otherwise the last row tends to be loose.

Picture by Isaak Krogh, taken from his bachelor thesis: A study of the mail garments in Veste Coburg. Item IE29

Throwback to almost a year ago: I had the pleasure

Throwback to almost a year ago: I had the pleasure to be guest of @emanuele_zappulla_94 and @valgard_armory. We spent two weeks in Valgards Armory in Sicily, tailoring this mailshirt with turned sleeves together. On the picture you see the temporary short sleeved version with separate coif. It was meant to grow into a full hauberk eventually.

The shirt has rows of mail running around the arm. This uncommon design is only based on hints from medieval art. And it is quite tricky to arrange with a lot of turns in the weave and inserted triangles.

Looking at the back you see that the shoulders need space for the forward motion of the arms. That space can be built in by extra material in the shape of a wedge or diamond - or several of them. When the arms are pulled back, that extra material will then become visible as it pulls down and folds.

Greetings go out to my Italian friends and everyone in a lockdown!

#mailshirt #chainmailshirt #shortsleeved #normanhelmet #normanmail #Kettenhemd #normanne #brynie #Maliënkolder #chainmailtailoring #sicilianfriends #tarantomedievale #battagliadellxisecolo #normanreenactment #mittelalterfest #medievalnerd #armormaking #chainmailemaking #Ringpanzer #cottadimaglia #broadshoulders #broadshoulderproblems #medievalitaly #fantasyarmor #mailleshirt

Horse armor, southern Germany 1480-1490 A reliabl

Horse armor, southern Germany 1480-1490

A reliable horse trained for war, was a very valuable companion in the middle ages and later. Hence it has to have its own protection.

While this example is from a time that some consider the age of plate-armor there is still a considerable amount of mail. In my eyes it was a time when plate was entering the game, yet not necessarily replacing mail. Each armor had their unique benefits and actually the combination of both was very useful.

I took these pictures some time ago in the German History Museum in Berlin.

We're proudly presenting Ironskins Chainmail Searc

We're proudly presenting Ironskins Chainmail Search

You have been looking for specific riveted rings and didn't know where to buy them?
The struggle has an end: With this Chainmail Search form you can enter your desired ring type to get a list of shops that offer them. Featuring @zeughaus.info @battlemerchant @allbeststuff @makeyourownmedieval @getdressedforbattle and @armorvenue

Go to ironskin.com and test it! I'm thrilled to know your feedback.

The frontent webdesign is not the best yet. Is there anyone wants to help?

Bascinet with mail aventail, Germany 1360 The mai

Bascinet with mail aventail, Germany 1360

The mail looks nicely tailored to the face. There is a flap that can be hooked to the side. The mail part is sewn onto a leather band. This leather band is fixed by a cord. If necessary the mail can be separated from the helmet.

If the dating is correct, this helmet was made by someone who has witnessed the European plague epidemic of 1347 to 1351. Still that craftsman/craftsmen has/have managed to master a very specialized craft and created beautiful objects. He/they would probably feel with us and encourage us if he could see today.

I took these pictures in the German History Museum in Berlin (DHM). This is item W 3971.

Now here's a variety of mail weaves in parts fanta

Now here's a variety of mail weaves in parts fantasy and historic.

The generic mail is also known as European-4in1. I have witnessed people refer to the type below as 2-Ring-Mail or Japanese-4in1. What is called Angle Mail and Cruciform Mail here actually also looks like mail used by the Japanese. The Hex-Mail is more a Mongolian/Central Asian thing. And the Norman Mail probably is not so much about Normans but generally inspired by Islamic Mail and Plate combinations.

Do you know more? Let's bring more light into this. Also: Which one do you like most?

This is an artwork by Irish artist Danny McGrath. You find more of him on artstation.com/DannyMcGrath

Persian Mail Armor Original vs. Replica Something

Persian Mail Armor Original vs. Replica

Something I have only dared to dream of is another man's reality. Andrey Davydov is a Rusian chainmail enthusiast, who has (amongst many other great things) created an Islamic Mail Armor much like item 2014.198 from the Met-Museum. Like the 16h century original from Persia he has stamped the rings with an inscription. For that he used a drop-forging shape that he could push into the rings. This inscription is in a religious context, mentioning Allah, Muhammad, ʿAli, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn.

A huge THANK YOU goes to @fr_aleksver who connected me with Andrey! Pictures are in part courtesy of Andrey Davydov and in part from the online collection of the Metropolitan Museum New York. @metmuseum Особое приветствие всем моим русскоговорящим друзьям!

Knight in the year 1190 This is Pavel Alekseychik

Mail shirts at test Medieval manufacturers of cha

Mail shirts at test

Medieval manufacturers of chainmail seemed to have had their own way of ensuring quality by stabbing tests with the finished garment.

Unfortunately I have no idea from which manuscript this illustration is from. Do you have ideas or can guess the period/location?

Sword vs. handmade riveted chainmail This is abou

Sword vs. handmade riveted chainmail

This is about a test performed by Michael Edelson on handmade riveted chainmail manufactured by Juno Junio Funes.

Cutting: Even with powerful over-the-shoulder strikes the sword failed to penetrate the maille and could not break any links. Some of the links were slightly bent and nicked, but all were intact. The edge of the sword only took minor damage. Apparently the padding of the gambeson had absorbed the force.

Thrusting: The thrusts achived to push the mail into the padding by 1.6cm or 5/8”. Out of three medium force thrusts one was enough to break a single chainmail link. That thrust penetrated as deep as 7.6cm or 3”. Beond the mail the blade was barely stopped by the gambeson and penetrated as far as the mail allowed.

Technical Details: Edelson was using a MRL hilted Del Tin longsword type XX for cutting and an Albion Talhoffer longsword type XVa for thrusting. The target for cutting was a hanging pell constructed with a wooden post, surrounded by two layers of pool noodles. The noodles were covered in duct tape and wrapped in landscaping cloth. The same pell was dismounted and propped against a wall for the thrust tests.

Summary: The test underlines that riveted mail is an excellent protection for cuts from bladed weapons. To lesser extent it also offers limited protection of thrusts. Keep in mind that the absolute protection is a matter of the chainmail thickness/ wire-gauge. It is difficult to deduct general answers here. Apart from that - What do you think of such tests? What would you like to see tested in the future?

Source: myarmoury_com/talk/viewtopic_php?t=11131

9mm Hauberk in the Making This is a hauberk I am

9mm Hauberk in the Making

This is a hauberk I am tailoring for my friend Christian. It is important for us to make the torso and sleeves very tight. At the same time he should still be able to move his arms without restriction. The armpits are done and with that we're quite happy. Yet the sleeves can't stay like this. I'm looking forward to show you more of this a it gets closed to being finished.

What are these15th-century mail bands? These wedg

What are these15th-century mail bands?

These wedge riveted latten rings could have been the hem on a late medieval mail shirt. That means they would mark the edge at the bottom, neck or the end of the sleeves. The material is some kind of copper alloy like brass or bronze.

The item was found within a shipwreck in St. Ekön, Syd Saxemara, Sweden. There were 646 other items. Together with them it is clear date it to 14th-century. I'm wondering wheter there were traces of iron rings found with the copper alloy rings. It could be that the iron rings corroded entirely while the copper alloy rings survived.

This Inventory-Nr. 28315 presented on kulturhotell_se. Picture by Morgan Olsson from Blekinge Museum. @blekingemuseum @kalmarlansmuseum

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