Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Nov 18, 2013 8:35:07 GMT
Last week I noticed the Castillian at KOA: www.kultofathena.com/product.asp ... ian+Sword+ $299,95. No taper to the Schtumpy blade. The hilt looks too large and the quillons like they are cut out of cardboard. Nasty gilding a la Marto turns the hilt into gaudy cheap plastic. The cutouts in the blade are not done very well ( in the pictures ). In short, to me this looks like a $1,99 tourist confection. Bummer.
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Post by LemuelTheLemur on Nov 18, 2013 8:42:32 GMT
humm. It'll probably look a lot better with a nice patina though..
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Post by William Swiger on Nov 18, 2013 9:02:22 GMT
Not very attractive.
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Nov 18, 2013 9:41:52 GMT
Well, the gold plate will be very thin, so removing it and re-plating the hilt with silver is easy when the base material would be brass. Silver ages very fast with some help and the hilt would look much more alive. The blade though is another matter. The impression I get from the pictures is that it is too short. Might be that big side ring blocking the view of the ricasso and making the sword look like a caulyflower on a stick.
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Post by RicWilly on Nov 18, 2013 10:14:47 GMT
I'll never buy anything with cutouts on the blade.
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Nov 18, 2013 13:04:30 GMT
Yes, cutouts will not make it any stronger. I have the Windlass sword of Saladin, with the forked blade. They took a normal blade to the grinder and it shows if you look for it. Not that cutting with it is remotely possible. It's the Clotz of Clotzes. I bought it for that fork, so for one big hole. Not sure I will do that again. :evil: And the scabbard was as expensive as the blade too. Naw, this Castilian looks like the dreaded Windlass movie sword design team took over again. Pity.
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Post by Beowulf on Nov 18, 2013 19:09:39 GMT
Mein schwert ist Herr Schtumpy! lol
I don't like the "stipling" that is behind the decorative elements on the hilt furniture. Looks like abused styrofoam. Looks like bad art I did in High School with a technical pen.
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Post by MOK on Nov 18, 2013 19:53:40 GMT
The stumpy proportions, simplistic lines, tacky gold plating and busy decoration all add up to make it look like a cheap plastic toy.
Such a pity. If they paid less attention to the superficial decoration and more to the underlying design, it could've been a really nice and unique sword.
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Post by Dave Kelly on Nov 18, 2013 22:48:02 GMT
Blade is 4.5 inches too short and untapered. Not even interested. Another Reichschwert :oops:
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Aaron
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Post by Aaron on Nov 18, 2013 22:53:29 GMT
I like the overall shape, but the execution is just awful IMO. I agree that the blade is a bit too short, perhaps could have a more well-defined point. Nothing in the details (the cutouts, the gilding, the pommel/cross designs) appeals to me. It seems very chintzy and overall kind of chunky in its proportions.
A slimmed down version of this hilt, with steel parts and a more appropriate blade would be far more appealing to me.
Overall, my opinion of it is irrelevant since this piece doesn't cater to my left-handedness. :lol:
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Nov 18, 2013 23:14:43 GMT
Man that thing is fugly... bad execution throughout.
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Post by Grubnessul on Nov 19, 2013 19:01:32 GMT
Yea, it looks a bit to wide for its length. Had the gold be brass/silver, it'd looked a lot better.
I do like the look of the cut outs, but I'd never buy a sword I couldn't also fence with. And this just doesn't look strong enough.
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Post by Beowulf on Nov 20, 2013 22:50:52 GMT
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Post by Beowulf on Nov 20, 2013 22:56:40 GMT
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2013 23:00:54 GMT
It echoes Lemuel's opinion about the patina, it would look a bit better also with a slender blade.
And with better defined cut-outs too, these just look seriously horrible.
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Post by flgiordano on Sept 4, 2014 6:12:40 GMT
If you look at the listing of the original sword now in the Victoria and Albert Collection in London, you will see that Windlass did a pretty good job copying the hilt and the blade cutouts of the original. Since the sword was probably made in Toledo by one of the most famous smiths of the time, Alonso Perez, for either Emperor Charles V or King Phillip II, plating it with gold may not have been excessive. I cannot tell from the picture of the original in the V&A what the original finish was like, but you can bet it was expensive, fancy, and shouted out "Hey! Look at me! I'm a king!" I'm just surprised the original didn't have jewels encrusted on it. The original sword was a rapier with a 39 inch blade. It is here that Windlass dropped the ball. I can understand them not wanting to make such a long (and in my opinion ungainly) weapon. I have only one rapier in my collection and it has only a 37 inch blade which is actually quite short for that era. Rapier blades during the period went up to 44 inches in length. Can you imagine trying to turn around in a room full of people wearing that monstrosity. Or even in the narrow streets of European cities of the time. It got so bad that the City of London passed an ordinance that no one could enter the city wearing a blade longer than 36 inches. They measured the rapiers when someone tried to enter and if they were longer than 36 inches, they broke off the blade at the 36 inch length. I don't thing a 39 inch blade like the original of this sword had would be much less cumbersome than a 44 inch one. Of course, if you were the king, you could do whatever the heck you wanted to.
So, I can see Windlass not wanting to make a blade like the original. However, they really screwed up with the blade they put on this replica. It looks to me like an Oakeshott Type XII. So they stuck a 12th century blade on a 16th or 17th century sword. I think there was an easier solution that would work and retain some historical validity. Rapiers were civilian weapons during their heyday. They were used mostly for duels and personal scrapping, although a few were carried into combat. There was a military variant carried by a lot of the soldiers of the time, the side sword. Most of them had a hilt that looked just like a rapier but the blade was usually shorter and wider at the top than a rapier. It tapered sharply to a narrow stabbing point. It was a classic cut and thrust weapon unlike the rapier which was almost completely thrust although it could slash a bit. If Windlass had used their head and put a side sword cut and thrust type blade on this replica, it would have looked much better and been more in keeping with the swords of the era. Personally, I don't care if they did various pieces of the cross and hilt out of brass before plating them. I know some of you said you'd never buy any sword you couldn't fence with. How about cutting us a break! This thing was originally designed to be an eye catching decoration on the hip of a king, not a real fighting weapon, even though it might have been pressed into such duty in an emergency. I would bet that if Phillip II was preparing to actually fight in a war himself, the original of this sword would NOT be the one he'd pick to carry into battle. It was a showpiece then, and it is a showpiece now. So I plan to hang it on my wall. Even though it is a bit of an abortion, I bought it because there is no other replica of the original being made that I know of. Most of the replicas of the Toledo blades of this time are coming out of Spain and most of them are made of stainless steel or some untempered pot metal. At least this one, as inaccurate as it is, has a real high carbon tempered blade. That has got to count for something.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2014 7:57:27 GMT
Err...sorry i dont see your point!? What are you reffering to?
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Sept 4, 2014 11:46:03 GMT
He refers to the fact that one side of the blade is not seated in the blade slot at all. The side closest to you, when looking at the pictures.
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Luka
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Post by Luka on Sept 4, 2014 22:09:25 GMT
That looks quite bad. It wouldn't be that bad if shoulders were more rounded...
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