DOCSLIB.ORG

Hi, and Welcome to Rob's Cheapass Stuff Series. the Focus of This Series of Articles Will Be on How to Create Good Looking Costumes And/Or Armor to a Low Budget

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Hi, and welcome to Rob's Cheapass Stuff series. The focus of this series of articles will be on how to create good looking costumes and/or armor to a low budget. This will differ from the upcoming series I have planned, tenatively titled "Costumes and armor on the Cheap", which will be more of a laundry-list of sources from which you can get LARP gear that both looks good and doesn't suck. For reference, these are still going to cost money (usually around $25-50), but it's going to be a LOT LESS than you'd pay purchasing it new from an online store. Of course, you're going to pay for it in hours of work...but them's the breaks. Episode 1: Brigandine Armor Part 1: What the hell is Brigandine? A brigandine is a form of body armour. It's a cloth garment, generally canvas or leather, lined with small steel plates riveted to the fabric. The form of the brigandine is essentially the same as the civilian doublet, though it is commonly sleeveless. However, depictions of brigandine armour with sleeves are known. Many brigandines appear to have had larger, somewhat 'L-shaped' plates over the lungs. The rivets, or nails, attaching the plates to the fabric are often decorated, being gilt or of latten and often embossed with a design. "Technically", a brigandine is mainly differentiated from a "Coat of Plates" by the presence of rivets holding the metal plates to the facing/backing fabric, whereas a coat of plates can have said plates sewn with thread directly to the fabric, or even sewn into small pockets inside the material. For all practical purposes, they're identical. Hopology aside, a Brigandine essentially looks like this: The top image and bottom left image show the plate layout, while the bottom right image shows the completed product. The following image shows a reproduction image of an actual 15th century Brig: And this one shows a brigandine with a whole lot of extra kit. So what does it take to make one? Well, you're going to need duct tape, two T-shirts you don't care about, a marker, a soldering iron, a bag of rivets (copper or steel, your choice), a hammer, a heavy knife or a good sturdy pair of scissors, and a buddy to help you. Oh, and a Subway place or a Car Wash is gonna be really useful, but a Meijers/Walmart/Target will do in a pinch. Finally, go to Hancock Fabricks or JoAnns and ask for TWO yards of heavy "Duckcloth" in the color you want (I recommend hunter green, burgundy, brown, or black as more "natural" choices, but whatever). Part 2: Making your pattern Step 1: Put on the T-shirt you don't care about. Find your buddy. Hand him the duct tape. Step 2: Have him cover your torso with the duct tape. You don't want it wrapped too tightly (skin- tight=BAD), but you're not going to want it T-shirt-level loose either. Make sure he covers your torso down to about the belt line (or however far you'd like the Brigandine's armor protection to extend, but remember that you need to have a certain percentage of your torso covered by armor to get the NERO armor rating). Additionally, make sure he covers over your collarbones, but NOT over your shoulders or arms. Your T-shirt should have seams which connect the torso fabric to the arm fabric. Make sure those seams stay uncovered by tape at all time and you'll be good. Make a nice thick layer of tape (1/8th" or so). Once you think it's done, make sure you can move your arms without excessive binding from the tape. If you can't, pull tape away from the shoulders until you can. Step 3: Show your buddy the pattern for the plates illustrated in the last post. Have him draw those plate designs directly onto your torso with the tape/shirt still on you. A wide Sharpie is a good choice. The lines can totally be thick - having a little space between the plates is normal and a good thing (it'll help you move). If you're right-handed, try to ensure that there is no "plate" drawn over the T-shirt seam running from your right armpit down vertically (if you're left-handed, reverse to the other side of your body). I recommend you do NOT try to worry about the horizontal shoulder plates on the top of the shoulders - let there be no plates at all from the collarbone to the top of the shoulderblade behind you - it's WAY easier this way. Step 4. Have your buddy cut the T-shirt off of you. The easiest way to do this will be to take that seam where, in Step 3, I instructed you to ensure that there was no plate drawn upon it, and cut that seam down vertically. You can then be easily peeled out of the tape/T-shirt monstrosity you've created. Step 5: Take the scissors and your marker. You're going to cut out each of the plates that have been drawn on the shirt. The marker is to label on the back fabric of the T-shirt where each plate will go. I recommend a system such as (top-to bottom) FP1, FP2, FP3...(Front Plate 1, etc), and RSP1 (Right side plate 1, etc) to help you remember. Cut each plate pattern out and cut inside the lines...that is, if there's a 1/4" black line separating FP1 and FP2, ensure that you don't include that black line in your final pattern bits. Once you're done, set your plate pattern pieces aside. Step 6. Take your second Tshirt, and, following the shoulder seams, cut the sleeves off the shirt to form a "vest". Then, cut down each side seam to separate the "vest" into front and back halves. These will be your pattern pieces for the fabric parts. Part 3: Making your plates There are several options for plates in your armor. I'm going to go with the simplest one, then discuss others at the end of the document. Now that you have your patterns, you need to apply them toward making your plates. The neat thing about Brigandine is that, even though we WANT to be all "in-period" (or at least not as blatantly anachronistic as we currently are), you can totally make the plates out of modern materials, and because they're sandwiched between two layers of stuff that looks period, the whole thing will look good regardless. So what are we gonna use? Pickle Buckets. Yeah, that's right. Pickle Buckets. Heavy, plastic barrels in which pickles are often shipped to eateries. See, go to a Subway, and ask if they have any pickle barrels you can take home. Most of the time, they'll hand you a barrel or two, and voila! It's yours for free. Car Washes are good places to go as well. If you can't find anyplace that'll give you a bucket, hit up Meijers or Walmart or something and buy a pair. Just to ensure you have enough plastic to make this work, grab 2 buckets. The neat thing about these buckets is that their plastic is very tough, and yet pretty darn light, so you're not having to worry about weight. Secondarily, no matter how much you sweat into your Brigandine, the bucket plates aren't going to rust. So, once you've got your buckets, take them home and wash them out. Use soap & water. Then wash them again. Then again. Possibly a fourth time, if you actually got buckets from a Subway, because the smell of pickles will be strong with this plastic. Once you've washed the bejesus out of them, you're going to take your pattern pieces and glue them (using Elmers/PVA glue so you can pull them off later) to the outside of the buckets. Once the glue dries, take your soldering iron and trace around the pattern pieces with the hot tip - this will score a groove into the plastic that will denote the edges of the specific plate. Pull off the pattern pieces and either discard them or save them for the future (your call). Finally, take either your soldering iron or a saw of some sort (hacksaws are good choices, so are large jigsaws. Ripsaws and most other power saws are not) and start cutting out the plates. Again, make sure you label them as to where on your body they'll go. Once you've cut out all the plates, you need to take your soldering iron and press it through the plastic to create holes for the rivets. Put at leastone hole in each corner of each plate, between 1/4" and 1/2" back from any edge, or use the images above as a guide. Just make sure that multiple holes aren't too close together. Note that you will have sore arms from cutting through the buckets. This is normal, and not indicative of a defect in your process. Part 4: Putting the damn thing together OK, we're almost done. First, take your Duckcloth and lay it out on the ground. Remember that T-shirt you cut the arms off of and into a front & back half? Lay each half out on the Duckcloth (pinning it to the cloth may help).
Recommended publications
  • MEDIEVAL ARMOR Over Time

    MEDIEVAL ARMOR Over Time

    The development of MEDIEVAL ARMOR over time WORCESTER ART MUSEUM ARMS & ARMOR PRESENTATION SLIDE 2 The Arms & Armor Collection Mr. Higgins, 1914.146 In 2014, the Worcester Art Museum acquired the John Woodman Higgins Collection of Arms and Armor, the second largest collection of its kind in the United States. John Woodman Higgins was a Worcester-born industrialist who owned Worcester Pressed Steel. He purchased objects for the collection between the 1920s and 1950s. WORCESTER ART MUSEUM / 55 SALISBURY STREET / WORCESTER, MA 01609 / 508.799.4406 / worcesterart.org SLIDE 3 Introduction to Armor 1994.300 This German engraving on paper from the 1500s shows the classic image of a knight fully dressed in a suit of armor. Literature from the Middle Ages (or “Medieval,” i.e., the 5th through 15th centuries) was full of stories featuring knights—like those of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, or the popular tale of Saint George who slayed a dragon to rescue a princess. WORCESTER ART MUSEUM / 55 SALISBURY STREET / WORCESTER, MA 01609 / 508.799.4406 / worcesterart.org SLIDE 4 Introduction to Armor However, knights of the early Middle Ages did not wear full suits of armor. Those suits, along with romantic ideas and images of knights, developed over time. The image on the left, painted in the mid 1300s, shows Saint George the dragon slayer wearing only some pieces of armor. The carving on the right, created around 1485, shows Saint George wearing a full suit of armor. 1927.19.4 2014.1 WORCESTER ART MUSEUM / 55 SALISBURY STREET / WORCESTER, MA 01609 / 508.799.4406 / worcesterart.org SLIDE 5 Mail Armor 2014.842.2 The first type of armor worn to protect soldiers was mail armor, commonly known as chainmail.
  • Stab Resistant Body Armour

    Stab Resistant Body Armour

    IAN HORSFALL STAB RESISTANT BODY ARMOUR COLLEGE OF DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF PhD CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY ENGINEERING SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF PhD 1999-2000 IAN HORSFALL STAB RESISTANT BODY ARMOUR SUPERVISOR DR M. R. EDWARDS MARCH 2000 ©Cranfield University, 2000. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT There is now a widely accepted need for stab resistant body armour for the police in the UK. However, very little research has been done on knife resistant systems and the penetration mechanics of sharp projectiles are poorly understood. This thesis explores the general background to knife attack and defence with a particular emphasis on the penetration mechanics of edged weapons. The energy and velocity that can be achieved in stabbing actions has been determined for a number of sample populations. The energy dissipated against the target was shown to be primarily the combined kinetic energy of the knife and the arm of the attacker. The compliance between the hand and the knife was shown to significantly affect the pattern of energy delivery. Flexibility and the resulting compliance of the armour was shown to have a significant effect upon the absorption of this kinetic energy. The ability of a knife to penetrate a variety of targets was studied using an instrumented drop tower. It was found that the penetration process consisted of three stages, indentation, perforation and further penetration as the knife slides through the target. Analysis of the indentation process shows that for slimmer indenters, as represented by knives, frictional forces dominate, and indentation depth becomes dependent upon the coefficient of friction between indenter and sample.
  • From Knights' Armour to Smart Work Clothes

    From Knights' Armour to Smart Work Clothes

    September 16, 2020 Suits of steel: from knights’ armour to smart work clothes From traditional metal buttons to futuristic military exoskeletons, which came to the real world from the pages of comics. From the brigandines of medieval dandies to modern fire-resistant clothing for hot work areas. Steel suits have come a long way, and despite a brief retreat caused by a “firearm”, they are again conquering the battlefields and becoming widely used in cutting-edge operations. Ancestors of skins and cotton wool The first armour that existed covered the backs of warriors. For the Germanic tribes who attacked the Roman Empire, it was not considered shameful to escape battle. They protected their chests by dodging, while covering their backs, which became vulnerable when fleeing, with thick animal skins over the shoulders. Soldiers of ancient Egypt and Greece wore multi-layer glued and quilted clothes as armour. Mexican Aztecs faced the conquistadors in quilted wadded coats a couple of fingers thick. In turn, the Spanish borrowed the idea from the Mexicans. In medieval Europe, such protective clothing was widely used up to the 16th century. The famous Caucasian felt cloak also began life as armour. Made of wool using felting technology, it was invulnerable against steel sabres , arrows and even some types of bullets. Metal armour: milestones Another ancient idea for protective clothing was borrowed from animals. The scaled skin of pangolins was widely used as armour by Indian noble warriors, the Rajputs. They began to replicate a scaly body made of copper back in ancient Mesopotamia, then they began to use brass and later steel.
  • Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki

    Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki

    Master of Philosophy Faculty of Arts University of Glasgow Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki By Lena Kousouros Christie's Education London Master's Programme September 2000 ProQuest Number: 13818861 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 13818861 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ^ v r r ARV- ^ [2,5 2 . 0 A b stract This thesis intends to explore the various forms the representations of Saint Demetrios took, in Thessaloniki and throughout Byzantium. The study of the image of Saint Demetrios is an endeavour of considerable length, consisting of numerous aspects. A constant issue running throughout the body of the project is the function of Saint Demetrios as patron Saint of Thessaloniki and his ever present protective image. The first paper of the thesis will focus on the transformation of the Saint’s image from courtly figure to military warrior. Links between the main text concerning Saint Demetrios, The Miracles, and the artefacts will be made and the transformation of his image will be observed on a multitude of media.
  • Denv S090015 Military Vehicle Protection.Qxd

    Denv S090015 Military Vehicle Protection.Qxd

    Defence TNO | Knowledge for business Military vehicle protection Finding the best armour solutions circuit armour. All these current and future armours require constant and rigorous testing under fully controlled conditions. The Laboratory for Ballistic Research is a state of the art research facility of TNO and able to provide these conditions. New threats In today's scenarios, the threat to a military vehicle may come from any direction, including above and below. The crew of a military vehicle not only has to deal with more or less 'standard' fire from the enemy in front, but - more often than not - also with asymmetric threats like rocket-propelled grenades, explosively formed projectiles, mines and improvised explosive devices. The RPG7, for instance, is able to cut through 250 mm of armour steel. Falling prey to any of these threats, also known as a 'cheap kill', Developments in vehicle armour never stop. It's not just the nature of the is something that has to be avoided at all threat that is continually changing, but we also have to deal with new times. TNO uses its highly advanced resources and decades of expertise in armour trends in warfare, like lightweight armoured vehicles. For survival, today's research to help governments and and tomorrow's military vehicles will not only have to rely on armour, but manufacturers achieve their aim: the optimal e.g. also on mobility and manoeuvrability. TNO supports its clients - protection of military vehicles against the governments and manufacturers - in finding the best armour solutions for widest possible range of ballistic threats.
  • Constructing a Heavy-List Gambeson Tips and Techniques

    Constructing a Heavy-List Gambeson Tips and Techniques

    Constructing a Heavy-List Gambeson Tips and Techniques Lady Magdalena von Regensburg mka Marla Berry [email protected] July 16, 2005 An Historic Overview “Mail is tough but flexible; it resists a cutting sword-stroke but needs a padded or quilted undergarment as a shock absorber against a heavy blow.”1 Quilted garments were part of soldiers’ kits in varying forms and with varying names throughout most of the SCA timeline. As early as the late Roman/early Byzantine period there is documentation for quilted or padded coats called Zabai or Kabadia.2 Illuminations from Maciejowski Bible (circa 1250) show aketons or gambesons. “These terms seem to have been interchangeable but the weight of evidence From “Jonathan and his Armor- suggests that ‘aketon’ refers to garments worn under the mail while bearer Attack the Philistines,” gambesons were worn over or instead of it...The gambeson is often from the Maciejowski Bible, referred to in contemporary accounts as being worn by the common circa 1250. soldiery and, indeed, is part of the equipment required by the Assize of Arms of 1185 of Edward I of England.”3 Extant examples from the fourteenth century include the pourpoint of Charles de Blois (d. 1364) and the late fourteenth century jupon of Charles VI. Fifteenth century documents mention arming doublets and padded jacks. These garments were worn under maille, over maille, under plate, over plate, or on their own. Some were designed to encase maille or plate. “Infantry, as laid down in the Assize of Arms of 1182, often wore one of two types of gambeson.
  • Army Guide Monthly • Issue #3 (102)

    Army Guide Monthly • Issue #3 (102)

    Army G uide monthly # 3 (102) March 2013 Savings Served Up for Bradley Armor Plates Tachanka Hwacha Patria Delivered 1st Batch of NextGen Armoured Wheeled Vehicles to Sweden Micro-robotics Development Furthered with ARL Contract Extension Textron Marine & Land Systems to Build 135 Additional Mobile Strike Force Vehicles Saab Acquires Ballistic Protection Technology Scale Armour Textron Awarded Contract to Produce Turrets and Provide Support for Colombia's APCs US Army Developing New 120mm AMP Tank Round Siege Engine Heavy Tank Medium Tank Tanegashima Super-Heavy Tank www.army-guide.com Army Guide Monthly • #3 (102) • March 2013 Army to change the armor tile box material from titanium to Savings Served Up for Bradley Armor aluminum for more than 800 reactive armor tile sets. Plates "They wanted to change the material for several reasons," said Peter Snedeker, a contracting officer with ACC-New Jersey. "It was easier to manufacture with aluminum rather than titanium, so there would be shorter lead times. Aluminum was also more readily available and cheaper." However, changing a contract isn't a simple matter. The change can't have a material effect on the design, nor can performance be less than what the contract requires. The aluminum must perform just as well or better than titanium to support the demands of the Soldier. When a military contractor approached the Army ACC-New Jersey's technical team performed an with a proposal for significant savings on armor extensive analysis of the change proposal and continued tiles for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the impulse to to work with General Dynamics to determine if the quickly go for the savings had to be postponed: The Bradley played such an important role in saving material switch served the form, fit and function lives that keeping a steady flow of contracts was specified in the technical data package.
  • The Terminology of Armor in Old French

    The Terminology of Armor in Old French

    1 A 1 e n-MlS|^^^PP?; The Terminology Of Amor In Old French. THE TERMINOLOGY OF ARMOR IN OLD FRENCH BY OTHO WILLIAM ALLEN A. B. University of Illinois, 1915 THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN ROMANCE LANGUAGES IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 1916 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS THE GRADUATE SCHOOL CO oo ]J1^J % I 9 I ^ I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPER- VISION BY WtMc^j I^M^. „ ENTITLED ^h... *If?&3!£^^^ ^1 ^^Sh^o-^/ o>h, "^Y^t^C^/ BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF. hu^Ur /] CUjfo In Charge of Thesis 1 Head of Department Recommendation concurred in :* Committee on Final Examination* Required for doctor's degree but not for master's. .343139 LHUC CONTENTS Bibliography i Introduction 1 Glossary 8 Corrigenda — 79 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 http://archive.org/details/terminologyofarmOOalle i BIBLIOGRAPHY I. Descriptive Works on Armor: Boeheim, Wendelin. Handbuch der Waffenkunde. Leipzig, 1890, Quicherat, J, Histoire du costume en France, Paris, 1875* Schultz, Alwin. Das hofische Leben zur Zeit der Minnesinger. Two volumes. Leipzig, 1889. Demmin, August. Die Kriegswaffen in ihren geschicht lichen Ent wicklungen von den altesten Zeiten bis auf die Gegenwart. Vierte Auflage. Leipzig, 1893. Ffoulkes, Charles. Armour and Weapons. Oxford, 1909. Gautier, Leon. La Chevalerie. Viollet-le-Duc • Dictionnaire raisonne' du mobilier frangais. Six volumes. Paris, 1874. Volumes V and VI. Ashdown, Charles Henry. Arms and Armour. New York. Ffoulkes, Charles. The Armourer and his Craft.
  • Plate Armor (Edited from Wikipedia)

    Plate Armor (Edited from Wikipedia)

    Plate Armor (Edited from Wikipedia) SUMMARY Plate armor is a historical type of personal body armor made from iron or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armor entirely encasing the wearer. While there are early predecessors, full plate armor developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, especially in the context of the Hundred Years' War, from the coat of plates worn over mail suits during the 13th century. In Europe, plate armor reached its peak in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The full suit of armor is thus a feature of the very end of the Middle Ages and of the Renaissance period. Its popular association with the "medieval knight" is due to the specialized jousting armor which developed in the 16th century. Full suits of Gothic plate armor were worn on the battlefields of the Burgundian and Italian Wars. The most heavily armored troops of the period were heavy cavalry such as the gendarmes and early cuirassiers, but the infantry troops of the Swiss mercenaries and the landsknechts also took to wearing lighter suits of "three quarters" munition armor, leaving the lower legs unprotected. The use of plate armor declined in the 17th century, but it remained common both among the nobility and for the cuirassiers throughout the European wars of religion. After 1650, plate armor was mostly reduced to the simple breastplate (cuirass) worn by cuirassiers. This was due to the development of the flintlock musket, which could penetrate armor at a considerable distance. For infantry, the breastplate gained renewed importance with the development of shrapnel in the late Napoleonic wars.
  • The Evolution of Armour Steel

    The Evolution of Armour Steel

    May 26, 2021 Clad in Steel: The Evolution of Armour Steel A little over a century ago, the armed forces of the British Empire received a new type of land-based military vehicle. The British Admiralty led the vehicle’s development in the utmost secrecy. To justify the connection with the Royal Navy, the invention was called a “landship” in official documents. As the Admiralty also managed oil production and processing, it decided to codename this vehicle the “tank” to mislead adversaries. This name is still used for self-propelled tracked armoured combat vehicles. Nowadays, armed forces around the world have hundreds of different types of tanks and other self-propelled vehicles. A key feature that they share is an armoured hull made of specialty grade steel . This protects the crew and critical parts from bullets, shells and other devastating effects. Over the past 100 years, one of the main challenges for designers has been to reduce the weight of armoured vehicles while increasing the level of protection that they provide. Aside from products for military use, civilian applications for armoured vehicles have also been developed. At the beginning of the 20th century, steel plates were used to reinforce the carriages of royalty and high-ranking officials. Today, armoured vehicles are used by heads of state, businesspeople, sport stars and entertainers. They are also used by government agencies and security services, as well as by banks for cash collection and transportation. Below, we discuss what armour is, how these steels evolved, as well as the role that Ukraine played in these developments.
  • Protective Armor Engineering Design

    Protective Armor Engineering Design

    PROTECTIVE ARMOR ENGINEERING DESIGN PROTECTIVE ARMOR ENGINEERING DESIGN Magdi El Messiry Apple Academic Press Inc. Apple Academic Press Inc. 3333 Mistwell Crescent 1265 Goldenrod Circle NE Oakville, ON L6L 0A2 Palm Bay, Florida 32905 Canada USA USA © 2020 by Apple Academic Press, Inc. Exclusive worldwide distribution by CRC Press, a member of Taylor & Francis Group No claim to original U.S. Government works International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-77188-787-8 (Hardcover) International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-42905-723-6 (eBook) All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electric, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and re- cording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publish- er or its distributor, except in the case of brief excerpts or quotations for use in reviews or critical articles. This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material is quoted with permission and sources are indicated. Copyright for individual articles remains with the authors as indicated. A wide variety of references are listed. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the authors, editors, and the publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors, editors, and the publisher have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained.
  • Heroic Armor of the Italian Renaissnace

    Heroic Armor of the Italian Renaissnace

    30. MASKS GARNITURE OF CHARLES V Filippo Negroli and his brothers Milan, dated 1539 Steel, gold, and silver Wt. 31 lb. 3 oz. (14,490 g) RealArmeria, Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid (A 139) he Masks Garniture occupies a special place in the Negroli Toeuvre as the largest surviving armor ensemble signed by Filippo N egroli and the only example of his work to specify unequivocally the participation of two or more of his broth­ ers. The armor's appellation, "de los mascarones," derives from the grotesque masks that figure prominently in its dec­ oration, and it was coined by Valencia de Don Juan (1898) to distinguish it from the many other harnesses of Charles V in the Real Armeria. Indeed, for Valencia, none of the emperor's numerous richly embellished armors could match this one for the beauty of its decoration. As the term "garniture" implies, the harness possesses a number of exchange and reinforcing pieces that allow it to be employed, with several variations, for mounted use in the field as well as on foot. The exhibited harness is composed of the following ele­ ments: a burgonet with hinged cheekpieces and a separate, detachable buffe to close the face opening; a breastplate with two downward-overlapping waist lames and a single skirt lame supporting tassets (upper thigh defenses) of seven lames each that are divisible between the second and third lames; a backplate with two waist lames and a single culet (rump) lame; asymmetrical pauldrons (shoulder defenses) made in one with vambraces (arm defenses) and having large couters open on the inside of the elbows; articulated cuisses (lower thigh defenses) with poleyns (knees); and half­ greaves open on the inside of the leg.